The Last Resort: A Retirement Vision for Canadians and How to Achieve It

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Great book for young people!

A comprehensive investors guidebook.

Novel investment saavy and 3rd millennium philosophy.

The Last Resort: A Retirement Vision for Canadians and How to Achieve It
Steve Bareham
Manufacturer: Harpercollins Canada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Retirement Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0006385362

Customer Reviews:

Great book for young people!.......1998-10-04

Before reading The Last Resort I neither understood nor cared much about retirement planning. Now, however, even though I'm only 24 years old, and thanks to the book, I've acquired a much better appreciation of why investing and lifestyles planning is so important - for both young and old. I'm recommending that any young person who reads this should also read The Last Resort.

A comprehensive investors guidebook........1998-10-04

I've read many books on investing and I haven't found one yet that is better than The Last Resort. Readers learn not only about some little known investment strategies, but also about the importance of knowing what you want to do with your money once you have it - a different, more holistic approach that really appealed to me.

Novel investment saavy and 3rd millennium philosophy........1998-10-04

I've now read The Last Resort twice and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. I'd strongly endorse it for anyone who is concerned about their retirement prospects and who appreciate common sense, practical advice presented in a highly readable manner. The best thing I can say about this book is that it actually motivated me to increase my retirement savings and investing resolve.

Rob Thomson

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The Last Resort: A Retirement Vision for Canadians and How to Achieve It
Steve Bareham
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8W69Q

Book Description

The story of Jed Hotchkiss, a New Yorker by birth who became topographer and mapmaker for Confederate General Stonewall Jackson. Hotchkiss, a self-taught engineer, served closely with Jackson, Robert E. Lee, Jubal Early and other Confederate generals. This biography, illustrated with some of Hotchkiss's beautiful maps, is based on Hotchkiss's letters and diaries.

Customer Reviews:

Stonewall's Pathfinder.......2001-06-11

Stonewall Jackson's successful career can, in part, be directly attributed to his gifted topographer, Jedediah Hotchkiss; a man with a gifted eye for terrain. Whether as mapmaker, pathfinder, courier or staff officer, Hotchkiss continuously complimented his talented commander. To understand Jackson, one should know Hotchkiss; Miller's volume, particularly when taken in conjunction with Hotchkiss' own MAKE ME A MAP OF THE VALLEY, certainly facilitates understanding of Jackson's campaigns. Miller clearly delineates Hotchkiss' many skills in an easily read text supported by beautiful full-color renditions of some of Jed's maps, meanwhile teaching the reader a great deal about military topography, map-making and the Civil War in the East. Any student of Jackson, the Valley Campaign, or Civil War staff operations should have this book. A well-done, lovely book about one of the war's most interesting characters.

Mapping for Stonewall: The Civil War Service of Jed Hotchkiss

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Mapping for Stonewall: The Civil War Service of Jed Hotchkiss
William J. Miller
Manufacturer: Elliot and Clark
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OLX02A

Book Description

This is a book you will use as a tool to assist you in new home buying. You will learn that buying a new home is not as complex as it might appear. By having an understanding of the process of new home buying, your experience will be one of knowledge not of ignorance.

Lynda Michaels answers questions and more in this accessible and practical book. She explains and guides you through the new homebuying process and teaches you to communicate effectively with your realtor, sales person, contractor and builder.

She emphasizes the importance of recognizing the need to understand why and where to buy a home and how to prevent buyers remorse. Throughout the book she draws upon her personal experience and provides information that is most often requested by new home buyers, especially first time home owners.

This book is a valuable tool for anyone looking for a new or used home, because the information provided can be used by any one looking for a home anywhere.

Customer Reviews:

big disappointment.......2001-06-15

Do not be fooled by this book's catchy title. It contains very little useful information, and to make matters worse, is very poorly edited. Numerous, and I do mean numerous, typographical and grammatical errors make reading this book difficult and cumbersome. Was this book even proofread before being published?

Book Description

Having outlasted the gag order that was part of their divorce agreement, Angela Bowie produced this memoir of her turbulent life with David.

Customer Reviews:

Where The Bowies Are.......2007-05-30

If you never paid much attention to David Bowie - and I confess I did not - then this kiss and tell by his ex-wife may make trashy reading. She certainly takes you back to the late 60s-early 70s London music scene when creativity seemed to be bursting out all over. Theirs was a sort of marriage of convenience, in this version, with Angie a glorified go-fer, doing anything to promote Bowie's career. She makes him out a cold fish, which is certainly how he looks. Their 'open marriage' meant both were free to dally with whomever they wanted, and she says Bowie dallied with Mick Jagger at least once, gossip that made headlines years back. It seems plausible. This may be the "Angie" in the Stones song, she contends. Bowie's music always left me cold, though a few of his bigger hits have held up. This book is a trippy look back at a time now long gone, though you'll wish you could have at least observed it in full flower.

