Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)

Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
Average customer rating:

Chicken scratches vs. Detailed Storyboards

of moderate interest to readers of video magazines

Mind-opening, even if you aren't interested in directing

Useful, pleasurable

Learning the Rules Before You Break Them

Film Directing: Shot by Shot: Visualizing from Concept to Screen (Michael Wiese Productions)
Steven Katz
Manufacturer: Michael Wiese Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Direction & Production | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0941188108

Amazon.com

Film Directing Shot by Shot offers a good introduction to the rudiments of film production. Steven D. Katz walks his readers through the various stages of moviemaking, advising them at every turn to visualize the films they wish to produce. Katz believes that one of the chief tasks of filmmaking is to negotiate between our three-dimensional reality and the two-dimensionality of the screen. He covers the number of technical options filmmakers can use to create a satisfying flow of shots, a continuity that will make sense to viewers and aptly tell the film's story. Katz provides in-depth coverage of production design, storyboarding, spatial connections, editing, scene staging, depth of frame, camera angles, point of view, and the various types of stable compositions and moving camera shots.

Book Description

A complete catalogue of motion picture techniques for filmmakers. It concentrates on the 'storytelling' school of filmmaking, utilizing the work of the great stylists who established the versatile vocabulary of technique that has dominated the movies
since 1915. This graphic approach includes comparisons of style by interpreting a 'model script', created for the book, in storyboard form.

Customer Reviews:

Chicken scratches vs. Detailed Storyboards.......2007-08-19

I have used this book numerous times for my teachings in which students go through the process of making a short film with certain limitations being imposed. It is part of a process that I call "fast filmmaking". I like the examples that Katz presents, specifically that it is not the quality of the drawing, but how the drawing communicates the director's vision to the rest of the crew. I will usually have a student "explain" their storyboard to the class, and it is amazing how a few chicken scratches can give as much details as a fully detailed storyboard. Kudos to Katz for explaining the creative aspect of directing, and Michael Weise Productions for publishing these types of books.

of moderate interest to readers of video magazines.......2007-08-13

as a long-time reader of videographer's magazines, I didn't find much of interest in this book. If I were new to the trade, I'd probably have found it more useful. For that reason, I gave it a rather high rating of 4 stars

Mind-opening, even if you aren't interested in directing.......2007-06-30

I've worked in the graphics design business for years, but more recently I've grown interested in working with video, primarily shorts and documentary work. I was looking for a book that could help teach me the "language" of motion and visual storytelling, and this book fit the bill. In fact, I found it to be incredibly inspiring as a student of art in general. It's extremely well-written, chock full of practical examples, and contains numerous time-worn techniques as well as cutting-edge experimentation. One funny thing: since it was written a few years before the desktop digital video revolution began, it talks about some of the difficult aspects of shooting which are now in many ways moot. But it's good to hear about the history of the craft.

If you have any interest in all in shooting, directing, or producing any kind of motion picture, show, or short, you'll definitely want to buy this book. However, be forewarned: you'll never be able to watch movies the same way again. You'll begin to pick up all the subtle nuances of filmmaking without even realizing it, so don't feel bad if you have to force yourself to re-engage with the actual story as you're watching!

Useful, pleasurable.......2007-05-07

I'm a college student, not at film school, who makes videos as a serious hobby. I thought this book was much better than other titles in the same market, because it's so specific. Instead of telling you what anyone with common sense knows, like "keep continuity" and "composition can affect the mood of a scene," this film lays it all out in detail. I recommend this for everyone who wants to improve. Even if you're not particularly interested in storyboarding, you'll learn how to think about your sequences in advance much better.

Learning the Rules Before You Break Them.......2007-01-13

Even though many of the great filmmakers may have not utilized storyboards, every one of them has pre-visualized their films.

Pre-visualization is the essence of what it means to be a director. A director can only be effective if he/she properly prepares for each scene. Even if one does not have every shot precisely planned out, they will still have an idea of the look and the flow of the process.

There are certainly many people who feel directing should be intuitive, that there should be no structure to the process or else creativity is stifled. This is a valid point from the perspective of the artist.

What is wonderful about this book is that it gives extensive insight into WHY one should cover a scene in a certain way. Directing as a profession requires a certain amount of preparation and PROOF that you have a handle on the film. Producers want reassurance that you have a vision worth pouring tens of millions of dollars into. Armed with the ability to properly express yourself in regard to your vision, you will have a much easier time convincing others to follow you.

So, in the end, if you are interested in studying the language of film and the methodology behind classic film composition and editing, then this book and the accompanying Film Directing: Cinematic Motion are essential.

Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

Average customer rating:

A "must read" for all those interested in WW II.
Masters of the Air
The Story of the "Mighty Eighth"
Does anyone at Simon & Schuster proofread?
The Unsung Heroes of The Eighth Air Force

Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany
Donald L. Miller
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy

ASIN: 0743235444

Book Description

Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler's doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes readers on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people.

Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller's Air Force band, which toured U.S. air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers. In 1943, an American bomber crewman stood only a one-in-five chance of surviving his tour of duty, twenty-five missions. The Eighth Air Force lost more men in the war than the U.S. Marine Corps.

The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America -- white America, anyway. (African-Americans could not serve in the Eighth Air Force except in a support capacity.) The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the "King of Hollywood," Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men.

The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland.

Strategic bombing did not win the war, but the war could not have been won without it. American

airpower destroyed the rail facilities and oil refineries that supplied the German war machine. The bombing campaign was a shared enterprise: the British flew under the cover of night while American bombers attacked by day, a technique that British commanders thought was suicidal.

Masters of the Air is a story, as well, of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed.

Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world's first and only bomber war.

Customer Reviews:

A "must read" for all those interested in WW II........2007-10-10

This monumental work covers the bomber war in Europe in a more complete way than any other book I have read including anything the great Martin Caidin has written. Mr. Miller tells the story from the perspectives of the tail gunners, waist gunners, radiomen, bombadiers, navigators, co-pilots and pilots as well as the generals who devised the strategys. All aspects of the war are covered from the original construction of the air bases to airplane maintenance to training to missions to time-off at local village pubs. Unlike other books, this one covers the POWs and their horrendous plight especially as the war is winding down and the Nazis more them from location to location ahead of the advancing Allies. Miller also includes stories about Capt. Tibbets of Hiroshima fame and a fascinating story of Chuck Yeager's escape from occupied Europe through Spain and his subsequent return to combat, something almost never allowed because re-patriated flyers knew too much about the french underground that would jeapordize lives if they were shot down a second time. Also of interest was information about what happened to crewmen who elected to land in "neutral" Switzerland in wounded ships. I recommend this book highly.

