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A strikingrange of brilliant oils and pastels by a master of colour, light, and atmosphere, taking inspiration from the realists' attention to physical details and the fauvists' use of untamed colours and forms. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Stockwell Scorches
Maximum visual pleasure from this book of stunning landscapes.
As an artist, I have never felt such an affinity with another fellow painter.John made me want to change my whole style of painting completely to dare to capture, if only in minute portions, his magic.This book has never left my sight for the last two months.Stockwell gives a new meaning to abstraction.
Hooray that someone can see landscapes in big, sweeping blocks of color.

Profoundly original and breathtaking...
John Stockwell's work as seen in this remarkable book is beautiful. Be prepared to develop a very strong desire to own one of Stockwell's paintings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Well worth it.
I first read this book 27 years ago as a senior in college. The author spent several days on campus lecturing to a small group of seniors who took part in this particualr seminar course. It was absolutely fascinating. I will read this book again.

Later that year I formally applied to the CIA's training program. I attended a large group orientation meeting - maybe 60 people. In the course of the meeting a list of suggested reading material was passed out to all. During Q & A time I asked the CIA presenter why Stockwell's book was conspicuously absent from the reading list. "Oh, you must be the guy from Vassar." was his only comment. He correctly identified me out of an otherwise anonymous group of applicants just from the question I asked. He knew Stockwell was on campus. He knew I must have attended his class. These guys do their homework. I'll never forget it.

CIA
Well written book on the operations of the CIA in Angola by a well-respected authority who was once on the inside.

Good title expressing the CIA and US military-industrial complex' need to find enemies since WWII down to our day.

Nuts and bolts of a CIA covert operation
In the last decade, a lot of CIA exposés have been published, with the declassification of many previously unavailable documents. What distinguishes this one is that it was originally published in 1976, which makes it one of the first, and it is written by an extraordinary man who could not have been more personally involved in the subject of his book.

If you are looking for a James Bond genre spy novel, you will be disappointed. If you want to understand, in detail, the actual structure and dynamics of a covert CIA operation, this book is the jackpot. In the early 1970's Mr. Stockwell was in charge of the Angola Task Force. He knows what he is talking about. This book is very direct and hits hard. For the most part Stockwell just presents the facts and allows the reader to decide, but of course the book is written after he experienced a moral rectification and left the CIA. The book is intended as an insider's exposé, and it does a fantastic job. He makes no attempt to justify his own role in the drama, referring to himself as a "villain".

Personally, I found the author to be a fascinating man. He grew up in the heart of the Belgium Congo, where he learned French and Tshiluba, one of the many native languages of the country. Obviously, he got a first hand glimpse of an African nation colonized by a European power. I assume he learned English from his parents, his vocabulary is slightly more extensive than my own.

Later he joined the Marines, and as a reconnaissance officer on a Navy cruise he engaged in covert hydrographic surveys off the western African coast.Afterwards, as a CIA officer, he did a tour of duty in Vietnam, but has apparently had many CIA experiences in many African countries as well. I hope this man writes a biography someday, it would be fascinating.

As the author himself recommends, buy a used copy of this book already in circulation, not a new copy. The CIA sued Stockwell over publication of this book, and all new sales proceeds go to the agency, not to him. That by itself is a strong recommendation to read his story.

In a word - DRY
Not to put too fine a point on it but this book is DRY - almost like a text book.There is very little action and/or suspense brought forth about involvement in the Angola operation and what could have been was quickly blunted with operational and bureaucratic detail.And that's how the book drags on, with excruciating detail. In one part, Mr. Stockwell describes what he did to finally get a desk to work from at Langley by sitting in the hall in everyone's way and stacking his papers up beside him.What took him pages to describe should've been done in a simple paragraph.To be fair, the book is written from the viewpoint of an intelligence staffer not a cloak and dagger operative. Yes, there might be some interest in how inefficient the CIA was operating back in the mid-1970s but that's true for most large government organizations. He also describes some of the "political" machinations between officials within the CIA.Again, mildly interesting but nothing notable. Some of the descriptions of dialog and reactions of persons seems contrived, almost as if he (or some ghost writer) added these things for effect. It almost "reads" like a fiction novel in that respect. Rather than writing a solid, crisp account with thoughtful and concise opinions about CIA policy and inner workings the book devolves often times into monotonous detail. However, in the latter chapters the account does get more interesting as he discusses "plausible deniability" and the deception of the CIA to "hide" their involvement. One of the more interesting parts is the organizational background and resources needed to run an operation of this type including the shipping of weapons and ammo, the propaganda strategy, the political workings thru committees, the State Department and the President to gain support, etc.The book does makes one wonder what other rebellions or conflicts the CIA was involved in over the last 30-40 years and is an eye opener about our nations espionage policies. On this level, the book succeeds.But, in the end the book was almost a grind to finish.I'd only recommend this one for the hard core 'spook' fan.

