Book Description
He has been one of the brightest stars in Hollywood, a hard-charging actor whose intensity on the screen has been mirrored in his personal life. As Kirk Douglas has grown older - he turned ninety in December 2006 - he has become less impetuous and more reflective. In this poignant and inspiring new memoir, Douglas contemplates what life is all about, weighing current events from his present frame of mind while summoning the passions of his younger days.
Kirk Douglas is a born storyteller, and throughout Let's Face It he tells wonderful tales and shares favorite jokes and hard-won insights. In the book, he explores the mixed blessings of growing older and looks back at his childhood, his young adulthood, and his storied, glamorous, and colorful life and career in Hollywood. He tells delightful stories of the making of such films as Spartacus, Lust for Life, Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, and many others. He includes anecdotes about his friends Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Lauren Bacall, Ronald Reagan, Ava Gardner, Henry Kissinger, Fred Astaire, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, and Johnny Cash. He reveals the secrets that have kept him and his wife, Anne, happily married for more than five decades, and talks fondly and movingly of times spent with his sons, Michael, Peter, Eric, and Joel, and his grandchildren.
Douglas's life has been filled with pain as well as joy. In Let's Face It, he writes frankly for the first time about the tragic death of his son Eric from a drug overdose at age forty-five. Douglas tells what it was like to recover from several near-death episodes, including a helicopter crash, a stroke, and a cardiac event. He writes of his sadness that many of his closest friends are no longer with us; the book includes many moving stories such as one about a regular poker game at Frank Sinatra's house at which he and Anne have been fixtures along with Gregory Peck, Jack Lemmon, and their wives. Though many of the players are gone, the game continues to this day.
In Let's Face It, Douglas reflects on how his Jewish faith has become more and more important to him over the years. He offers strong opinions on everything from anti-Semitism to corporate greed, from racism to Hurricane Katrina, and from the war in Iraq to the situation in Israel. He writes about the importance in his life of the need to improve education for all children and about how we need to care more about the world and less about ourselves.
A must-read for every fan, this engrossing memoir provides an indelible self-portrait of a great star - while sharing the wit and wisdom Kirk Douglas has accumulated over a lifetime.
Customer Reviews:
a man you can love and respect.......2007-08-31
I could not put the book down ,I had to read it from cover to cover . He is a one of a kind person It shows how you will always go back to your roots
Not as good as past books.......2007-08-23
I have read past books by Kirk Douglas which were much better, mainly because they told a story, and this book is mostly ramblings. It is okay to pick up and read a bit from time to time but not a book you will be engrossed in.
A wonderful life .......2007-08-19
Kurt does it again. At ninety he is still feisty and funny. And his life- story which he has told in two previous books is only enriched by another retelling. He opens with the story of his ninetieth birthday party, a gala family event in which he laughs and is laughed at as well as celebrated and appreciated. The little kid from Amsterdam did not do so bad. He may have started out as a poor hungry kid robbing eggs from the neighbor's chicken coop but he with a lot of moxie and ability made it to the top of the American entertainment world. In this book which comes across as a series of small essays or talks he wanders all over the place but always interestingly. He in his long career knew a lot of remarkable people and he tells about many of his old buddies. He also in the course of this speaks about how much he misses many of them, one of the sad consequences of a very long life. He also speaks about the tragic death of his youngest son, whose grave he visits twice a week.
Kurt did not make it the easy way. A heart attack, a helicopter crash which set him back a lot, a stroke which took his speech from him. The stroke however did not take away his will and through great effort much help he fought back to speak and think clearly again. Part of his wake- up process was a decision to explore Judaism which he had sort of forgotten about in his prime acting years ( Except for his yearly Yom Kippur synagogue visits, and the movies made in Israel which he is a staunch supporter of) His strong desire to help young people to educate them to moral dignity and lives of contributing to making a better world is also expressed here. Also he tells the story of his fifty- three year and running marriage to his second wife,Ann, and how this has been the great love story of his life.
Kurt has guts and heart .He is a tough, caring person, who will always of course be most known for some of his remarkable performances on the screen ( Lonely Are the Brave, The Champion, Spartacus, The Clown, Lust or Life) but his works as a writer also have great entertainment and educational value.
A wonderfully enjoyable little book by a great human being.
Still the toughest guy in town.......2007-03-30
You have to be tough to face your own mortality and Kirk Douglas faces it feisty, reflective, and sometimes furious. In addition to great stories from his life that he hasn't told before, this book tells of the things that, 90 years on, move his heart and his soul. I was surprised, delighted and stirred all the way through.
Average customer rating:
- I thought this book was very touching
- The Title of This Book Says It All
- AMAZING!!
- Inspirational, indeed
- Painful and powerful
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Autobiography of a Face
Lucy Grealy
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
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Binding: Paperback
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Amazon.com
At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. Vividly portraying the pain of peer rejection and the guilty pleasure of wanting to be special, Grealy captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect
Book Description
"I spent five years of my life being treated for cancer, but since then I've spent fifteen years being treated for nothing other than looking different from everyone else. It was the pain from that, from feeling ugly, that I always viewed as the great tragedy of my life. The fact that I had cancer seemed minor in comparison."
At age nine, Lucy Grealy was diagnosed with a potentially terminal cancer. When she returned to school with a third of her jaw removed, she faced the cruel taunts of classmates. In this strikingly candid memoir, Grealy tells her story of great suffering and remarkable strength without sentimentality and with considerable wit. Vividly portraying the pain of peer rejection and the guilty pleasures of wanting to be special, Grealy captures with unique insight what it is like as a child and young adult to be torn between two warring impulses: to feel that more than anything else we want to be loved for who we are, while wishing desperately and secretly to be perfect.
Customer Reviews:
I thought this book was very touching.......2007-08-29
I had started this book and not gotten very far with it when I put it down to read something else. I am glad that I kept a hold of it because the next time I picked up I couldn't stop reading it. Very powerful memoir.
The Title of This Book Says It All.......2007-08-09
Our book group is reading Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett and decided to read Autobiography of a face as well, and I am glad we did. Lucy Grealy writes her painful story from age 9 and we are with her every step of the way through her many painful ordeals.
Lucy is a seemingly normal 9 year old child growing up in a disjointed and admittedly dysfunctional family. She is diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a cancer with an alrmingly low survival rate. Although she has a twin sister, she rarely talks about her. You get the impression the family is not close, nor are they very supportive of one another. When her father is hospitalized for a serious illness, Lucy only goes to see him one time. Although the stay is extensive, they just stay at home, waiting for phone updates on their father's condition. Only her mother seems to make many appearances at the hospital where Lucy spends the majority of her pre-pubescent years.
Lucy Grealy is a person who is obssessed with her appearance. She talks about not really knowing who she is and what she looked like before her surgery, therefore, her post surgery appearance is the defining one for her. She is grossly disfugured, not only by the cancer and the resulting surgeries and treatments, but by the many surgeries performed in an attempt to repair the damage. Unfortunately, no clear thinking adult ever steps forward to get this poor child any kind of counseling or therapy, and she spends much of her life tortured by secret shame. She strives to be strong enough to make her mother proud, to be the model patient and to portray herself as a person who really doesn't care about her appearancence. Sadly, as most women know, this is not the case, especially in a society obsessed by appearances.
