American Religious and Biblical Spectaculars

Book Description

This intriguing book explores why spectacular films involving Biblical figures or set in Biblical times have been a staple of filmmaking since talkies began. Forshey looks at these films, and suggests that the underlying purpose was to mediate between a monistic scientific world view and a dualistic religious world view, and between secular and religious ethics. Forshey discusses how filmic, political, religious, and cultural history influenced filmmakers of these spectaculars. The first chapter differentiates between religious spectaculars and biblical spectaculars. Following are chapters on early religious films and others on how the post-war and cold war led to a struggle to define the righteous nation. The chapters on biblical spectaculars examine films in which sex and social responsibility was a paramount concern (Samson and Delilah, David and Bathsheba). The 1960s were dominated by films about Jesus, searching for an ethical system for a world undergoing rapid social change. One entire chapter is devoted to Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, the epitome of the form, followed by chapters on John Huston's The Bible as a culmination of the form, and a final one on how television rethought spectaculars and how Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ drew the battle lines between humanistic Christians and evangelical Christians. American Religious and Biblical Spectaculars will appeal to scholars of film, religion, and popular culture.

American Religious and Biblical Spectaculars

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American Religious and Biblical Spectaculars
Gerald E. Forshey
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORBJPE

Book Description

The Question-and-Answer interview was one of Andy Warhol’s favorite communication vehicles, so much so that he named his own magazine after the form. Yet, never before has anyone published a collection of interviews that Warhol himself gave. I’ll Be Your Mirror contains more then thirty conversations revealing this unique and important artist. Each piece presents a different facet of the Sphinx-like Warhol’s ever-evolving personality. Writer Kenneth Goldsmith provides context and provenance for each selection. Beginning in 1962 with a notorious interview in which Warhol literally begs the interviewer to put words into his mouth, the book covers Warhol’s most important artistic period during the ’60s. As Warhol shifts to filmmaking in the ’70s, this collection explores his emergence as socialite, scene-maker, and trendsetter; his influential Interview magazine; and the Studio 54 scene. In the 80s, his support of young artists like Jean-Michel Basquait, his perspective on art history and the growing relationship to technology in his work are shown. Finally, his return to religious imagery and spirituality are available in an interview conducted just months before his death. Including photographs and previous unpublished interviews, this collage of Warhol showcases the artist’s ability to manipulate, captivate, and enrich American culture.

Customer Reviews:

Theater ... or Andy revealed? .......2004-11-12

Wouldn't it be nice to be so important as to warrant almost 400 pages of being interviewed ... which, for Warhol, are only a selection. I wonder how many people have been interviewed as much?

There's a wide variety of interviews here, from the monosyllabic to the raunchy to more or less conventional in form but intelligent in content(when discussing art with those who understand art well).

What's missing with Warhol when interviewing is that need to explain onself in great detail that seems typical of most of us when given the chance. Somehow, despite our different backgrounds, when interviewed, we all sound the same: the pattern of the self given the chance to own the stage. Warhol often seems comfortable with responses of one simple sentence or less, which requires more interviewer participation and increases the tempo of the interviews.

Warhol's sense of humor and desire for productivity (work, work, work) are apparent. No time to waste words.

To make these interviews seem somewhat more concrete, look on the Web for the BBC audios of Warhol, several 1-3 minute segments that allow you to hear him.

After reading these, I understand him perhaps a little more and he seems a great deal less remote and more likeable. I bought this along with "Andy Warhol 365 Takes" from the Warhol Museum staff: these two books complement each other well, this one focused more on the man and the other on his works. Despite his fame, he seems a greater artist than was at first apparent to me.

U'mm, Uh, Oh Gee, I guess, this book is just okay, yeah!.......2004-10-29

First off, you will buy this book because you are a fan of Warhol and frankly you should buy it because it contains a lot of great stuff. I was super excited when I opened this book because I get a kick out of the thought that Warhol was often gently mocking (well, taunting certainly) us with his obtuse and oblique responses to his media questioners. The problem with not actually being able to see Warhol give these interviews is that it is impossible to know how much actually came from his own lips and how much was created to fit the agenda of the person writing or giving the interview. For instance, whenever Warhol was with one of his co-conspirators he often allowed that person to interject an answer to a question on his behalf. Also, many of these interviews were actually composed to fit a particular world view. For instance, Mr. Malanga's interview of Warhol reads like something that Mr. Malanga wrote, probably with Andy's approval, and then submitted for print. This is okay, but the really great stuff in an Andy Warhol interview is what actually issues from Andy accompanied by all of his funny mannerisms and quirks. This sometimes does come through in a number of interviews contained in this book, particularly ones given to novices and young men but too often the interviews read flat and almost textbook like. I don't want to turn you off to this book because I really believe that it is a worthwhile read. I just don't want you to expect too much so that you won't be disappointed.