Hardened cynic
It is most interesting to read Mr. Stockwell in light of the fall of the Soviet Union.Before it fell, he was preaching the dread of nuclear annihilation and the common brotherhood of American and Soviet peoples.Ronald Reagan of course, was a apocalyptic fanatic.All well and good - except we won the Cold War and the people behind the Iron Curtain celebrated their liberation for all the world to see.The Soviet horror was worse than we had imagined.

One can not but honor John Stockwell for his service and listen to him carefully for his experience.Especially the bloody mistakes we have made, which he exposes.But in the end, he leaves us with no other plan than for shame and national passivity.What can we do, if all that we do leads to the suffering of innocent peoples caught in the middle?

I make this judgement only from having read John Stockwell and heard his speeches - but he seems like the character who sees too much of the horror of the world - and is utterly cynicized about any good - especially that of his own country.He alone knows the truth.

His first-hand experience makes him a powerful voice.But that does not mean his voice speaks true. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Must Read
Great Read, it goes really fast.Really important to know the MO of our government in the past, it will really give you insight into how we operate and why things are happenning at the moment.
Must Read.

More about John
I knew John right about the time he wrote this book and also met his family. The reviewer who suggested that he might be part of a CIA program in writing this book is way, way off. This man has put himself (and his family) in a very scary position and he deserves a lot of credit for coming out with the truths he knows. I knew him and did some work for him for about a year and I also knew someone else that had known him for decades. John Stockwell deserves many kudos for his courage and integrity in coming out with what he knows. You can believe the book. I hope he will come out with more.

THE BITTER TRUTH
This book explains the intricate, intense, and often unjustified involvement of the CIA in many parts of the world, through thousands of covert operations, which, according to the book and other sources, have ended the lifes of millions of people.It describes secret and obscure operations, some of which entailed the killing of people by the thousands at Angola, and others such as the one which overthrew the first democratic government in Guatemala, and the creation of the infamous "death squads" in that country and El Salvador, to murder civilians and seed terror among the people.All orchestrated by our CIA, apparently in the name of national interests. I will not say much about this, because I urge you to read the book, but many of these operations were bloody, bloody, bloody, and they were emphatically denied at official briefings to the Congress, which, needless to say, is a felony.

Stockwell goes deep, and he surely has bases to do it.He is the highest rank CIA official ever to go public.And even though this book has been censored, you still can get pretty much information from it.You will realize that most of the time, the CIA hasn't really had fair motives to carry out the operations.The real interests behind all of it are completely different from the picture that we get from the news and the official reports from our government. Reading this one will make you end up with a sad feeling after having been shown the bitterness of reality.It will make you wonder about which has been our true government, and you will want to ask if all our "liberties" and "freedoms" have been paid at the cost of millions of innocent children, women, and men from all over the world.