Dull.......2006-06-07

I wasn't expecting great writing, or an untarnished view of angela's ex, I was expecting a guilty pleasure, a fun read. This book is just dull. Angela is dull, her writing is dull, it was more a book about her, and really, who cares?

So what if Angela Bowie is bitter? Book's a lot of fun ...........2005-09-13

Why do some reviewers care whether Angela Bowie is "bitter?" Does she seem a little bitter? Yes, frequently. Um ... So?

Great stories in this book (my fave involves Led Zeppelin, who come across as average, rather loveable drunks), with an attempt by Bowie to exorcise a demon from a swimming pool running a close second.

A really enjoyable read ... A friend who's met Angela tells me she seemed kind of crazy, but I'd have to say she comes across as a very hurt, somewhat bitter person who also has a few cogent things to say. Take her with a grain of salt.

And all you people working so hard to knock this poor woman ... an average human who probably did indeed have an impact on Bowie's career, in the same way all magical things combine in places and in times to create a special chemistry -- what, are you secretly jealous you didn't marry Bowie or something? Let's hear it for pulling hair. Meow.

Geez

Left me with more questions than it did answers...........2005-07-28

Yes I did love reading this book, and I found it very hard to put it down, but it was not the definitive guide to Mr. Bowie's life that I hoped it would be. I love to read about the musicians that inspire me, and to learn about what was going on in their personal lives when they were making brilliant art, so I thought that by reading a book by someone who was so close to one of my heroes, that she was actually married to him, that it could give me some insights about Mr. Bowie's life, during that time, which other biographies could not. But in the end, I gained more insight into what was going on in Angie's life during their marriage, which was actually quite a separate existence from his life, especially since there were lots of times when they weren't even living in the same place. I guess I shouldn't complain too much because it is a biography about her life as well, but there is often not enough emphasis on what was going on with his life, and the reason for this is because she doesn't seem to know.

I knew that the book probably wouldn't shed any light on his life after the '70s, since him and Angie were divorced by then, but I was surprised by the fact that it hardly gave me any info on his life in the latter half of the '70s. If you want to know what was going on in Bowie's personal life while he was making such innovative albums as Station To Station, Low, Heroes, and Lodger, you are not going to learn it here. She breezes through the mid-late '70s rather quickly, and it seems as if during that time she barely even saw him. Their divorce was finalized in 1980, but their marriage was over long before that. But just because there isn't much insight given into David's personal life during the latter half of the '70s, doesn't mean the reader doesn't learn anything at all about what was going on behind closed doors in his life. Angie does give some good info about him during the late '60s and early '70s, but even when she was spending lots of time with him, like she was during that era, she often felt like a detached observer of his life, much like the reader of this book does.

I guess this review is turning out more negative than I intended it to be, but that doesn't mean I don't recommend the book to other Bowie fans, because I do. Like I mentioned earlier, it is a hard book to put down, especially if you like reading about someone who leads a debaucherous lifestyle, and Angie certainly did. It is widely known that Angie and David had an open marriage, and that both of them lived a swinger lifestyle during the '70s. Angie does believe that David was bisexual, at least during that time, despite the fact that since then it has been argued that he never actually was bisexual, and she claims that she was and still is bisexual herself. So because of the open marriage and her bisexuality, explicit sex plays a large part in this book, and it certainly can get steamy. There is all the sex you could want, as well as drugs and Rock 'N Roll, including lots of Rock Star gossip, in general, not just gossip about David Bowie. If you like reading such gossip, then you will definitely enjoy all the namedropping she does, as well as the little tangents that she goes on about experiences she had with famous musicians like: Lou Reed, Keith Moon of The Who, Mick Jagger, Led Zepplin, Elton John, and others. Surprisingly, there wasn't anything to learn about Marc Bolan or Iggy Pop though, and I hoped there would be. One of the drummers of T.Rex is mentioned since Angie had a fling with him, but Bolan isn't mentioned at all, and the Stooges are mentioned, since Angie had flings with two of the members, but hardly anything is said about Iggy, and I found it odd that such important figures in David's life would be ignored. There is also no mention of Roxy Music, except for a brief story about how Bryan Ferry crashed on the Bowies' couch after a party once, and no mention of Brian Eno at all, which I guess makes sense since Eno was a profound influence on David's late '70s career, and Angie was pretty much out of the picture by that time. But yeah, this book is definitely not the place to look if you want to learn about how David's Glam Rock contemporaries affected his life, and I think it has to do with the fact that Angie herself was more so interested in meeting, hanging out and/or having sex with Rock Stars whom had been famous since the '60s and/or weren't involved with Glam at all.

