Taiwan Business Intelligence Report (World Business Intelligence Report Library)

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Taiwan Business Intelligence Report (World Business Intelligence Report Library)
USA International Business Publications
Manufacturer: International Business Publications, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0739726633

Book Description

This report contains business intelligence information for succesful export-import, business and investment operations, strategic contacts and more... The report also contains selected information on investment and business opportunities, international economic projects, tenders, government projects, as well as, marketing and export-import opportunities information.

Book Description

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, two men -- the Soviet world chess champion Boris Spassky and his American challenger Bobby Fischer -- met in the most notorious chess match of all time. Their showdown in Reykjavik, Iceland, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film.

Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow, authors of the national bestseller Wittgenstein's Poker, have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine -- a machine that had delivered the world title to the Kremlin for decades. Drawing upon unpublished Soviet and U.S. records, the authors reconstruct the full and incredible saga, one far more poignant and layered than hitherto believed.

Against the backdrop of superpower politics, the authors recount the careers and personalities of Boris Spassky, the product of Stalin's imperium, and Bobby Fischer, a child of post-World War II America, an era of economic boom at home and communist containment abroad. The two men had nothing in common but their gift for chess, and the disparity of their outlook and values conditioned the struggle over the board.

Then there was the match itself, which produced both creative masterpieces and some of the most improbable gaffes in chess history. And finally, there was the dramatic and protracted off-the-board battle -- in corridors and foyers, in back rooms and hotel suites, in Moscow offices and in the White House.

The authors chronicle how Fischer, a manipulative, dysfunctional genius, risked all to seize control of the contest as the organizers maneuvered frantically to save it -- under the eyes of the world's press. They can now tell the inside story of Moscow's response, and the bitter tensions within the Soviet camp as the anxious and frustrated apparatchiks strove to prop up Boris Spassky, the most un-Soviet of their champions -- fun-loving, sensitive, and a free spirit. Edmonds and Eidinow follow this careering, behind-the-scenes confrontation to its climax: a clash that displayed the cultural differences between the dynamic, media-savvy representatives of the West and the baffled, impotent Soviets. Try as they might, even the KGB couldn't help.

A mesmerizing narrative of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy.

Customer Reviews:

A celebration of chess?.......2007-05-18

Prior to the match Boris Spassky said that regardless of the results the events in Reykjavik would be a "celebration of chess". Bobby Fischer on the other hand, was going to war and wanted "to crush the Soviets". Two thoughts on Fischer come to mind after reading this book: What a jerk, and what a shame. He pretty much flushed his career down the toilet after this match by refusing to defend his title against Karpov in 1974, and for the most selfish of reasons - he couldn't handle losing - and he went out on top. How convenient. While his chess games are incredible to follow (and I highly recommend you take the time to do so) the fact is that he lost in life; while Spassky, whom he beat over the board, won (some observers even say that Spassky should've won the match based on pure chess skill and preparation; regardless of the results, his best games are as well worth studying as Fischer's). Fischer's absence throughout much of the 70s and all of the 1980s is lamentable, and like so many of his acquaintances, the more I find myself making excuses for his ridiculous behavior. "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" depicts this paradox and phenomenon pretty well and anyone interested in Cold War history might really enjoy the bizarre and intriguing events in this little corner of the wider, global show-down between communism and capitalism. Nevertheless, I have a few reservations about this book.

Despite its being a well-researched, compelling and easy-to-read account of the off-board, behind the scenes battles between Fischer & the Russians, it has several short-comings, the foremost of which is a lack of chess. Sure, the authors make some token efforts to summarize certain highlights of a few games, but the focus is on Fischer's antics rather than his moves (or, if you're a Fischer apologist, his "off the board brinksmanship") and this seems unfortunate to me. By having the games interwoven into the main storyline the peripheral hoopla of the match would have its proper context. Not only this, but it would relieve the tedium of some 300 pages of some rather petty and exasperating behavior, and ultimately, would redeem the man himself. Reading about Bobby Fischer without his chess games is like, well, try imagining Mike Tyson without boxing. Additionally, I'm not sure how this book is any different from "The Russians vs. Fischer" (D. Plisetsky & S. Voronkov, Everyman, 1994, 2005 2nd ed.)? Not having been able to read it I can't say for sure, but from what I can tell it contains more interviews from the Russian side (the authors apparently utilized the same "unpublished U.S. & Soviet records" so prominently advertised on this book's jacket) and the games themselves. These two factors alone make me suspect that I bought the inferior product, and so I recommend you compare the two.

