Book Description
In the aftermath of World War II, Prussia--a centuries-old state pivotal to Europe's development--ceased to exist. In their eagerness to erase all traces of the Third Reich from the earth, the Allies believed that Prussia, the very embodiment of German militarism, had to be abolished.
But as Christopher Clark reveals in this pioneering history, Prussia's legacy is far more complex. Though now a fading memory in Europe's heartland, the true story of Prussia offers a remarkable glimpse into the dynamic rise of modern Europe.
What we find is a kingdom that existed nearly half a millennium ago as a patchwork of territorial fragments, with neither significant resources nor a coherent culture. With its capital in Berlin, Prussia grew from being a small, poor, disregarded medieval state into one of the most vigorous and powerful nations in Europe. Iron Kingdom traces Prussia's involvement in the continent's foundational religious and political conflagrations: from the devastations of the Thirty Years War through centuries of political machinations to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, from the enlightenment of Frederick the Great to the destructive conquests of Napoleon, and from the "iron and blood" policies of Bismarck to the creation of the German Empire in 1871, and all that implied for the tumultuous twentieth century.
By 1947, Prussia was deemed an intolerable threat to the safety of Europe; what is often forgotten, Clark argues, is that it had also been an exemplar of the European humanistic tradition, boasting a formidable government administration, an incorruptible civil service, and religious tolerance. Clark demonstrates how a state deemed the bane of twentieth-century Europe has played an incalculable role in Western civilization's fortunes. Iron Kingdom is a definitive, gripping account of Prussia's fascinating, influential, and critical role in modern times.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......2007-09-07
Clear. Easy to read. If you don't know anything about Prussia but you would like to, this book is wonderfull. I recommend it strongly.
Everything you wanted to know about Prussia.......2007-08-27
This is the most indepth and thorough book on Prussia. Everything from wars to religion to the nobility to the common people. I read this book hoping to change my view of Prussia. I admitt I'm among those who have a negative view of Prussia and hoped this book would help me to understand Prussia more. It certainly did. I found the wars of religion very interesting and how Prussia was attempting to keep its balance itself between the powers while it was in the Holy Roman Empire. I liked reading about the common people. Its really an excellent book with only two problems one is how the author kept going back and forth. It would be on 1700s and then jump back to the 1600s or on Frderick the Great and it would jump back to another elector. It was a little annoying. It would have been easier if the author did everything on one subject and then moved on to the next. Or one elector to the next. Secondly the author takes such pains not to blame anything on anyone like if Prussia was in war with France or Austria the author spent so much of the time on why the war wasn't Prussia's fault or France's or Austria's instead of explaining how things started in the war and the reasons for Prussia being in the war (which was what I was hoping learn) that it was hard to understand exactly what the author was trying to say or even what the author's own thoughts were.
The Prussianization of Modern Germany?.......2007-08-23
From the beginning of the 17th century, and particularly from the end of the Thirty Years War (1648)until the end of the Weimar Republic (1933), Christopher Clarke has done a thorough rendering and analysis of how and why the Hohenzollerns succeeded in uniting Germany under Prussian auspices, reaching its apogee in 1871 under Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia and simultaneouly Chancellor of 2nd Reich Germany. However, in the aftermath of World War I, and especially with the onset of the Nazi period in 1933, the analysis seems to disintegrate or is incorrect. Certainly the Weimar Republic was in trouble from the beginning in that the Prussian bureaucracy, to include the justice system, was left in place, and the fact that Hindenburg was elected president twice are illustrative that Prussian-mindedness was still in control and anti-republic. However, while Hitler may have exploited the Prussian mindset and sympathies, he was definitely anti-Prussian. In a sense Hitler was the most genuine "German revolutionary" in the modern era. National socialism was not predicated on Prussianism. One must keep in mind that the NSDAP was a Munich-based and then a Bavarian movement, not a Prussian one. Hitler bludgeoned his way to power by-passing the Prussian military with the S.A. under Ernst Roehm. He only dispensed with the S.A. after the Nazis were already firmly in power and President Hindenburg was dying. By that time Hitler had the Wehrmacht where he wanted it, subodinate to the dictates of the Party. Unfortunately, Professor Clarke tends to gloss over this suggesting that there was a continuum of the Prussian thesis.
Historiography Properly Done..........2007-07-16
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Heads up, students and scholars: Dr. Clark's tome is a prime example of how historiography is properly done: well researched, well written, well documented, entertaining, informative--(although I do like a few more maps and illustrations).
This could go on any short reading list of European history.
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Worth the time invested.......2007-06-19
Very well written, Clark keeps the pace going while touching on the many issues involved with the history of Prussia. I bought this book because I found that I had learned very little about Prussia or Germany for that matter in the course of my high school and college education. It seems there is a distaste for the subject that is left over from the association of Nazi fascism and militarism with Prussia. Clark sets out to show that this is an incorrect association and does so convincingly. Full of helpful illustrations, photos, and maps, Iron Kingdom comprehensively covers the political, economic, and social history of Prussia, focusing on the key institutions, people, and moments that influenced its success and then its fall.
