The Book Thief (Book Sense Book of the Year Children's Literature (Awards))

Book Description

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

Customer Reviews:

Five stars reserved.......2007-10-17

I read maybe one book a year that would deserve five stars...and I read a lot of books. This book ranks right up with Lonesome Dove, Life of Pi, and Left Hand of Darkness as one that will transcend genre and time to become one that is read over and over.
What is particularly striking is Zusak's very accurate descriptions of a very difficult place in history, and the emotional makeup of the people who went through it. He has layered this with contemporary sensibility by using Death as an omniscient narrator. At the beginning of the book, I was somewhat put off by this as he uses the same visual cues as Terry Pratchett in putting the words of Death in boldface, but eventually it became clear that the conceit was necessary and serves as a distancing device. If the story had been told as a first person narrative from one of the main characters, or even from multiple viewpoints, it would have been too sentimental. As it is, it unflinchingly shows tragedy and brutality, kindness and humor, leavened with just enough irony to make it one of the great novels.
My 95 year old aunt is also an avid book lover, and even more particular. Luckily this book has made it easy to pick out her Christmas present. My only hesitation in buying it for her in audiobook form is that this book relies on its physical presence almost as much as a graphic novel. It would take a very skillful reading to put this across.

A truly remarkable book.......2007-10-15

"A human doesn't have a heart like mine. The human heart is a line, whereas my own is a circle, and I have the endless ability to be in the right place at the right time. The consequence of this is that I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both."

So muses the narrator of Markus Zusak's powerful and moving bestselling novel of 2006, THE BOOK THIEF, which is now out in paperback. As you might guess, this is no ordinary narrator. The contemplative first person guiding you through this book is Death, an at-once fitting and ironic vanguard for a tale that both celebrates the power of words and agonizes over the consequences of their use.

Set against the tragedy-stained canvas of World War II, Death tells the story of young Liesel Meminger (the eponymous book thief) growing up in Nazi Germany under the watchful eye of a staunch foster mother and kindly foster father who teaches her to read. She attends meetings of the BDM, a youth group aimed at indoctrinating young girls into Hitler's ideology. She plays soccer with the boys on her street, holding her own in any disputes that arise. And all the while, dreams of her dead brother haunt and goad her into a fascination with reading and words that inevitably leads to her life of crime.

As she settles into her new home, Liesel befriends Rudy Steiner, a boy her age who becomes known for his love of Olympic runner Jesse Owens (Rudy paints himself black and runs through the town's streets). Together, they navigate the confusing world set before them by the adults in their lives and attempt to come to terms with the racism prevalent in their homeland's current political state. Liesel also makes the acquaintance of the mayor's wife, whose pristine library astounds Liesel and becomes an open playground for Liesel's "thievery."

It is a meeting with Max Vandenburg, a 24-year-old Jewish man being hidden in Liesel's basement by her compassionate foster parents, that alters the course of Liesel's life. Max, too, is haunted by nightmares of a family he lost in the harrowing aftermath of Kristallnacht. Together, Max and Liesel discover a shared love of words that leads to a decisive understanding about the role words play in both bravery and cowardice. Each, in their own way, sets out to use this knowledge to shape the world around them.

While other writers have employed Death as a narrator, Zusak makes his own indelible mark on the technique in the dimensions he gives to the character. Death is simultaneously dispassionate about his work and the impact it can have while striving to understand humanity's resilience. Death boasts an omniscience of what will happen in life but also a naivety about what can happen in the human heart.

In the ultimate expression of his dichotomous theme, Zusak creates a touching love letter to books and writing, framed in arguably the most horrific period in human history. But his greatest triumph is delivering a reminder that no writer enters this world quietly. Writers are born of eruptions and detonations, and the truly exceptional ones, like Zusak, continue to channel these explosive energies to craft a truly remarkable book that will be admired for generations.

--- Reviewed by Brian Farrey

A New View on a Bad Time.......2007-10-14

The Book Thief was one of my first ventures from my warn cocoon of fantasy adventure novels. I must say I was left... amazed.

Markus Zusak manages to weave a beautiful story with the not-quite-real settings and characters. But manages to put them into terribly real situations with the nitty gritty of life.

The story tells of the holocaust from a different perspective. Whereas we find most books such as The Diary of Anna Frank telling the story from inside the Ghettos and concentration camps, this book shifts your view 180 degrees. Looking at the situation from the other way around. Seeing as I've grown up in Israel, this is a view very rarely acknowledged.

The storytelling is flowing and engrossing. It takes about 50 pages to take off, but when it does. You get caught in the slipstream and are just dragged from page to page.

I recomended this book to many people and have passed it around to my family, people from work... Everyone thought the same thing - 5 stars!

good book.......2007-10-10

The book was in good shape. The print was large enough to read comfortaby. I liked the book.

Insightful..........2007-10-10

It is a romance with a historic background...some would say the other way around, where the author talks about the 2WW thru the personal drama of this little girl, Liesel and her peculiar way of getting satisfaction on a life full of difficulties. What I most liked about it was the way the author talks about the 2WW using an unusual perspective.