Other criticisms:

A complete absence of reference notes for any of the some 150+ sources for this book make it difficult, if not impossible to locate the sources for a large amount of curious material. Have these guys ever heard of plagiarism?

The authors, who are journalists, write in the typical "play by play" style of their profession, which works well in pithy newspaper or magazine columns (or for John Krakauer & Mark Bowden), but wears thin in a full-length narrative about a chess match without any real chess.

The coverage of the 1992 re-match is given short-shrift and conveniently written off a "a bad sequel".

In the end I wanted to hear more from Spassky and Fischer themselves. There are a lot of secondary viewpoints and great sources of information here, but how much better could the text have been had the authors solicited or used more direct quotes from the participants themselves - especially Spassky since he seemed most willing to talk? Recently I discovered "B. Fischer: The Wandering King" by H. Bohm & K. Jongkind (Batsford, 2005) which looks to be fill this gap.

The one thing that redeems the author's decision to focus on the non-chess related action in my mind is that it does illuminate something important that I don't believe they intended; namely that, despite their extreme differences, both chess masters managed not only to play some great chess, but refused to be manipulated by their respective political systems. That is, regardless of Fischer's obsession with control and the fiasco he made of this match - not to mention the ass he made of himself - it seems to me that the "celebration of chess" Spassky envisioned came about in-spite of all this, and in no small part due to his own tolerance, patience and ability to challenge Fischer on the chess board. For it was these two individual chess-artists who not only enriched and popularized the game worldwide through their immortal play, greatly benefiting their fellow players through larger purses future tournaments, but most importantly, their outmaneuvering of systemic powers that sought to constrain them for narrow-minded political propaganda.

STORY OF A PATHETIC BOY IN A MAN'S SUIT.......2006-11-09

BOBBY FISHER GOES TO WAR is a well-researched book, using, among other sources, recently opened Soviet files on the match. The authors (Edmonds and Eidinow) fill in the background leading up to the match, including bios of the lives of Fisher and Spassky, the two combatants in "the chess match of all time". However, the story lacks for sustainable drama; things poke along, the authors obviously stretching out a long magazine piece into a book. This is fine for chess fans but the general reader may feel too bogged down. On the other hand, there is little analysis of the games played in the match, which might frustrate a chess buff who has not yet read any of the analytical books on the match. BOBBY FISHER GOES TO WAR is probably more a political book than a sports book as all the negotiations, psychology, and behind the scenes manuvering are spelled out as well as the actions of the Soviet Communist party machinery regarding the match and very little on the games itself. Fisher comes off as brilliant but insane and this reader had little sympathy for his pathological behavior or the chess authorities caving into his ridiculous and nuerotic demands. All of that is covered in detail in the book. Ultimately, this is not the story of an American hero but of a pathetic, spoiled, ungrateful boy in a man's suit.

couldn't put it down.......2006-03-04

really wondeful. the appendix chapter his mother is, in my opinion,
even more interesting than the book. book, of course, is a fantastic read.

A very brief review.......2005-12-02

Plus: Just the facts. This is a straightforward history of the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match, told with enough context to make the story understandable, interesting, and entertaining, but without exaggeration. The story is balanced, and tells Spassky's side as well as Fischer's.

Minus: It assumes the reader knows absolutely nothing about chess, and therefore loses the drama of the games themselves. The authors do describe the "poisoned pawn" of Game 1, but otherwise there's very little chess in the book. Of course, some readers may think this is a plus! I enjoyed this book and recommend it if you are interested in the match.

Cold War Intrigue...Over 64 Squares.......2005-10-15

It had all the intrigue of a Cold War novel: there was the arrogant, boyish challenger; the imperious, quiet Soviet; the behind-the-scenes dealings; the suspicious delegates; the spies; the double-agents; hypnotists and spiritualists; food poisoning and wire-taps; searched briefcases and searched rooms; a mother suspected of being a communist sympathizer; the FBI, the KGB and the CIA; even Henry Kissinger has a cameo.

--Oh, and almost incidentally, there was the world championship of chess. In Iceland, of all places.

Two men were the center of this event, hunched over a chessboard, each trying to prove the superiority of -- well, of what?

To the political leaders on each side, the winner of this grueling contest would prove that their political, social and philosophical system was somehow superior. That may seem silly today, but there were a lot of silly ideas about politics in 1972 (unlike today, ha ha ha).