Interesting, but not great
The Praetorian Guard purports to tell the secrets of what the US government is really doing in the world and why.The author is ex-CIA and uses his inside knowledge to tell stories of what goes on in the world-behind-the-scenes.And they are interesting stories, certainly.He especially dwells on what are in his views the evils of the Reagan and Bush (1st Bush) administrations.He does mention activities before the Reagan era, but his disgust and dislike of the politics of both Reagan and Bush make his writing into more of a rant against those two than against world destabilization.One gets the feeling that he would still be in favor of all the secret dealings in the world if only they favored his own political objectives.That may be completely wrong and Mr. Stockwell may indeed be against these activities in general, but if so he spent a little too much of his anger directly on Reagan and Bush.Not that they are blameless.
When I picked up this book, I expected something much more "scholarly" than what I got.Perhaps that is my fault.I expected more time to be spent on the Why's of all this covert activity.I expected more revelation as to the motivations and direction or these top policy makers.Instead I got stories.Certainly, some of the subject matter is supposed to be secret and undocumentable, but there was plenty of mention of activities which were and are documentable.Mr. Stockwell's credibility in the book would have been much improved if he had included documentation for those things where it was available.
The author makes the claim that the CIA has had many books published to favor their own agendas.I am left wondering if this book itself was written and published under the same program.The stories contained therein are certainly plausible, and I believe much of it.But as the author well knows, a little truth makes for the best lies.The reader is left wondering how much to believe, and I am sure will believe only what their previous political inclinations let them believe.
I am a bit baffled by the 5 stars reviews previously posted.Perhaps my hopes were too high when I began reading this book.It is interesting and worth a good read.It is written well enough to be read in a couple of days.It is not a five star book, however.

Truths Be Told
While Mr. Stockwell does not write in the manner of a Noam Chomskey, citing historical precedents, etc., but his book is still a must read for anyone concerned about the damage that is about to be perpatrated upon us as a people. Mr. Stockwell's writing is closer to a thesis style and that's why I gave it 4 stars. This, however, does not minimize the importance of the information provided. This book should be read by all those concerned with our civil liberties, the ecology, and humanitarian issues. He even touches upon two items that failed during the Bush presidency, but appears to become a reality during the Chaney presidency: the raping of our social security, and the destruction of freedom as we know it today. Back in 1990, Mr. Stockwell inadvertantly warned about what bi-partison economists are saying today. That is, the social security fund WILL NOT be bankrupt as the American people are being told. It's just seen as an extra windfall for the elite. Once this is dismantled, we will be returned to the days working 12-to-16 hours per day, 6-to-7 days per week, no healthcare, and script to buy from the company store. Knowledge is power, do yourself a favor, get knowledgeable. ... Read more

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99 Ready-to-Use Checklists, Charts, and Forms That Guarantee Success in Direct ResponseHere's everything you need to save time, reduce costs, eliminate risk, and ensure that your direct marketing programs are on track to succeed.This all-inclusive set of checklists covers every key element of direct marketing planning, strategy development, budgeting, and successful implementation. It will help you:

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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A Collection Of Poetry Connected With Swedenborg's Philosophy And Mysticism. ... Read more

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The prevention of harm from drug use, both legal and illegal, is a major concern to government departments and clinicians throughout the world. Recently, much new research has been conducted regarding global levels and patterns of drug-related harm, on common risk factors with other social problems (e.g. mental health, crime) and on the effectiveness of wide range of intervention strategies. There is a need to summarise and synthesise this new knowledge for use in a range of disciplines. Preventing Harmful Substance Use offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date advice available on the prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. Contributors provide authoritative, science-based reviews of knowledge on their areas of expertise, and make clear recommendations for the future of prevention policy and practice. A final section draws the work together and offers a framework for an integrated science of prevention. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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In the past 40 years geophysicists have found that it is possible to construct images and even determine important physical characteristics of rocks that can yield information about oil and gas bearing structures in the earth. To make these images and extract this information requires the application of an advanced understanding of the mathematical physics of wave propagation. The oil and gas industry labels a major collection of the necessary seismic data processing methods by the name seismic "migration."This text is the first to treat many kinds of migration in a unified mathematical way. The audience is mathematically oriented geophysicists or applied mathematicians working in the field of "inverse scattering imaging." The text can serve as a bridge between the applied math and geophysics community by presenting geophysicists with a practical introduction to advanced engineering mathematics, while presenting mathematicians with a window into the world of the mathematically sophisticated geophysicist. ... Read more

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This digital document, covering the life and work of John R(obert) Stockwell, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 820 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
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• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author