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False Advertising
Books - 5 Stars, Binding and Price - 3 Stars

Andy Warhol's Interview (7 Volume Set)
Bruce Weber , Elton John , Jeff Koons , and Andy Warhol
Manufacturer: Edition 7L
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Andy Warhol: Red Books

ASIN: 3865210236
Release Date: 2004-12-02

Book Description

The October 2004 edition of Interview magazine will mark 35 years of the award winning journal founded by pop art pioneer Andy Warhol. In that time it has developed from the newsletter of the Studio 54 set into the definitive guide to the most significant stars of today and tomorrow. Adopting an original format the magazine uses recordings of questions and answer sessions to reveal information about celebrities, politicians, filmmakers, musicians and literary figures. The questions are often put by another celebrity and the answers are revealing, intimate and candid. Alongside the interviews are photographs by the crAme de la crAme of celebrity and fashion photography - Robert Mapplethorpe, Francesco Scavullo, Herb Ritts, Ara Gallant, Peter Beard, Bruce Weber, Perry Berenson and others - who are given the opportunity to make some of their most challenging and original work. For 35 years Interview has offered an original perspective on the sexy, fascinating and funny people who are shaping popular culture. This collection of 7 books presents the first catalogue of the first decade of that extraordinary history and like the rare, early issues of the magazine is bound to become a valuable collector's item.

Customer Reviews:

False Advertising.......2005-02-03

As the previous reviewer noted, there's a huge discrepancy between the description and the actual product. I was at first worried and then, when I learned the truth, disappointed to find that the product I'd recieved was much less than promised. Amazon and the publisher should correct the descriptions immediately. And the price should be adjusted (downwards) to match the actual contents.

Books - 5 Stars, Binding and Price - 3 Stars.......2005-01-25

The information reproduced in these volumes is truly impressive. The 7 books and two slip-cased magazines are a terrific testament to Paul Morrissey, Warhol, and everyone else who worked on the first decade of Inter/View magazine.

The boxed set is packaged expertly, with the books boxed separately from the rough, unfinished plywood "Karl Lagerfeld-designed crate."

The books truly are a treasure of 1970's glamour and kitsch. Each selected article and cover are faithfully reproduced, complete with age-yellowed newsprint and the occasional "Sample Only Please Subscribe" stamped on the page long ago. If it were for content alone, I would give this collection 5 STARS.

That being said, even as a "limited edition of 2000" the $475 price is a bit steep. The Amazon price of $299 is better, but $199 would have been more appropriate.

The description published here and elsewhere is misleading. I suspect they changed the box and bindings before publication to cut back on costs and neglected to send out a new press release with an updated product description.

When I opened the boxes, the books did not match the published product description at all. The "Karl Lagerfeld-designed crate" is rough, unfinished plain yellow painted plywood (not the box with the color photo of Andy in the Santa hat seen above). The books were not uniquely bound in various materials (cloth, plastic, metallic material, etc., as in the description). Each book is bound in the same red, black, and white printed cardboard covers. Also, no Audio CD was included with book 3.

I was concerned that there may have been two additions, so I emailed the publisher. They were very kind and quick to respond:

"I'm very sorry to hear that you did not get what you expected. What you received however is the one and only result of the long working process we had with Interview magazine. If you are not satisfied with it at all I would send it back to Amazon."

If you are at all interested in Warhol, the Factory, or this period, the set is a brilliant edition to any library... just be prepared to be a little disappointed.

Average customer rating:

4 Stars for every one else, 5 for hardcore Warholians
Touched by an Andy
get smart here

Unseen Warhol
John O'Connor , and Benjamin Liu
Manufacturer: Rizzoli International Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0847819671
Release Date: 1996-09-15

Book Description

The paradox of Andy Warhol, who is at once one of the most visible and the most elusive figures of our time, is heightened by this collection of twenty interviews with the artist's closest friends and colleagues. Through their words a more complete picture emerges of the man behind the mirror. Their recollections form an ever entertaining, often fascinating oral history of his career. Complementing the text are more than fifty works from private collections and the Warhol archives, most of which have never been published before.