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

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945
Untold Valor: Forgotten Stories of American Bomber Crews over Europe in World War II
The Few
Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of her Survivors
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 Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy

Average customer rating:

An enlightening analysis of economic factors behind the Third Reich
A PROFOUND AND FAR-REACHING STUDY
Profound Analysis of Nazi Germany's Economic Situation
Wages is Scholarly Blut Dull
great book

The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
Adam Tooze
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Economic History | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947
After the Reich: The Brutal History of The Allied Occupation
Hitler's Beneficiaries: Plunder, Racial War, and the Nazi Welfare State
Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941
Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945

ASIN: 0670038261
Release Date: 2007-03-22

Book Description

In this groundbreaking new history, Adam Tooze provides the clearest picture to date of the Nazi war machine and its undoing. There was no aspect of Nazi power untouched by economicsÂ—it was HitlerÂ's obsession and the reason the Nazis came to power in the first place. The Second World War was fought, in HitlerÂ's view, to create a European empire strong enough to take on the United States. But as The Wages of Destruction makes clear, HitlerÂ's armies were never powerful enough to beat either Britain or the Soviet UnionÂ—and Hitler never had a serious plan as to how he might defeat the United States. The Wages of Destruction is an eye-opening and controversial account that will challenge conventional interpretations of the period and will find an enthusiastic readership among fans of Ian Kershaw and Richard Evans. BACKCOVER: Advance praise for The Wages of Destruction:
Â“One of the most important and original books to be published about the Third Reich in the past twenty years. A tour de force.Â”
Â—Niall Ferguson, author of Colossus

Â“Unputdownable epic history . . . Transforms not only our reading of HitlerÂ's sordid regime, but the history of the twentieth century itself. Brilliantly written, its original scholarship is telling and lightly borne on every page.Â”
Â—John Cornwell, author of HitlerÂ's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII

Customer Reviews:

An enlightening analysis of economic factors behind the Third Reich.......2007-10-08

Tooze occasionally mentions in passing how companies or individuals benefited from fueling the Third Reich's war effort, but his real topics are far broader and more interesting: showing how economic factors drove Hitler's war goals and timing and how the continual feedback between industrial needs and war goals drove war strategy.

Tooze starts by describing the quandary which faced Germany in the late 1920's. Germany was not self sufficient in either food or raw materials and needed to be able to export in order to finance essential imports. Germany also needed to be able to sell its exports in order to obtain hard currency to pay the reparation demands from the World War I victors. Despite these difficulties, the German finance ministry was managing to navigate Germany through a slow and painful recovery from WWI. Then disaster struck with the Great Depression. First there was an inevitable shrinking in export markets and then, much more seriously, there were conscious protectionist decisions in America, Britain, and France to block German exports in order to protect home employment.

Before reading The Wages of Destruction, I had loosely understood how the Great Depression had been a key factor in Hitler's rise to power, especially due to widespread unemployment. But Tooze clarifies that Germany was facing a much deeper strategic dilemma than a simple economic depression. Germany was dependent on the goodwill of other powers for its export markets and for its essential food and material imports, but those powers were demonstrating that in a crisis they would look entirely to their own interests and would quite cheerfully close their markets and let Germany suffer. Given this behavior, the long-term economic and political future for Germany looked extremely grim. Hitler offered a radical solution to this problem: Germany needed to expand to the East and become self sufficient in resources in the same way as the British Empire or America. Given the depth of Germany's problem, it becomes easier to understand why many thinking Germans either enthusiastically or reluctantly accepted Hitler's solution.

In succeeding chapters, Tooze describes how Hitler rapidly switched the Germany economy to focus on rearmament. He argues that while the Nazi propaganda machine emphasized efforts to increase employment and visionary projects such as the autobahn system, this was really mere window dressing and the regime was massively focused on military preparations for war. More interestingly, he also highlights how the continual shortages of hard currency (and thus of key materials) continually constrained and shaped rearmament. By 1938 lack of currency and other economic constraints were limiting further military expansion. Hitler was thus faced with a situation where Germany could see its own military abilities peaking and simultaneously see other powers starting to accelerate their own rearmament, weakening Germany's relative advantage. Hitler being Hitler, this drove an impatience for war, while Germany had its best relative position. As the war progresses, Tooze revisits this theme from several angles. Hitler was continually faced with situations where enemy military production would quickly eclipse Germany's and he reacted by trying to knock particular opponents out of the war quickly.

Tooze's major focus is on the operations and outputs of the German wartime economy. Overall, he shows us an economy that was reasonably well run and efficient but where production was dominated by shortages of key resources, especially steel and skilled manpower. By making high-level decisions about reallocations of these resources the Reich leadership could cause major leaps (or declines) in production in target sectors such as aircraft or tanks or munitions. Typically these resources shifts would take about six months to work through the system. The lucky Nazi bureaucrat who happened to be in charge of a target sector at the end of the six months would then happily boast of his productivity miracle as his sector suddenly produced startling jumps in output.

Tooze does not shy away from describing and condemning the many darker aspects of the Third Reich's war economy. A major aim of the expansion to the East was to improve Germany's food supplies. But that land was already inhabited and that food was already being consumed. So the Nazi solution was the "Hunger Plan" which quite casually assumed that food would be diverted from Poland and the Western USSR to Germany and that many millions would be deliberately starved. Tooze argues that this appalling plan was widely circulated, understood and accepted among the German political and military leadership in 1941. Thankfully, it proved difficult to execute and while there was widespread suffering, the East avoided the systematic mass starvation called for in the plan. However, in subsequent years the same desire to remove what were seen as "useless mouths" and free up food supplies was one of the many input factors towards the holocaust. In parallel, Germany manpower shortages led to large drafts of forced labor from occupied countries to German factories. Tooze illustrates both the appalling conditions of the laborers and the folly of a regime that for ideological reasons oppressed and starved the very labor it was trying to exploit.

