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The article reviews several books including "Keep From All Thoughtful Men: How U.S. Economists Won World War II," by Jim Lacey, "Democracy's Arsenal: Creating a Twenty-First Century Defense Industry," by Jacques Gansler, and "Case Studies in Defence Procurement and Logistics," by David Moore.

The numerical and functional prominence of armed and unarmed contractors on deployed operations has attracted analysis from a range of perspectives, as this collection of works illustrates. In addition to studies which seek to explain the growth in private security contractors' activities in terms of governmental needs, the books examined here consider the possible regulation of this sector and implications for the fundamentals of both national and international political systems. There are also works that throw light on the supply side, looking at the driving personalities behind the growth of Blackwater and the backgrounds of individual contractors. The review also includes an analytical framework for classifying different areas of contractor activities. The books include a range of research approaches and it is clear that the evolving political and managerial reasoning behind the outsourcing of security functions in general means that debate in this area will continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reviews the book 'The Gulf Economics in Transition,' by Henry T. Azzam.

Reviews the book 'Saudi Arabia, the West and the Security of the Gulf,' by Mazher A. Hameed.

Reviews the book 'Trident: The Only Option?,' by Colin McInnes.

Reviews the book 'A Nation in Retreat? Britain's Defence Commitment,' by Christopher Coker.

Reviews several books on international security. 'How to Make Nuclear Weapons Obsolete,' by Robert Jastrow; 'Star Wars: Science-Fiction Fantasy or Serious Probability?,' edited by E.P. Thompson; 'Strategic Defense: 'Star Wars' in Perspective,' by Keith B. Payne.

Reviews the book 'Not By War Alone: Security and Arms Control in the Middle East,' by Paul Jabber.

Reviews the book 'The European Armaments Market and Procurement Cooperation, edited by pauline Creasey and Simon May.

The article reviews the book "Henry Kissinger, His Personality and Policies," by Dan Caldwell.

Reviews the book 'Arms Control: Theory and Practice,' by Michael J. Sheehan.