Bobby Fischer Goes To War is an entertaining account of a match where for many the chess was almost incidental. Who could have imagined, back in that summer of '72, that a dull game only vaguely understood by most Americans would have captured the imagination? But capture it it did: the event was broadcast on TV. Bars showed the match rather than baseball, and got flack from customers if they changed the channel. Chess club memberships went through the roof. Stores could not keep chess sets and chess books in stock. Grandmasters were treated like rock stars. They arrived in limosines. Strangers begged for their autographs. They had groupies! Chess was sexy!

It was a surreal time. And this book profiles it all rather flatly, missing the zeitgeist. The writing is relatively bland and matter-of-fact. (Where is Tom Wolfe when you need him?) The authors could have really had fun with this story. Instead we get what is sometimes an overload of facts, given in a newspaper-style dryness. This is one of those rare times when I wished for more sizzle and less steak.

Still, though the book could have been more lively, this is a very thoroughly-researched chronicle of a unique event in U.S. history.

As for the match itself, I found myself, to my surprise, actually rooting for--and somewhat feeling sorry for--Spassky. Fischer lost my sympathy after his 80th or so temper tantrum over the lights. Or was it the chairs? Or the stage? Or the noise? Or the squares on the board? Or the TV cameras? Or the prize-money? Or the hotel? Or the limo? Or the lack of bowling alleys in Iceland? At some point you just want the match organizers to pull the plug and send Fischer back home in disgrace, because that is truly what he deserved. The Russians hurled accusations that Bobby was using psychological warfare to make Spassky crack, which was mostly dismissed at the time as sour grapes. Today it's easier to see that their claims had some merit. Even though Fischer may have been a more brilliant player, I doubt he would have won in a straight match without all the off-stage melodrama. Unquestionably supremely gifted, he was nonetheless simply too scared. I think he fould it hard to live up to all his own bravado--who wouldn't?--and his last weapon against his opponent was his endless, unpredictable melodramas.

Spassky comes across as harder to peg. Hardly a model Soviet, but definitely a loyal Russian, he seemed interested in playing Fischer for the joy of playing Fischer, rather than to prove anything about the "great Soviet Chess Machine." (Inexplicably he agreed to changes in match conditions in the third game that may have led to his very downfall.) He apparently still hasn't lost his Fischer fascination. He played another match against the American in 1992 in Yugoslavia, and more recently, when Fischer was arrested in Japan (he is wanted by the U.S. Department of State) Spassky reportedly said, "Arrest me too, put me in a cell with Fischer and give us a chess set." Whatever his motivation in Iceland, he clearly was not a loyal Soviet, and his handlers knew this. Some feared he would defect. Others put up with his comments against the system that would have landed most others in jail. There was almost relief that another Russian would challenge Fischer in 1975--a challenge the champion never met, forfeiting his title--even though Spassky was a stronger player than Anatoly Karpov.

Despite not winning the title, Spassky's life turned out a lot better than Fischer's. Boris ended up abroad, still a Russian citizen, but married to a French woman and living the life of a country gentleman. Fischer wound up living the life of a derelict, abandoned by his country, fighting demons in his head that are telling him everything is a Jewish conspiracy. (Ironically, it turns out that Fischer is fully Jewish, and not half-German like he had always believed.) It's hard not to conclude his was a wasted life, at least after 1972. It's sad to think how much chess could have benefitted if the first and only U.S. champion had been wrapped a little more tightly.

Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match (Unabridged)

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Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match (Unabridged)
Eidinow, David, John Edmonds
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0007PC4VQ

Book Description

Tom Daschle, the Majority Leader of the historic 107th Senate, presents a candid insider’s account of the workings of the U.S. government during two of the most tumultuous years in the nation’s history.

The 107th Congress faced a time like no other in the life of the nation. This was the era of the first presidential election to be decided by the United States Supreme Court, the fifty-fifty Senate, the horror of September 11, the anthrax attacks on media and the government (including Daschle’s own office), the war on terrorism, corporate scandals that shook the economy, the inexorable move toward war with Iraq, and other dramatic events, all leading up to the historic midterm elections of 2002.

Through it all, Senator Tom Daschle had, with the exception of the President, the most privileged view of these unfolding developments, both in front of and behind the closed doors of government. In Like No Other Time, Daschle offers a riveting account of his singular perspective on a time when the nation faced deadly and elusive external enemies and a level of domestic political contention rarely seen in American history. Senator Daschle is un-flinching in his impressions of the key political figures of our time from both parties. The result is an acutely perceptive assessment of how our government met—and sometimes did not meet—the challenges of a remarkable era.