Masters of the Air.......2007-09-11

A marvelous story about the WW II air war over Europe. Full of interesting details and descriptions. I have shared it with friends that did their 35 missions, and they concur.

The Story of the "Mighty Eighth".......2007-09-08

This well-written and exhaustively researched book chronicles the rise of the American Eighth Air Force from its early days in England to VE Day in 1945.

At the outset of the war, the British believed that night bombing was the best way to attack German cities and industry. However, once America entered the war, they chose a philosophy different from that of the British. The Americans believed that daylight precision strategic bombing was the only way to defeat the Germans. The British, on the other hand, still favored nighttime area bombing. This difference of opinion between the Americans and British was never really settled, but by combining the "round the clock" attacks of American planes during the day and British planes at night, the Germans faced an unending stream of planes and bombs.

When the Eighth flew their first mission in the fall of 1942, they could barely muster thirty planes, but at the end of the war, they were putting up well over one thousand, with several hundred fighter escorts as well. The German Luftwaffe could not match these incredible numbers of planes, and, despite such tactics as underground production and introducing the world's first jet fighter, there was little they could do to stop the Allied bombing.

Differences also existed between the British and Americans regarding target selection. The British favored carpet bombing Germany's cities with little or no regard for civilian casualties. The Americans favored targeting German industry (synthetic oil production, ball bearings, and transportation hubs). The Americans believed that the systematic destruction of the German economy would bring about surrender quicker than the British belief of "terror attacks" designed to break the will of the German people.

An interesting point made by the author is whether or not strategic bombing was effective against the Germans. A preponderance of the evidence would suggest that the answer to this question is "yes", but there are some compelling counter-points made in the book.

This is a fine work of aviation history. The book is well-researched and is easy to read and understand. Every aspect of the Allied bomber offensive in Europe is covered in great detail. The author also includes many personal testimonials from the men who flew the B-17s and B-24s against the Germans. An interesting chapter is also devoted to the Swiss government and how they treated "captured" Allied fliers. The terrifying incendiary raid on Dresden as well as the horrific destruction of Berlin is also told in vivid detail.

I give this fine book my highest recommendation. If you're looking for information on the Eighth Air Force and the air war over Europe, this is the book to read.

Does anyone at Simon & Schuster proofread?.......2007-09-04

Mr. Miller's book includes not only substantial research into prior publications but very interesting research based on letters and interviews he's found on his own. It's a good book. But if you're a member of the word police you'll be annoyed by the many proofreading errors. Here's a sample: "In the heavily defended Ruhr, with its permanent cloud of industrial smoke, the number was only in ten." (p.54) Should have been "within ten miles." Some errors are so simple a spell checker would have caught them: (p.199) "spining" for spinning. And there are some factual errors as well. Miller attributes contrails to wingtips. They're created by engines. It's much easier to criticize than to write. Still, S&S should have, with the several editors listed in the acknowledgments, caught the errors. I have no idea whether they have been corrected in the paperback.

The Unsung Heroes of The Eighth Air Force.......2007-08-26

This is an overdue tribute to those young men who gave their lives, in great numbers, fighting the air war over Germany in WWII.To those who think WWII was fought without major tatical errors, this book will be a revelation. In tribute to the kids who lost their lives in this bloody effort, everyone should be required to read this story. If you thought that service in the Air Force was a cake walk read this book.

The American Aircraft Factory in World War II

Average customer rating:

A MUST HAVE
The American Aircraft Factory in World War II
The American Aircraft Factory in WWII
Virtual Journey to By-Gone Patriotism
Beautifully done book

The American Aircraft Factory in World War II
Bill Yenne
Manufacturer: Zenith Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books
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Development of Piston Aero Engines

ASIN: 0760323003

Book Description

Few, if any, industrial phenomena have been as dramatic as the United States mid-20th-century shift from peacetime manufacturing to wartime production. While the years 1939 to 1945 saw explosive growth in the manufacture of every type of armament imaginable, none was more emblematic of the industrial climate than the proliferation of aircraft factories.Zeroing in on the crux of the American military-industrial complex at a critical moment, this volume documents the production of fighters and bombers by legendary companies like Boeing, North American, Curtiss, Consolidated, Douglas, Grumman, and Lockheed.Illustrated with 175 period photographsincluding 50 rare color photos never before seen in printThe American Aircraft Factory in World War II conveys the incredible acceleration of aviation technology that took place during this period.Author Bill Yenne considers the various prewar governmental acts that got the ball rolling, as well as the notable gender shift that occurred on factory floors.He also describes the construction of megafactories like Willow Run, factory-design considerations, and the postwar conversion back to peacetime production.

Customer Reviews:

A MUST HAVE.......2007-09-03

THIS COFFEE TABLE BOOK IS SO WELL PUT TOGETHER, THAT I THINK SOMEONE WOULD
HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME FINDING ANY FAULT WITH IT. THIS BOOK IS PACKED WITH
INFORMATION AND THE PHOTOGRAPHS APPROACH FINE ART.

The American Aircraft Factory in World War II.......2007-07-12

The fledgling U.S. aircraft industry's meteoric rise is a wonderful history and it's covered thoroughly in this book, both by words and pictures. Easy reading, extensive researched subjects, this book should be in all aviation enthusiasts' library.

The American Aircraft Factory in WWII.......2007-06-27

I saw this book in a gift store for $40 and even tho I really wanted it, I waited and purchased it on Amazon for about $26. It was worth the wait and to get it cheaper. I enjoyed reading this book and looking at the pictures of the WWII manufacturing processes.

Virtual Journey to By-Gone Patriotism.......2007-05-25

If you ever felt the thunder of a World War II aircraft engine. If you relish the thought of a generation of Americans rising to meet the Herculean task of Freedom's preservation. Then, this book, in pictures alone, will ignite your appreciation of past efforts, and their successes.

Beautifully done book.......2007-05-13

One of the best of it's kind, full of beautiful glossy photos of airplanes and people. Captures the era, with many public relations type photos.

Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross

Average customer rating:

Any historian or collector must read this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great history, great prose
Tale of a Wehrmacht sharp-shooter
A good read and a sadly entertaining story
A different few of war.

Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross
Geoffrey Brooks
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper
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In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies (Paper))

ASIN: 1844153177

Book Description

Josef "Sepp" Allerberger was the second most successful sniper of the German Wehrmacht and one of the few private soldiers to be honoured with the award of the Knight's Cross.

An Austrian conscript, after qualifying as a machine gunner he was drafted to the southern sector of the Russian Front in July 1942. Wounded at Voroshilovsk, he experimented with a Russian sniper-rifle while convalescing and so impressed his superiors with his proficiency that he was returned to the front on his regiment's only sniper specialist.

In this sometimes harrowing memoir, Allerberger provides an excellent introduction to the commitment in fieldcraft, discipline and routine required of the sniper, a man apart. There was no place for chivalry on the Russian Front. Away from the film cameras, no prisoner survived long after surrendering. Russian snipers had used the illegal explosive bullet since 1941, and Hitler eventually authorised its issue in 1944. The result was a battlefield of horror.

Allerberger was a cold-blooded killer, but few will find a place in their hearts for the soldiers of the Red Army against whom he fought.

Customer Reviews:

Any historian or collector must read this one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2007-10-13

Great personal account. If you are a serious student of WW2 history this in a book to read!

Great history, great prose.......2007-09-26

This is an amazing story that is amazingly well written. We should all thank the stars above that we will never experience what Sepp experienced, and that we will never be in his cross-hairs. I just read this book (I have read many books on WWII, the Wehrmacht and the Eastern Fronrt) and it was such a good read that I bought four copies to send to friends.

Tale of a Wehrmacht sharp-shooter.......2007-09-05

An unexceptional account of a young Gebirgsjager (mountain-soldier) on the Eastern front. Realizing his status as a machine-gunner would very likely result in his early demise, Sepp Allerberger established himself in the role of a self-taught sniper.
Despite the success that sharp-shooters had seen in the first World War, and the German tradition of respect for marksmanship, it is surprising that the Wehrmacht had largely over-looked sniper-training. The Soviet Union did not.
Allerberger had experimented with a captured Soviet scoped Mosin-Nagant rifle, and devised some useful tactics. It was not until later that he was sent to a formal sniper school, as a student with a prolific record of battlefield experience.
Within one will read the usual accounts of battlefield savagery, gore, and mayhem so common to the Eastern front in World War II. There is much hysterical hype in other reviews, implying Allerberger was "a cold-blooded killer!". No, he was merely a proficient soldier perfoming a specialized skill. He did what he had to do to survive, and to aid his comrades. The style of writing is a bit mundane and ponderous, but never the less, an interesting story.

A good read and a sadly entertaining story.......2007-08-30

I don't know the facts on this soldiers story. I didn't do the homework and investigation to tear it apart or build it up. I just read it, and I liked it. It wasn't great. If you want to see some great 1st person accounts of the eastern front read "My Loyalty is My Honor" and I am sure there are others out there that other reviewers have mentioned. It definetely brings to light the attrocities of the eastern front, and the trials the soldiers go through. Even if he wasn't real, and his memories were a bit lost after all the years, I still don't doubt they are quite representative of what it was like to be a German soldiers fighting for survival during the long retreat. If you are interested in the ground war in Europe, especially the eastern front, then I recommend it. If you are looking for a super detailed account of sniper tactics, techniques, and proceedures, then it might disappoint. It has some, but not to the level of other sniper books like "One Shot, One Kill" does.

A different few of war. .......2007-08-03

I found this book to very interesting. I enjoyed how the book really proved the point of how important Snipers are to any army. Sepp Allerberger was a true hero of the German army and I find it hard to believe others who have read this book want to doubt his story being that they were not the ones fighting on the Eastern front but only sitting in their house reading books most likely never having been to war and having no understanding of it. The accounts of how out numbered the Germans were is dead on and you can read any book on the Eastern front and you will always find the same mentions of 10 to 1 or even 50 to 1. Sepp does not spend the whole book bashing Hitler and the Nazi Party he only tells his tale like a proud soilder who was proud of his Unit and keeps the politics out of it. If I had one thing to wish the book had more of it would be Characters, not that Sepp did not mention any of them just that there were very few main ones and when someone was mentioned it was usually only pages before they met their fate. Still a good read.

Average customer rating:

Non-emotional
A clinical memoir of the Holocaust -- and that's good
The meaning of being 'human'
Book Review for Survival in Auschwitz
Great book on the Holocaust

Survival In Auschwitz
Primo Levi
Manufacturer: Touchstone
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
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This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (Penguin Classics)
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ASIN: 0684826801

Amazon.com

Survival in Auschwitz is a mostly straightforward narrative, beginning with Primo Levi's deportation from Turin, Italy, to the concentration camp Auschwitz in Poland in 1943. Levi, then a 25-year-old chemist, spent 10 months in the camp. Even Levi's most graphic descriptions of the horrors he witnessed and endured there are marked by a restraint and wit that not only gives readers access to his experience, but confronts them with it in stark ethical and emotional terms: "[A]t dawn the barbed wire was full of children's washing hung out in the wind to dry. Nor did they forget the diapers, the toys, the cushions and the hundred other small things which mothers remember and which children always need. Would you not do the same? If you and your child were going to be killed tomorrow, would you not give him something to eat today?" --Michael Joseph Gross

Book Description

In 1943, Primo Levi, a twenty-five-year-old chemist and "Italian citizen of Jewish race," was arrested by Italian fascists and deported from his native Turin to Auschwitz. Survival in Auschwitz is Levi's classic account of his ten months in the German death camp, a harrowing story of systematic cruelty and miraculous endurance. Remarkable for its simplicity, restraint, compassion, and even wit, Survival in Auschwitz remains a lasting testament to the indestructibility of the human spirit. Included in this new edition is an illuminating conversation between Philip Roth and Primo Levi never before published in book form.

Customer Reviews:

Non-emotional.......2007-07-07

A monotone, sort of scientific voice. His story is sad...but is told with very little emotion. It was hard to get into - a little harder to read due to the "scientist' type voice that I'm not used to. I found Elie Weisel's "Night" to be a much more candid look inside a survivor's haunted soul. Primo Levi is good for someone who prefers reading something about the Holocaust that is a bit more textbook vs. memoir.

