Real account and it's not the version we all read ...
937701
Real account and it's not the version we all read in school where certain things weren't as explicit and other details weren't mentioned.
No fairy tale, don't read to children as a bed time story.
I met this man once and he certainly was a survivor with numbers still on his arm.
1808823
This is indeed a fascinating insider's story of one of the first European PMC's. I first read Singer's Corporate Warriors, and found it very interesting to compare and confront the views of the two authors on the topic of "private armies". I have to add that I was rather disappointed by the almost systematic (spelling?) errors in the (non English) names of persons or places in the BiH chapter. Was it so difficult to check and correct this before publishing the book?
3630613
The story told here is one sided.  This is David's version which is IMHO, very slanted toward his point of view. I am sure if those players on the other end were to write this story their views would heavily conflict with David's.

In my opinion, much of the activities that DI engaged in were the result of his working his short position.  There is a good reason that DI is so well connected to a few financial journalists.  He needed to get his story told in order for his short position to work. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.  This is the way hedge funds/institutional investors work their positions.  This book becomes much more interesting for a reader who takes the time to investigate both sides of this story.  I followed this, and other DI shorts very closely while they were happening and I can tell you that this was an interesting event.  The book is worth reading and I enjoyed it.
4573868
This book is a much better account of the events that transpired on that tragic day on Everest.  The facts are much more clearly presented as they were communicated by an actual eyewitness participant in the events. The book "Into Thin Air" by Krakauer seems a confusing, twisted reconstruction of the events.  This is not surprising due to the fact that Krakauer was sleeping in his tent and refused to participate in the rescue.

I read "Into Thin Air" first and was left with the feeling that something was missing, something fabricated, incomplete.  Reading Anatolis account in "The Climb" filled in the blanks and revealed Krakauer for the lowly person and journalist that he is.

The Climb is the real deal as was Anatoli Boukreev the mountaineer and climber.  Into thin Air was nothing but egotistical fantasy as was the author Jon Krakauer.
1679030
Wonderful accounting from a host of witnesses.  A little too scary when compared with how other nations fared ... including ours.
2584012
This is more than a bit scary to read of how so many of the Left's _current_ pantheon of "heroes" are actually truly screwed up people who have led personally miserable lives - and are inflicting the results of their misery on the rest of us.

Horowitz's accounts are personal as he was an activist / radical of the Left during the same time these individuals rose to their prominence.  His accounts of the misery and truly destructive lives these people led is illuminating.  They didn't get better, they didn't recover - they turned their destructive passion on the rest of us and now we're paying for it.

The accounts are revealing and personal at times.  This is a good, if somewhat brief, primer on several individuals.  Some of them are still held as being luminaries in liberal circles today.  A sad testament, that.
449718
I first heard of the story on SYFY's Paranormal Witness, then I rented the movie The Possession.  The book differs from both of those accounts.  It's an interesting story, and I believe that the author tried to sincerely research and write logically about a fantastical event in his life.  Keep an open mind but question what you read.  I applaud the author for choosing to do the responsible thing in the end.  Sometimes we have to lay mysteries aside and turn to the tangible and more familiar sources which sustain us.
52540
A few years back I was doing some consulting for a production company that was thinking of adapting Magic Castle as a movie. Halfway through the book, I couldn't help but feel that the author was taking liberties with the truth, a feeling that grew stronger as I progressed.  I took the book to a friend who is a clinical psychologist on staff at USC and she agreed with me that there was something very fishy about Smith's account - she guessed that it could not stand up to any sort of real scrutiny and doubted whether most of the events even took place at all.  My conclusion for the prod co was:

The first thing that should be noted here is that "Magic Castle" does not feel credible.  The story is presented in a way that seems a bit too outrageous.  The key elements in this story - Multiple Personality Disorder, Satanic Ritual Abuse and deep Hypnotherapy as practiced by Kingsbury have all been discredited by the psychiatric community.  Smith's account feels contrived, especially when she ramps up the "action" by revealing that a cult of Satanists abused and tortured Alex.  There are elements here that read like similar cases that either turned out to be exaggerated or downright hoaxes.  It would not be surprising if "Magic Castle" were discredited in the future.