Ok, so now you are probably wondering what kind of stuff you will actually learn about David Bowie's personal life if you read the book, since I've told you all the stuff that you won't learn. Well there are some interesting insights into how Bowie's childhood, as well as his family life, has affected him as an adult, or at least the part of his adult life which Angie was involved in. You also learn quite a bit about two of Bowie's early managers, Ken Pitt and Tony DeFries, and how they shaped his career. There is also an interesting cast of characters that the Bowies were spending time with while David was on his way to becoming famous, and you learn how these people affected their lives, as well as his career. You learn about all the things that Angie did to help him become famous, and she claims to have done a lot for his early career, but whether you decide she's giving herself too much credit, is up to you. Like I mentioned before, there is tons of sex in this book, and you learn from Angie whether she thinks David was good in bed. You also learn alot about who they both were having affairs with, although none of them were really surprising to me, especially where David is concerned. I was hoping of learning about a juicy affair he may have had with Iggy Pop, since the movie Velvet Goldmine has one take place between the characters that are based on Pop and Bowie, but if there ever was one, Angie does not mention it at all. She does mention what may have happened in the sheets between David and Mick Jagger though, but I didn't really care for that part, especially since I find the idea of him being with Iggy Pop far more sexy and intriguing.

Another person who I thought I'd learn more about would be Mick Ronson, and you do learn a bit about him early on in the book when David is putting together the Spiders From Mars, and when he first starts playing with them, but after Angie mentions David's sudden breaking up of that band, at that famous Hammersmith Odeon show in 1973, no more is to be heard. The breaking up of the Spiders is not just a turning point for David's career, but it was also a turning point for their marriage, because after that event, Angie's knowledge of what was going on in David's personal life starts to get more and more vague. It is during the time before 1973, that she gives the most insight into David's creative process, and I did find that to be fascinating. You do learn quite a bit about what was going on behind the scenes when The Man Who Sold The World was recorded, and I really enjoyed that part, but she doesn't tell you as much about what circumstances surrounded the recordings of the albums after that. So, if you are looking to find out what inspired Bowie to write every song on an album like The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, don't look here, because she will not tell you. Instead, she gives glimpses of what may have inspired him to do certain creative things during the early '70s, and you do get a peak into how he actually went about writing some of his songs, but the only person who really could tell you what he was thinking when he wrote Suffragette City, for example, would be David himself. And unfortunately he hasn't written an extremely personal biography like this about his own life yet, but I really wish he would hurry up and do that. Then I could have the answers to many of the questions which Angie's book left with me, and get his side of the story on their marriage, which is something I definitely wanted to know about after I finished the book, but until then I will just have to settle with hers. It is a pretty good read to settle with though, and despite the fact that it left me with more questions than it did answers, I still recommend it to other Bowie fans. If you are the kind of fan that wants to know what was going on in his personal life before and during the Ziggy era, then Angie will give you an idea. It may not be the complete picture, but since that cannot be known until David writes his own tell all book, this might just be good enough to tide you over for awhile.

Bitter celebrities make for best sellers and coffee talk.......2005-07-28

I picked up this book for the same reason everyone else did: I wanted the inside dirt. I give it two stars for these 2 reasons only: the first (and more important) is because it was a fine writing project, the second was for celebrity dirt, which is just a piece of fluff. There is an expression out there called "Sex, drugs, and rock n'roll", and people always want to know those things about you whether you're the CEO of a corporation, a ditch digger, or the President of the United States. IN THAT ORDER, I might add. And we got all that and more with the ex Mrs. Bowie.

Angela is a bitter woman despite all the free spirited ideals and lifestyle choices she spouts, and there is more than a hint of jealousy that David got to be famous and more beloved than she. It's a creative writing project full of name dropping and naughty whispers, and maybe what really happened wasn't all that exciting, but there's just enough to leave us thinking it could've been. Some people have had very successful careers being hangers-on and keeping up hype about themselves, and Angie was one of them. She wrote and sold a book to make people talk at their cocktail parties. She's just a little irked that she's not being invited to the A list parties these days, but guess what? You hang around the places you do and the people you do because they make you feel cool, but you're not all that cool.