Overall, I found this book a very enlightening read. Tooze's thorough analysis of the details of exports, imports, and production constraints provides a convincing base for his explanation of how the constraints and limits of the German economy drove high level German economic and military planning.

A PROFOUND AND FAR-REACHING STUDY.......2007-09-17

I certainly agree with other reviewers who give "Wages of Destruction" highest praise. The only wonder is why it took so long to get the story out. We've been reading histories of the war for more than sixty years, and yet I cannot recall reading anything that lays out the economic choices and consequences as well as Adam Tooze has done here. My only criticisms in this regard would be that Tooze tends to look through a lens of economic determinism, as though weight of resources would inevitably result in Germany's defeat, no matter who was in charge. What Tooze does not delineate with any degree of specificity is Hitler's confidence in the risk aversiveness, if not downright cowardice, of the Western democracies. That was certainly the case with France, which went to war profoundly divided, and whose failure of leadership echos to this day. Great Britain under Nevelle Chamberlain was hardly better. As late as May, 1940, members of the Cabinet were still debating whether to try to cut a deal with Hitler. As for the Soviet Union, the idea that Germany could defeat the Red Army in the field and expect to hold onto captured territory was wishful thinking at its worst; even if Moscow had been captured, which Napoleon did in 1812, Hitler had to know that in Stalin he faced a man as ruthless as himself. The idea that he could repeat the German Imperial Army's success against Russia in 1917, and then confront the Western Allies, throws all rational calculation to the wind. The only other comment I would make about Wages of Destruction would be that Tooze tends to summarize the events between the Summer of 1943 and May, 1945, as though that 18 month period simply followed on what had been in the pipeline before.

Profound Analysis of Nazi Germany's Economic Situation.......2007-09-11

Recently, there has been a spate of excellent books arguing that Germany was a much weaker state than it has generally been thought to be, and that the tactical brilliance of its military obscured economic inadequacies and strategic incompetence. Isabel Hull's "Absolute Destruction," Ian Kershaw's "Fatal Decisions," and now Adam Tooze's "Wages of Destruction" all make a similar point in their very different ways. They also suggest something very interesting -- that given the insane premises that Germany should be a hegemonic power and that war and conquest were the means to attain that power, Germany's military decisions in World Wars I and II made sense.

Tooze points out in convincing fashion that not only was Germany an economic basket case compared to the United States (capable of produing perhaps 1,000 warplanes at the same time the United States could produce perhaps 50,000), but that even if it were matched against the British Empire alone, its long-run prospects were little better than 50-50.

Tooze goes on to show that after France fell and Britain would not make a separate peace, Hitler faced an economic and strategic dilemma. The United States was not likely to stay out of the war indefinitely; when it inevitably entered the war on the allied side, Germany would be grossly outnumbered and outproduced.

The only possible answer was Russia, either as an ally or as a colony. As an ally, the Soviet Union was unreliable, opportunistic, and probably treacherous. Moreover, Germany would have to bend a great deal to Stalin's wishes to keep the Soviet Union happy. As a prostrate colony, Russia might just provide the material to resist Britain and the United States. So, Tooze suggests, Hitler was not so irrational when he invaded Russia (provided, of course, one does not ask the question "If Hitler faced such a daunting situation even after France was unexpected defeated, how could he ever have figured on winning the war while France was still in the allied camp"?)

If anything, Tooze suggests, Germany got lucky -- it had no business being as successful as it was by June 1941. Even at that, so many things had to go right for Germany to come out of the war in any decent shape that total victory was an impossibility. Could he successfully invade England? Little or no chance. Could he starve England out? Not with the United States on Engalnd's side. Even if he had conquered Russia where would he be -- Facing the United States across a narrow strait with his army streched from the Bering Sea to the English Channel. This was not a winning hand.

Tooze presents plenty of evidence to show that the Nazis ran a miserable war economy; that it had no idea how to put together a coherent economic or military strategy; that its solutions were ad hoc, duplicative, inefficient, and ultimately monstrous. The famous "German efficiency" takes a terrible hit, at least on the strategic level. In sum, Tooze concludes, absent a complete collapse of allied will, Germany never had a chance. But given the fact that it never had a chance and chose to take one anyway, its seemingly irrational moves made a certain kind of mad sense.

Wages is Scholarly Blut Dull.......2007-07-21

Adam Tooze has made a great contribution to the history of Germany under Nazi party rule, breaking into territory trod by few hisorians. His scholarship is superior. Few have found a way to enliven economic history and Toonze has failed to break that barrier. This along keeps the book from a five star rating.

great book.......2007-07-07

Germany lost the Second World War was because the allies out-produced them. I've known that for a long time -- but until I read The Wages of Destruction I never really understood what that statement meant, and all that it entailed. The Wages of Destruction explains, in gripping, readable detail, how the Nazi war machine worked, how it failed, and how it shaped the strategy and some of the worst crimes of the Third Reich.