In my review of Truth and Beauty, I refer to the article Lucy Grealy's sister Suellen wrote in reaction the the publication of that book. My question to the Grealy family would be; where were all of you? I understand the family had many problems, but to be angry at Patchett and the other friends of Lucy's who were their for her when her own family wasn't seems misplaced. especially because the publication of this book precedes that of this book. And Lucy's own book is clearly an indictment of the disinterest of the Grealy family.
This is the life story of an extremely unhappy and disturbed person. She needed serious therapy to deal with her serious physical illness and all its side effects. Sadly, she was neglected in this way. Yes, through her writing and many of her relationships (some healthy, most not) she found a way in the world, but if you read Truth and Beauty and learn of the rest of her life through the eyes of a bystander, you see the personality that develops from the pain that was her early life. Well written and fast moving, this (Lucy's book) is a different kind of story than any other you will ever read. Brutally honest and excuciatingly sad, Lucy seemed to believe all she was was a face, and the only way to true happiness was to be loved and adored by a "lover." If only she was able to embrace herself as so much more than just a face, but a spirit that transcended what she looked like. If the title was Autobiography of a Soul, this would have been a different book, and this life may have had a different outcome...
AMAZING!!.......2007-07-13
You will never look at life the same way. And its so real and beautifully written. A must read.
Inspirational, indeed.......2007-07-04
Lucy's story, itself, is not only inspirational but it is also beautifully written...the language lyrical, quiet, insightful, touching...
It is so unfortunate that given Lucy's triumphs and accomplishments over her illness, she would be gone at such an early age, depriving us all of the lovely stories that could have been.
A great writer.
Painful and powerful.......2007-01-18
I read this book a while ago and it has stayed with me--always the sign of a good book. I wish this was a book that was given to all young girls especially. The idea that you are loveable, worthwhile and have so much to offer the world, no matter how you look is, sadly, a message that many never get. Even with all of the author's struggles to reach that place, the facts of her life show that she was never able to do it. Beautifully written.
Book Description
Born into a middle-class Afghan family in Kabul in 1980, Latifa had a conventional childhood. Then, Taliban soldiers seized power in Kabul. And from that moment, Latifa, just sixteen, became a prisoner in her own home. The simplest and most basic freedoms were forbidden. She was forced to put on a chadri, the state-mandated uniform that covered her entire body. Disbelief at having to hide herself was soon replaced by fear, the fear of being whipped or stoned like women she'd seen. My Forbidden Face provides a moving and highly personal account of life under the Taliban regime. With painful honesty and clarity, Latifa describes her ordered world falling apart, in the name of a fanaticism that she could not comprehend, and replaced by a world where terror and oppression reign.
Customer Reviews:
When Home Becomes Prison.......2007-10-02
Home became prison for women when the Taliban arrived. And I don't think Taliban rule was a picnic for most men either. "Latifah" did a great job of describing the deep depression of women whose lives suddenly became worth nothing with no hope and no dreams allowed.
This book was mentioned in a reader review of the book "A Thousand Splendid Suns". A reviewer implied that that the author plagiarized "Latifah's" book. I was curious so I bought "My Forbidden Face". I see no signs of any plagiarism at all. Can't imagine what the reviewer was thinking.
Another reviewer of "My Forbidden Face" wanted to know the reasoning behind the Taliban rules so that she could understand better. The Taliban wanted to demoralize and subjugate the people for complete control. That was the reason behind every crazy pronouncement.
I have to agree that the editing was poor and the timelines confusing. I had to re-read some portions of the book because I thought I missed segments. Turns out I didn't miss anything--what I was looking for wasn't there.
Definitely worth reading for the young woman's account of what life was like in Afghanistan during that time period. Scary and heartbreaking.
A Non-Muslim American Woman's Comments.......2007-04-17
I was eager to read this book because I wanted to learn about women's experiences in Afganistan at the hands of the Taliban. The title, "My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban, etc", indicated to me that this would be a personal, information-packed book on the subject. But as others have already said, the book was quite sketchy regarding the information it supposedly covered. Most of the Taliban decrees that Fatima listed were shocking to me, a western woman, and I wanted to understand her plight in greater detail. But instead I ended up with more questions than answers. Why was whistling forbidden (including ridiculously, even teakettles)? Why were photographs and paintings forbidden? Why were no books except the Quran allowed (that one would kill me for sure!)? What did she and her sisters do to pass the time living basically under house arrest for 3 years (besides lay on their bed, and listen clandestinely to the BBC in the evenings)? When she taught school, what did she teach and how did she teach it? How did the children respond? I would have loved to get a more personal account of her situation than I can get reading news stories. How do the Taliban's version of Islamic rule differ from non-Taliban rule? Why would the Taliban want to get rid of women, as she stated? These questions perplex me. I want to know the truth, I want to understand more.
When she said the United States' policies in the Middle East were mistakes and mishandled, I would like to know specifically what she was referring to. I don't doubt for a minute that the U.S. has bungled things in that region, probably on a grand scale, but I truly wanted to know what she thought first hand. Instead I think maybe she was superficially stating other people's views that she may not have been old enough to process yet.
As a non-Muslim American woman, Fatima's life and religion could not have been more opposite to mine than if she lived on another planet. Maybe Fatima will write another book after she has matured a bit so that she will add a more thorough account of her experiences to help those of us living in a far different world to understand the clash between our two cultures. Because I do believe that with knowledge and understanding of the other side, a way can come to get through this mess.
Could have used a competent editor, but good effort.......2007-03-17
This book jumps around a lot. The author could have used a better editor. Since this book deals with a lot of historical aspects of growing up in Afghanistan, a linear format would have worked better than the back and forth the author uses. One day her brother's fighting the Soviets. Then he's married in another country, then he's fighting the Soviets. You get the idea. It's a little hard to keep track of who's doing what.
As to the descriptions of the author's life, however, it was pretty good, but I don't feel she adequately captured the horrors of what was going on, at least not compared to other books I've read on the subject. More detail and expansion would have been good.
However, the book was very good, especially from one so young. I do recommend it.
My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story.......2006-03-27
My Forbidden Face : Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story, is a firsthand account of a young girl under the Taliban. The Book begins as 16 year old Latifa, and ends when she is twenty one. I thought this book was very well written, and very enjoyable. I thought the book was kind of fluffy, meaning that, though it gave us information about the Taliban, and what it was like living under it, it was still not giving us a lot of detail. Sure, she talks about the rights they took away from women, and the depression it caused her and millions other women in the country, but I think she could have been a bit more focused on her life before the Taliban took over Afghanistan, as it is a biography.
I do recommend this book to people who are interested in Human Rights, women in the Middle East, but I think that people who have read other books about Women's rights issues wouldn't like this book as much as someone who has just begun to take an interest in the subjects.
I highy recommend The Princess Series, by Jean Sasson, and Nine Parts of Desire, by Geraldine Brooks.
What a story!.......2006-01-14
This book provides a first-hand account of daily life in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Latifa (a pseudonym made necessary by death threats to the author and her family members) lived with her family in a middle-class area of Kabul. Her country had been at war her entire life. Over the years, Latifa and her family members struggled to be apolitical just so they could survive the frequent regime changes. One of her brothers served in the army under the Soviets, only to become a political prisoner under the regime; another was sent to university in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on a Soviet scholarship. When the Taliban took over Kabul, Latifa found herself virtually imprisoned in her apartment, forbidden by the Taliban from attending the university where she had just passed her entrance exams. Her sister had been an airline stewardess and her mother a doctor, but both were forbidden from continuing their professions. Her father was a businessman, whose Kabul warehouses were being continually destroyed in battle.