Interviews in the original Interview mode--direct and unedited--evoke the serendipity and laissez-faire creativity of the Factory, where Warhol reigned without ruling. Included are the stories of Vito Giallo, the studio assistant turned antiques dealer whose shop was a regular stop on Warhol's shopping itinerary; of Baby Jane Holzer, one of the biggest superstars of Warhol's underground films; of Bob Colacello and Marc Balet, former editor and art director at Interview; and of Billy Name, who literally lived at the silver-coated Factory during the turbulent sixties.

Photographs by Billy Name, Paige Powell, and other friends create a clearer, more intimate picture of the artist and all that swirled around him.

Customer Reviews:

4 Stars for every one else, 5 for hardcore Warholians.......2003-06-14

This book is a genuine pleasure to read, and a trove of insights into an Andy Warhol that really hasn't been masticated to death in every other book about Warhol. It was compiled by two relatively late-comers to the Warhol scene (Ming Vase, and one of the Artistic Directors of 'Interview'), but it encompasses aspects of Andy from his first days in New York right up to the end. The construction of the book is such that each chapter is based around the discussion of experiences and impressions of Andy and the Andy 'scene' by various individuals who worked with, socialized with, or dealt with Andy. Some of these narrators are people so peripheral to Andy's orbit that only the hardcore Warholphiliac will recognize their names. Others are people whose names come up in even the most casual examination of Andy Warhol's life and work, and a couple are people whom no one has heard of. Because the authors know many of the subjects of the book the discussions can take on the aspect of intimate conversation. This is nice, especially to one who has vicariously lived the events spoken of through deep immersion in the literature and media surrounding Andy Warhol and the Pop Art Explosion he detonated. This is one of the best books about Andy that was not written by him, and if you are right into his art and life then it is a must read. If there is any theme that the authors of the book wish to stress it is that Andy was a spiritual person. I'm unsure if their efforts convinced me, but I must say that they revealed facets of the Andy Warhol experience that heretofore I was not aware of.

Touched by an Andy.......2002-09-09

The editorial review is misleading. This book is not a catalogue of "unseen Warhol work". Many of the examples used are well known pieces. The unseen Warhol implied by the title, comes from the different sides of his personality that are revealed by the numerous people interviewed. Most everyone interviewed manages to reveal something about themselves as well as about Andy. Tama Janowitz tells the inside story of Andy's Blind Date Club and reveals the loneliness of being single. Maura Moynihan, the rebel punk girl, from Democratic royality, finds a father figure in Andy. Ronnie Cutrone, Andy's painting assistant for many years, explains what it was like to be there and participate in the creation of so many of Andy's masterpieces. Most everyone speaks with gratitude and appreciation on how much their lives have been enriched by their relationship with Warhol. But then there's Bob Colacello, obsessing about the "wonders" of Nancy Reagen and complaining how the original idea for the musical Evita was stolen from him by Robert Stigwood. In the end, the praise and gratitude win and the bitterness is kept to a minimum in this well designed and enlightening book.

get smart here.......2001-08-06

There are lots of people who are very stupid about andy warhol. I am in love with him. I am so excited to find this book because along with the philosophy of andy warhol it seems to be getting at his personality. And this book is a bit easier to understand than the philosophy because it is interviews with people who tell stories about what they thought was important about their friend. So, get it and get andy warhol a little bit better.

Average customer rating:

Andy Warhol's Interview
Scott Lyle [Senior Ed.) Cohen
Manufacturer: Brant Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KGEHWG

Andy Warhol's Interview Dec/Jan 2007 - Jennifery Connelly

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Andy Warhol's Interview Dec/Jan 2007 - Jennifery Connelly

Manufacturer: Brant Publications Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Andy Warhol's Interview. Volumes 3#7-12; 4#1-12; 5#1-12; 7#1-12; 10#1, 6-7, 10-11; 11#2-5, 7-12; 12#1-12; 13#2-12; 14#7-12; 15#1-12; 16#1-12

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Andy Warhol's Interview. Volumes 3#7-12; 4#1-12; 5#1-12; 7#1-12; 10#1, 6-7, 10-11; 11#2-5, 7-12; 12#1-12; 13#2-12; 14#7-12; 15#1-12; 16#1-12

Manufacturer: NY: Andy Warhol
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MWX184

Interview Magazine - April 1996 - Andy Warhol - Jewel, Edward Norton, Everything but the Girl, Etc