All of the above being said, "Castle" is a compelling and harrowing account of a boy's struggle with mental illness and the steadfast woman who helped him.

My guess is that if this book were published today, it would shortly be discredited the same way that recent memoirs, from A MILLION LITTLE PIECES to THREE CUPS OF TEA, have been.

It's an entertaining read but don't believe for a second that what is on the page actually happened.
3401518
Let's set the record straight - this is an authentic account,that's very well written,and totally plausible. The author's service in the 1st SS-Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler,(LAH),place him in the correct places at the corresponding times mentioned in the book. In addition the photos of him in service at the various battlefront locations,also ring true. I have deeply studied the history and background of the LAH,and the author's understanding and experience leave no doubt as to what occurred. This is well worth your time reading,if you have any interest in warfare on the Eastern Front.  "Fur Volk & Fuhrer" (Erwin Bartmann) is a highly recommended companion read,as he also served in the LAH,and is an additional  excellent veteran's account,which can also be fully substantiated.
3602057
I won't go into all the inaccuracies here.  Very fun to read, but please follow it up with the real story via Alison Weir or another reputable historian.
4316041
My opinion differs from many of the others here. I don't think that one needs to draw any conclusion from the book.  Indeed, I don't think you can.  Accept it for what it is, a well written story that pokes holes in the accepted wisdom.  Given the amount of time that has passed and the deaths of all the principles, it is unlikely that we'll ever "know" the whole truth.  But in showing us that we can never know, Toland has performed a valuable service.
1222431
Well written 1st person account of the results of the "Revolucin" that doesn't sugar coat the facts.  A fresh perspective.
3984654
The approach of this book is quite unique in its perspective. The "who dunnit" account forces you as a reader to consider the facts as they have been reported several times in a different, often startling, manner. A definite read.
3237743
Buyer beware!

This book is purportedly a "true account" of a Polish army officer who escapes from the Nazis at the beginning of WWII only to be captured, tortured and deported to Siberia by the Russians.  Most of the book deals with his escape (along with several other captives) from the camp and wondering through Siberia, across the Gobi desert, over the Himalayas to India.

The fact is that the story is fictional.  There is no evidence for its truthfulness, on the contrary.  Besides the account of Rawics' eventual admission to the fact that he made it up, there are no military records from Indian or British military archives that document the "arrival" of Rawicz and his fellow escapees (see Wikipedia for a list of sources).  Moreover, there are enough clues throughout the book that will make you raise your eyebrows with respect to the  book's authenticity.  Which is a pity since the book is a good read and is hard to put down once a person gets into it.  It that more unfortunate as there are many people who enjoy reading biographical accounts to help them shape their view of events and of the world.  Since this is a made up story, it is also misleading in many ways, although there are things that Rawicz got right as the story is based in a real-life context.

It is entertaining and certainly a captivating read at times.  In some ways it's an inspiring story of survival and endurance.  But due to the misleading information about its fictional basis I have a hard time recommending it.
2957107
The TRUTH at last!  How wonderful that several people, including Andreas FaberKaiser, have taken the time to investigate and report on the real Jesus, and not the Roman manufactured Jesus.  There are other such references to this matter, and I've read many different versions, and they all lead AWAY from Rome!
4774946
I was able to obtain a copy of this book, even though it is out of print by checking used copies on the Amazon site.  "Strange Fires" tells the story of John Wesley's time in the United States, taken from a coded diary that he kept.  I was not able to find any sources that affirmed the accuracy of Ms. Ethridge's translation of this diary.  It sounded authentic, but I wanted some secondary sources to confirm this story as fact, not fiction.  Because it does not reflect well on the character to Joh Wesley before his "strangely warmed heart" experience, I am sure other biographers might wish to suppress this story.
3628594
Very interesting to read about the REAL King of Siam. It seems that our Anna was a fraud, and made her name up and her history, too. Hmmm. Interesting that the general public isn't aware of this.