In this book, Latifa describes daily life for her family after the Taliban took control. She describes listening to edicts on the radio, forbidding women from working and girls from going to school. Women and girls were also not allowed to be treated by male doctors, and since women doctors were forbidden from practicing, this effectively shut half the population out from being able to receive any kind of health care. Women had to be covered from head to toe if they were to go out in public, and they had to be escorted by a male relative. On one of the few times Latifa dared go out of her apartment for a walk, she witnessed a horrific beating of women whose feet were covered but who had committed the apparently reprehensible crime of wearing the wrong color shoes.
At the beginning of her story, Latifa is an ordinary teenager, excited with fancy dresses and movie stars. But as the years go by, and she finds herself and all other women that she knows forbidden from participating in society in any, Latifa becomes more and more concerned with women's issues-indeed she becomes a feminist, although she had most likely never heard the term before. It's fascinating to read in her descriptions of childhood in Kabul of what a relatively normal life her family had been able to lead, despite the wars and political upheavals. This contrasts sharply with the changes brought in by the Taliban, when marriages could no longer be celebrated, and teachers could be beaten for providing lessons to little girls.
Latifa's occasional references to Dubai kept bringing back my own memories of the young Emirati women I taught there at about the same time Latifa was stuck in her apartment. In class one day at the height of Taliban power, I asked the students to construct an argument for why women should be educated. "But why?" they asked in shock. "Everyone knows women should be educated. No one would say otherwise-it's in the Q'uran." When I tried to tell them that the Taliban had forbidden women or girls from getting any kind of education in the Islamic republic of Afghanistan, they vociferously denied that this could be so. If only this book had been available then-perhaps the students might have believed Latifa's word, coming from a fellow Muslim girl, if they wouldn't believe mine. (Has it been translated into Arabic? Is it on the list of banned books for the Emirates?) This is a very-well written, gripping account of Afghani life from the point of view of an ordinary citizen, and highly recommended to anyone who wants to further their understanding of the Afghan society and attitudes towards the Taliban.
Book Description
This meticulously researched biography creates a complete and balanced picture of Reinhard Heydrich. A leading figure within the Nazi Party, he was responsible more than Himmler for the planning and execution of the Holocaust. Having joined the Nazi Party in 1931, Heydrich rose quickly through the ranks of the SS. By the age of twenty-nine he had become an SS Brigadier General, and his ruthless ambition led many senior Nazis to believe that he was the natural successor to Hitler. It was Heydrich’s initiative to create the Einsatzgruppen, paramilitary units which were established before Operation Barbarossa to murder Jews and political operatives of the Communist party. In 1941 Heydrich was made Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Supremely confident of his authority within the province, he would often drive alone in an open-top car. British-trained Czech partisans took advantage of this gesture, and in 1942 carried out a daring assassination attempt. Heydrich was mortally wounded in the ambush and died a week later in hospital. The reprisals that followed were brutal: more than 15,000 Czechs were murdered and the town of Lidice was razed to the ground. This book examines Heydrich’s meteoric rise to power, his complex personality, and the aftermath of his death: Hitler’s vengeance and the postwar fortunes of Heydrich’s widow and descendants.
Customer Reviews:
Reinhard Heydrich: One of the Chief Architects of Genocide.......2007-09-19
Mario Dederich traces Heydrich's life from his early years in the Nazi Party, through his views on resettlement of Jews (p. 100) which evolved into extermination of the same, his assassination by Czech partisans, the ghastly German reprisals, and postwar issues. Heydrich is described as a man who was ruthless even by Nazi standards. Certain neo-Nazis have hailed him as "the Naziest of the Nazis." (p. 177)
Was Heydrich of Jewish ancestry? Dederich shows that he was commonly regarded, in Nazi circles, in that light (p. 37, 54-55). The evidence itself is inconclusive. The ancestral list, used by the SS to prove Aryan ancestry at least as far back as 1648, was "very superficial". (p. 54). The Suss (Suess) lineage, according to the ancestral list, was Lutheran (p. 37). But does this eliminate the possibility of conversion from Judaism? Furthermore, one of Heydrich's great-great grandmothers, Johanna Birnbaum, may have been Jewish, and, significantly, her name doesn't appear in the documentation (p. 56).
Heydrich held very strong anti-Christian views (p. 72, 74-75). "As did Heydrich, [Professor Alfred] Six identified the main enemies of the Reich as being the freemasonry, the Jews, and the Churches." (p. 99). In addition, Dederich notes: "...Himmler's allegation that medieval witchcraft trials were actually an attack by Roman Catholicism on German womanhood." (p. 100). Interestingly, some modern feminists have followed in Himmler's footsteps by leveling a similar accusation against the Church and calling it gynocide.
Not only the Einsatzgruppen but also the Wehrmacht had been involved in shootings of large numbers of civilians (p. 111). Dederich puts the subsequent Wannsee conference in perspective: "The Wannsee conference was not the beginning of the genocide; Heydrich had initiated that with the Einsatzgruppen in Poland in 1939 and in the Soviet Union in 1941. The death camps...had been in existence for some time." (p. 134)
As for the postwar war-crimes trials in West Germany, Dederich discusses how Pole-killers and Jew-killers such as Werner Best and Bruno Streckenbach escaped justice through various medical-related technicalities. Furthermore, he adds: "Not a single head of the RSHA Polish Division IVD2 ever came before a court." (p. 183)
Finally, Dederich concludes: "It is clear that of all the direct Heydrich descendants, not one has ever uttered publicly a word of regret about the crimes committed by their ancestor. Never have they furnished a gesture towards the Jews, Poles, or the survivors of Lidice." (p. 189).
Good book but could be better.......2007-09-01
This is without a question a very good book even if lacking in detail. Heydrich was such a complicated man that one would expect a book on his life to be more detailed, include more photos and even more authors speculations on this brutal character. 4 stars.
A Very Good Book but Lacking Photos and Length.......2007-07-14
I am a huge collector of books on the Third Reich and I found this one very interesting Heydrich definately was a complicated personality who did more harm than good for his country well mostly to the average citizen in his country, I often wonder what would have happened had he not been assassinated now thats a scary thought!! But all in all a really great book very detailed although very short and no photos in it thats why Im only giving it 3 stars, I understand that the auther died while writng it thats probably why it came out the way it did, but for those who want an intimate look into Heydrich's life this is the book to read.
THE EYES OF A RUTHLESS, EVIL HENCHMAN.......2007-06-17
While his face was not attractive, though many a woman found him so, it is the eyes that truly reveal Reinhard Heydrich. Piercing and cold, evil itself looks out forever in the extant photographs: Hitler's man with the iron heart, nothing seemed too much for Heydrich. He was the worst of the worst, more ruthless than all the others. And that is quite a statement.
On page 23 a partial explanation for the flaw in Heydrich may have been something biological: "To what extent the encephalitis damaged the mind and soul of the young Heydrich it is impossible to know." Could his evil truly have its roots in this such illness?
It has been some time since a biography of Heydrich has appeared and this book, finished by a friend due the author's death, is a well composed work, and an interesting, revealing study of a totally evil man, but a man of whom neither his wife or blood kin would ever say or write a bad thing. And to top it all off, though he led the group that wanted to kill all Jews, the one thing always troubling him, keeping him humbled before both Himmler and Hitler, was Hydrich's deep-seated fear that he himself had Jewish blood.