If you're looking for insights into David's music (what influenced him to make music, write, produce, etc.), you won't find it here. Buy his albums, not this book. I love David, I love David's music in all evolutionary stages through the years, but there's only so many times you can hear a story about his being caught in bed with so-and-so before it gets old. I love him because of his art, not because of who he was or wasn't doing the nasty with. Should any of my former lovers write a book about me, people will talk, but that's all it is. Talk. Hope Angie turned a healthy profit, because this is what she left for posterity. David, however, gave us so much more.

BACKSTAGE PASSES LIFE ON THE WILD SIDE WITH DAVID BOWIE

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BACKSTAGE PASSES LIFE ON THE WILD SIDE WITH DAVID BOWIE
Angela Bowie
Manufacturer: Putnam's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M0KTYU

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Backstage Passes, Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie)
Angela (w/ Patrick Carr) Bowie
Manufacturer: New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1993
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NVE75K

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Backstage Passes: Life on the Wild Side with David Bowie
Angela Bowie
Manufacturer: Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NQLVQS

Customer Reviews:

Pitseolak: Pictures out of My Life.......2004-09-07

If you are interested in trying to understand the Inuit sensibility this is a great read. Pitseolak became an artist, drawing pictures of her life, when she was in her fifties, gaining international recognition.

The drawings and prints in this book embody joy and energy and fancy. The interviews were done when she was in her sixties. Pitseolak describes an idylic world despite a harsh and bone-tiring camp life and the untimely loss of so many loved ones. Though she leaves out the dark side this holds true to how she interprets her world. She is charmingly frank within this world view.

Though her second or third cousin, Peter Pitseolak's account, is more factual (I think), as (I think) her drawings are, the interviews are remarkable.

Dorothy Harley Eber's preface provides additional information and insights.Her work in interviewing Pitseolak is also an interesting study.

In the end, even though in her life Pitseolak worked collectively with her kinsfolk in camps and in the Cape Dorset print shop, and even though our interest as readers may be about Inuit culture, her personality and her individuality sparkle in a universal way.

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Pictures out of my life
Pitseolak
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books | 19th Century | 20th Century | 21st Century | African Americans | Civil War | Colonial Period | General | Revolution & Founding | State & Local
General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0295952288

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PITSEOLAK - PICTURES OUT OF MY LIFE
D EBER
Manufacturer: OXFORD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SAH6FE

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PITSEOLAK: PICTURES OUT OF MY LIFE
Dorothy Eber
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VB94GO

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Pitseolak: Pictures Out Of My Life
Pitseolak
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LA12ME

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Pitseolak: Pictures Out of My Life from Recorded Interviews by Dorothy Eber
PITSEOLAK
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORMNVI

Amazon.com

In historical writing, there's no substitute for primary sources such as letters and diaries of eyewitnesses and participants. But all too often those sources are handled as minor adjuncts to a text, appearing in truncated form with so little context provided that the immediacy of the material is diluted. The Boisterous Sea of Liberty takes the direct approach of celebrating the primary sources, offering 366 separate documents from colonial times to the Civil War, each presented with a brief yet substantive introduction that provides context as well as entertaining background information about the writers and their subjects. The result is a hefty volume with entries that, as the introduction by coeditor and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Brion Davis, puts it, "can have the power of a fax or e-mail just received, evaporating the gap between past and present." Commendably, editors Davis, a history professor at Yale, and Steven Mintz, a history professor at the University of Houston, have mined deep and wide into the American past in their effort to construct a "documentary history" of the nation up to the Civil War. Not only are there some obvious primary sources, including letters by Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln, but there are also letters and diary entries by people you may never have never heard of before, but who offer valuable insight and fascinating commentary into the United States' first century. --Robert McNamara