Amazon.com
Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire is an impeccably written analysis of the last months of the Pacific War and the unfolding of the American air campaign over Japan. The story opens with a searing description of the fire-bombing of Tokyo in March 1945, which caused more deaths than the atom bomb in Hiroshima. Within five months, Japan's economy was collapsing and the country faced catastrophic starvation. Richard B. Frank coolly analyzes different scenarios for ending the war (Russia waited in the wings). Frank concludes that the emperor and the Japanese military were far from ready to surrender, and that the decision to use the atom bomb probably saved millions of lives, not only Allied but Japanese and other Asian lives, also--perhaps a hundred thousand Chinese were dying each month under Japanese occupation. The effects of the bomb worked on many levels, even lending faces to the Japanese militarists, who could convince themselves that they were defeated not by a lack of spiritual power but by superior science. Densely documented, intelligently argued, Downfall recreates the end of the war from the viewpoints of the principals, giving the book an unusual immediacy. A highly valuable insight into the disintegration of the Japanese Empire, one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II. --John Stevenson
Book Description
In a riveting narrative that includes information from newly declassified documents, acclaimed historian Richard B. Frank gives a scrupulously detailed explanation of the critical months leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb. Frank explains how American leaders learned in the summer of 1945 that their alternate strategy to end the war by invasion had been shattered by the massive Japanese buildup on Kyushu, and that intercepted diplomatic documents also revealed the dismal prospects of negotiation. Here also, for the first time, is a comprehensive account of how Japan's leaders were willing to risk complete annihilation to preserve the nation's existing order. Frank's comprehensive account demolishes long-standing myths with the stark realities of this great historical controversy.
Customer Reviews:
Exceptionally well researched.......2007-10-02
Frank has done an excellent job of dispassionately presenting the facts about the endgame of the Pacific War. I appreciate that Frank laid out the evidence and left it to the reader to judge where it pointed.
What is clear from the evidence is that neither the Japanese nor American leadership had adequate information to judge the other's intentions during 1945. In fact, there is some evidence that the Japaneese High Command was being mislead by underlings regarding the state of American morale. Thus the War Council believed that they were just one decisive battle away from being able to negotiate with the Americans for softer terms than Unconditional Surrender. On the other hand, American intelligence community were not adept enough to draw out from the vast array of intercepted cable traffic a clear picture. Thus they did not provide Truman information that was 'actionable'.
As for the bomb, the preponderance of evidence amassed by Frank points to the conclusion that once the decision to build the atomic bomb was made, the Manhattan project took on its own momentum and thus made the bombs use inevitable.
All-in-all a terrific book. Since I finished it on September 30th, it makes it onto my Summer Reading Favorites of 2007 :-)
Excellent in-depth defense of why the atomic bomb was needed.......2007-07-03
Richard Frank conclusively shatters a number of myths about the end of the Pacific side of World War II.
First, Japan was NOT ready to accept unconditional surrender, even with the caveat of the preservation of the Japanese throne, until after both bombs were dropped. Frank uses extensive declassified transcripts of Ultra (military) and Magic (diplomatic) U.S. codebreaking to get members of the Japanese war cabinet's own words, or lack thereof, on this issue. Within that is the fact that Japan's attempt to use Russia as an intermediary-ally in negotiations was totally out of tune with reality, so much out of tune that Tokyo actually expected Moscow to honor the full one year's "down time" after abrogating the two countries' neutrality agreement.
Second, the Japanese Army was ramping UP the plans for Keisu-Go, the all-out defense of the Japanese homeland, after the spring firebombings of Tokyo and elsewhere. Top Army brass considered that the U.S. might well try blockade, and thought it had enough kamikazes, midget submarines, etc., to make the U.S pay enough a price for even the blockade that it would settle for a negotiated peace. Again, Frank looks in-depth at Magic and Ultra transcripts to show how much support there was for this.
Third, Frank demonstrates that U.S. casualty fears of an invasion of Kyushu were well-warranted and may even have been understated in some cases.
The determination of the Japanese Empire to resist was well-known by American troops in the Pacific who had seen the Japanese, on average, take 97 percent casualties in many of their defensive actions. A militaristic government was ready to exploit this to the death.
The atomic bomb was therefore used for reasons of the highest seriousness. It was NOT dropped on Hiroshima as a demonstration for Stalin. And, speaking of demonstrations, the fact that it took two atomic bombs on Japan to get it to surrender puts the lie to the idea that a "demonstration" bomb would have been enough to get the Japanese to a non-negotiated surrender with them attempting to hold on to territory.
Yet more praise.......2007-04-10
I was so fascinated by this book that I read all the previous reviews. I only want to add my unlimited praise and to add a few thoughts and stories...
I was as unaware as anybody of the details of the end of the Pacific war until I met a fellow (Bill Lear, son of "the" Bill Lear) who was on a troop ship to Olympic. He said the officers told them that they all were going to die. After that the book was a natural, and I couldn`t have chosen better.