While I have Charles Whiting's study of Heydrich on my library shelf, I find this an up-to-date study and a worthy one. Even The Military Book Club chose it as selection. If you have stomach to face evil head on, then this WWII study will no doubt interest you.
Semper Fi.
Wow!.......2007-04-10
If you ever want to appreciate what evil is truly about, please read this book. We do not need to conjure up images of a devil with human beings like Heydrich roaming the face of the earth. Unfortunately, they still do occupy the space we all share. The man was truly ruthless and cold blooded. Read it and you will come away with a better understanding of the suffering and death that was needlessly inflicted on mankind by this horrible man.
Average customer rating:
- enthusiastic fun
- To surpass oneself is among life's greatest rewards
- Buy this book for everyone you care about
- THE VIRTUOSO ROCKS!...KEN CARBONE IS THE KING OF THE WORLD!
- REDISCOVER YOUR FAITH IN MANKIND. GET THIS BOOK!
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The Virtuoso: Face to Face With 40 Extraordinary Talents
Ken Carbone ,
Ashton Applewhite ,
Frank Deford ,
Judith Jamison ,
John Russell , and
Peter Blake
Manufacturer: Stewart Tabori & Chang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
The Virtuoso is an illustrated celebration of the human potential in all of us. Defined as the unthinkable ventured and the impossible attained, the virtuosos in this book are from different generations and cultures, but they share certain qualities: dignity, self-discipline, determination, courage, and focus. They are tangible evidence of the value of hard work, dedication, and passion; they inspire greatness.
This daring book pairs lively text profiles with stunning, intimate portraits. Some, like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Muhammad Ali are world famous, others are relatively obscure. But all are among the best on earth at what they do, whether it's tying flies, puzzling over evolution, baking bread, making a canoe, picking stocks, juggling, telling a story, or playing a guitar.
From an unbelievable 720-degree aerial rotation on a skateboard to a clandestine 1,350-foot-high wire walk between New York City's Twin Towers or a transporting piano solo, perfection exists in myriad forms, though rarely has it been captured so brilliantly as in this book.
Customer Reviews:
enthusiastic fun.......1999-04-27
What's great here, in addition to stellar photos and high production values (what kind of paper is this?) is the surprising quality of the selection of the people. I like seeing boxers and map makers, basketball players and glass blowers set next to each other.
To surpass oneself is among life's greatest rewards.......1999-04-18
Wayne Gretzky's retirement from hockey seems a fitting occasion to remark on the phenomenal collection of virtuosos Ken Carbone has gathered together in his new book. The gift of a Virtuoso like Gretzky, and of this book, is the realization that absolute focus and dedication to a passion can lead one beyond oneself. That message resounds like a gong through the handsomely designed pages and expressive photographs of The Virtuoso. The thrill of sharing a Virtuoso's talent is the transcendence it offers, the visceral feeling that one is witnessing, in the Eastern sense, life lived fully in the moment. Inspiration, indeed.
Buy this book for everyone you care about.......1999-04-17
Joseph Campbell's sadly over-used expression "Follow your bliss" is personified in the 40 profiles that fill the pages of The Virtuoso. What a revelation to find that the world possesses such remarkable individuals in places we might least expect to find them. The Virtuoso says much about taking risks, about going as far as you can to arrive at a place that is larger than yourself. Love, and a dash of madness, are at the core of every choice a Virtuoso makes, shaping the lives of these extraordinary talents in the most unimagined ways, and those who come into contact with them. It takes a vision to see the vision in others. Clearly this author has that. Bravo!
THE VIRTUOSO ROCKS!...KEN CARBONE IS THE KING OF THE WORLD!.......1999-04-16
This is one of those extraordinarily rare books that inspires me to buy not one, but 100...for family, friends, and colleagues. The idea is so simple and so brilliant but more important, it is beautifully executed. Truly inspired virtuoso selections, gorgeous photography and wonderful writing-- rarely, does one find all of these qualities in one body of work. My only regret is that the book wasn't available during the holiday season or I would have used it for ALL of my X-mas gifts. With tremendous respect, LCLJ
REDISCOVER YOUR FAITH IN MANKIND. GET THIS BOOK!.......1999-03-29
Not just the famous. Not the infamous. Not the obvious. This amazing book actually delivers on the promise of the title. I didn't realize how jaded I was until I sat down and moved through the text and images. Simply brilliant. Don't miss the experience and integrity of this book. ADDED BONUS: The book's superlative design and extraordinary photographs.
Book Description
With the phenomenal success of Elizabeth Kostovas critically acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller, The Historian, there is a renewed interest in the true story of Dracula. Originally published in 1990, Dracula, Prince of Many Faces still stands as the definitive biography of Vlad Dracula of Romania. Dracula, Prince of Many Faces reveals the extraordinary life and times of the infamous Vlad Dracula of Romania (1431-1476), nicknamed the Impaler. Dreaded by his enemies, emulated by later rulers like Ivan the Terrible, honored by his countrymen even today, Vlad Dracula was surely one of the most intriguing figures to have stalked the corridors of European and Asian capitals in the fifteenth century. In this definitive biography covering Vlad Draculas life and subsequent legend, readers will discover that life can truly be more terrifying than fiction.
Customer Reviews:
National Hero??? Right!.......2007-05-23
For those who lack historical knowledge of Central European history in the 14th and 15th Century, this book is an interesting book to read, as long as they do not fall into the trap the authors conceived in their false national grandeur. Due to that, I can only give this book, ONE star.
This book has several flaws big enough to drive a Dacia through it and would take a lot of pages, if not another book to correct all of them. A Dacia, for those who do not know, is a Romanian built automobile, based upon an out-dated Renault design that was manufactured in the 1970's.
Fascinating how historical facts intermixed with obvious bias, envious bitterness and with written with, in my opinion, a chip on their shoulder, includes inadequacies lacking a national historical identity towards the true owners and rulers of the Erdély, the region known in Latin as Transylvania, "beyond the forest," can portray a Wallachian despot, a Prince wannabe named Vlad III, better know as Dracula, as a national hero! No wonder the same people who call Dracula their national hero in the 20th century, who've uprooted 1000 year old villages, bulldozed down every house and all monuments, justifying their actions in the name of ethnic cleansing; then, resettled tens of thousands of persons from Hungarian speaking areas in Transylvania into harsh regions of modern Romania, Yes, that would make Dracula proud!
While there is a lot of history portrayed in this book, it is done with much envy and distortion towards Hungarians in general. Right from the beginning of the book "...Transylvanian place names that have Romanian, German, and Hungarian equivalents, we shall use the modern Romanian names..." This only makes sense one would assume, however even such simple statements reflect the falseness that is displayed throughout the book. It is implying that the Hungarian names held the least or were of no significance in the history of Transylvania, where as, the truth is factually the opposite. In Dracula's era, there was no such country as Romania, nor was Romanian an official language in Transylvania. The official language was Hungarian, Latin used for general administration, German in the Saxon cities, while Romanian was spoken by the minority in the western counties or duchies, increasing towards majority near the bordering counties or duchies that were near the regions of Wallachia and Moldavia. Romanian names in Transylvania only became dominant after 1918. Since the events portrayed in this book took place mostly in the 1400's to be historically accurate, and unbiased, one should use the proper names perhaps with the modern names in brackets for reference to their location in modern Romania. The method used in the book is just an extension of the eradication and continued denial of the significant Hungarian culture, history or presence in the region.