So let me add to the chorus of five-star reviews. I consider The Wages of Destruction required reading if you want to understand Nazi Germany, particularly if you have an interest in economics or business. Also, if you have read Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich, you'll be interested in this book for the counterpoint it provides.

Average customer rating:

Great book
Biography of a True Christian Heroine
Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith
GRIPPING and inspiring!
Amazing novel

The Hiding Place
Corrie Ten Boom , and John Scherrill
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Holocaust | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Religious | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Netherlands | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Tramp for the Lord
Billy Graham Presents: The Hiding Place
The Hiding Place Study Guide
Amazing Love: True Stories of the Power of Forgiveness
Prisoner and Yet

ASIN: 0553256696
Release Date: 1984-10-01

Book Description

Corrie Ten Boom stood naked with her older sister Betsie, watching a concentration camp matron beating a prisoner."Oh, the poor woman," Corrie cried."Yes. May God forgive her," Betsie replied. And, once again, Corrie realized that it was for the souls of the brutal Nazi guards that her sister prayed.

Here is a book aglow with the glory of God and the courage of a quiet Christian spinster whose life was transformed by it. A story of Christ's message and the courageous woman who listened and lived to pass it along -- with joy and triumph!

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-10-09

I bought the book The Hiding Place because I had the lost the one I had. I greatly enjoyed the book. It is well written, and Historical. Her story is one that should never be forgotten. The book was in great shape when I got it.

Biography of a True Christian Heroine.......2007-08-08

This is the first book you should read to get to know Corrie Ten Boom, a woman whose life took a dramatic turn when her family was caught up in a turbulent and tragic time when the Nazi's occupied Holland. Corrie, her father and sister were morally convicted to harbor and hide Jews who were facing arrest and deportation. After being betrayed, they were sent to jail, and eventually Corrie and Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration/death camp. Throughout her life, Corrie held onto her Saviour Jesus Christ, and found out that there is no pit too deep that God is not there to pull you out.

Corrie is completed honest and transparent in describing her life. She does not sugarcoat her own mistakes, and the bitterness and hatred she harbored in her heart. She does not make herself out to be a saint. But as a real human being experiencing the depravity of human sin, she in her own power could not forgive or love her enemies. She was incredulous upon hearing her sister Betsie pray for the Nazi's, and as Betsie got physically weaker and weaker, she was strengthened spiritually, encouraging Corrie to let go her hatred, and to spread the word of God's love through the most horrible circumstances. Betsie, before she was set free (passed away), also inspired Corrie to open a home for displaced people after the war. Miraculously Corrie was set free and able to make her way home. She fulfills Betsie's dreams of opening a rest home, and ministering to people who had suffered so much at the hands of evil.

The book ends in 1946. To find out about Corrie's return to Germany and her ministering to former prison guards, make sure to read "Tramp for the Lord."

Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith.......2007-08-06

Corrie Ten Boom and her family exhibited true Christian love. They did not shrink from their duty to hide the persecuted Jews, nor did they lack courage as they were arrested and placed in concentration camps. Several family members died, with only Corrie surviving due to miraculous intervention. Did she harbor bitterness? Yes. But her faith in the Lord God Jehovah sustained her through this difficult time. She came to the place in her spiritual life where God changed her heart, enabling to forgive her captors. This is truly a story that will warm your heart and point you to a personal Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves and cares for His children. Read how God directs their paths, even when imprisoned, and blesses them mightily despite their circumstances.

GRIPPING and inspiring!.......2007-08-04

I really tried not to read this book right before bed b/c of the tough content, but I just couldn't put it down!

The voice is delightful--warm, genuine, matter-of-fact--appealing neither to sentiment or false piety. Corrie shares her story honestly and so pleasantly that you feel you are sitting with her over a cup of tea. She makes no pretense about her own bravery, but humbly shares her own struggles and how the Lord faithfully sustained her. The lessons on forgiveness are timeless and unforgettable. Be careful; you're likely to feel conviction to apply these truths to your own life! =)

I would not recommend this book for small children; anyone under the age of 10 might be too upset by some of the content (her sister's death, their cruel treatment in prison)--but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone who has ever wondered:
--would they have courage to stand up for their faith if put to the ultimate test?
--why does God allow bad things to happen to "good" people?
--when should one fight back and when should one humbly submit
--is it safe to trust God in absolute surrender?

May God bless you as He blessed me in reading this book!
CM

Amazing novel.......2007-07-17

This is a beautiful novel about one woman and her family's journey as they smuggled Jews in their home and other "safe houses" in war torn Holland during the 1940's. Corrie and her family ended up in jail and finally a concentration camp because of her willingness to protect God's children during the Holocaust. Her faith and God's truth ring out clearly in her writing and remarkable story. It really pushed me to think of a more Godly perspective instead of one of this world. This is an excellent novel.

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

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

Military Science | History | Subjects | Books

Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper
Black Edelweiss: A Memoir of Combat and Conscience by a Soldier of the Waffen-SS
A Stranger to Myself: The Inhumanity of War: Russia, 1941-1944
The Forgotten Soldier
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.