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Interview Magazine - April 1996 - Andy Warhol - Jewel, Edward Norton, Everything but the Girl, Etc
Andy Warhol , Jewel , Edward Norton , and Everything but the Girl
Manufacturer: Brant Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000L11V24

INTERVIEW VOLUME XVI No. 8, (August1986)

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INTERVIEW VOLUME XVI No. 8, (August1986)
Andy (pub) Warhol
Manufacturer: NY: Warhol, Andy 1986
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M5F4C2

Playboy Magazine August 1974, 8/74, Andy Warhol Photographs his Film Stars, Instant Warhol Pictorial, interview Erich Von Daniken, Vol. 21 #8

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Playboy Magazine August 1974, 8/74, Andy Warhol Photographs his Film Stars, Instant Warhol Pictorial, interview Erich Von Daniken, Vol. 21 #8
editor Hugh Hefner
Manufacturer: Playboy Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JD24JS

Schreiben Als Plastik 1978-1987: Interviews, Gespraeche, Dokumentationen Von/mit Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Dalai Lama, Robert Filliou, Sogyal Rinpoche U.a.

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Schreiben Als Plastik 1978-1987: Interviews, Gespraeche, Dokumentationen Von/mit Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol, Dalai Lama, Robert Filliou, Sogyal Rinpoche U.a.

Manufacturer: John Wiley and Sons Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3433029008

Book Description

24 attractive stickers, inspired by designs of the Hopi, Navajo, and other tribes of the American Southwest. For gift packages, stationery, notebooks, and other flat surfaces.

Customer Reviews:

What can I say? Superb even when a couple of years old........2007-07-03

Great people these two authors and very charismatic. If you happened to visit one of the IT forums or speeches you'll know what I mean.

Really a great book with a logical processing of different topics. One of the great things is that they create awareness by giving everyday examples of hacking attempts and how to take the right precautions. Things you'll recognize in your daily work. It's easy to read and while the book is a couple of years old, the practical site of it hasn't changed a lot. I hope they update this with Vista and Server 2008 in mind. So certainly worth buying!

Rob Faber [CISSP, CEH, MCSE]
The Netherlands

Thorough, practical advice with great theory.......2007-03-02

The simple truth is that if you're directly responsible for the health of a Windows network, you need to read this book. It contains a wide enough breadth to be applicable to all Windows administrators running a variety OS and application levels, while still managing the depth required to be truly informative and serve as a good everyday reference. It provides an incredible amount of detailed theory and hands-on practical advice that will give you the background information, tools and motivation to improve your defenses and keep hackers away from your data.

Those directly responsible for securing the network should read this book through and then read it again, perhaps discussing it with a peer. There's a lot of information to unpack, so a critical study of how to contextualize the recommendations to your environment would benefit from a team of individuals dedicated to understanding and carrying-out the guidelines that are given. In contrast, high-level managers and decision makers who have a more hands-off role would be well served by taking a half an hour to read the first two chapters, giving them a sobering first-hand account of the ease with which a knowledgeable attacker can subvert an entire domain. It will be 30 minutes well spent! A final group, the technically-savvy supervisors who don't actually implement (but monitor those who do), should quickly read the entire volume and hold their employees accountable for upholding at least the principles, if not the specific practices, mentioned throughout. All three groups should read it with the goal of acquiring a security mindset, filtering all their projects and goals through the "lens" created as a result of the truths learned from this pair of gurus. It is the unique combination of sufficient depth with comprehensive breadth that gives this book the edge over most recent Windows security titles from other authors. If you have to pick just one printed manual to take with you into battle, this should be your weapon of choice. I heartily recommend it as a great read for now, and as an investment for your go-to shelf later on.

Jesper and Steve begin the journey with the same eye-opening SQL injection attack you may have seen in one of the talks they present around the globe in their roles as security experts for Microsoft (Jesper has since changed employers). They exploit a poorly-written web application by feeding SQL code directly through the web form, eventually compromising the entire network, even though it's fully-patched and even somewhat hardened. They describe the intricacies of the attack from beginning to end, laying the groundwork for the defense techniques described in the remaining chapters. After taking over their victim network, they round out the section on fundamentals with a chapter on patch management. This was the low point of the book and, in my opinion, it glosses over the realities of just how time-consuming and complex change management and regression testing can be in a heterogeneous environment. Don't get discouraged by this chapter; slog through it and enjoy the informative--yet surprisingly fun--chapters that follow.