Transylvanian history goes back to time of the Roman Empire, as it was an outpost region bordered within the western slopes of the Carpathian mountain range known as Dacia. In brief, as the Roman Empire broke up and separated into separate two Empires: Western and Eastern, ethic tribes from the East started to migrate into areas formerly occupied by the Romans. These invaders such as the Huns, Avars, Lombards, Gepids, Slavs, and later the Magyar tribes, they moved into the Carpathian basin and the surrounding areas just west of the Byzantine Empire. Some have left and moved on. These eastern invaders conquered, subjugated the native population, some who intermarried with descendants of the original Roman Legionaries who decided to stay behind once the empire fell apart, thus forming the native population for the next generations. The Carpathian basin including the regions of Pannonia and Dacia of the former Roman Empire were settled by the Ten Magyar, (Hungarian) tribes. Thus, the Magyar (Hungarian) State was established in 896 AD. Note at this time, and for almost 1000 years after the establishment of Hungary, there was no Romania. The modern state of Romania was formed by the merging of the Danubian Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia in 1859 and in 1918 Hungarian Transylvania was annexed by the victors of WWI, as punishment for the Hungarian participation in WWI. When the pagan Hungarian King Vajk, converted to Christianity and adopted the Christian name István, (Stephen, who later was named a Saint), and by force converted the rest of the Magyar pagans, he was rewarded by the Pope in Rome and by Byzantine Emperor with crowns to symbolize his sovereignty over the lands under his command including Transylvania. The two crows were assembled into one as the Holly Crown of Hungary. As the Hungarian kingdom congealed, and needed additional populous at the eastern borders (Transylvania) to shore up the defences against any further invasions from the East, such as the Hordes of Genghis Khan, and the Ottoman Turks, Székely (Szeklers descendants of the Huns, who left after the death of Attila) from the East and Saxon (German) settlers from western Europe were encouraged to move in, along with the Teutonic Knights (who were expelled later on), and were granted lands and independent city statues, but were subject to the Crown of Hungary.
Wallachia east and Moldavia to the north of Transylvania were autonomous regions ruled by Princes, or pretenders to the throne. These regions were populated in majority by Romanian speaking inhabitants.
Thus, what these so called historians scholars have cooked up about a petty Wallachian despot named Dracula, as the founding father of Romania, is a laughable! "Dracula became a national hero par excellence, one who defended the nation's independence against overwhelming odds - kind of George Washington of the Romanian people..." I do not believe George Washington had people impaled while he ate his dinner, nor had tens of thousands (if not over a hundred thousand) killed by boiling, skinning people alive, sawing off their limbs, who'd disagreed or challenged his political ambitions. Nor was Dracula like Robin Hood, giving to the poor from the rich!
Throughout the book, and at every opportunity, the Hungarians are perceived as corrupt, unreliable, who had betrayed Vlad III, spreading false propaganda unjustly, undeservingly about this Christian Knight, who wore the Order of the Dragon. From John Hunyadi, (being described as: from a humble Wallachian stock, a turncoat Hungarian wannabe), he actually was a true Christian Crusader at the time and whose victory over the Turks in 1456 at Belgrade is still celebrated to date: every day at noon, church bells are rung. Hunyadi was the Regent of Hungary and the Governor of Transylvania to King Matthias Corvinus, was described as "...King Matthias evidently liked to think of himself as a true patron of learning and the arts." Matthias didn't have to think of it, he was! Matthias established the flowering culture of the Hungarian Renaissance, by modernizing and building. His treasures were ransacked by the Turks later on, but some of the surviving books that were published upon his orders and were housed in the King's Library the Corvinus Codex's are worth millions and are now treasured by Museums world wide. In fact, the only painting of Dracula that existed was done by the King's artist while Dracula was in his imprisonment, when the King had no choice but to put Dracula in "prison" for his alleged autocracies after Vlad III, was overthrown the second time by his rivals. However, the prison was far from a real prison, it was more like a house arrest and at the King's palace. I do not of many prisoners in history who were allowed to marry the cousin of the King, while being incarcerated by the same King. The fact is that Vlad III, aka Dracula, married Ilona Szilágyi, a cousin of the King, while he was in, so called "imprisoned". Later on with the King's army, Dracula was put back in power for the third time to help with the continued fight and gain a psychological advantage against the invading Ottomans. Dracula's fierce reputation against the Turks gained by his prior autocracies against them and excellent knowledge of their tactics was something that the King did not ignore.
These two bright scholarly historians overwhelmed with debasing anything that had to do with Hungarians, could not even get the small facts straight about the Hunyadi coat of arms and the family symbol of King Matthias. For example, the black bird is a raven holding a gold ring in his beak and not a "crow." There is a significant difference between the two. Both John Hunyadi and King Matthias, among many other Hungarians in power in Transylvania, were actual benefactors of Vlad III.
The real Dracula, Vlad III, was not a forthright Christian or a nationalist hero. At the very best, he was a warlord with many ambitions. He was power hungry, cruel, sadistic, evil, revengeful, and treacherous yet, a very savvy individual who made the right connections with powerful benefactors, looking out for his own true interests in being or trying to be the ruler of Wallachia. Ambitions supported by using all his talents and available methods: torture, intimidations, bribery, and psychological warfare against not just his enemies but his own subjects. While Dracula did fight the Ottoman Turks, it was based upon his childhood hate towards the Turks (for that Dracula cannot be blamed) and own self interests in manifestation of power to rule independently over Wallachia against Ottoman expansionism, than being a Christian Crusader. Dracula was in many ways just like many of his contemporarily power hungry despots and tyrants in the 14th to the 15th centuries who made deals and alliances with more powerful benefactors. What made him different was that he was a lot more cruel and bloody in his methods. By constructing monasteries he thought he could seek salvation from eternal damnation and from hell.
Ironically in 1476, when Dracula was assassinated, his head was cut off and taken to Constantinople to the Sultan to be displayed on a pole, just like he had done to so many of his enemies. If not for Bram Stoker, Dracula would have been forgotten in history, like so many petty tyrants of the era.
Dracula, Prince of Many Faces: His Life and His Times.......2007-02-27
The most objective write up on Dracula! It is about history and not fiction. It is about Romanians and their culture as part of the Europe's XV century. It is about a leader that was loved, feared and hated both at home and outside the Romanian territory. With simple examples, Mr. Florescu brings forward Dracula's leadership skills and characteristics that have no time bound and can also be found and applied today by successful leaders.
Count Alacard.......2006-11-20
Love the book. Vlad was a great history character. A great addition to my library. Great service and it arrived in perfect shape.
Eye Opening.......2006-11-04
This book is one of the very few written in the English language to portray the historical figure of Dracula whose nickname was used by Bram Stocker. It is a work that was indeed needed in order to correct many wrong impressions about the historical figure of Dracula.
Vlad "The Impaler" lived in a harsh world, an unforgiving one, full of strifes, intrigues from within his country and from outside. Written with a wide readership in mind this book succeedes to convey the sense of the age and the personality of the elusive prince.
dracula ,barbaric murderer.......2006-10-03
Prince Dracula was a very unkind prince. He would impale anyone whom he thought was insulting him or going against him. Everyone hated him and feared him. it is a really good book to read. It describes the barbaric tortures and execution methods enjoyed by prince dracula.