Book Description

Drawing on a gold mine of primary documents--including letters, diary entries, personal narratives, political speeches, broadsides, trial transcripts, and contemporary newspaper articles--The Boisterous Sea of Liberty brings the past to life in a way few histories ever do. Here is a panoramic look at American history from the voyages of Columbus through the bloody Civil War, as captured in the words of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe and many other historical figures, both famous and obscure. In these pieces, the living voices of the past speak to us from opposing viewpoints--from the vantage point of loyalists as well as patriots, slaves as well as masters--providing a more sophisticated understanding of the forces that have shaped our society, from the power of public opinion to the nearly absolute power of the slaveholder. For instance, on the issue of race, we find first-hand accounts of oppression suffered by Indians and slaves; the antislavery argument made before the Supreme Court by John Quincy Adams; the writings of Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists; and the bitter response of Southern politicians--all to give a richer portrait of this complex issue. Likewise, documents collected here provide a fuller understanding of such historical issues as Columbus's dealings with Native Americans, the Stamp Act Crisis, the Declaration of Independence, the Whiskey Rebellion, the Missouri Crisis, the Mexican War, and Harpers Ferry, to name but a few. Compiled by Pulitzer Prize winning historian David Brion Davis and Steven Mintz, and accompanied by extensive illustrations of original documents, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty brings the reader back in time, to meet the men and women who lived through the momentous events that shaped our nation.

Boisterous Sea of Liberty : a Documentary History of America from Discovery Through the Civil War

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Boisterous Sea of Liberty : a Documentary History of America from Discovery Through the Civil War
David Brion and Steven Mintz Davis
Manufacturer: Oxford
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000X6GS2A

The Boisterous Sea of Liberty : a Documentary History of America from Discovery Through the Civil War

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The Boisterous Sea of Liberty : a Documentary History of America from Discovery Through the Civil War
David Brion Davis & Steven Mintz
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKBI1G

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The Boisterous Sea of Liberty: A Documentary History of America from Discovery Through the Civil War
David Brion Davis; Steven Mintz
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OK9OLC

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Marquis Who's Who in America 2000, Millennium Edition: Volume 1 A-K
n/a
Manufacturer: Reed Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RAHMTK

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Who's Who in America 2000 Millennium Edition Volume 2 (Who's Who in America, 2)

Manufacturer: Marquis Who's Who Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000Q1DMNU

Product Description

Volume 2: L-Z

Who's Who in America 2000: Millennium Edition (Who's Who in America)

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Who's Who in America 2000: Millennium Edition (Who's Who in America)

Manufacturer: Marquis Who's Who
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Reference & Collections | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Directories | Catalogs & Directories | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0837901995

Marquis Who's Who in America 2000, Millennium Edition: Volume 2 I-Z

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Marquis Who's Who in America 2000, Millennium Edition: Volume 2 I-Z
n/a
Manufacturer: Reed Elsevier
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RACPHE

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Marketing Magic: A Tested Program for Major and Planned Gifts
Lynda S. Moerschbaecher
Manufacturer: Bonus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Nonprofit Organizations & Charities | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1566251354

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Harrowing and hopeful

The best book on Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge

Your problems are small

An Important Book...

Highly Recommended

Survival in the Killing Fields
Haing S. Ngor , and Roger Warner
Manufacturer: Constable and Robinson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Cambodia | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
General | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Children of Cambodia's Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors

When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge

The Killing Fields

Voices from S-21: Terror and History in Pol Pot's Secret Prison

The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, 1975-79

ASIN: 1841197939

Book Description

Nothing has shaped my life as much as surviving the Pol Pot regime. I am a survivor of the Cambodian holocaust. That’s who I am,” says Haing Ngor. And in his memoir, Survival in the Killing Fields, he tells the gripping and frequently terrifying story of his term in the hell created by the communist Khmer Rouge. Like Dith Pran, the Cambodian doctor and interpreter whom Ngor played in an Oscar-winning performance in The Killing Fields, Ngor lived through the atrocities that the 1984 film portrayed. Like Pran, too, Ngor was a doctor by profession, and he experienced firsthand his country’s wretched descent, under the Khmer Rouge, into senseless brutality, slavery, squalor, starvation, and disease—all of which are recounted in sometimes unimaginable horror in Ngor’s poignant memoir. Since the original publication of this searing personal chronicle, Haing Ngor’s life has ended with his murder, which has never been satisfactorily solved. In an epilogue written especially for this new edition, Ngor’s coauthor, Roger Warner, offers a glimpse into this complex, enigmatic man’s last years—years that he lived “like his country: scarred, and incapable of fully healing.”

Customer Reviews:

Harrowing and hopeful.......2007-02-27

I first spotted this book at a tourist book shop in Phnom Penh and after scanning its pages, I was hooked. It is an immensely absorbing tale, both harrowing and hopeful. I was drawn not only into Dr. Ngor's story but into Dr. Ngor himself. As I kept reading, I felt hungry, exhausted, terrified and sad. But if I wanted it to stop, I simply had to close the book. Not that simple for Dr. Ngor.
I pray that Ngor Haing is now with his Sweet, living the life that was so cruelly denied to them. This book is definitely one of the best I've ever read in my life, and I hope that in your heaven, you can hear me say Thank You, Dr. Ngor.