A clinical memoir of the Holocaust -- and that's good.......2007-06-03

A touching, but not mawkish or dramatic, memoir. One realizes the randomness and happenstance by which he survived, and easily accepts the moral dualism of the life of thievery and connivance, within bounds of common decency and collective group self-interest, that kept any survivor alive. Some reviews seemed to fault the book for being unemotional, but one sees how Levi's essentially scientific and objective personality became a key to his survival, and necessarily informs his voice.

The meaning of being 'human'.......2007-01-16

This account of the imprisonment, internment, survival of Primo Levi in Auschwitz is written as a straightforward chronological narrative. Levi recounts his initial capture , the horrendous suffering of the journey of Italian Jews to Auschwitz, the selection there in which all the woman and children were immediately sent to their deaths in the gas- chambers, and in which the able- bodied sent to the work- camp at Buna. Levi tells the story , detail by detail of his getting into the work- order of the Camp. He describes in clear precise language the horrible humiliations the prisoners were subject to. He also describes in one central chapter, four different kinds of survivors, and the strategies they use to escape death. His accounts of his own getting through to the liberation include his appreciations of his friend Albert, and a few other individuals who with no reward to expect for it, helped him on the way.
The bestiality of the Nazis and their helpers is not sermonized about, but rather portrayed in specific incidents of unusual terrible cruelty.
Levi is deeply concerned with the whole question of what it means to be human , and how it is possible to retain human dignity in the most extreme circumstances.
His carefully written record of his own horrifying experience is to this day considered one of the most moving and effective of Holocaust memoirs.

Book Review for Survival in Auschwitz.......2007-01-13

The book Survival in Auschwitz is by Primo Levi. It is about a twenty-five year old chemist named Primo Levi, who is an Italian citizen of the Jewish race. He was captured by Italian Fascists in 1943 and was transported to a concentration camp in Auschwitz where he spent 10 months known as Haftling 174517. At the concentration camps they were authorized to build a Buna- a rubber processing plant. Those who were unable to work were immediately killed. Those who worked in the "Lagers" had a better chance of living because the Germans decided that the Jews in the lagers would be more of use alive than dead. Levi who works in the lager talks about how some people would trade possessions such as clothing, spoons, bowls, shoes etc. for rations of bread or food in the lagers. Those who got injured in work in the lagers were sent to Ka-Be. Ka-Be is the abbreviation of Krankenbau, which is a temporary infirmary. Those who seem to get better at Ka-Be were sent back to work and those who seem to get worse are sent from Ka-Be to the gas chambers. Later on in this book Levi and two other chemists were authorized to work in the labs. This job had some benefits. They were given a new shirt and were to work indoors, rather than out in the winter weather, and this job wasn't strenuous.

This is a book about survival. I dint like this book too much. I found this book hard to understand at some points and most of the German words are hard to pronounce. I would recommend this book to people who have interest in World War 2 or the Holocaust.

Great book on the Holocaust.......2006-12-19

Ever since I first studied the Holocaust in the eighth grade, I love reading and listening to the stories of the people who were in the Holocaust. This is the first Holocaust book that I read. I first read this book when I was in high school. This is one of my favorite Holocaust books.

Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

Average customer rating:

How the Japanese Blew It
Midway seen in another light
Solid history, but somewhat over written
Excellent WWII book.
So very revealing and in depth abot the Psyche of the Japanese Navy

Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
Jonathan Parshall , and Anthony Tully
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1574889230

Book Description

Many consider the Battle of Midway to have turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prangeâ€™s bestselling Miracle at Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement.

Unlike previous accounts, Shattered Sword makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchidaâ€™s Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle. The authors examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navyâ€™s doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading WWII naval historian John Lundstrom, Shattered Sword will become an indispensable part of any military buffâ€™s library. Winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and cited by Proceedings as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005.

Customer Reviews:

How the Japanese Blew It .......2007-10-17

This is an excellent book. In a way one might ask what about Midway is untold? There have been numerous books which explained what happened. In a naval operation aimed to destroy the American carrier force, Admiral Yamamoto moved four of his fleet carriers into the middle of the pacific ocean. He aimed at invading Midway Island and hoped that the Americans would come out to defend it. Instead the Americans knew of his plans through radio intercepts and it was they who laid the trap. Aircraft from three of their carriers destroyed the four principal Japanese Fleet carriers and ended what had been up to that time a flood of Japanese victories.

What this book does is to explain how and why things happened. It is in some ways amazing how rudimentary the Japanese naval forces were. Unlike the Americans they did not have radar and the quality of the radios in the fighter aircraft were so poor they were generally not used. At the Marianas the Americans were able to spot the Japanese attacking forces on radar at a distance and to use radios to direct their fighters in the combat air patrol (CAP) to intercept them miles away from their targets. At Midway the Japanese method of directing their fighters now appears ludicrous. Surrounding cruisers would fire their heavy weapons to direct the attention of fighters in the CAP. There was no real coordination and where the CAP went was a matter of luck. In fact probably none of the Japanese probably saw the attacking flights of American dive bombers who did the damage until it was to late. The Americans maximised anti-aircraft fire power by placing their carriers in a fleet of war ships with huge numbers of anti-aircraft guns. The Japanese did not do this. The Japanese strategy was to frantically manoeuvre their carriers at full speed turning in huge circles to doge torpedoes and bombs. Heavier naval units had to keep away to allow the carriers room to manoeuvre and to come close would have led to serious dangers of collision. The only real anti-aircraft guns were placed on the carriers and these had limited ranges.

Despite this the Japanese could possibly have won if their commanders were not idiots. Yamamoto has tended to have had good press in the past. However his planning of this operation was abysmal. For some reason two slower smaller carriers were diverted of to the Aleutian Islands for an invasion which made no logical sense. Another carrier was left in Japan. It would seem the reason for this was that Yamamoto was concerned that the Americans would not engage him unless his force looked small. Despite the victory of Pearl Harbour with its message that battleships were now just targets to be sunk by carriers Yamamoto also had huge number of battleships manoeuvring in the rear whilst exposing his carriers placing them in a position when they could be attacked by land based aircraft from Midway and naval based aircraft from the American carriers.