A.H, Australia
Amazon.com
Like many white South Africans of his generation, Rian Malan fled his country to dodge the draft. He felt incredibly guilty for this act, but would have felt equally guilty for not doing it: "I ran because I wouldn't carry a gun for apartheid, and because I wouldn't carry a gun against it." Malan, the product of a well-known Afrikaner family, returned to South Africa and produced My Traitor's Heart, which explores the literal and figurative brutalities of apartheid. Death is a constant presence on these pages, and the narrative is driven by Malan's criminal reportage. This acclaimed book intends to illuminate South Africa's poisonous race relations under apartheid, and few books do it this well.
Book Description
A classic of literary nonfiction, My Traitor's Heart has been acclaimed as a masterpiece by readers around the world. Rian Malan is an Afrikaner, scion of a centuries-old clan and relative of the architect of apartheid, who fled South Africa after coming face-to-face with the atrocities and terrors of an undeclared civil war between the races. This book is the searing account of his return after eight years of uneasy exile. Armed with new insight and clarity, Malan explores apartheid's legacy of hatred and suffering, bearing witness to the extensive physical and emotional damage it has caused to generations of South Africans on both sides of the color line. Plumbing the darkest recesses of the white and black South African psyches, Malan ultimately finds his way toward the light of redemption and healing. My Traitor's Heart is an astonishing book -- beautiful, horrifying, profound, and impossible to put down.
Customer Reviews:
An insight into the tortured soul of a typical liberal wooftah.........2007-02-28
White liberal draft-dodger hard at work. He's a good writer and the book's a painful look into the heart of a white liberal. My admiration goes rather to those who fought to defend their country.... but it's an insight into the tortured soul of a typical liberal wooftah. Why people put themselves thru all this inner torment I have no idea - have a beer and get over it, bloke! If you'd just done your time in the armed forces like pretty much every other south african had to do instead of taking the chicken run, you wouldn;t be going thru all this turmoil.
memoirs of an Africaaner-1970-1990.......2006-02-24
Before a recent visit to S. Africa, this book was recommended as an introduction to the political climate in S. Africa, especially after Apartheid. This very personal account told by Rian Malan, whose ancestors were directly responsible for the formation of the Apartheid society, traces his teenage rebellion against Apartheid, his career as a liberal newspaper reporter and his ultimate rejection of the violence that the new government has spawned. Be prepared for graphic descriptions of violence committed by both whites and blacks.
A good introduction to the complicated history of S. Africa and leaves the reader with questions regarding the future of that sad country.
A Rare Look into the Afrikaner Mind..........2006-01-27
I really enjoyed this book, although I do have some problems with it. First and foremost I will recommend it because I think it offers amazing insight into the psychology of Afrikaners and should be read-by any serious student of South African History. It is a valid historical document in that sense, because it is an honest and well-written, and sometimes deeply moving, biographical account of a "liberal" Afrikaner who has to struggle with his progressive ideals and his residual prejudices.
Rian Malan is a fascinating individual who fully accepts the humanity of all his fellow men and loves people of all colors-but in a way he has also rather unapologetically bought into the idea of some deep and maybe unsurpassable "cultural differences" between "us and them". This involves repeating a traditional refrain about how outsiders "don't understand" how "they" really are. While I agree that outside observers tended to see things in only one dimension, I also think that Malan is somewhat won over to the colonial discourse of "Darkest Africa", that place where savagery reigns.
What about white savagery? Although Malan talks about some white atrocities and even explicitly says they are savage-e.g., a white man forces a black man to castrate himself at gunpoint and then flicks the testicles away with a stick-and although he suggests the Afrikaner is also "savage", he never seems to make this part of "white" South African character. It is always that the whites are acting from fear, because they are "swamped". But clearly the countless cases of white human rights atrocities cannot be attributed to fear. Somehow the violence of "natives" becomes assimilated to their "culture" in his mind-some ancient "African" culture outside observers can't understand, but white inhumanity, no matter how many instances of it there are, and there are countless, is not portrayed the same way, as an offshoot of "culture" that is somehow independent of environment. Whites are always granted a context for their actions; Zulus are simply doing things the way Zulus "always have".
Still, I do think it's a beautiful book in a number of ways, despite these serious flaws, and if you want to know how some Afrikaners think, I think this is a book to look at. I recently talked to a white South African and found his discourse to be similar to Malan's-talk of fear, talk of "strange cultural rites", talk of profound differences that are unbridgeable, upsetting things I generally disagree with, but this discourse is part of the white South African self-understanding. And although poverty and crime are very real in South Africa, I still believe that white South Africans often have a self-justifying ideology that simply refuses to look at what they've done to bring about the problems of modern South Africa and prefers to look at the problems they are faced with, as if they emerged from a vacuum. (Obviously, I'm not excusing anyone's violence of any kind here, just making a point).
This is only human that people prefer to avoid examining their own consciences, and Malan has more humanity, kindness, compassion and insight than most people do anywhere, but you will see what I mean about his essentializing of difference if you read the book, and you should. He loves these "native" men and women, he jokes with them, he finds some brilliant, and at the end of the book he accepts that he has to let go of his fear if he wants to move forward. But he has somewhat convinced me prior to these last pages that he isn't really ready to make that leap, and that his faith in building a new nation could be easily shattered, as of course it will be, if you think in terms of black and white.
Magnificent, brooding work.......2004-12-24
This book came out when I was working in South Africa. It explores in an uncompromising way two rival phenomena: the hopes of 'white liberalism' and some harsh realities of South Africa's 'African-ness' which many urban liberals at that point seemed to pretend either were not there or were somehow only a function of apartheid.
The passages on Creina Alcock, a 'white' South African who stepped far away from her background to live as a Zulu are are especially poignant, even stunning. I visited Creina in her remote hut on the strength of this book and was astonished by her courage and wisdom. Rian captures this extraordinary story in a moving if (for the average reader?) pessimistic way
This book has universalist insights for anyone interested in whether Civilisations really do Clash. Rian Malan was on to something very profound in this book. It is vivid and appalling in places, and not always easy reading. So what? These issues are as difficult as anything we face. Read it, lots of times.
Disturbing.......2004-02-29
This book is an investigation into the attitudes of a liberal who was raised in South Africa. In the book, Malan tells us that his original charge was to write the history of his racist ancestors, who were among the first Boer settlers in the region. But when Malan began his project, he found he needed to first explore and develop his own perspective on race in South Africa before he could begin. And once he began doing this, he never really got around to the history project.
The book is divided into 3 sections. In the first, Malan describes his own childhood and adolescence, leading up to his forced flight from South Africa, with a major focus on his youthful love for Blacks (especially in the abstract). The second part of the book details a number of violent murders that Malan investigated upon his return to South Africa in 1986 to write this book. In this section, Malan describes the intense violence that was occurring in South Africa at the time, and how all Whites, even doctors providing humanitarian services in the townships, became targets for Black rage. He also explores violence between rival Black political groups. In the closing section, Malan visits a White woman named Creina Alcock, who lived on the border of Msanga, a tribal homeland, where she and her husband had struggled to build a sustainable rural development project with the local Blacks. The woman was widowed after her husband was killed while trying to negotiate peace talks during a tribal disturbance in Msanga.