In the Bunker With Hitler: 23 July 1944 - 29 April 1945

Average customer rating:

In the Bunker With Hitler: 23 July 1944 - 29 April 1945
Bernd Freytag Von Loringhoven
Manufacturer: Pegasus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared For Stalin From The Interrogations of Hitler's Personal Aides
Heydrich: The Face of Evil
Hitler's Death: Russia's Last Great Secret from the Files of the KGB
Hitler, Donitz, and the Baltic Sea: The Third Reich's Last Hope, 1944-1945
Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

ASIN: 1933648392

Book Description

Throughout the last nine months of the Third Reich, from July 23, 1944, to April 29, 1945, Captain Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven-aide-de-camp to Adolf Hitler's last two army chiefs of staff, the generals Heinz Guderian and Hans Krebs-daily attended Hitler's military briefings with his highest-ranking officers. Daily, too, he maintained contact by telephone or radio with commanders at the front, and often he himself transmitted to them Hitler's orders and the latest intelligence from the bunker. He also watched-while recording his experiences in his private logs-as the gap increasingly widened between the reality of the war outside the bunker and Hitler's willful illusions of imminent victory in the face of absolute ruin.

In the last catastrophic week of Hitler's regime, Loringhoven, now holed up night and day in the bunker, saw the final hopes of officers and staff dissolve into drink and fade into suicidal despair. He saw, too, his chance to survive: On April 29, when all communications in the bunker broke down, he could no longer do his work, and with Hitler's unexpected blessing, he left. On April 30, Hitler was dead.

Those wartime logs by a young army officer who found that his duty as a soldier lay at the behest of a criminal have sixty years later become this book.

Near the end of World War II, Bernd Freytag von Loringhoven was appointed aide-de-camp to Hitler's headquarters and finally to his bunker, where he experienced the last nine months of the Third Reich.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Average customer rating:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Chinese | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japanese | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Doctors & Medicine | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Lawyers & Criminals | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Early Civilization | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

French | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Victorian | Erotica | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Epic | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

German | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Russian | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

War on Drugs | Crime & Criminals | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Science | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books

Online Research | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books

Native American | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Sailor Moon | Popular Characters | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Pilates | Exercise & Fitness | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies

ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)

Average customer rating:

Long Wait for an Excellent Book
A beautiful exhibition
Glitter and Doom
Beautiful catalog for
You can't go wrong with German Expressionism

Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Sabine Rewald , Ian Buruma , and Matthias Eberle
Manufacturer: Metropolitan Museum of Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Themes | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Portraits | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Cezanne to Picasso: Ambroise Vollard, Patron of the Avant-Garde (Metropolitan Museum of Art Publications)
Voluptuous Panic: The Erotic World of Weimar Berlin
Dada: Zurich, Berlin, Hanover, Cologne, New York, Paris
Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali
Americans in Paris 1860-1900 (National Gallery Company)

ASIN: 0300117884

Book Description

In the 1920s Germany was in the grip of social and political turmoil: its citizens were disillusioned by defeat in World War I, the failure of revolution, the disintegration of their social system, and inflation of rampant proportions. Curiously, as this important book shows, these years of upheaval were also a time of creative ferment and innovative accomplishment in literature, theater, film, and art.
Glitter and Doom is the first publication to focus exclusively on portraits dating from the short-lived Weimar Republic. It features forty paintings and sixty drawings by key artists, including Otto Dix, Max Beckmann, and George Grosz. Their works epitomize Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), in particular the branch of that new form of realism called Verism, which took as its subject contemporary phenomena such as war, social problems, and moral decay. Subjects of their incisive portraits are the artists’ own contemporaries: actors, poets, prostitutes, and profiteers, as well as doctors, lawyers, businessmen, and other respectable citizens. The accompanying texts reveal how these portraits hold up a mirror to the glittering, vital, doomed society that was obliterated when Hitler came to power.

Customer Reviews:

Long Wait for an Excellent Book.......2007-05-12

Finally an excellent review of what the first World War did to German culture and psyche. This book lays it all out. Hitler was a logical consequence. Unfortunately the Western world did not pay enough attention to these portentious signs. The book has beautiful color reproductions, great detailed commentary on each artist featured and enaough historical commentary to make it all plausible.

A beautiful exhibition.......2007-04-08

This is the catalogue for a beautiful exhibition held at the Met last year. The paintings reproduced here are among the best examples of the New Objectivity, a movement that was able to depict the atmosphere, the soul, the world of the Weimar Republic, that brief time span when pre-war Germany enjoyed freedom in the arts and in the minds. These gripping paintings show how ultimately doomed that world was and how the artists were the first to sense the tragic developments that were to succeed it. The front cover, a detail of one of Christian Schad's best known paintings, is a perfect illustration of a society that seems to have enjoyed life knowing that death would come too soon, with the end of that joyful and poetic decadence that was the Berlin of the 1920's.

Glitter and Doom.......2007-03-22

Twice viewed the exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum here in New York. German art in the 20s is raw, obscene and decadent. A raucus reflection on hard times there. They had just suffered WW1, in the midst of fascism, insane inflation, etc.
Highlight: Otto Dix is a wild artist, forever a favorite now. Also a DaDa artist.
I am a frequent art museum visitor. Therefore, in my opinion, this catalogue did the show great justice which is not aways the case.

Beautiful catalog for.......2007-03-08

The BEST museum show I have seen in a long time. Sabine Rewald is a truly great curator, the book is smart and well designed, great color reproductions.

