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Netsurfer Recommendations

Winning Modern Wars: Iraq, Terrorism, and the American Empire
Wesley K. Clark
Public Affairs; ISBN: 1586482181

Because the author is a credible US Presidential candidate, it's no wonder that the book is attracting scrutiny. Clark is a former general, most notably the head of NATO during the late '90s Kosovo war. His account of that war, " Waging Modern War: Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Future of Combat", made our book recommendations list for its fascinating depiction of modern warfare at the high-command level as a complex problem of diplomacy and management. Clark's new work is really two books in one. The first half is a fairly straightforward military history of the latest Gulf War, along with Clark's analysis of what went right and what went wrong. The second half of the book focuses on broader policy issues raised by the problem of terrorism, the aftermath in Iraq, and the future global role of the US. Clark makes many good points about the shortcomings of military solutions to those complex problems, which he notes cannot be realistically solved in this generation. Clark writes well and is not afraid to tackle the hard issues facing the current US. The book is much better than any political puff piece produced as propaganda by an aspiring politician. Even if Clark were not a leading Presidential candidate, his arguments would be eminently worth reading.

Things a Computer Scientist Rarely Talks About
Donald Ervin Knuth
C S L I Publications; ISBN: 1575863278

Donald Knuth is widely regarded as one of the founders of the field of computer science. While his life's work can be said to be the landmark and still growing " The Art of Computer Programming", Knuth also has a deeply religious side. His scientific and spiritual worlds came together in his 3:16 Project and the associated 1990 book, " 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated". In order to learn more about the Bible, Knuth decided to use a stratified sampling methodology, choosing chapter 3 verse 16 from each book and setting out to learn all he could about each. This new book is a compilation of Knuth's lectures and conversations, and is his account of how the 3:16 Project came to be and how he used tools of computer science to delve into things as diverse as language translation and the aesthetics of calligraphy. This is an odd duck of a book, deeply infused with Knuth's religious beliefs but firmly planted in the mathematics of computer science. We should emphasize that you don't have to be spiritually inclined in any particular direction, or at all, to enjoy Knuth's story. It's just one of those books that will take your thoughts in many directions, much as the project led Knuth to find deep mathematics in the most unexpected places.

The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2003
Dave Eggers (Editor), Zadie Smith (Editor)
Houghton Mifflin Co; ISBN: 0618246959

Part of the long running "Best American" series, this collection of oddball pieces debuted last year and aims to attract high-school-age readers. The selections can however be enjoyed by just about anybody, particularly those who managed to preserve that ineffable adolescent sense of humor somewhere in the folds of their greying matter. They have been culled from such sources as the Onion, the New Yorker, Shout, and Time. There's no overall theme, just a collection of things that Eggers and his editorial team thought were cool. Come to think of it, that's very much the philosophy behind your beloved NSD. And we in turn think that this collection, along with last year's edition, are full of cool off-beat writing. Give it a try, and think of us when you wind up enjoying it.

Fortress Third Reich: German Fortifications and Defense Systems in World War II
J. E. Kaufmann, H. W. Kaufmann, Robert M. Jurga (Illustrator)
DaCapo Press; ISBN: 0306812398

We're fairly sure we won't sell a single copy of this book to our readers (although maybe our editor will spring for one). But, what the heck - sometimes you just have to support those odd projects which are so specialized that only a handful of people in the world really care about them. And talk about specialized. This is basically a book all about German World War II bunkers and other fortifications, their architecture, philosophy, and uses. That's it. The book has lots of drawings, plans, and black-and-white photos. We feature it solely to benefit all those military architects and World War II game designers and players among our readers. If any. Enjoy, and never tell us we don't care about you.