The book doesn't have a strong narrative thread- -instead it seems that Malan was trying to communicate some of his own confusion and ambivalence about racial questions by presenting so many stories and sides of the picture, and flipping rapidly from one to the next. The loose organization is effective to some degree; the reader slowly comes to understand the enormity and complexity of South Africa's problems. Yes, many Whites provoked anger from Blacks by their abominable behavior and laws. Blacks in turn responded with violence that was so overwhelming that even those Whites who tried as hard as they could to do the right thing were in mortal danger. And the worst and most senseless violence seemed to occur in Black communities that had no White involvement at all. The entire society was so focused on violence that as one White living on a farm in a rural area told Malan "The guy with the bigger stick wins." In closing with Creina Alcock's story, Malan tries to leave us with a little hope. He argues that Alcock's and her late husband's love for their community has made a marginal difference in the social structure, despite the ongoing attacks on them and thefts of their property by children they had adopted and raised as their own, and even the murder of Alcock's husband. With the infinitesimally small improvements that the Alcocks managed to make in their community by giving their entire lives over to the project, how many millions more Alcocks would it take to turn such a country around, and where might they come from?
Book Description
By the time most of us meet our doctors, they’ve been in practice for a number of years. Often they seem aloof, uncaring, and hurried. Of course, they’re not all like that, and most didn’t start out that way.
Here are voices of third-year students just as they begin to take on clinical responsibilities. Their words focus on the odd transition students face when they must deal with real people in real time and in real crises and when they must learn to put aside their emotions to make quick, accurate, and sensitive decisions. Their decisions aren’t always right, and the consequences can be life-altering—for all involved. Moving, disturbing, and candid, their true stories show us a side of the profession that few ever see, or could even imagine. They show, often painfully, how medical students grow up, right at the bedside.
Customer Reviews:
The Soul of a Doctor: Harvard medical Students Face Life and Death.......2007-07-27
This is a great book. It tells the story of Harvard medical school graduates and their interactions with patients. Some of the stories are particularly moving and give hope, others remind me of how difficult it must be to become a doctor. Nearly all of the stories are well written. This book would be a great gift for anyone starting medical school, anyone who has an interest in medicine or even someone with a passing interest who watches television shows like Grey's Anatomy.
Ok.......2007-06-24
I have been very interested in becoming a doctor for a very long time, as such, I like to read as many books as possible about individual's experiences as a doctor or while becoming a doctor. I do feel as though some of the experiences shown were very intimate, but overall I just couldn't force myself to maintain interest. I feel as though the students who wrote these accounts received more benefit from writing them thean I did from reading them.
promising book needs some surgery.......2006-07-05
all of the true stories in this book have promise - they are interesting and thought provoking but unfortunately, the writers never follow through with the outcomes. You meet a patient, find out their problem - usually involving some sort of dillema for the dr. - they make their point but the outcome is left out. Did the patient die? They never say. (even a brief update after the essay would make a difference).
A gift.......2006-06-13
Getting to understand someone else's point of view is always wonderful. This book helped me imagine what it is like to be given a gift to heal and then have to learn what that means in real life. This book is not just for medical minded people but for everyone as the lessons these students learn can be applied to all of our lives/works. If nothing else, I am thankful for my health and all the doctors/nurses in my life.
A unique and intimate look into the experiences of physicians-in-training.......2006-06-13
If you ever wondered what it feels like to become a physician, I would highly recommend reading this book. Not designed to be entertaining but is instead an intimate look into the real life experiences of young and idealistic medical students as they move from the classroom to encounter the realities of patient care and the limitations of the health care system. These are very powerful and human stories, sometimes disturbing and heartwrenching and other times more positive. It's hard to imagine anyone reading this book and not be profoundly moved.
Amazon.com
Imagine if Heinrich Himmler or Lavrenti Beria had written an autobiography! Well, a secret police chief of even greater prowess (and even greater secrecy) has done just that. For 34 years--through almost the whole of the Cold War--Markus Wolf was the head of East Germany's foreign intelligence service. As such, he gathered and disseminated to his Soviet sponsors many of the deepest top secrets of the whole era. A good example of the mirrors-within-mirrors nature of Wolf's world is his description of his service's interactions with celebrated terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Wolf relates that whenever Carlos came to East Berlin, the spymaster's main concern was "getting him out of the country as soon as possible." But this proved difficult because well, Carlos was a terrorist not above turning on his hosts. Indeed, Wolf reveals that while Carlos was a guest of his government, he made threats against East Germany's Paris embassy and that the reaction was not to expel him, but to beef up embassy security. Similarly, Wolf tells how the 1986 La Belle disco bombing in West Berlin, which killed two U.S. soldiers and resulted in a U.S. reprisal air strike against Libya, involved East Germany's knowing admission through border control of Libyan diplomats with explosives in their luggage. Here, Wolf questions the notion that such terrorists were worth coddling for their usefulness in any all-out war against the West. You have to wonder if he also did so in his old job.
Book Description
For decades, Markus Wolf was known to Western intelligence officers only as "the man without a face." Now the legendary spymaster has emerged from the shadows to reveal his remarkable life of secrets, lies, and betrayals as head of the world's most formidable and effective foreign service ever. Wolf was undoubtedly the greatest spymaster of our century. A shadowy Cold War legend who kept his own past locked up as tightly as the state secrets with which he was entrusted, Wolf finally broke his silence in 1997. Man Without a Face is the result. It details all of Wolf's major successes and failures and illuminates the reality of espionage operations as few nonfiction works before it. Wolf tells the real story of Gunter Guillaume, the East German spy who brought down Willy Brandt. He reveals the truth behind East Germany's involvment with terrorism. He takes us inside the bowels of the Stasi headquarters and inside the minds of Eastern Bloc leaders. With its high-speed chases, hidden cameras, phony brothels, secret codes, false identities, and triple agents, Man Without a Face reads like a classic spy thriller-except this time the action is real.
Customer Reviews:
About politics and not about spies.......2007-08-27
As a long-time fan of John LeCarré's espionage novels, I was interested in reading Markus Wolf's autobiography. Wolf was rumored to have been the figure that LeCarré based his character, "Karla" -- the chief of the KGB Foreign Directorate -- on in his earlier novels. LeCarré has denied this, but the similarities are striking.
What you won't find in this book is an extended discussion of espionage "tradecraft" or gripping stories about spying operations. What you will find may be a bit more disturbing. Wolf was (he died in 2006)) an unreconstructed Communist, as other reviewers have noted. He remained a true believer in Marxism, even after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and his subsequent trial. What I found most troubling was the last section of the book, his Epilogue. In it, and as a Communist, he looks at capitalism and expresses clear disapproval of any society based solely on money and the accumulation of wealth by the few at the expense of the many. Predictable, you might say. And, he opines that money can have as powerful and as insidious an effect on a society as any form of government. And, that the notion of personal freedom in the West is sometimes used simply as a tool to facilitate business interests. Coming on the heels of Enron, WorldCom and Halliburton, these statements simply can't be dismissed out of hand. One of the chief benefits of democracy is the ability to criticize the government, and, to my mind, there is more than a bit of truth to what he says.
In the main, the book is quite candid and, as I said, more than a little disturbing. Definitely worth reading.
In a word: Riveting.......2007-06-05
Ok, ok, here's more. Wolf was the son of a renowned German playwrite, Fredrich Wolf, so he learned to communicate exceptionally well. His autobiography reflects that. The translator was also exceptionally good; nothing jarred me out of the tale by an obvious mistranslation. Wolf wrote quite frankly about how he was raised a committed Communist, how Communism failed him and his country, how his country failed Communism, and how his country failed, period.