In my present line, I am in Japan a lot. If there is any one thing that makes Frank`s book fascinating, it is the detailed look at the inner workings of that eastern mind in the government and military leaders, and the resulting confusion for their hapless diplomats. In some cases it is not so radical - we Americans still get huffy about Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese were following a pretty basic tenet of war. Frank didn`t really go to a lot of trouble to remind us that the "unfathonable" Asian way of seeing things is normal to them. Perhaps it isn`t necessary. Any Japanese soldier who sees dying for his emperor/country as his highest honor will tend to see anyone who surrenders or is beaten before he can sacrifice himself, as the lowest sort of worm, not worthy of bayonet practice let alone a bowl of rice. Just an example, but with a point. Frank managed to state facts, back them up with numbers and intel documents and let it go at that. The case builds easily in the reader`s mind that this was a terrible war and that the allies/Americans were in a real conundrum about how to end it. Which brings up the sadly fascinating fact that the very thing that the allies demanded, as a way of keeping "these fascist and militarist governments from starting a world war every few years", was unconditional surrender, the very thing the Japanese couldn`t accept.
One thing which makes a really great book is that it opens discussion on the topic rather than, say, on the writer`s vocabulary. By that measure, this is one of the best. Please indulge me...
I have been to the peace museum in Hiroshima. It is very moving and also very evenhanded. It shows the little uniforms of the school kids killed - they were in town that day to help build firebreaks. It also has the army order on the wall which commanded that when the invasion came, all subjects were to show up on the beaches with pitchforks, sticks or any other weapon that came to hand. Hiroshima, by the way (to answer a previous comment) was the headquarters of the 5th Japanese Army, in charge of Japan and Korea (where they'd been since 1920, only getting to Manchuria in 1931, re another comment)It was also a recruit center, and a navy shipyard, in other words not exactly non-military.
My Dad flew in B-29s. He was a tough old farm boy, but once he met an army buddy who had also `been there` That`s the only time I saw him cry. I don`t think it`s wrong to lament the terrible things humans are capable of doing to each other and to make them stop; a basic about war, by the way. The fact that millions of innocents had died and were likely to keep dying in this war would make any way of stopping it look pretty good, ie, "moral". I personally would say, you can`t argue with success. The Japanese had been fighting since at least 1920. Days after the bomb, it was over. I`m in the camp of "the Russians had nothing to do with it." I want to thank Mr. Frank for explaning readably and in detail, how that came about.
Finally a note from my Mom... The war council was correct in believing that Americans were sick of the war (Incorrect in their eastern way in seeing Potsdam as weakness). They were beaten but wouldn`t quit. If you had a family member in the service, you put a red star in your window, and if they were killed, you changed it to a gold star. There were plenty of houses with two gold stars in the window. People in 1945 wanted the war to end and wanted the boys home. Imagine you are Truman, and a wife/mother says to you, "You mean to tell me you had the means to end this war the day before my boy was killed, and you didn`t do it?"
Read this book.
This book should be required reading for all Americans and Japanese.......2007-03-26
It is easy today, with so much information out there about the horrors of atomic warfare, and so little remembrance of the actual history of the final stages of WWII, to be critical of the U.S. decision to drop two atomic bombs on Japan.
Sadly, as a result, most Japanese are taught today that they were merely the victims of overwhelming American might, rather than the aggressors and instigators of war, and even more sadly, we are confronted with the shameful specter of anti-nuke, anti-war, anti-history Americans pathetically apologizing to the Japanese, misquoting history, and blindly ignoring the real facts behind the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
In this book, Richard Franks sets about methodically re-creating the historical context of the end stages of WWII. He addresses virtually every controversial claim, every possible scenario, in the decision process that led to the atomic bombing. Other reviewers have mentioned several points already, and so I present only a summary of the major controversies dealt with in this book:
1. Why was it necessary to drop two atomic bombs or to use them on civilians? - The U.S. was afraid that Japan would think that its supply of atomic bombs was limited (and in fact, production was limited, but was steadily growing), and wanted to demonstrate to Japan that it had the ability and willpower to completely annihilate Japan with a series of atomic bombs. As it turns out, the U.S. calculations were correct. After Hiroshima was bombed, Franks points out that there was a faction in the Japanese military that had enough knowledge of the difficulty of uranium separation to deny the possibility that the U.S. could have developed such a bomb or claimed that the U.S. would not be able to keep up the atomic bombing, and used these arguments to continue to hold out against surrender. Other Japanese military leaders hoped that world opinion would bar the U.S. from further use of the atomic bombs on civilians. That the Japanese military doubted the willpower of the U.S. to use atomic bombs against civilians is proof that a mere demonstration on some unpopulated target would have been useless. Dropping two atomic bombs thus served to vaporize all of the final delusions of these fanatic military leaders.
