This is the first full-length study of the role played by British Intelligence in influencing policy towards Japan from the decline of the Alliance to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Using many previously classified records it describes how the image of Japan generated by Intelligence during this period led Britain to underestimate Japanese military capabilities in 1941. The book shows how this image was derived from a lack of adequate intelligence resources and racially driven assumptions about Japanese national characteristics.

The central argument of this book is that Western political philosophy is a coherent tradition dominated by an agreement that the nature of man should serve as the standard for evaluating political things. Although the philosophers of the Western political tradition are all original thinkers whose theories are alternatives to each other, and although there are actual and serviceable distinctions between the ancient and modern periods, these differences ultimately must be transcended in order to answer the question-what constitutes the coherence or mainstream of the Western political tradition? Despite the significant disagreements among them, these philosophers agreed that the mainstream is defined by declaring that man has a nature, that his nature is ascertainable, and that his nature is the appropriate standard for evaluating political problems and prescribing remedies for political defects. The political community exists for man. It is an instrument of his happiness. Therefore, the mainstream is agreed that political life is, or can be, good, and that to live apolitically, outside the political community, is to live improperly and dysfunctionally. Finally, the mainstream is agreed that the rule of law is a very high thing because the rule of law is the means by which most men can live a decent and perhaps even a rational life. Contents: Preface; Western Political Philosophy: The Quest; The Ancients: The Discovery of a Standard; The Ancients: Political Things are Natural; The Ancients: The Art of Government; The Moderns: The Alteration of the Standard; The Moderns: Political Things are Conventional; The Moderns: The Science of Government; The Crosscurrent; The Principles of the Mainstream of Western Political Thought; Notes; Suggested Readings; Index.

What is involved in restoring a river? River Quality: Dynamics and Restoration answers this question through a series of articles and case studies written by some of the field's leading researchers and practitioners. The first part of the book covers the physical, chemical, and biological dynamics of a river system. The second part describes monitoring programs and remedial measures used to restore river systems back to healthy and functional states. The Willamette River in Oregon and the Vistula River in Poland are used to illustrate the dynamic and restoration processes. Each river is in a different stage of restoration and is subjected to different degrees of stress from agriculture, industry, and urbanization. The Willamette is an internationally cited example of a restored river, while the Vistula is a river that has just recently begun the restoration process. Contrasts and comparisons of the two river systems enable readers to learn the limitations of restoration processes and what is involved in the different stages of restoration.

This is the first full-length study of the role played by British Intelligence in influencing policy towards Japan from the decline of the Alliance to the outbreak of the Pacific War. Using many previously classified records it describes how the image of Japan generated by Intelligence during this period led Britain to underestimate Japanese military capabilities in 1941. The book shows how this image was derived from a lack of adequate intelligence resources and racially driven assumptions about Japanese national characteristics.

This wartime biography follows the life of a Second World War B-17 bombardier from the beginning of the war to its conclusion. Based on the 150 letters the airman, Fred Lull, wrote home to his mother, much of the horrors of what he experienced off the wing of his plane, aircraft destroyed, dismemberment by flak, go unshared. Fred did not want his mother to worry and could not tell her: 'I noticed some movement and a flash of light out of the corner of my right eye. The plane that had been flying right next to us had exploded and simply disappeared.' Using the bombardier's combat flight record, research data and interviews of former B-17 crew members, the story unfolds, breaking through the barrier of an unwillingness and inability to tell loved ones of the smell and taste of war.

Merriam Press World War 2 Historical Fiction. "Gary Best takes the reader into a German prisoner of war camp and tells a story revealing the hopes, fears, humor, deprivations, and surprises of an experience most of us can only imagine. A lone American POW lands in a group of captured British officers and finds friendship, inspiration, and the rediscovery of a neglected talent that contributes to an unforgettable Christmas moment. Set in the final months of World War II and informed by the recollections of POW survivors, Christmas in the Bag honors the courage and resourcefulness of the prisoners of war and offers a touching insight into their sacrifice for our freedom." -Father Chris Cordes, Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, Columbia, Missouri. Illustrated.