The writers suggest that the Japanese would have had more chance of winning if they had used their naval assets in campaigns around the Solomon Islands. They could have used their land based aircraft better and the Americans would have been forced to commit forces to prevent the loss of Australia. The genius of this book is in the detail of not explaining the story which had been told many times but explaining why it happened. The detail the level of understanding is well beyond that of this type of history. It is possible to have an insight into the minds of the Japanese and why they fought as they fought. The book also explodes a number of popular myths about the battle through careful research.

Midway seen in another light.......2007-09-10

An excellently researched story of Midway giving a lot of new details and insights, all very well researched and with extensive proof to support the ideas put forward.

I thought I knew the story of Midway by heart, having read every book on the subject I could lay my hands on, who have been copying each other.

This book gives a completely new perspective and with the supporting documentation makes a credible point for a new look at the sequence of events.

The final book on Midway? Not likely, but it will be hard to surpass it in novel approach.

A book to read without stopping.

Only drawback is that (at least at the time I bought it), there was no paperback version, but that probably wouldn't have lasted long anyway because the book is begging to be re-read over and over again.

Solid history, but somewhat over written.......2007-08-17

Shattered Sword is an excellent, but somewhat over written work that is really two books in one. The first is a solid, well documented account of Japanese operations at Midway. The other is a reassessment of certain events that been centerpieces in most popular depictions of that battle.

The former is a foundational piece that should be included in any serious historian's bookshelf; a five-star work that provides considerable insight to Japanese strategy tactics and operations. The latter is an interesting, but ultimately over-advocated piece that deserves credit for correcting the historic record, but ultimately does not contribute nearly as much new knowledge as the first. A three-star work.

Parshall and Tully fill in a huge gap by providing a soup-to-nuts assessment of Japanese planning and operations that made up the Midway and Aleutians campaigns. Their meticulous analysis is remarkable, and seemingly consists of about two pages of analysis for one page of narrative. The end result is a keen understanding of how Japan conducted the campaign, and the fatal flaws that were both latent and all too visible.

It seems that the Japanese Imperial Navy was wholly unprepared to conduct a major war like the one they initiated, and not from a logistical/industrial standpoint either. The picture the authors paint (perhaps unintentionally) is of a military organization that is highly polished but extremely brittle. When they faced a surprised or weaker opponent, the Japanese dominated. But if the Japanese faced a foe even close to parity, their planning and organization would unravel, resulting in a high loss of life and material. The glaring flaws in their strategic and tactical planning, operations, and command structure seem to suggest that even if they won the Battle of Midway, it was only a matter of time before their organization failed and they would suffer some catastrophic disaster at the hands of the Americans.

As for the authors' reassessment of Midway, they try too hard to push these revelations. While I laud them for rectifying these errors, most of these issues are far less important than other topics the authors brought up. For example, the authors go to great lengths to explain how Nagumo's reserve strike were actually in the hanger rather on the flight deck, when the Americans made their decisive strike. It really seems to be a relatively minor detail, since (as the authors stated) the Japanese carriers had unarmored flight decks, and the American strike would have blown the carriers to smithereens in either case. What is of more importance, but is given less promotion, is that the Japanese were unable to launch an attack in the face of uncoordinated but persistent American attacks. This essentially says the Japanese never really had control of the battle from the very beginning.

Nevertheless, Shattered Sword is a fabulous and serious historical study. I look forward to future works from the authors.

Excellent WWII book........2007-08-06

Shattered Sword was a most interesting and informative book covering this famous battle as well as events leading up to it, primarily from the Japanese perspective. This in itself is unusual. The narrative was very detailed yet fast paced, even difficult to put down. What I enjoyed most, though, was that the authors related the events at Midway to strategic decisions made many years earlier. Thus, the battle of Tsushima in 1905 would ultimately affect placement of gun batteries and other such things which would determine the outcome at Midway in 1942. IMHO it is the good historian who is able to connect such distant dots.

So very revealing and in depth abot the Psyche of the Japanese Navy.......2007-07-13

I bought this book based on the writer's excellent website. What I expected was detail and facts. What I got was much better.
Shattered Sword not only totally covers the events of the MI raid but it looks back to the start of the war and how these successes actually laid the groundwork for the total failure of the Japanese Navy both at Midway and beyond. The authors reveal Yamamoto as both brilliant and a bully. His plans were shown to be flawed but pushed on the Navy by threats. The actual minute by minute account of the battle goes into incredible detail (based on many survivor accounts). The technical sections show how the carriers were attacked, damaged and how their poor damage control finally sent them to the bottom. Perhaps the most interesting were the debunking of the Myths of Midway. Read the book to find out what I mean.

It is a great book filled with detail, vivid descriptions, stories and analysis of the battle, its causes and its ultimate failure for the Japanese. Just for fun there is a what if section. Again read the book and enjoy.

Alan

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

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Gutted
BEST WW2 BOOK EVER!!! ....so far.....
This is the best book ever written by an American Combat Veteran
My father on cover of later editions aiming weapon
With The Old Breed

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
E. B. Sledge
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rising Sun

ASIN: 0195067142

Book Description

In his own book, Wartime, Paul Fussell called With the Old Breed "one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war." John Keegan referred to it in The Second World War as "one of the most arresting documents in war literature." And Studs Terkel was so fascinated with the story he interviewed its author for his book, "The Good War." What has made E.B. Sledge's memoir of his experience fighting in the South Pacific during World War II so devastatingly powerful is its sheer honest simplicity and compassion. Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the vitality and bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1923 and raised on riding, hunting, fishing, and a respect for history and legendary heroes such as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene Bondurant Sledge (later called "Sledgehammer" by his Marine Corps buddies) joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. In those years, he passed, often painfully, from innocence to experience. Sledge enlisted out of patriotism, idealism, and youthful courage, but once he landed on the beach at Peleliu, it was purely a struggle for survival. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, he simply and directly recalls those long months, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and cruelty, the stench of death, and, above all, constant fear. Sledge still has nightmares about "the bloody, muddy month of May on Okinawa." But, as he also tellingly reveals, the bonds of friendship formed then will never be severed. Sledge's honesty and compassion for the other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, With the Old Breed is a moving chronicle of action and courage.