2. Wasn't Japan close to surrender already because of the massive firebombing of its cities? The U.S. had destroyed over 60 Japanese cities already, killing over 100,000 in one raid on Tokyo alone. However, while this caused enormous suffering for Japanese civilians, the military elite ruling Japan couldn't care less, and continued to hold out for a final land battle, intending to inflict enormous casualties on any U.S. invasion. Their calculation was that the U.S., a democracy with freedom of the press and freedom of speech that even then was extremely sensitive to casualties, could be forced to offer a negotiated surrender with better terms (see no. 5 below for more on this) instead of unconditional surrender. One thing that Franks does not emphasize enough is that subsequent firebombings after Tokyo killed far fewer people per raid, as the Japanese learned how to deal with the firebombing better. A significant factor in the success of the firebombing was the nature of the highly flammable wooden cities of Japan. However, neither firebombing nor the inaccurate conventional bombing of that era would have had much impact on the dispersed and hidden armed forces of the Ketsu-Go operation (the Japanese plan for a massive suicidal countering of an American invasion on the island of Kyushu). Ketsu-Go versus the atomic bomb would have been a completely different story. The general in charge of Ketsu-Go happened to have his headquarters in Hiroshima, and after surviving the atomic bombing and seeing its effects, he bluntly told Hirohito that he could not be sure anymore that his forces would be able to fend off an invasion. IMHO, it was this realization by the military that Ketsu-Go would fail in the face of the atomic bomb that was the key in forcing the military to accept defeat without an invasion. And it was this realization by Hirohito that the military would accept his "command" to accept unconditional surrender that encouraged this timid personality to finally step in and "command" surrender (Franks gives some more convoluted reasons that I think are less convincing. He does not emphasize enough that Hirohito had no legal authority at the time to force the military to do anything - Hirohito's power was entirely based on tradition, respect, and superstitious symbolism - and in fact the military fanatics had a history of assassinating advisors to Hirohito whenever it seemed that he was favoring a course of action that they did not like).
3. Weren't the estimated potential U.S. casualties in an invasion grossly inflated? Perhaps they were, but first of all, if you are an American and think that ANY number of dead American soldiers in an invasion of Japan would have been worth trading in return for not using the atomic bomb, then you need to have your citizenship revoked. And if you are Japanese, and believe that a U.S. invasion would have been preferable to atomic bombing, then you really don't understand the fanaticism of the military elite that was in control at the end of the war. At Saipan and Okinawa, the local Japanese citizenry had been recruited into the battles and had suffered enormous casualties. Even worse was being planned for an invasion of the Japanese homeland, with the entire civilian population given bamboo sticks and suicide bombs which they were expected to use against U.S. soldiers. Franks calculates that the civilian casualties in an invasion of Japan would have far exceeded what was suffered at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, U.S. intelligence eventually revealed that preparations for Ketsu-Go were so extensive that chances for a successful invasion were becoming increasingly uncertain. American casualties would have almost certainly been enormous. While General MacArthur blithely swept all of that intelligence under the rug, and continued to insist on the original invasion plans, Admiral Nimitz was on the verge of going on the record opposing the invasion when the atomic bombs were dropped. This book makes clear that a U.S. invasion of Kyushu, led by the over-confident MacArthur, could have well been a complete disaster.
4. Wouldn't a blockade and continued bombing of Japan have forced a surrender? - Yes, but it would have taken a much longer period of time, at a minimum of several more months, and resulted in enormously greater loss of life to others besides U.S. soldiers. Franks points out that by attacking Japan's railway systems and vital coastal shipping, the U.S. could have easily shut down all food distribution in the country. However, again, because the Japanese warlords did not care about the suffering of the civilian population, it is likely in such a scenario that they would have held out for so long that Japanese deaths from starvation would have easily exceeded the deaths from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Plus there were also the vastly greater numbers of deaths that would have occurred in the countries that had been invaded by Japan, people who would have continued to die under a brutal occupation. There would also have been much greater numbers of deaths amongst Allied POWs. The numbers calculated by Franks are truly staggering, and make clear that atomic bombing to force a surrender was by far the least of all evils in terms of total numbers of dead people. Franks also recounts the massive atrocities committed by the Japanese in WWII. Yep, after you read these sections (the atrocities mentioned included dissecting and drilling holes into the brains of captured, living American airmen, among other niceties), you might also look more favorably upon atomic bombing Japan. Let's face it, this was a war without mercy, and the Japanese, who were merciless in their treatment of their enemies, had no right to expect any. Nevertheless, after the surrender, Japan did receive mercy, in the form of massive shipments of food from America to their starving civilians.
5. Wouldn't a negotiated surrender, as demanded by the military warlords, have been preferable to atomic bombing? No, first and foremost, up until the atomic bombings, the Japanese militarist faction simply refused to consider surrender under any conditions. They wanted an invasion and a chance at redemption of national honor with their Ketsu-Go operation. The peace faction's best efforts consisted of delusional hopes that Russia could somehow broker a negotiated settlement. Even AFTER both atomic bombs had been dropped, and Russia had declared war on Japan, the militarist faction continued to hold out briefly for a negotiated surrender with three additional terms besides maintenance of the emperor (which the peace faction also wanted): a short occupation by a minimal force, demobilization of Japanese troops by Japanese officers, and trying of war criminals by Japanese courts (Franks does not mention these details in his book - they are contained in another book "The Day Man Lost Hiroshima"). Acceptance of such conditions would have resulted in only a temporary cease-fire, much like the treaty of Versailles had been for WWI. It would not have removed the basic root causes that led Japan to attack East Asia and America - the institutions and ideology of an intensely nationalistic and fanatic military elite that put national honor and pride above everything else, including common sense. This bitter lesson from WWI, that the military elites and institutions of Germany and Japan needed to be completely eradicated in order to ensure lasting peace with those nations, was what caused Roosevelt to demand unconditional surrender. Roosevelt did not want the sacrifice of the lives of so many soldiers to be in vain, as it had been for WWI.
In summary, people critical of the atomic bombing of Japan simply fail to grasp just how difficult it was at that time for the U.S. and the peace faction in Japan to force an increasingly delusional military elite that was fanatically committed to national honor and pride to give up all of their institutions of power without first completely immolating their country. Read this book, read it carefully, and you WILL understand.