You can't go wrong with German Expressionism.......2007-01-29

How can you say "no" to Otto Dix?? Well...you can't! The actual exhibit at the Met was good (although I thought it'd be bigger) and relatively informative, but the book gets into depths the exhibit couldn't. Ideally you should see the exhibit and thoroughly read the book. You can't quite get the experience of seeing the works within the book, and you can't exactly get the knowledge of just reading the little blurbs that are glued beside each piece in the exhibit.

The book explores the themes of German life before the world turned on itself and the second world war exploded. For the money it's worth the dive into the celebrated, vastly entertaining, stunningly morbid and little studied area of German Expressionism. It's not too late...go out and there and see the exhibit. And then buy the book, since that's what the Met would like you to do.

Average customer rating:

A Novel To Be Savoured!
Common Humanity
Empathy Without Borders
All the Trappings of a First Novel
History without pretenses; a riveting story that crosses all borders

The Welsh Girl
Peter Ho Davies
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Wales | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

War | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

On Chesil Beach: A Novel
Mister Pip
The Gathering
Dancing to "Almendra": A Novel
Christine Falls: A Novel

ASIN: 0618007008

Amazon.com

Following two widely praised short-story collections, Equal Love and The Ugliest House in the World, Peter Ho Davies's first novel, The Welsh Girl, deserves to be equally well received. It carefully examines two great themes, dislocation and cowardice, through the stories of a WWII POW camp built by the British in the remote mountains of northern Wales and Esther, the 17-year-old Welsh girl at the heart of the story. The POW camp, filled with Germans, is yet another national insult, as far as the Welsh are concerned, only one of many instances of prejudice between and among the novel's characters: Welshman against Brit and vice versa, Brits and Welshmen against Germans, Germans against Jews. Some of these enmities are age-old antagonisms; others are newly-minted political killing machines.

Davies introduces a Welsh concept--cynefin--for which there is no English equivalent. It means a certain knowledge and sense of place that is passed down the matrilineal line in a flock of sheep. They always know where they belong and never leave their own turf. It is a perfect metaphor for much of what takes place in this carefully plotted story, and for the displacement felt by many of the characters. Esther longs to escape her village, yet is devoted to the flock and to her father. She meets Colin, an English soldier, in the pub where she works. He is a rough sort and things end very badly between them.

Another theme visited again and again is the concept of cowardice. Is it cowardly to save one's life and the lives of others by surrendering to the enemy? Is death the price that must be paid to be considered brave? The German POWs debate this endlessly, especially Karsten, an intelligent, sensitive soldier who did surrender himself and his men when it was clear that all was lost. When he and Esther find one another under impossible circumstances, Davies renders their relationship perfectly: it is star-crossed, but desperately important to both of them, setting them both "free" in the truest sense of the word. The Welsh Girl is a beautifully told story of love, war, and the accommodations we make in the midst of both. --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

From the award-winning author Peter Ho Davies comes an ambitious and moving wartime romance in the tradition of "The English Patient and Atonement". "The Welsh Girl" begins with a provocative but little-known fact of World War II: the British held German POWs in camps in remote Wales, a proud land with age-old antagonisms toward England. Davies?s beautifully written novel imagines the unexpected and perilous romance that blossoms between a secretive local girl and a German prisoner, and explores the indelible bonds of love and duty that hold us to family, country, and ultimately our fellow man. The Welsh girl of the title is Esther Evans, seventeen, the daughter of a shepherd in the rugged Snowdonia Mountains, who works at the local pub. It is 1944, and the war comes to her village just after D-day in the form of a new POW camp. Although the presence of the English guards is only grudgingly tolerated at the pub, the arrival of the German captives brings the entire village to the hillside above the camp. At first Esther watches from a distance, but her attention is soon caught by one of the soldiers, Karsten Simmering, a troubled young man who has begun to question what he is fighting for. One evening, as Esther lingers by the camp fence, she is astonished when Karsten calls out to her in English. The fates of these two become inexorably entwined when their relationship takes a treacherous turn that calls into question all their assumptions about national and personal loyalty.

Customer Reviews:

A Novel To Be Savoured!.......2007-10-15

What a great novel. It's a somewhat slow moving story, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. The book could be savoured that way. I truly enjoyed the Welsh setting and the characters were all very well developed. Great account of the effects of war on civilians.

Common Humanity.......2007-09-07

The story of a half jewish German national reluctantly forced by his mother to flee to Britan in the 1930s where he becomes an interrogator of German prisoners for the British forces as World War II is ending. He believes his ancestry to be of no significance but it renders him bewilderingly ineffective while interviewing the notorious Rudolph Hess. Sent, in consequence to work at a prinsoner of war camp in Wales his life intersects with well-drawn characters who too find that llife is what is lived and not what is imagined or planned. That the vanquished can be kind and the victors rapists are just two of the many textures of life that Peter Ho Davies brings warmly and ruefully to light. That German hated the Jews and the Welsh hated the British discouragingly means, I suppose, that our common humanity requires that we hate or feel superior to someone.

Empathy Without Borders.......2007-08-21

This gem of a novel is not designed for those who prefer action books with linear plots; it's as real as life itself. From the start, I believed in these characters -- Esther, the Welsh girl...Karstan, the German POW...Jim, the young English boy.

The Welsh Girl can be read in so many different ways: as a story of connections that span boundaries and defy expectations. Or it can be read as a novel of identity. Peter Ho Davies write: "We have something in common, you and I. The same dilemma. Are we who we think we are, or who others judge us to be? A question of will, perhaps."