Customer Reviews:

Gutted.......2007-10-08

I watched much of The War this weekend on PBS. Ken Burns leans heavily on Eugene Sledge's account of war, and that tells me that Burns at least knows genius writing when he reads it.

Sledge may be the best writer from the 20th century that most people have never heard of. His language is harrowing and detailed and does not spare any details about the chaos and misery and ineffable singular experience that is war. I truly believe that he lived through Peleliu and Okinawa, so he could compile his writings and share them with the world. How else can you explain the same person living through two of the nastiest battles of the 20th century?

Buy this book. Share it with everyone you know.

BEST WW2 BOOK EVER!!! ....so far............2007-10-04

This book was a pleasure to read. Not that I find pleasure in the horrors of war, I do not, but this book is so well written. I gets into the real nitty-gritties of every day life at war fighting a fearsome enemy. This book was the first book to ever give me a real glimpse of the totality of war on the foot soldier. There are many great books on WW2 out there, this definetly has to be one of the best! GET THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!!! you wont regret it.

This is the best book ever written by an American Combat Veteran.......2007-10-04

This book is about combat. Nothing more. It is horrifying. It is well written. It is too well written. If you read this book, you will understand combat. Not "war", but combat. That's Mr. Sledge's goal. He wants the rest of us to understand the horror of combat. This is the best book on combat by an American combat veteran. The only combat book that is better is "The Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer, a German soldier on the Russian front during WWII. Both of these books will make you cry like a baby. Read them back to back & I promise that you will have nightmares.

My father on cover of later editions aiming weapon.......2007-10-03

I read the old copy of this twice. Imagine my surprise when my son sent me a blown up photo of the cover and I am staring at my father aiming his weapon as I remember him when he was young! He fought at Okinawa and out of his entire battalion only he and five others came back (& wounded at that). When I was little after the War, and Daddy was drinking, he used to describe some of war's horrors to my mother and his friends when he thought I wasn't listening. He would talk about a man named Sledge who was nicknamed, "Sledgehammer." Although my father kept his sense of humor about some of war's crazy happenings, he never recovered fully and drank when it became too much. He lost all of his buddies in battle. When Daddy died in 1981, I thought, "Well, he is with them, now." Sledge's accounts exactly match my father's from the late 1940s.

With The Old Breed.......2007-08-17

Wow!!! Sledge eloquently exposes the misery and ultimate madness of war. We owe much to our brave soldiers. All politicians should read this book to gain a sense of the sacrifice that our soldiers,past and present, have endured.

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This is how Christianity is Supposed to Work
Touching and profound!
Inspiring, well told, and true story
Hope Makes The Spirit Unbreakable
Moving

To End All Wars
Ernest Gordon
Manufacturer: Zondervan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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To End All Wars
A Thousand Shall Fall:: The Electrifying Story of a Soldier and His Family Who Dared to Practice Their Faith in Hitler's Germany
Evidence Not Seen: A Woman's Miraculous Faith in the Jungles of World War II
If I Perish
Vanya: A True Story

ASIN: 0007118481

Book Description

The best-selling classic of the power of love and forgiveness in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

Customer Reviews:

This is how Christianity is Supposed to Work.......2007-10-02

My wife and I had watched the movie a couple months ago (be warned: it is incredibly brutal) and been moved by the power of the story. Unfortunately, as it turned out, the book and the move are not the same story. In fact, other than the similarity of the major premise (a British officer in a Japanese POW camp during WW2), they had almost nothing in common.

However. . .

That was only disappointing insomuch as I kept waiting for certain events from the movie to show up. The movie had colored my expectations for the book, which meant I couldn't take the book on its own merits. Which is too bad, because, upon completing the book, I would say it is as powerful as the movie, perhaps even more so. But you have to let the book speak for itself. The story is truly miraculous, as this band of prisoners devolve into a wild bunch of animals at the hands of their captors, only to be transformed by the Spirit of Christ into a true Community of compassion and care. Somehow, in the midst of hell, these men found the power to love each other, to care for each other, to even forgive their Japanese tormentors. When people ask "Does Christianity work?", the story of this book says "absolutely!" And in a day and age of spiteful attacks, divisive language, polarized religions and selfish money-grubbing politicians and religious leaders, there is a real lesson here about what being a True Follower of Christ is all about.

Touching and profound!.......2007-06-10

This is one of the best books I've read so far... Though it may appear repetitive at times (there's really little else the author could write about beside what's happening in the POW camps along the Kwai), the reflection on the human condition and the supreme virtue of self-sacrifice in the footsteps of Jesus Christ is poignantly and profoundly written. With tour de force, the epilogue is a penetrating piece of criticism on the 'civilised' society the author returned to after the war. The reverse culture shock he experienced is a haunting reminder of how that still small voice can be so easily drowned out in the cacophony of modern society.

Inspiring, well told, and true story.......2007-01-10

It's a difficult, but true message. The author takes an unflinching look at the evil that men are capable of through his own personal experience in Japanese prison camps and carries you through the experience on to the brilliant hope on the other side of his own personal pain. The underlying truth you discover is the genuine potential to be found in one man's selfless, sacrificial care for another. It's an excellent read.

Hope Makes The Spirit Unbreakable.......2006-11-17

Formally published as "Miracle on the River Kwai" and renamed to coincide with a new movie. This book was written by Ernest Gordon a Scottish Army officer who served in the South Pacific During the war.

Back Story
During that time the Japanese advanced on Singapore, and Gordon and a few other officers try to escape on a chartered sailboat. After being captured at sea, he was incarcerated and sent to a work camp in Thailand, building the infamous railway of death, where nearly 80,000 prisoners lost their life in a little over a year. This railway and the Chungkai prison camp are the real back story to the Oscar winning film "Bridge On the River Kwai."

What the classic movie doesn't tell you is the horrific condition and constant death that the builders of the bridge met with on a daily basis.

The Book
The story is a recount of Ernest Gordon's experiences at the camp and his witness to that camps transformation from what he called "the worst that man could be" to the "best that man could be."