The Definitive Account!.......2007-01-21
With regards to the dropping of the atomic bombs, this is the finest book I have ever read. Frank uncovers new evidence to illustrate that initial casualty figures given to Truman were based on a handful of Japanese defenders on the island of Kyushu. In reality, there were twice the amount of defenders willing to die for their emperor. Thus, Frank proves, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the bombs WERE needed in order to save THOUSANDS of American lives. Additionally, he proves with great clarity that the decision to drop the bombs ultimately saved thousands of Japanese lives as well. With this wonderfully well-researched piece of scholarship, Frank destroys Gar Alperovitz's arguement that Truman dropped the bombs in order to quell the emerging threat of Soviet communism. A must-read for anyone seriously researching the decision to drop the atomic bombs!!
Book Description
The events of 2003 in Texas were important to the political history of this country. Congressman Tom DeLay led a Republican effort to gerrymander the state's thirty-two congressional districts to defeat all ten of the Anglo Democratic incumbents and to elect more Republicans; Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in an effort to defeat the plan. The Lone Star State uproar attracted attention worldwide. The Republicans won this showdown, gaining six additional seats from Texas and protecting the one endangered Republican incumbent. This outcome has undeniably affected national policy-making and has made it more difficult for Democrats to regain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. Some of the methods used by DeLay to achieve this result, however, led to his criminal indictment and ultimately to his downfall.
With its eye-opening research, readable style, and insightful commentary,
Lines in the Sand provides a front-line account of what happened in 2003, often through the personal stories of members of both parties and of the minority activist groups caught in a political vortex. Law professor Steve Bickerstaff provides much-needed historical perspective and also probes the aftermath of the 2003 redistricting, including the criminal prosecutions of DeLay and his associates and the events that led to DeLay's eventual resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives.
Customer Reviews:
Political Drama.......2007-02-14
This book tells the story of Tom DeLay's effort to redraw Texas' congressional district lines in a largely unprecedented mid-decade redistricting. While Texas Republicans had a clear electoral majority in the state, a majority of the congressional delegation were Democrats. Republicans generally, and Tom DeLay in particular, set out to change that. Far from a simple task of redrawing lines on a map, it is an epic tale of long-range political strategy, the corrupting influence of big money in the political process, innovative parliamentary tactics, the impact of race on politics, and ultimately the hubris and overreaching that caused Tom DeLay's fall from his position as perhaps the nation's most powerful member of Congress.
While the 2003 Texas Legislature was committed to changing congressional district lines, it was far from easy. Democrats did not have the votes to defeat the redistricting, but they could break a quorum by staying away. That is exactly what they did when more than 50 House Democrats spent four days in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and later eleven Democratic senators stayed in New Mexico for more than 40 days. The Democratic strategy, however, was effective only at slowing the process, and the congressional redistricting bill passed after three special sessions. The book details how Tom DeLay was actively involved in the shape of the final plan, which resulted in switching six seats from Democrats to Republicans and caused a net twelve-seat change in the partisan balance of the U.S. House of Representatives.
While the plan to change the partisan balance in the congressional delegation worked, the aggressive use of funds to influence the 2002 elections in an effort to elect legislators who would support the mid-decade redistricting ultimately produced an even greater change in the Congress. As discovery in civil litigation uncovered details of the redistricting-driven 2002 fundraising, the district attorney brought criminal charges, including an indictment of Tom DeLay. Although DeLay pleaded not guilty, he ultimately resigned from the House.
The author, who is a redistricting attorney, law professor, and former parliamentarian of the Texas Senate (and in the interest of full disclosure, a friend and former law partner of this writer), brings a special insight to the subject. He is able to identify the key players, the most important sources of pressure, and the key events. He also explains the rationale behind and, occasionally the flaws in, the two sides' strategy.
The book is likely to be the definitive history of an important part of Texas and national political history. For persons interested in politics or in modern-day Greek tragedies, this is an important book and fascinating story.
Customer Reviews:
Somewhat revealing but disappointing and one-sided........1999-07-18
Robert Maheu gives a one-sided view of his reign under Howard Hughes downplaying his "sins" in my opinion and never really coming to grips with his abuse of power and lack of character. I suspect that what he did reveal is mostly because he was caught with his pants down. Nevertheless, I still found it interesting in helping to piece together the Howard Hughes enigma. I learned much more from reading "Citizen Hughes".
Amazon.com
It's not easy being Jean. For some Dragonlance fans, the world of Krynn ended with Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragons of Summer Flame. Many Lancers would just as soon forget Jean Rabe's famously awful Fifth Age kickoff trilogy (The Dawning of a New Age, The Day of the Tempest, and The Eve of the Maelstrom), and that's putting it nicely. (Imagine the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons saying, "Worst fantasy author ever," and you'll begin to understand the enmity that Rabe has generated for herself.)