By the end of the novel, each character will wrestle with this question. The POW will learn the true meaning of "to surrender." The young English boy will find out what "courage" is all about. And the Welsh girl, at the center, will discover about cynefin -- a Welsh quality that has no English translation, but loosely translates to the flock knowing its place. And each will define himself or herself further by comparison with a presumed dead Welsh soldier, whose identity seems to be in the eye of the beholder.

I was enchanted by this novel, the first by the author of Equal Love, a fine short story collection. I'd recommend it wholeheartedly for true readers who are fascinated with love, family, loyalty, and national identity.

All the Trappings of a First Novel.......2007-07-13

Not to harp, but this book had all of the unfortunate qualities of a short story writer attempting the fateful first novel. As a first, it's good enough, but not more than that, and hardly "luminous" or compelling as penned in other editorials.

The primary plot of the book does not even get going until well into the novel, and we are not even introduced to Karsten, one of the main characters, until several chapters in. The writing borders on poetic at times, particularly with Davies' capture of the countryside and life in a rural Welsh village, but such is not the stuff of a great novel. It smacks of good short story writing, and that's all.

Another disappointing aspect of The Welsh Girl is the failure of its subplots. At the outset, the text seems to want to focus on a British soldier named Rotherdam, and his interrogation of Rudolph Hess; Hess has been held captive in Wales for some time. Rotherdam and Hess appear again in two subsequent chapters, but their narratives are never fully linked to that of Esther and Karsten, nor does this "subplot" ever truly enhance or highlight the main narrative. It has the feel of a separate story being mashed into another.

Lastly, I was extremely disappointed in the ending of this "novel." In point of fact, it did not really have an ending. The closing chapter is simply a summation of what those in the village are doing after the war, we get a snapshot of Esther alone, raising her child, and the loose knowledge that Karsten stayed to help her and has since gone off. There is some suggestion that maybe he is unable to return, since he went home to Soviet-occupied Germany, but there is no satisfactory explanation of what really happened. The book ends abruptly and pointlessly, with no real closure.

Overall, I found this underwhelming. It had the possibility of being a wonderful piece of historical fiction, but in the end, I think the author fell into the mistake of thinking a novel is just one long story.

History without pretenses; a riveting story that crosses all borders.......2007-06-27

I bought this book on a whim; prompted by the amazon.com-Gods.

If you know anything about the UK geographical divisions, or even if you have only seen photos of the picturesque countryside, you will be enthralled by this story. If you are intrigued by human stories of WWII, you will be intrigued by this story. If you have ever been misjudged in a situation, you will relate to this story.

Peter Ho Davies creates three characters : they are brought to life by circumstances and his narrative descriptions. You come to appreciate all three for who they are.

It is a page-turner to be sure - as the reader waits to discover how three unlikely people will happen upon one another in a world torn by war, prejudice, hatred, and nationalism.

Although the book has been finished for weeks now, I am still thinking on their fate....

Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945

Average customer rating:

Excellent general history of the Nazi-Soviet War
Lacking
Now THIS is military history!
WWII Eastern Front History at Its Very Best!
A good start

Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War, 1941-1945
Evan Mawdsley
Manufacturer: A Hodder Arnold Publication
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Russia | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Stalin's Wars: From World War to Cold War, 1939-1953
War of Annihilation: Combat and Genocide on the Eastern Front, 1941 (Total War (Unnumbered).)
The Wehrmacht: History, Myth, Reality
A Writer at War: A Soviet Journalist with the Red Army, 1941-1945
800 Days on the Eastern Front: A Russian Soldier Remembers World War II (Modern War Studies)

ASIN: 034080808X

Book Description

The battles in Russia played the decisive part in Hitler's defeat. Gigantic, prolonged, and bloody, they contrasted with the general nature of the fighting on other fronts. The Russians fought on their own in "their" theater of war and with an independent strategy. Stalinist Russia was a country radically different from its liberal democratic allies. Hitler and the German high command, for their part, conceived and carried out the Russian campaign as a singular "war of annihilation." This riveting new book is a penetrating, broad-ranging, yet concise overview of this vast conflict. It investigates the Wehrmacht and the Red Army and the command and production systems that organized and sustained them. It considers a range of further themes concerning this most political of wars. Benefiting from a post-Communist, post-Cold War perspective, the book takes advantage of a wealth of new studies and source material that have become available over the last decade. Readers from history buffs to scholars will find something new in this exciting new book.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent general history of the Nazi-Soviet War.......2007-10-11

I read this book after reading a review of a number of books on the subject that was publiched in Atlantic Monthly. I am not an expert on this subject but I have read several dozen books on the Eastern War, and I found this to be an excellent overall review. Very readable and very thorough within the confines of a single book covering such a vast sequence of events across such a vast front.

Lacking.......2007-02-03

This book could and possibly should have been titled "Zhukov, Stalin, and the Stavka" because that is the overwhelming focus. Evan Mawdsley is a Russian historian, and it definitely shows here. It gives an in depth analysis of RUSSIAN strategy and wartime evolution, but very little of the German side. Look elsewhere if this is what you desire.

This is a CONCISE history. Concise histories are usually rather dry and skeletal. I slogged through the whole thing, but I fell asleep reading it many a night. Compelling reading it is not.