As it was during the years of the 107th Congress, the United States is once again at a critical and historic crossroads. Our choices, based on what we have learned from our recent past, will affect our future in profound ways. For Senator Daschle, the first and perhaps most important choice lies with what kind of representation and leadership we want in government. It is a choice between a political party with a core philosophical belief in the power of our collective will to confront these challenges through our government, and one dominated by a group of people who don’t like and don’t believe in government.

Customer Reviews:

Now available..........2007-03-30

This book is now selling for one cent.

Pretty much sums it up.

Significant, well thought out; an impressive political book.......2005-01-04

I agree with the others...I wish Daschle talked more about the politics. He makes important observations. It's sad that he won't be back in the Senate, nontheless, hopefully, he will write another book.

The book is quite touching, and it clarifies a lot of stuff about homeland security, Iraq, and what not. The best parts: His discussions about Democratic philosophy, his observations of others in government (particularly W), right wing memos, and his observations about American politics in general.

Thoughtful and insightful.......2004-06-29

Tom Daschle's memoir of the 107th Congress should ultimately be recognized as one of the best first person accounts of the critical two years following the 2000 election. Like No Other Time is an exceptionally good senatorial memoir. Daschle is a keen observer of people and of politics. Thus, his memoir is a candid and revealing look at the people and events that shaped America during two transformative years.

Daschle offers some sharp assessments along the way. His nuanced and careful impressions of President Bush are very persuasive, contradicting both the idealized portrait of the right and the left's ridiculous notion of the President as an idiot. Daschle is no supporter of Bush, but is careful to note his strengths.

Also of interest are the dynamics between senators as described here. Daschle's sometimes-cooperative, sometimes-conflictual relations with Trent Lott are described amply. One gets a sense of just how much the Senate relies on such relations (I regretted that the book was published too early to record his impressions of Bill Frist and certainly too early to record Frist's tacky visit to South Dakota to support John Thune against Daschle). Also explored in fascinating detail is the successful campaign to bring James Jeffords out of the GOP.

Daschle writes with frustration about the decline of civility in the Senate and Congress as a whole - an early section details the change in tone wrought by Newt Gingrich. This trend has since been accelerated by the machinations of the White House - one section details just how much Bush committed himself to the Thune-Johnson race in South Dakota. With evident pain, Daschle also discusses how the emotional farewell service to Paul Wellstone inadvertently became a more partisan rally (his balanced account of the event is a nice corrective to polemical accounts from either side)

Like other reviewers, I wish Daschle had commented about more topics. He declines to discuss the outcome of the Thune-Johnson race, but does imply that Bush's inattention to economic relief for South Dakota was a strong factor. Nor does the later victory of Mary Landrieu in Louisiana receive coverage. But his discussion of the Democratic Party's debate, in the fall of 2002, over going to war in Iraq is priceless. Daschle aptly conveys the slanderous attacks made against the party over Iraq and the Homeland Security bill. Though Daschle is clearly in a position of partisan authority, he makes a notable effort to keep his tone balanced and restrained.

I was really impressed by this book and by its author. Whatever the outcome of his race this year - and I'd very much like to see Daschle reelected for the sake of South Dakota and this country - I hope that this is not the last book he writes about American politics. This is a book worth buying and reading for the insights it offers about American politics and the current tumultuous era.

Inside politics.......2004-04-22

South Dakota Senator Daschle describes the 107th congress and its events, such as the September 11 attacks, the anthrax contamination of the Senate's Office Building, and other dramatic episodes during his term as majority leader. Daschle talks about the loss of bipartisanship and his disagreement with President Bush and Republican House Speaker Tom De Lay. This audio book is a good, inside account of the workings of the U.S. government.

The Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Anthrax Book.......2004-04-20

Tom Daschle wrote this book with another author, or I think he dictated the book to the author would the produced what we have to read. I felt this way after reading the text because the book reads like a two hour C-SPAN interview without the questions. I may be a little too hard on the team here, but I wanted more then just some rambling account of these two years. I was looking for behind the scenes, blow by blow accounts of some of the political battles Daschle was involved in. I wanted dialog like Woodward always seems to fill his books up with. His guy was meeting with the President and all the other highest-ranking members of the government and he could barely give me the details of when or if he talked to them let alone a good feel for the conversation.

The book spends about 40% of its time on the anthrax attacks to his office and about 5% on the attacks on 9-11. Ok, I understand that his office received one of the letters, but in the big picture of the past two years, September 11th and what he was involved in is more important and interesting to me then his office being off limits for a few months. And what is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, this book is about the 107th Congress, I would have appreciated it if the author could have held his ego in check and not given me the Cliff Notes version of his biography. All it did for me was to get me to skip pages.