But Weis and Hickman returned triumphantly to the Fifth Age with Dragons of a Fallen Sun, proving that the reports of Krynn's death were, at worst, an exaggeration. So maybe--just maybe--Rabe deserves a fresh start in Dragonlance, too. Downfall begins a trilogy revolving around Dhamon Grimwulf, former Knight of Takhisis, ex-Hero of the Heart, and erstwhile co-protagonist of Rabe's aforementioned Dragons of a New Age series. Dhamon is on the outs, running around robbing the sick and the weak in cahoots with a kobold, a tattooed half-elf floozy, and a suspiciously powerful thief-wizard named Maldred. (Hmmm, there's something fishy about that guy...) In rolls plate-mail babe Fiona (a spit-shined Knight of Solamnia) and pirate-turned-good-guy Rig Mer-Krel, presumably to clean up Dhamon and set him on the straight and narrow. But faster than you can say "Charm Person," the entire crew ends up on the road together, heading off to bargain with an ogre chieftain, rescue a herd of goats, and ransom Fiona's brother from the black dragon overlord Sable. Or so they think. Quite a few switchbacks and blind canyons here, enough to keep you wondering what's around the next corner, but don't expect emotional, involved Weis-and-Hickman fare: while many Dragonlance fans would consider it damning praise, Downfall reads a lot like a decent Forgotten Realms adventure. --Paul Hughes
Book Description
How far can a hero fall? Far enough to lose his soul? Dhamon Grimwulf, once a Hero of the Heart, has sunk into a bitter life of crime and squalor. Now, as the great dragon overlords of the Fifth Age coldly plot to strengthen their rule and to destroy their enemies, he must somehow find the will to redeem himself. But perhaps it is too late.
Customer Reviews:
Read at your own risk.......2005-06-10
I should start off by saying that this is the first Dragon Lance book I have read so if there was some great back story that would have given life to these characters it was lost on me.
The Good
The story moves along at a decent pace with plenty of action and battles.
The Bad
A good story has to have a degree of logic behind it, things have to make since. Like if you knew where a valley with priceless gems just laying about was would you waste time robbing patients at a hospital? If you see a guy cozying up to your fiancé would you allow them to be alone together all the time? If you knew a spell that would allow you to explore a cavern without going into it would you wait until you were ¾ of the way in then use it?
Character problems. The characters over all came across as relatively flat. Maybe it is just my perception but perception becomes reality. I always pictured elves as graceful, intelligent, reserved and honorable even if they are only half elf. The one in this book comes across like a stupid red neck and is quite annoying.
Annoying writing habits. The author was apparently in a contest with someone to see who could use the phrase pommel of his/her sword and the word pommel the most time in one book. Jean Rabe wins! The phrase and word are repeated so often that I began to get mad every time I read it. I thought writers were supposed to be creative and use their extensive vocabulary to mix it up a little. Also why is everybody hissing everything? "Shut up" Rikali hissed. Also everyone always mouths something. "Wow" Maldred mouthed. No one ever just thinks something.
Anyways I could go on and on. Only read this if you have nothing else to read and no money to buy anything else.
Different style, with different character types.......2005-03-27
I have read a few types of reviews about Jean Rabe's books, but to get the best opinion, you should read for yourself.
My own opinion is high. I like the detail about the atmosphere and suroundings the characters find themselves in. This detail really makes the scenes pop and come alive for me, and I appreciate it. The characters are not developed like in other Dragonlance novels, but whether you can fault Rabe, or not, is another matter. These characters are definately not like the originals, such as Caramon or Goldmoon. They are quite a contrast, struggling with good and bad, right and wrong. A solamnic ammong theives, a fallen hero, a pirate questioning life; these characters are much more delicate, and as such, require a different way to bring them to life. Is Rabe's way the best? I can't say I know what the best way is, but I found her style well done, and this book a good read. I recomend it, and await reading the next in the series.
Dragonlance: Downfall the legend of Dhamon.......2004-01-23
Downfall by Jean Rave is very well planned out. The plot is easy to seperate from the details of book. The adventure in the story is engrossing. and mysterious. While teh characters are journeying around and the events take place, no matter what the story alwyas stay on track of it's main plot. It's a good stroy, but it's like a movine-if you miss a poart, then it doesn't make sense at all. The plot of the story is clear and easy to follow. While reading the story, I admit it was hard to remember all of teh hundreds of citeis that they had traveld to. But it was also easy to understand the past of teh main character. Since the book is part of a saga, the ending that led to the sequels wasn't too vague. The antagonist and the heros of the book aren't all that hard to seperate, but they could use a little work. It was really amazing to me how the author how the author made you feel like you were part of the story. The book also described the characters very vividly. I could easily picture each of the characters personalities. The way the book was written, it felt like something important was always happening and that none of the information was there just to make it look long. The author made all of the creatures come to life and made a wonderful book to read.
Very Enjoyable.......2003-12-30
After having spent the last couple years reading text books for school, I was ready for a great adventure. Although Rabe's Downfall was not the greatest book in the world, it did satisfy my immediate needs. The thing I thought was hokey is a couple times when one of the main characters, Maldred, uses magic to win the heart of his traveling companion, Fiona, and all I could think of is that it's the Jedi Mind Trick all over again. Oh well. The book had it's moments and was good enough that I ordered the other two books in the series.
this book is not good.......2003-11-20
Downfall was the first book I read from Dragonlance realm, big mistake on my part. But I didn't learn and thought the second book of this series, betrayl, would be better. BoyO', I was wrong.
