A defense analyst sometimes working for the US Central Intelligence Agency and various defense contractors, Sterling assesses the current fad with building walls by analyzing the rationale and construction, costs and benefits, and successes and failures of such programs in the past. He looks at Athens' long walls as lifelines to the sea, Hadrian's Wall as Rome's foremost frontier fortification, the Ming Great Wall of China as part of a dynasty's unending pursuit of security, the Pré Carré fortifying Frances northeastern frontier, the Maginot Line as either France's great folly or a reasoned response to the German threat, and Israel's Bar-Lev Line providing citadels in the sand. Convincing arguments can be made, he finds, for the success and for the failure of each. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)