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Date: Sun, 30 Apr 2000 05:47:31 -0500 (EST)
From: Alfred M Kriman <akriman@darwin.helios.nd.edu>
Message-Id: <200004301047.FAA00004@darwin.helios.nd.edu>
To: classics@u.washington.edu
Subject: Steven Pressfield & the military

On the 11th inst., Steven Zoroaster offered a review [[1]] of Steven
Pressfield's _Tides of War_, part of SZ's laudable but uphill struggle
against inane travesties of ancient history.  David Lupher then further
amused us with gems of addled misinformation [[2]] gleaned from the
corners of <amazon.com>.  There is certain other information there that
is relevant to the current "Quote of the Day"/"classics & the military"
thread:  Amazon.com compiles "highly specialized bestseller lists" it
calls "Purchase Circles," determined by grouping items they sell by
delivery addresses and email domains.  _Gates of Fire_, in mass-market
paperback, "is popular with these groups:"

Quantico, VA (where it is the #2 best seller, and ranked #4 on the list
		of items unusually popular there)
Kailua, HI (#17 on unusually popular list)
Skidmore College (#6 on both lists)
Fayetteville, NC 
West Point, NY
Stafford, VA
Beaufort, SC

Let's see now:
Quantico is/has a Marine Corps Base.
Fayetteville is home to a lot of Ft. Bragg and Pope AFB personnel.
West Point is home to the US Military Academy.
Quantico is partly in Stafford Co.
Beaufort is 4. mi. from a USMC air station.

Kailua seems to be partly a dormitory community for military personnel.
Skidmore I don't understand.  A statistical fluke?  The horses?  The
hot mineral-water springs?

Purchase Circle information is available only for books that are
best-sellers or disproportionately good sellers somewhere, so there's
no comparable information for _Tides_ (yet).

.