Downfall starts off with the main character, Dhaemon, being an uninteresting and very annoying, it ends the same way too. The plot and the characters were very hard to believe and were even harder to like. After finishing this book it left me with nothing, except a strongly dislike towards dragonlance novels and for a couple of years I refused to read them. But don't worry, I like Dragonlance now.
Even if you have read the core books (chronicles and legends) and are looking for other dragonlance novels, stay clear of this one. It's really horrible.
Average customer rating:
- One man's opinion
- Silly drunken licentious farting about in basic training
- Funny, and yet so sad
- Excellent war memoirs
- A British friend gave me the paperback.
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Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall
Spike Milligan
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0140035206 |
Customer Reviews:
One man's opinion.......2005-09-06
I first read this book shortly after I had left the military, having served some seven years, two overseas. The book has "the ring of truth" to it, particularly the "barrack room humour." Several sections of the book literally had me in tears. (of laughter.. ) Look for the piece on "the five mile hike." As a soldier, hikes are a fact of life, but the author's description of an early morning "rise and shine" is, as they say, RIGHT ON!!"
Silly drunken licentious farting about in basic training.......2004-10-06
This is the first of Milligan's WW2 autobiographies, from his call up in June of 1940 to him disembarking for action in Algiers in January 1943. A far cry from Remarque's bleak and horrifying All Quiet on the Western Front, Spike recalls with great fondness the early part of the war - think far more something like a football team or band on tour. This is just training, and whole bunch of young men without much to do given a second chance to muck up at school. Getting drunk, laid, and just farting about - at times literally: get a group of blokes together and, really, is there anything more funny?
I didn't laugh as much at it this second time around, but I remember being constantly in hysterics when I first read the series in a few nights back in '85. But Spike can still be trusted for at least a few laugh out loud moments - more if you're in the right mood.
Funny, and yet so sad.......2003-02-10
I'm usually not one to read autobios, but since it is Spike Milligan I made the exception. It was funny, just as I expected it to be, but there were parts that were very moving and sad; as should be expected I suppose for a WWII novel. His accounts of the absurd are always dead on hilarious, and I found myself reading a passage over and over and just cracking up.
I knew that Spike suffered from depression, and I think in parts it was very apparent. The places that are especially poignant are when he relates a humorous tale, and then explain how he visited the place years later, and how the memories are too much for him to bear. In one particular paragraph he laments: "Oh, Yesterday, how you plague me!"
I love Spike Milligan and his comedy, and have read several run-of-the-mill internet bios on him but his own biography really brings him to life. A great read!
Excellent war memoirs.......2003-01-03
I've now read all of Spike Milligan's war memoirs and think they're excellent (I'm also not a big fan of the Goons). While generally very funny you can really sense his depressive moods even at times when he's not explicit about them.
A British friend gave me the paperback........2001-05-08
And I haven't stopped laughing. I had never heard of Spike Milligan before, but I found his book funny in a way that only the Brits can be, and touching with many moving parts about the war from a crazy man's perspective. I have since read five other Spike Milligan books, and none of them were a disappointment. Seeing WWII from Spike's point of view is realistic, funny, and very thought provoking. My British friend told me he (Spike) was crazy. At first I thought that was just a saying, but it's true. Spike is mentally defunct, in a very happy and bubbly kind of way. You will enjoy this book.
Customer Reviews:
The Actual Plan to Invade Japan .......2004-10-04
When Col. Paul Tibbets, flying the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, it was prevent an American invasion of Japan. If the bombs were not dropped and the ensuing cataclysms had not caused Emperor Hirohito to break the tie in the War cabinet, bringing the unconditional surrender of Japan, a massive invasion would have been necessary - one that would have dwarfed the one at Okinawa, which required twice as many ships as are in the entire United States Navy today. Arrayed against the Americans were millions of Japanese soldiers and civilians, all of which the defense minister Anami wanted to mobilize in what he described as "the glorious death of 100 million." For the first time, a book details the actual plan to invade Japan, summarizing the experience and tactics that led up to it and the losses that were envisioned.
Not so fast.......2001-12-13
I must differ with the critic of this book's "failure" to analyze the mechanics of invasion and casualty estimates. Desert Storm is a poor analogy: we were frankly astonished by Iraqi incompetence, while with Japan we were all too familiar with their lethality and tenacity.
I do believe the book dwelled overly on the wildly varying estimates of casualties, but this entire futile pursuit misses the central point of whether the invasion would have been bloody enough to rationalize dropping the bomb. After Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and other island invasions where nearly every Japanese defender died rather than surrender, where kamikaze attacks were orchestrated rather than impulsive, it looked far more than likely. The unanswered moral question is how many American lives were worth how many Hiroshima or Nagasaki Japanese lives.
There are several points that the authors focus on refuting, the key one being that Japan was on the verge of surrender or a negotiated peace. The new piece in the puzzle, according to the authors, is the Japanese messages we decrypted during the war and did not declassify until the 90's, showing Japanese insincerity and duplicity in its peace feelers. Also, a negotiated peace may have been difficult for Americans to accept in light of bitterness over Pearl Harbor, an attack which may have ironically proved to be Japan's most collossal error.
Another interesting argument is that Truman did not see the bomb as an alternative to invasion, but a supplement. Although coupled with the Russian declaration of war, the bomb's success, and perhaps its cruelty, came as a surprise.
