Hundreds of thousands of Americans have served in the Middle East, putting their lives on the line and fighting for not only the future of our nation, but the future of the countries they helped free from tyranny. Regardless of one's political views or otherwise about these wars, Americans overwhelmingly support the men and women serving their country. Many of us, however, are curious about what these soldiers have seen, felt, and done while fighting in the epicenter of fundamental Islamists and terrorists.Letters From The Front Lines is a moving collection of letters, e-mails, and blog entries from those serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. It was put together by Rear Admiral Stuart F. Platt (retired), who served under President Ronald Reagan as the Navy's first Competition Advocate General.

The elite hotels of Africa serve as an interface between the tribal, religious, social and cultural aspects of Africa and the global uniformity of international business culture. They are also the places where the unseen resources of many African countries - oil, diamonds, minerals - are bartered away behind closed doors. These are environments which have a strangely hybrid quality - their design, their cuisine, musak and global TV echoing 'international' standards. Yet they are ultimately sites of tension, where cultures collide and conflict. At the same time, however, these hotels are viewed by their local communities as symbols of achievement which contradict the more usual representations of Africa.Far from being despised as enclaves of the rich, these hotels have become 'objects of desire', the dream venue for weddings and where to be invited to a business conference is to have reached the pinnacle of success. And for most hotel employees there is the reassurance of wages that are higher than they could earn elsewhere and therefore their duties are carried out with pride and self-assurance.

Arming the US military is an ongoing process, one of vital importance. This book will help Americas leaders, educators and general public better understand how to manage the business of rearmament. Drawing on historical anecdotes, common business principles and the authors 31 years of military service, the book provides an engaging and educational look at the complexities of arming the American military.

Ambiguity Revisited is concerned with the manner in which pictures communicate with the spectator. Its focus lies in those fluid, indeterminate spaces where our reading of images, in art and photography, exercises and draws upon our imagination, memory, and experience. Sir William Empsons seminal (1930) text: Seven Types of Ambiguity is used as a springboard to discussion, towards a fresh way of exploring ambiguity beyond English literature, and in a broader framework to that contained in John Bergers (1989) Another Way of Telling. The use of ambiguity in art and photography, as in literature, is both a conscious and an unconscious act; and ambiguity influences the way in which we respond to work, from Leonardo da Vincis portraits to the photographer William Egglestons engaging and idiosyncratic reflections on Americas Deep South. This ambiguity is a force for good, or at least one to be reckoned with, due to its participatory nature in actively engaging with, or masking itself from, the viewer. Ambiguity is infrequently discussed but is highly relevant as an expressive device. It holds a position at the core of communication within the visual arts. As society becomes influenced increasingly by communications delivered in a visual form, so we, the consumers, require tools, more than ever, to engage with the work.

British photographer Stuart Franklin (*1956, London), a member of Magnum Photos, received the World Press Photo Award in 1989 and worked on many stories for National Geographic. He also holds a doctorate degree in geography which continuously impacts his work. His photography is concerned with landscape and ecology, exploring different concepts of landscape photography and the associations the term evokes. For his latest photo book, Franklin explores the idea of images as analogies: he traces how time and landscape interact, how the human influence shapes it, and where landscape and art meet. Investigating the photograph as a means of visual metaphor, he finds faces and familiar figures in twisted trees, rocks, clouds, and photographed fossils, gardens, and sculptures. The book presents black-and-white images from France, Portugal, Spain, Oman, Turkey, and Malta—landscape photography a whole new twist! This limited special edition of 99 copies includes an original print each.

Stuart Franklin (*1956 in London), a member of Magnum Photos and a geographer, travels around the world as a photojournalist, capturing historical events-from the massacre at Tiananmen Square to the Intifada-on film. But a trip to the region of More og Romsdal on Norway's west coast prompted him to pause: Franklin bought a cottage by a lake on the island of Otroya, spending a great deal of time there over the next two and a half years. Narcissus documents his experience in this remote place, which led to a deeper understanding and sensitivity for the abundance around him in an environment that at first seemed barren. These very tranquil, contemplative, and introverted landscape photographs time and again seek references to human beings-a path, a chopping block in a far corner of the property, the reflection of the silhouette of a mountain in a lake that seems to melt into a human portrait. An urbanite encounters a small, special piece of nature and sees his own reflection in it.