Be forewarned that this is a history of the war from a GRAND STRATEGIC LEVEL. Mawdsley covers army GROUP movements. An army group is just that--a whole number of various tank and infantry armies grouped together. DO NOT EXPECT TO BE DOWN AND DIRTY IN THE TRENCHES HERE. The cold and desperation at Stalingrad, the T-34 versus the Panther tank at Kursk, the Sturmgewehr versus the PPsh-1, Messerschmidt versus Yak, the morale of individual Soviet versus German soldiers as the war dragged on etc. etc. is NOT here. It's all senior generals, marshals, and supreme leaders stuff. You know, the guys with clean buttoned-up uniforms that move little flags around on a table map.

So much is omitted. Incredibly Mawdsley devotes exactly 3 sentences to the appalling behavior of the Red Army once it entered eastern Europe. The systematic wholesale atrocities committed by the Red Army in East Prussia, Pomerania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary are not mentioned. The three sentences refer to Russian bad behavior only during the final battle around Berlin. Similarly, Nazi Einzattsgruppen activity is also barely mentioned. Why? This savagery made the Eastern front UNIQUE from the Western and Italian fronts and characterized the war between these two reprehensible regimes.

Most unforgivable of all are the woefully inadeqate maps. There are exactly 11 of them. Not nearly enough, and they are poor sparse black-and-white affairs with nothing more than front lines drawn on them. You will constantly need an atlas at your side to comprehend the army movements.

There are a very few photos--none memorable.

Only recommended if you are looking for a short history of Zhukov and Stalin's growth as war leaders, and grand strategic army group movements from the Russian point of view.

Now THIS is military history!.......2006-09-19

Beautifully written, extremely informative, and well-packaged by the publisher, this is another must have for the WWII buff's library. Using the info from the Russian archives which has come out in the past 10-15 years, Professor Mawdsley does a magnificent job of presenting an overview of the War on the Eastern Front. It touches on about every matter you can think of, and has quality footnotes taking you to leading secondary works on almost each subject. A good bibliography, but an annotated one would have been even better. It focuses far more on Russian matters than German, but also has some interesting information on the Nazi side of the hill. Not the only book you should read on the Eastern Front, but a great place to start.

WWII Eastern Front History at Its Very Best!.......2006-08-04

This is a brilliant book; incredibly well researched, organized and written. Having exploited the latest Soviet and German archival material, "Thunder in the East" provides new and important insights into the German-Soviet war on the Eastern Front. And unlike previous Eastern Front histories, which tend to focus on one side or the other, Mawdsley, a professor of Soviet and Russian history, tells the story from both sides. The result is a powerful and balanced narrative, which touches on every aspect of the titanic struggle between Hitler's Third Reich and Stalin's Soviet Russia.

World War II historians have attempted to provide different explanations for the survival of the Red Army in 1941 and 1942, despite horrendous losses, and then its reemergence and resurrgence in 1943, leading to the defeat of the German armed forces in 1945. Mawdsley shows that rather than a single explanation, a number of factors were at work, depending on the period of the war, including the quantity of troops and equipment, the quality of technology, and the industrial capabilities of Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia.

The author doesn't shy away from addressing the Holocaust in the Soviet Union and the deliberate elimination of Jews and Red Army prisoners by the German army working willingly alongside the SS. Accordingly to Mawdsley, some 500,000 Jews were murdered outright by mobile SS killing units and other Nazi police units, assisted by the German Army, in the first sweep of killing in the USSR.

In his conclusion the author discusses the cost of the war to the Soviet Union, noting that some 27 million Soviet citizens were killed, including 10 million Red Army soldiers. The war damaged the USSR more than it damaged Germany and cost the country ten years development. "It is probably also true," writes Mawdsley, "that the Soviet economy never recovered from the war." And he makes it clear that a Wehrmacht victory in Russia would have been far worse for both the Russians and the rest of Europe and the world.

"Thunder in the East" is World War II history at its very best!

A good start.......2006-05-12

If you are new to the Eastern Front this is an excellent new short history of the war. It concentrates a little on the military aspect, on the politics, economics, and of course the social intricacies of the war. The author uses a lot of newly released Soviet secondary sources, many of which I have at home and can vouch for, to present the war in a somewhat new light. There are a few mistakes and some omissions throughout the book but nothing too major. I like the authors conclusions about the purges in 1937-1938, while they were costly for the Red Army there is no reason to think that it crippled the officer corps, although it did create an atmosphere of fear and compliance with Stalin which in the end simply added to the disaster that was 1941. All the battles, offensive and defensive operations, are listed and gone through. Losses are given for the Red Army from Krivosheev's book for every operation, this book has become the standard use for Red Army losses in WWII although there are still some controversies about it. But in the end it's very interesting to see how Soviet losses (KIA, MIA, and POW) went down throughout the war. The author gives a good account of the Warsaw uprising and shows how impossible it was for the Red Army to do anything when it occurred, but something might have been done in late August or mid September. Then again the Poles wanted to take the city and use it as a bargaining chip against the Soviets, so it would have served no purpose in putting the Red Army in that kind of situation with no benefit to Stalin. Overall with the use of these new Russian sources from a variety of authors I have to say this is today the best short history of the war and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who wants an introduction to the Eastern Front.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books