He's rather humorous about how the HVA was established and its early, amateur days. (Note to several reviewers--Wolf was head of the East German foreign intelligence service, not the internal Stasi.) He wrote about unintended consequences, which are quite enlightening, considering how the West blamed the HVA for a number of incidents in which it had no direct involvement. The sections on HVA attempts to influence emerging African nations and on terrorism are very interesting, indeed.
He wrote the book after he was tried by the West German government and the German Supreme Court threw out the conviction, so he was more open than one would have suspected, given all the mystery and myth surrounding him (he was quite amused about that). He did not give away any HVA sources, except several who were already blown before he began writing.
When the wall fell, several of us CI types chatted about what a good idea it would be to have Markus Wolf present briefings on how the HVA cleaned NATO's clock, without asking him to give away sources. What we didn't know was that CIA had approached Wolf about debriefing him, maybe giving him sanctuary in the US (Wolf was about to be indicted by West Germany), and paying him a lot of money. How and why Wolf refused is exactly how and why I thought he would have responded to such an approach.
The book reads almost like a novel, albiet a tad dry in places. I highly recommend it to any CI professional.
I was always impressed with Wolf's professionalism. His autobiography only deepened my respect for an honorable enemy. This book will always be a permanent part of my library.
A cold-war espionage classic.......2007-04-22
Mr. Wolf wrote a good book. He didn't apologize for his past, while providing detailing information (the most interesting thing, IMHO) about the "mood" of the times. Wolf was - in several ways - a man between two intelligence era, ss his opinion about security and computer shows: he claims having had no security leakage while handling agent files "by hand". But when information technology comes ...
This is a dramatic forseeing of what intelligence and information gathering would become in the very next future: a technology-controlled activity, able to collect a huge quantity of information, without anybody out there able to understand it.
Conclusion: as all the book of this genre, information cannot be taken as "holy spell", nevertheless the reading is really a good experience.
Into the mind of one who was there.......2007-03-24
While Markus Wolf's style is understated and matter of fact, he reveals an extraordinary life and political workings. He is clear about what is not included and why -- some of which the reader would have been eager to see.
This is how he felt and thought and worked. A rare and wonderful glimpse into an honest and intelligent opponent of the US and its allies in the Cold War.
The Cold War Viewed from the Other Side.......2006-11-18
History is written by the winners, or so the old saying goes. So, I decided to start reading some histories written by the losers. The fact that Markus Wolf, head of the East German Foreign Intelligence Service, was able to write his memoirs after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany, and the entire Warsaw Pact is a modern phenomenon. Prior to the end of the Cold War, most losers were not in a position to write their memoirs or anything else. Wolf was tried for treason by the now united Federal Republic of Germany. The case was dismissed by the German Constitutional Court on the argument that as a citizen of East Germany, he could not have committed treason against West Germany. He is lucky that his trial was not conducted under the legal system of his former masters.
In brief summary, Markus Wolf was the half Jewish son of German Communist parents who fled to Moscow when the Nazis came to power. Markus grew up as a good Soviet citizen and Communist. He spent WWII writing and broadcasting Soviet propaganda aimed at the German army. After the war, he transferred his citizenship from the Soviet Union to the new German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and rapidly advanced to become director of the Foreign Intelligence Service in 1953, at least in part because he was both fluent in Russian and trusted by the Soviet hierarchy. He remained in that position until his retirement in 1986, three years before the Wall came down. The title of his memoir, Man Without A Face, is based on the fact that the US Intelligence Community did not have a photo or description of Wolf's appearance until well into the 1970s. This added to his legend as the other side's greatest spymaster of the Cold War.
Herr Wolf repeatedly emphasizes the point that he was responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign intelligence and had no responsibility for or knowledge of internal repression. That fell under a different directorate which reported to Wolf's immediate boss, Erik Mielke, Minister of State Security. As Director of Foreign Intelligence, Wolf was primarily responsible to his East German and Soviet masters for collecting intelligence on West Germany, and through it, on NATO and the US. He had numerous successes, the most spectacular of which was planting a mole in the office of Willy Brandt, the Chancellor of West Germany and author of the policy of Ostpolitik, the opening of West German contact with the East. The discovery of the mole, Gunter Guillaume, resulted in the fall of Brandt's government in 1974, a result which Wolf sincerely regretted, since it partially curtailed Ostpolitik.
Throughout the book, Wolf presents himself as a reasonable and humane intelligence professional. He repeatedly stresses that his service did not participate in internal repression, practice torture, support terrorism, and was generally on the side of the angels. I think he is probably sincere in these statements and will even accept that there is probably some truth in them. He was apparently quite disillusioned with the brutality of Stalin and the utter stagnation of the entire Soviet Block that followed Stalin. Nonetheless, East Germany did practice all the darker arts of Stalin, even if Herr Wolf was not directly involved. Wolf also repeatedly says that he is not trying to apologize for or justify his service to East Germany. I find this harder to accept. The author of an autobiography is seldom in a position of offer an unbiased portrait of his subject. He has still not accepted that an all-powerful state founded on any ideology, whether National Socialist or Communist, is in a position to repress any dissent by the most brutal means and will justify doing so based on the controlling party's ideology.
Despite the somewhat self-serving nature of this book, it provided a useful insight to what the other side was thinking and doing during 40 years of the Cold War. I'd recommend it to any serious student of Cold War history.
Customer Reviews:
AuthorZone.Com Book Review.......2003-08-01
Excellent book. Well written, easily read, thought provoking. Is long, but not cumbersome.
I first read 'About Face' written by Col. David Hackworth during the late 1980s. I found it extremely valuable in helping me...a woman with little knowledge of anything military, understand better my children's dad, a land based Viet Nam combat vet and the problems he had to deal with before his death.
As the wife of yet a second Viet Nam combat vet, special forces, I suggest this book for anyone who wants a better understanding of the debt of gratitude and respect we citizens owe those willing to serve in The United States Military.
Reviewed by: molly martin
should be required reading for all seving military leaders.......1999-07-15
I first came to hear of ABOUT FACE from a friend and fellow NCO in Korea. He said I might think it was good, Was that an understatement. I read About Face in one fourteen hour plane ride back to Korea. I've read it three more times so far and recommend it to all my friends deserving the title Non-Commisioned Officer. I truly believe that all military leaders should read this and take from it; Hack's wisdom and experiance dealing with the military, Integrity and soldiering.
A Great Man, A Great Book, A Great Read.......1997-08-07
I bought this book when I was about 11 years old and a big fan of "war stories". I am now approaching twenty and have read this book at least once a year since first purchasing it, to the extent that it is now in three parts and the photographs have fallen out. This book is an intense, gripping, readable but most of all honest and believable account of one of America's greatest warriors and his experiences...from the forested slopes of Trieste in 1946 to being chased around Washington DC by Army Intell goons in 1971, this book, while entertaining, will also teach you everything you need to know about duty, honour,bravery and honest patriotism, qualities that come hard to find in the era of Iran-Contra, Tailhook, Whitewater and the like...
This book will make you laugh, cry and think.
Please, read it.
A grunts-eye-view look at the career of Col. Hackworth........1997-07-25
This is the tale of America's most decorated living hero. From his humble beginnings to his glorious career in the U. S. Army. A man destined to be one of the elite movers and shakers in the military. He became disillusioned with America's war effort in Vietnam and the "ticket-punching" pursuits of the manager-officers. He gave up his career and moved into self-imposed exile. This story is a must read for those interested in the development of the U. S. Army since WWII. It's a real wake-up call
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