The book starts with Gordon laying in the hospital at Chungkai, called the "Death House" by the prisoners as there was very few he came back from the hospital. Gordon then flashes back to what led him here, and then continues from that point and tells of the camps transformation. Before Gordon wound up in the hospital the camp was very much "every man for himself" animal instinct and the law of the jungle dictated who lived and who died. During Gordon's stay at the hospital while he was suffering and near death with Beriberi, Tropical Ulcers, Malaria, and Amoebic Dysentery, he propped himself up, void of hope, and penned a last letter to his parents. That was his low point. He was nursed back to health by two other POW's Dinty Moore, and Dusty Miller. Both bartered for food and medicine, cleaned his ulcers, massaged his legs to reverse the atrophy and gave him encouragement to give him the hope he needed to recover. These two men became an inspiration to the rest of the camp, and like Ernest Gordon, many started to emulate their kindness willingness to help others. Dusty Miller a devote Christian also read the bible to Gordon which inspired him. Gordon then started to hold bible studies with other in the camp; they often shared bibles that men had smuggled in. This led to a spiritual revival of the camp, where men helped each other to survive. The camp changed from a group of individuals to a community that served each other with the same love that Christ had shown them in the bible. Many more survived the wrath of the Japanese as a result of the selfless acts of the camp members, in one part of the book one enlisted soldier, admits that he stole a shovel (which he didn't) just to save the lives of his co-prisoners, that soldier was immediately beaten to death, but his sacrifice as well as others, were what changed to mood of the camp.

The Legacy
This spiritual revival, not only led to many surviving the camp, but transcended into their life after the war. Gordon's epilogue was probably the best part of the book where he paints his perspective against the backdrop of the post-war error.

"We returned to a world divided by hatreds. We thought we had come home to a world at peace; instead we found a world already preparing for the next war. Having had as much reason to hate as anybody, we had overcome hatred."

"We had seen a vision of far horizons and caught a glimpse of the City of God in all its beauty and this vision seemed to be part of a different world."

Summary
Overall the book is very interesting, and is an intriguing story of suffering and hope. Gordon's style is very easy to read, almost like he's sitting next you telling the story. The descriptions of the people and the camp are genuine and I had no problem understanding and even "knowing" many of the characters in the book.

Editorial
It's one thing read about the word of God and the acts of Jesus, it's an entirely different think to witness it first hand as Gordon does and writes about with stunning detail. If found this to be an inspiring story of the grace of God that is given, by giving up selfishness. I have learned a lot about what true Christian's look like after reading this book. If you want my opinion, Christ looked a lot more like Dusty Miller and Ernest Gordon, than the face of modern evangelical minister today.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the how God's Grace can transform the most desperate situations

Moving.......2006-10-21

This is a story of ultimate forgiveness told firsthand by Ernest Gordon. The things he and his fellow prisoners of war experienced are near incomprehensible. ...and out of such despair comes the forever life-changing love they experience through Christ, Who is the example they start to follow in showing similar self-sacrificing love and kindness to their neighbors - even to their enemies.

I saw the movie before watching the book which may have been best, as I would've been disappointed had it been the other way around (ie. The book, as many books do, goes into more detail and describes other people encountered by Ernest. For time and format reason, the movie can't cover all of this.)

Also, the book is proof that such a powerful story can be told without foul language (which is present in the movie version).

The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom

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The Long Walk-Rawicz
The Long Walk
Thrilling adventure, lousy history
A Maze Ing
Escape from the Soviet Union

The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
Slavomir Rawicz
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance
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ASIN: 1592289444

Amazon.com

Cavalry officer Slavomir Rawicz was captured by the Red Army in 1939 during the German-Soviet partition of Poland and was sent to the Siberian Gulag along with other captive Poles, Finns, Ukranians, Czechs, Greeks, and even a few English, French, and American unfortunates who had been caught up in the fighting. A year later, he and six comrades from various countries escaped from a labor camp in Yakutsk and made their way, on foot, thousands of miles south to British India, where Rawicz reenlisted in the Polish army and fought against the Germans. The Long Walk recounts that adventure, which is surely one of the most curious treks in history.

Book Description

"I hope The Long Walk will remain as a memorial to all those who live and die for freedom, and for all those who for many reasons could not speak for themselves."--Slavomir Rawicz

In 1941, the author and six other fellow prisoners escaped a Soviet labor camp in Yakutsk--a camp where enduring hunger, cold, untended wounds, untreated illnesses, and avoiding daily executions were everyday feats. Their march--over thousands of miles by foot--out of Siberia, through China, the Gobi Desert, Tibet, and over the Himalayas to British India is a remarkable statement about man's desire to be free.

While the original book sold hundreds of thousands of copies, this updated paperback version includes a new Afterword by the author, as well as the author's Foreword to the Polish book. Written in a hauntingly detailed, no holds barred way, the new edition of The Long Walk is destined to outrank its classic status and guaranteed to forever stay in the reader's mind.

Customer Reviews:

The Long Walk-Rawicz.......2007-10-12

How much of this adventure is indisputable fact? And how much is recalled in the mind of a man mostly crazed by thirst and hunger and thus distorted by the nigtmares suffered on the journey? I give literary license to the author and say it was a fantastic adventure. Shame on the doubters!

The Long Walk.......2007-10-11

I am an avid reader, and this is by far one of the most fascinating books I have read. It shows the strength and willpower of a human's will to survive in the most horrific condtions. A must read.

Thrilling adventure, lousy history.......2007-09-26

I would have admired this book without reservation if it were represented as a work of fiction, but since its supposed to be a true story, I can't be as positive. Even without the information about the author uncovered by the BBC, which pretty much ends the debate regarding the veracity of this account, I would have questioned the authenticity of this story anyway.

I can believe most of the horrible things described about the author's arrest, interrogation, transport, and incarceration in a work camp (though the forced march seems less plausible, but we should never underestimate the cruelty of the gulag camp system). If anything, the way he describes the work camps sounds too tame in light of what we know about the gulag. He describes a work camp without criminals (most gulag inmates were classed as criminals, not politicals) and with very relaxed boundaries between the commandant and the inmates. This sounds more like Hogan's Stalag 13 than a real gulag. (read Anne Applebaum's remarkable book on the gulag.)

What seems most implausible to me is the novelistic quality of the book. First, there are the supporting characters - in true hollywood fashion, each of whom has a characteristic that distinguishes him or her from the others - toothless guy, the gentle giant, the wisecracker, and most implausibly, a beautiful young escapee who miraculously crosses their path amid the vast wastes of Siberia. Next, there's the dialogue (always recalled by the author verbatim), which reads more like a hollywood script than actual conversation between people (e.g., each of the wisecracker's quips is recalled verbatim). Finally, there's level of detail that no memory could recall, such as who found what kind of snake on which day.