Having established the basics, more groundwork is laid with above average, but not spectacular, sections on administrative policies and physical security. These are the most "CISSP-ish" pages of the whole book and should look very familiar to members of the (ISC)^2. While the advice in these early chapters will stand the test of time, there's not much in here that won't already be a part of your daily arsenal. If you haven't figured out such basics as having a written security policy and that users will always choose convenience over security, then study this section hard. For the rest of us, you will find yourself saying "Amen" a lot as you review these four well-written and comprehensive middle chapters. The real epiphany comes at the end of Chapter 7 when they declare that the days of having a notion of a "perimeter" are over. If you haven't realized by now how incredibly porous your network is, this book should help bring you back to reality.

With the first half of the book used as an appetizer, the authors start serving the main course of practical, detailed advice about how to protect every aspect of your clients, servers and network infrastructure. Their incredible insight into password theory and how exactly a real password attack would work is so refreshing--these guys are experts, and it's demonstrated most profoundly in their chapter-long advice on the subject. Here and throughout the book they constantly bring you back to reality by refuting myths common in "security theater" and give you the best advice, with enough background to understand why it works. One particularly sobering moment was the sweeping dismissal of biometric authentication because of the myriad (often foolishly simple) flaws that can defeat even über-expensive fingerprint readers, retina scanners, etc. In the next two hundred or so pages the give you just enough instruction about IPSec, 802.1X, two-factor authentication and server/client hardening to help you understand the critical pieces of theory and find the detailed implementation instructions for yourself. You'll feel like you finally know the reasons to do all these things instead of just getting a litany of the individual steps to implement a particular setting or policy. Microsoft has published a lot of dry technical guides on every registry setting and tweak imaginable; these guys tell you the background information of why any of this stuff matters and they do it in a winsome, often satirical way that makes you want to keep reading.

The key concepts I took from reading this book were: a healthy skepticism about merely doing tweaks or checklists that have an air of sophistication but don't actually improve security; a sense of empowerment about how to untangle my network from a web of dependencies caused by shared service accounts (they even provide a handy utility to make their advice doable); and renewed sense of encouragement that least-privilege is actually obtainable. They end each chapter with an immediate call-to-action that addresses the most important steps you can take to do the most good quickly. If you can force yourself to do these challenging tasks for every area they address, you'll be well on the road to a more secure installation.

A must read for anyone involved with Windows security.......2006-07-27

The problem with some computer security books is that they are nothing more than pages of checklists with myriad dos and don'ts. But after all the checklists have been dutifully completed, readers still don't understand the underlying concept of how to secure a computer. Within a short time, their computers and networks are insecure, and they are back where they began, as fodder for hackers.

The distinctive nature of Protect Your Windows Network : From Perimeter to Data is that it suggests ways to secure your Windows workstation and network, but it also takes a much broader approach to security and shows you how to address the issue of securing systems as a whole. This panoptic approach to securing systems is quite refreshing, and it makes the book a fascinating read.

The theme of the book is that there are three elements of a successful security program: people, processes, and technology. In 17 chapters covering the gamut of security from server hardening to password protection, the book details how to use these people, processes, and technology to ensure that Windows networks stay secure.

Early chapters deal with the basics of how attacks work and show the reader how they progress from low-level social engineering to the code manipulation that leads to the exploitation of software and vulnerabilities.

The book is filled with easy-to-understand practical and tactical solutions that can be implemented by everyone from nontechnical end users to system administrators, helping them to ensure that their Windows-based network is as secure as possible. Even at 550 densely packed pages, the book is quite readable.

Remarkable book for all security people, not just Windows users.......2006-03-27

I received a copy of Protect Your Windows Network (PYWN) almost one year ago, and I immediately put it aside. I figured it was another "security configuration guide," with lots of descriptions of settings and other tweaks that makes for boring reading. Recently I decided to give PYWN another look, and I am exceedingly glad I did. PYWN is one of the best security books I have ever read, and that includes nearly 200 titles over the last six years. Incredibly, even non-Windows users will find plenty of sound advice for their enterprise. Although the book is highly opinionated (and at times perhaps not on my side of the issues) I strongly recommend reading PYWN.

When I read and review books, I underline sections of interest and take notes in the margins and on separate sheets of paper. I dried out a pen underlining text and took three pages of notes while reading PYWN. The amount of good advice in the book is staggering. PYWN is incredibly engaging and clear. It is superbly organized, taking a layered approach to enterprise security. The book's strength derives from the authors' consulting experience, and they deliver many stories based on their interactions with customers.