I should not spend all my time on the negatives. I found the information on the Jim Jeffords switch very interesting as well as the information on the homeland security and Iraq war bills. I thought his comments on the Wellstone memorial service to be insightful and a bit surprising. The author did have an interesting insight into the process and I found a lot of what he had to say informative. Overall, the book was easy to read and full of good information. I will give it credit for that, it is just that I expected and wanted more. Maybe the author is holding back for his end of career memoirs to give us the really good inside stuff I was looking for.

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Like No Other Time, The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever
Tom Senator DASCHLE
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PAYSLW

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Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever

Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0736694439

Product Description

8 1.5 hour tapes clamshell packaging

Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever

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Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever
D'Orso, Tom, Michael Daschle
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B0000YSMME

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Like No Other Time: The 107th Congress and the Two Years That Changed America Forever
Tom; D'Orso, Michael Daschle
Manufacturer: Random House Large Print
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OXEJ28

Customer Reviews:

A Great Primer!.......2001-05-15

The New Grove Beethoven is one of a series of biographies on great composers. The text was originally written in the 1970's.

I used this book during an upper division class on Beethoven at UCLA, and I loved it. Why? Because I knew nothing about music, but I loved Beethoven's music. What is refreshing about this book is that it will provide a background on the life of Beethoven that is wholly understandable even if you don't have a music background.

This book is a little over 150 pages of text. The remainder is notes etc. It reads very quick. The book is largely broken up into chronoligical sections and ends with a quick breakdown of Beethoven's music and his impact on music.

The New Grove Beethoven does a great job of delving into Beethoven's frustration with the onset of deafness and how he felt estranged from society as a result. It also treats Beethoven's deep desire to be respected as this desire continually butted up against his dislike for preferential treatment to nobility as "superiors." In short, he wanted to be like them, loved like them but his attitude estranged him from them.

If you are looking for a quick primer on Beethoven that is readable and quite enjoyable, pick up the New Grove Beethoven!

Most Historically Accurate Info.......2000-04-30

This book is being used in my music class at Dartmouth College that's focusing on Beethoven. It contains very accurate information about the Maestro himself and does not add to the myths about the composer as other books do. It's very easy to read and there's a lot of satisfaction and knowledge that a Beethoven admirer can gain from this magnificent biography.

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Great analyses of Beethoven's symphonies
A Classic Of Music Analysis

Beethoven and His Nine Symphonies
George Grove
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

ASIN: 0543973220
Release Date: 2001-05-30

Book Description

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1896 edition by Novello, Ewer and Co., London & New York.

Customer Reviews:

Great analyses of Beethoven's symphonies.......2006-03-17

This classic in the field of music analysis is a great source of ideas for anyone interested in serious study of Beethoven's symphonies. George Grove is one of the great musicologists of the 19th century; he is also the editor of the well-known "Dictionary of Music and Musicians."
An intermediate level of musical knowledge is necessary to appreciate the text. It is full of musical illustrations, but the terminology Grove uses is probably not too jargony for a knowledgeable lay-reader or amateur musician.
Grove also includes biographical information along with the analyses, making for a great overview of or introduction to Beethoven's symphonies.

A Classic Of Music Analysis.......2004-01-05

This is a reprint of the 3rd edition of 1898, but that fact should not deter anyone from purchasing it. It remains an excellent analysis of Beethoven's 9 symphonies. Along with copious music quotations of the symphonies, the author has integrated some history of Beethoven's historical times and quotes letters and anecdotes that reveal not only the music but the personality of this composer.

The author's knowledge of the scores of the symphonies is extraordinary. For anyone with more than a passing interest in the symphonies of Beethoven, I can't think of a better book for the money. While it is impossible to name any composer as the greatest, Beethoven must be acknowledged as one of the great architects of musical form and expression. George Grove's book underlines the genius of this composer, and is highly recommended

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Grove Composers: Beethoven (Grove Music Composer Biography)
Joseph Kerman , and Scott G. Burnham
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0195221842

Book Description

From the same series of composer biographies also derived from the second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, this book is the definitive reference to Ludwig van Beethoven's life and works. Offering new details on Beethoven's posthumous influence as well as political appropriations of his work, this compact volume is an essential starting point for any research on one of the best-known classical composers. In addition to a concise biographical profile reflecting the latest scholarship, an up-to-date list of works, an extensive bibliography and index, as well as eight pages of black and white illustrations are also included in the book.

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