Major General Sid Shachnow is more than a highly decorated Vietnam War veteran with two Silver and three Bronze Stars with V for Valor. He survived a crucible far crueler than the jungles of Vietnam: Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe; spending three years in the notorious Kovno concentration camp as a child. At age ten; with nothing but rags on his back; he was finally able to flee that hellhole. Most of those he left behind died.After returning to his home in Lithuania; now occupied by the Soviets; and finding it unbearable; Shachnow and his family decided to head west; often on foot; across Europe to the U.S. zone in Germany; where they found refuge. To earn a living in the grim aftermath of war; he smuggled black market contraband for American GIs. His next journey was to America; where he worked his way through school and enlisted in the U.S. Army; volunteering for U.S. Special Forces; where he served for thirty-two years. His primary goal was to save others from the indignities he had endured and the deadly fate he so narrowly escaped.From Vietnam to the Middle East to the Berlin Wall; Sydney Shachnow served in Special Operations. He grew as Special Forces grew; receiving both a master's and a doctoral degree. He traveled the world; rising to major general; responsible for American Special Forces everywhere; but the lessons of Kovno stayed with him wherever he turned; wherever he soldiered. Hope and Honor is a powerful and dramatic memoir that shows how the will to live---so painfully refined in the fires of that long-ago death camp---was forged; at last; into truth of soul and wisdom of the heart.
#868385 in Books Gordon Yefim 2015-05-20Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 11.30 x 1.00 x 8.80l; 3.66 #File Name: 0764348949272 pagesTupolev Tu 144 The Soviet Supersonic Airliner
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A Gallant FailureBy Jeffrey F. BellA definitive look at the most expensive failure in civil aviation. The only weak point is that there is little serious analysis as to why the aircraft was rejected by Aeroflot management after a very limited program of revenue flights. Some reasons only hinted at in the book:-- it required special nitrogenated low-boiloff fuel like the SR-71 which was unavailable at foreign airports-- for domestic overland flights; sonic booms would have provoked intense opposition from the local Party leaders in towns under the flight paths. The test program was limited to one round-trip between Moscow and Alma-Ata per week and much of this route was steppe inhabited by a few nomadic tribes.-- the NK-144 engines had to run in afterburner during cruise (Concorde had "supercruise" capability)-- Soviet society simply lacked the overclass of capitalists and rock stars that could have afforded realistic ticket prices. Even at the unrealistically low prices charged for the "route-proving" flights; many of the passengers were Western tourists.Despite its commercial failure; the Tu-144 remains technically interesting and was NOT a copy of Concorde. The combination of drooping elevons and retractable canards was a clever way to keep landing speeds and runway lengths within the limits of existing airports. It is surprising that this solution has seldom been seen in later SST concepts.6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Excellent book on an ambitious conceptBy JCALExcellent book on an ambitious project.The only quibble I have with this book is I would have liked a chapter on the engine.The only other ambitious book on the TU-144 that was published in english I am aware of is; "Soviet SST: The Techno-Politics Of The Tupolev-144 by Howard Moon" And that volume is pushing 20 years old. If you're going to buy one book to cover the history of the TU-144; this maybe the one; even if others are published in the future.I will admit that I have always been pleased by the efforts of Mr. Gordon and Mr. Komissarov. I will buy their books without any hesitation. I would love to see them translate/publish Russian aviation books that have not been previously published in english as well.8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Excellent History of the "Concordeski;" the Soviet Take on a Supersonic AirlinerBy E. R. EismanThis is a great book; the best and most complete assessment we're ever likely to see of this beautiful; but; in-the-end fatally-flawed; airliner. The text is accompanied by great photos; and side-view drawing; many in color; and includes the remarkable; and unique; joint U.S.-Russian research and flight testing program of the Tu-144. Though withdrawn rather quickly from commercial service with Aeroflot; the Tu-144 is; nonetheless; a significant aspect of the thus far unsuccessful effort to develop a viable commercial supersonic airliner.