PYWN is not a Microsoft marketing person's dream, either. In many places the book is very frank. For example, p 19 says IPsec in Windows "is the poster child for user unfriendliness." The authors correctly recognize the goal of a "protected" network by explicitly telling customers "no, your network is not secure" (p 15). They are critical of "Return on Security Investment": "following the [security] policy does not increase revenue, it does not increase productivity" (p 116).

This book is definitely not afraid to offend the reader. I do not mean the use of foul language; rather, the book takes very strong stances on certain subjects. Some of these directly contradict guidance given by others. Ch 12 even features 10 Security Myths. In many cases, I believe the authors take the right position, and they adequately defend their assertions. In other cases, I must disagree. The authors are not fans of detecting intrusions, and their monitoring advice in Ch 4 is particularly shaky. They also tend to use an example of compromising a host-based IDS deployment as an excuse to attack all detection mechanisms.

The authors are sticklers for accurate language, which I believe is required in our field. They are keen to point out that "IPSec tunnels" don't exist per se; there is, however "IPSec transport mode" or "IPsec tunnel mode." They repeatedly state that L2TP+IPsec is the only "IETF-approved" remote access solution. This stems from their requirement that such a solution authenticate the user and give his/her machine an IP address. Obviously IPSec alone doesn't fulfill those requirements, hence their promotion of an alternative.

In some cases this desire to use the right word doesn't work so well. I disagree with some of the terms used in the threat modeling discussion in Ch 9. I wonder why the authors (and other Microsofties) call this "threat modeling," instead of using Bruce Schneier's older term -- "attack trees." Sometimes the authors confuse threats with vulnerabilities. For example, p 237 says "Although a threat to an application many times can be eliminated with a patch..." That should read "Although a vulnerability in an application many times can be eliminated with a patch..." Threats can only be eliminated by incarceration; vulnerabilities are flaws which can be patched. On p 254 we read "the config.sys file poses no threat." That's right, but it's not what the authors meant. They should have said "the config.sys file poses no vulnerability," or perhaps "exposure." Finally, p 236 says "you use the model to communicate the current structure of the network and the threats created because of it." That is wrong; building a network doesn't create threats -- it creates vulnerabilities and exposures. Threats are independent of the network.

Similarly, the STRIDE model on pp 242-3 is mostly about attacks, not threats. Read any government report about threats to learn about organized crime, foreign intel services, script kiddies, corporate spies, and so on -- those are real threats. "Denial of service" is an attack; "information disclosure" is a security incident, or a consequence of an attack.

I should note that sometimes the Windows focus of the book blinds the authors to other, better security approaches -- some of which Microsoft is adopting. For example, Ch 14 recommends users "uninstall unnecessary components." This is obviously true, but it's a limitation of Windows. It's much better to start with a bare system and "add necessary components." On p 422 the authors say the Windows Backup Operators group are unsafe for backup. If that is the case, why do they exist, at least as currently configured? The advice in Ch 14 also results in an "unsupported configuration" for SQL server. The authors admit this is for "high security" needs, but this indicates a problem with Microsoft's approach. PYWN pulls no punches in some places regarding Windows, but in others it holds back.

PYWN is definitely not a security configuration guide, of which the authors are highly critical. In some places they do list ways to accomplish certain goals, but most everywhere else they refer readers to previously published books or documents on the Web. Bravo. The book contains numerous footnotes which I appreciated.

I found only a few errors in the text. On p 38, the text implies the three way handshake starts with SYN, ACK instead of SYN, SYN-ACK. On p 84; ISO is not "International Standards Organization." On p 121, the text implies SOX doesn't apply to all publicly traded companies. Since I read every word very closely, I am really impressed by PYWN.

This review is long enough. Let me conclude by saying you will absolutely not waste your time reading this book. It took me a week to finish it because I tried to make the best use of the authors' recommendations and insights. Keep my earlier comments in mind, then enjoy PYWN. I hope the authors produce a sequel or at least a second edition. They are exceptional writers, and this book could easily be called "Protect Your Computing Enterprise." Windows is an example implementation, not necessarily the core focus of the book.

Truly a must have!.......2006-03-09

This book is one of the few must reads for any Windows network administrator!

Read my full review at http://thelazyadmin.com/index.php?/archives/371-Book-Protect-Your-Windows-Network-From-Perimeter-to-Data.html

Rodney Buike
MVP Windows Server - Directory Services

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