That said, this book falls short of the similarly-named but far more comprehensive Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire by Richard B. Frank, which I recommend reading first.
A Very Poor Effort at History.......2001-11-10
Downfall is subtitled "the secret plan to invade Japan and why Truman dropped the bomb". Supposedly this account traces the US plan to invade Japan but starts back in the 1930s and runs out of steam covering the war in episode fashion. Incredibly, the authors employ a useless blow-by-blow summary of the Pacific War, including diversions on minor incidents like PT109. By the time the authors get to the planning for Operations Olympic and Coronet, the authors devote virtually their entire focus on various casualty estimates - were they too high and did this drive the decision to drop the bomb. However these casualty estimates, which range from well considered to wild guesses, do not constitute any sort of "proof" about the efficacy of the invasion plans. Readers should consider just how erroneous the casualty estimates for Desert Storm were (anywhere from 5,000 to 50,000, actual US killed in action 148) and reflect, if Iraq had backed down in 1991 could historians have accurately assessed the viability of coalition plans based on these estimates. Proper history begins with facts, not opinions.
For readers who expect a lengthy discussion and analysis of the US invasion plans, this book is a great disappointment since the authors never discusses the plan in detail. The two sketch maps that depict the US plans "Olympic" (the landing on Kyushu) and "Coronet" (landing on Honshu) depict only US corps-level invasion areas; neither inland objectives, scheme of maneuver or Japanese dispositions are depicted. The orders of battle in the appendix are very generic, listing only US corps and divisions, and no Japanese units are listed. Air units are ignored. The three US corps commanders for "Olympic," generals Schmidt, Hall and Swift, are never mentioned by name. This could have been a great book if he had discussed the units involved on both sides (eg. which units were veteran units and which were untried), the terrain (obstacles, key terrain, avenues of approach), the commanders on both sides, logistics, etc. and discussed the likely timelines of US progress using phase lines. However, the actual account of US invasion delivered by this limp account is overly generic and hence, virtually useless.
Well-researched book on a contentious subject........1998-04-28
While the overall argument of this title is to show why Truman approved the use of the atomic bomb, Allen and Polmar also show the strengths and weaknesses of the grand strategies pursued by the U.S. and Japan during World War II. The American failure to truly appreciate the massive national effort to defeat the Axis powers lead to a reliance on a bombing campaign to knock Japan out of the war, the apotheosis of which were the atomic bombs. The Japanese expected to exhaust America through heroic sacrifice and terror weapons. Code-name Downfall does a better job than most books on this period of the war in discussing the internal Japanese debate over surrender. My main complaint is that the book fails to consider the possible success of the continued American submarine campaign against the Japanese merchant marine. Nonetheless, highly recommended for all those interested in the Pacific campaigns in World War II and those debating the dropping of the atomic bomb.
A fair and surprising look at the bombing of Hiroshima........1996-05-28
In Codename Downfall, Allen and Polmar accomplish an amazing feat. In a book describing U.S.President Harry Truman's decision to use the atom bomb, they make the world's only nuclear attacks seem almost unimportant.
Fifty years have passed since U.S. bombers annihilated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but those events have been debated frequently and furiously ever since. Using insightful research the authors paint so terrible a picture of the Pacific war's escalating destruction it even dwarfs the instant vaporization of two complete cities.
Downfall does not linger on the classic numerical comparison of lives lost to nukes versus invasion. Instead, the authors provide a sweeping account of the Allies' efforts to liberate or capture island after island in their determined drive to seize the Japanese homeland and stop the Japanese war-making ability.
Both sides expected a full mobilization of every Japanese citizen to fight what would be the largest invasion of all time. As Japanese generals preached about "100 million souls" all dying together, the American leaders searched for any alternative to the "decisive battle" as the Japanese military referred to it. The book described how the U.S. leaders grasped at the atomic bomb as a last, desperate hope to avoid this bloody climax their enemies thirsted for.
By the end of the book, the reader no longer wonders why Truman dropped the Bomb, but how the Japanese leaders could refuse the mercy of a peaceful surrender. Responsibility for the bombing finally rests squarely on the shoulders of the Japanese "cabinet."
Codename Downfall gives a fresh and convincing perspective on a very old question.
R. Day: May 29, 1996
Average customer rating:
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The Duke's Downfall
Jane Lynson
Manufacturer: Fawcett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0449217256
Release Date: 1992-02-23 |
Average customer rating:
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Trump: The Deals and the Downfall
Wayne Barrett
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0060167041 |
Customer Reviews:
Average.......2002-04-22
This is a story of ego and money. This biography is probably more balanced then some of the other books that Trump himself has put out, but it basically boils down to somebody that had a leg up and parlayed that money in and even larger pile of money. You get all the basics with this biography, the dull and average childhood, the fun / sexy college years, the first part of his career where he was learning the ropes and then the tabloid end with divorce's, girlfriends, business problems and business successes.
I think this book and maybe Trump has missed the real story; Trump can claim great business success, a comeback etc, why must he push the focus on the feeding and sustaining his ego? That is something the book could have spent more time on, but unless you had a fully open Trump to ask the questions to, you would never get the info. Overall, this book is an average effort with about 25 pages that should have been cut by the editor. With a personality in the media so much it is hard to find something completely new in this book that would compel the general reader to want to pick it up.
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