Read this book side by side with real stories of survival, accounts of undisputed veracity (omit those written by journalists or authors who kept a notebook during their travels). Next to a book like Herzog's Annapurna or Worsley's book on the Endurance, the Long Walk reads like a very good novel, but not a true account of survival.

Frankly, I'm surprised that so many people have accepted its authenticity over the last several decades. Credit should go to the journalist who wrote the book with the help of the "author." The true story I would like to read is how a journalist and a Polish camp survivor cooked up this tale and sold it to the public. The author's tells us that he donated his time to good causes. I have to wonder if he was trying to ease his sense of guilt or rationalize his long involvement in this hoax.

A Maze Ing.......2007-09-11

What an amazing life. I was expecting another "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" or "Gulag Archipelago." But this story is different -- there is very little bitterness, very little savoring-of-the-details. Instead, it is cleanly told and incredibly true. It is a simple book, not much complexity, just human nature laid bare. Amazing.

Escape from the Soviet Union.......2007-09-05

There is some debate as to whether or not this story is true, but it is not at all improbable. Sentenced to 25 years in the Soviet gulag system, Polish cavalry-officer Rawicz was determined to escape from the remote Siberian labor-camp, somewhere north of Lake Baikal. The brutality Rawicz experienced at the hands of the communist government is typical of such accounts from this era. It reminds one of the memoirs of Alexander Solzhenitzyn.
Rawicz assembled a group of six other prisoners: two more Polish soldiers, a Latvian, a Lithuanian, a Yugoslavian, and ...an American! They made their break in early 1941, during a winter storm. Along the way, a teenage Polish girl also joined the party. The resulting narrative (if it is all true) is a harsh tale of survival as they trekked across some of the most rugged and dangerous terrain on Earth: frozen pine-forests, open plains, the Gobi Desert, and the mountains of Tibet.
Sadly, only half the party made it to the objective, which was India. Had they been less hasty in their trek once free of Soviet territory, the entire party could have survived. Had they planned more, traveled with caravans, and learned some basic survival skills, they could have brought everyone out.
The crossed Siberia, Mongolia, north China, and Tibet, cut off from all civilization and news of events abroad. They passed through lands where life was largely unchanged in a thousand years, and oblivious to the titanic events of World War II. Had Rawicz's party stopped in Lhasa, they surely would have met the famed mountaineers Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschneider (read "Seven Years In Tibet").
The most sceptical account, is a sighting of the "Yeti", while in the Himalayas. Did they really see some as yet unclassified primate? Who is to say?
Regardless, the story is profoundly fascinating...I hope its all true! The only improvement to the tale: what happened to the survivors after they left India? Unfortunately, thats where the story ends.

Average customer rating:

A simple, succinct, harrowing story
incredible
Great book...influenced the epic
Night
Book CLub Book

Night
Elie Wiesel
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Similar Items:

Wiesel's Night (Cliffs Notes)
All Quiet on the Western Front
Survival In Auschwitz
Lord of the Flies (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
A Million Little Pieces

ASIN: 0553272535
Release Date: 1982-03-01

Amazon.com

In Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel's memoir Night, a scholarly, pious teenager is wracked with guilt at having survived the horror of the Holocaust and the genocidal campaign that consumed his family. His memories of the nightmare world of the death camps present him with an intolerable question: how can the God he once so fervently believed in have allowed these monstrous events to occur? There are no easy answers in this harrowing book, which probes life's essential riddles with the lucid anguish only great literature achieves. It marks the crucial first step in Wiesel's lifelong project to bear witness for those who died.

Book Description

Night -- A terrifying account of the Nazi death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the death of his family...the death of his innocence...and the death of his God. Penetrating and powerful, as personal as The Diary Of Anne Frank, Night awakens the shocking memory of evil at its absolute and carries with it the unforgettable message that this horror must never be allowed to happen again.

Customer Reviews:

A simple, succinct, harrowing story.......2007-09-10

This is the true story of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. A religious Jew, Wiesel was a young boy during the German invasion. He and his family were taken captive by the Nazis and put into the concentration camps where he witnessed atrocities that destroyed his family and shattered his faith.

Told simply and succintly, this first person account is haunting. Wiesel speaks with a numb detachment, sensationalizing nothing. He asks for no pity. He simply describes what he saw.

It is only one person's point-of-view of perhaps the most important event in modern history, but his testimony feels as big as the Holocaust itself. That this is one of millions of stories that could be told is shocking again, even if you've seen movies or read other books on the topic. You come away from this book with a better understanding of what happened, and many unanswerable questions as to why it happened.

As other reviewers have suggested, this book should be required reading for all high school students.

incredible.......2007-08-23

This was amazing book. This book takes you on the journey of a Jewish boy during the Nazi reign. You may know the stories of the concentration camps but you really can't imagine what they felt like. I would recomend this book to any one.

Great book...influenced the epic.......2007-08-12

Read a book like this and it might influence you to write a concept piece.
By the way the title of this is Night not "darkness" Ted Leonard.

Night.......2007-07-09

The author is such a good writer that you'll almost hear the squeak of rusty railroad cars along with muffled sounds of hopelessness from within as they roll down the tracks to the concentration camps.

You can almost smell the odors of less than humane living conditions mingled with the acrid smoke from the crematoriums upon arriving at the death camps.

You'll almost be able to see the look of death in the eyes of the living who have given up as well as the emaciated bodies of those whose suffering had finally ceased.

You'll almost feel the nagging hunger pains of those who sometimes must go without food for days at a time and the bone-drilling cold ache of hands and feet not protected from the sub-zero temperatures.

But you'll also sense the author's strong will to persevere the inhumane cruelties inflicted upon his people to return to the land of the living one day. He did survive and tells his story in a non-fiction selection that reads like a novel.

"Night" by Elie Weisel relates the atrocities of the Holocaust through the eyes of a teenage Jewish boy. As in "The Diary of Anne Frank" and "Schindler's List", it's an unforgettable story that should never EVER be forgotten.

Book CLub Book.......2007-06-02

Great telling of a sad story, but factual and interesting. Enjoyed this book and shared it with others

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