The best book on Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge.......2007-02-14

If you are interested in reading the memoir of someone who survived the reign of the Khmer Rouge, then I can't reccommend any other book higher. I have read two other books from survivors, but Ngor's book was by far my favourite.

What sets Ngor's book apart from the others that I have read is that Ngor was an adult when the Khmer Rouge took over. His memories are very lucid, and he fully comprehends what is going on around him. He watches his young wife die in his arms, those close to him betray, and everyone around him suffer. There are no high points throughout the entire odysey. Ngor brings you to the senseless and incomprehensible suffering that pervades every aspect of life under the Khmer Rouge.

One element I particularily enjoyed about Ngor's book is the extensive descriptions of Cambodian culture, attitudes and behaviour. Cambodian society (from what I can gather from what I have hitherto studied) is highly formal, with a rather complex series of formality set up for intereaction with others and a rather reserved character in regards to expression of feelings. The most important of which in this context being "kum," which is a sort of bitterness and longing for revenge, that becomes evident in a lot of what is happening. You will leave this read with a feeling of not only being inside of what is happening, but also for the actual mechanisms guiding behaviour.

This is, however, not a pleasant read in the least. The descriptions of the atrocities are beyond anything that I was expecting, and for that reason, I would seriously warn others that this is not for the faint at heart. Luckily, Ngor offers notes at the beginning of graphic chapters so that one can skip over them. You will lose sleep, and I can guarantee you that it makes any of those goofy horror movies like "Hostel" and "Turistas" look like a day at Disneyland. This horror is real, and not far in the past. Being that my normal area of study is Russian history, I have read a lot about the horrors of communism and tyranny, but nothing from the basements of Lyubyanka Prison or Mao Tse Tung's Cultural Revolution comes close to the abominable atrocities of Pol Pot's Cambodia.

Ngor also describes his role in the classic movie, The Killing Fields, as well as his integration of life in America. An afterword by friend Roger Warner ends the book on a particularily haunting and sad note, but rightfully so, none the less.

There are a lot of truely excellent books available by survivors of the Killing Fields, and this is the quintessential starting point for those who wish to learn more.

Your problems are small.......2006-09-14

A very good story. Very honest in presentation. The story telling is excellent. Don't be afraid to read because you think it will make you depressed. There are sad times and the suffering of so many innocent Cambodians can be overwhelming but it is a true story of a time and place that hopefully will cause you to notice world news. This book can put the minor annoyances of life in perspective

An Important Book..........2006-03-21

This book is important for many reasons. First of all, it's important for Americans sitting in their nice, warm, comfortable houses to learn about the nightmare fellow human beings are forced to live through. Second, it's important to learn about how the US allowed such thigns to go on (don't get me wrong, I'm a patriot, but we were wrong not to do anything). And lastly, it's important to learn about the Cambodians themselves and their incredible will to live. This isn't just a tale of blood and gore. It's also about true love that can survive even the most terrifying experiences. And it's about a man who against all odds escaped, but who then went on to do everything in his power to help his countrymen. Read this book! You will not regret it.

Highly Recommended.......2006-01-13

I read this book 2 years ago, and still consider it one of the most compelling and important books I have ever read. Besides being completely absorbed by this man's life and experiences, I learned so much valuable information about Cambodia from it that I wish it was required reading for anyone traveling there.

Blended seamlessly with the narrative you will learn of the history and culture of the Cambodians, the groundwork for the rise of the Khmer Rouge, the horrors and fallacies of life under a Communist regime, and the story of Pol Pot. I also gained an insight into Buddhist thought and daily life in Cambodia, all of which prepared me well for my trip there.

Haing Ngor's life story also helped me understand the damaging psychological consequences endured by the victims of this Holocaust, and of the difficulties Cambodians have had in trying to adjust to life in America. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from this book, and many which can give us a better ability to analyze current international events. If you read no other book about Cambodia, read this one.

Book Description

An Irish missionary's exploits in the Eastern Arctic, 1946-51, illustrated with colour photographs .

Customer Reviews:

An insightful look at life in the far north in days gone by........1998-03-26

Arnold Ruskell has a delightfully humorous way of telling about life in the Arctic as it was when the Inuit were still a nomadic people. Although it is the diary of an Irish, Anglican priest, it is not "religious". It was an enjoyable read.

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