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

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.

Red Storm over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944 (Modern War Studies)

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Great Book for advanced readers
Glantz's Greatest Defeat
disappointing
Dreary, plodding reading
Puts It Together Nicely

Red Storm over the Balkans: The Failed Soviet Invasion of Romania, Spring 1944 (Modern War Studies)
David M. Glantz
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0700614656

Book Description

Germany's Eastern Front in World War II saw many campaigns and battles that have been "forgotten" by a Soviet Union that tried to hide its military failures. The Red Army's invasion of Romania in April and May 1944 was one such campaign, which produced nearly 200,000 casualties and tarnished the reputations of its commanders. The redoubtable David Glantz, the world's leading authority on the Soviet military in World War II, now restores this tale to its proper place in the annals of World War II.

Working from newly available Russian and long-neglected German archives-plus Red Army unit histories and commanders' memoirs-Glantz reconstructs an imposing mosaic that reveals the immense scope and ambitious intent of the first Iasi-Kishinev offensive. His re-creation shows that Stalin was not as preoccupied with a direct route to Berlin as he was with a "broad front" strategy designed to gain territory and find vulnerable points in Germany's extended lines of defense. If successful, the invasion would have also eliminated Romania as Germany's ally, cut off the vital Ploiesti oilfields, and provided a base from which to consolidate Soviet power throughout the Balkans.

Glantz discloses General Ivan Konev's strategic plan as the 2nd Ukrainian Front prepared its Iasi offensive and fought a climactic battle with the German Eighth Army and its Romanian allies in the Tirgu-Frumos region in early May, then the regrouping of General Rodion Malinovsky's 3rd Ukrainian Front for its decisive offensive toward Kishinev, which aborted in the face of a skillful counterstroke by a threadbare German Sixth Army. Glantz describes how the Wehrmacht, with a nucleus of combat veterans, was able to beat back Soviet forces hampered by spring floods, while already fragile Soviet logistical support was further undermined by the Wehrmacht's scorched-earth strategy.

Although Konev's and Malinovsky's offensives failed, the Red Army managed to inflict heavy losses on Axis forces, exacerbating the effects of Germany's defeats in the Ukraine and making it more difficult for the Wehrmacht to contain the Soviet juggernaut's ultimate advance toward Berlin.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book for advanced readers.......2007-05-10

This guy is simply the best military writer i've ever read.
At my age, i need a magnifying glass for the maps. That's my one objection, but i assume younger people will have no problem. This is another Glantz special: an utterly fantastic detailed miltary description of the initial Soviet attempt to invade Romania. These books must be a godsend for the companies that make wargames. After reading Glantz books, i feel like becoming a wargame designer myself! If you're into the movements of armies, corps, divisions, this book is heaven. The maps are great (though i wish they were bigger!)
If you want to read about the "personal" or "human interest" side of war, don't buy this book, there's nothing in it for you. It's also not for the casual military reader, it's very detailed.
I only wish some of Glantz' other publications werent so darned expensive; i'd own them all.
He's simply the best military writer i've ever read.

Glantz's Greatest Defeat.......2007-03-01

Glantz's books differ quite significantly in quality. Of the eight I have read, this was the worst. The writing is relatively poor, and features a lot of repetition, with little flow or tension. It feels rushed. The book is crying out for a good editor to really clean it up. The history, of course, is excellent as always. But I would recommend his operational studies of Mars and Kursk before this one. They are both excellent.

disappointing.......2007-02-22

Being an avid student of the Russo-German war and having a few hundred books on the subject, ranging from detailed German unit histories to books with a wide scope like those by Earl Ziemke, I eagerly anticipated the arrival of this book as it promised to fill a gap in my knowledge of the Eastern Front. I was also worried, because I have all the books by Glantz and they can be divided into three categories: boring and unreadable (whenever he focuses on Russian sources; example: The Battle for Lvov), extremely interesting and well written (because they offer new information and new insights; example: Zhukov's greatest defeat) and books that offer a bit of both (example: When Titans Clashed). This latest book, I am afraid, falls into the last category. After reading it my first impulse was to rip out the first 150 pages. Being a book lover I did not do this of course, but still... In this first third of the book Glantz describes, no sorry, lists, units, commanders (boring the reader to tears) and actually describes what is on the maps!! Any editor worth his salt should have told Glantz to stop babbling and refer the material to an appendix or (in case of the battle dispositions) refer to the maps.
On the plus side: mainly thanks to German sources, the book does offer new information about the Red Army's failed spring campaign, which in the end is why I am still glad that I bought the book. If, like me, you want to know more about the fighting around Targul Frumos or the Dnjestr bridgeheads, I am afraid you will have to buy this book. Hence three stars (just sufficient).
However, I really hope that for Glantz' next few books somebody with common sense will sift through the material and make Glantz realise that, ultimately, a book should not only contain lots of information but first and foremost be READABLE! As a writer about the war myself as well as a voracious reader I think I know what I am talking about. Glantz can give me a call any day of the week for some free advice.

Jack Didden

Dreary, plodding reading.......2007-02-14

OK, up front we all admit that David Glantz knows more about WWII on the Eastern Front than any other person alive. That said, this is operational military history at its worst. An endless barrage of corps & division numbers, grouping letters, directions of attacks & campaigns, etc., etc. The whole thing reads like an over-long after action report prepared by a junior officer who never took a liking to writing coherent narrative essays. There is no political context discussed in this book, nor is there discussion about weapons, weaponery, personalities, etc. Sure, its authoritative, but does that mean it has to be such a drudge to get through? I put this book down half-way through and read 4-5 other books before I worked up the patience to tackle this to its finish.

Puts It Together Nicely.......2007-01-19

Glantz was not well-served by his editors here; they chose the provocative title and Glantz throughout maintains this as some sort of 'lost' campaign that 'he found'. As the prior reviewer from Vienna stated, it's not so 'lost'. Targul-Frumos has been the subject of lectures and papers at US military academies and in technical journals from both sides since the late 1940's. So Glantz does overstate that point.
What Glantz does achieve is a unique synthesis of the diverse sources and he analyzes them skillfully. He puts it all together and gives it context that no other Eastern Front historian had yet done, just as he did with 'Operation Mars'. Unfortunately, the reviewer from Vienna is right about the small number of mistakes and, indeed, there are a few more than he cited. Editors let Glantz down there as well. They exist to pick up those little typos or tiny mis-statements. Like Glantz's other books, it reads a little dry, but I overlook that and give him five stars for the skill and value of his presentation and analysis. Not perfect but VERY needed.

Average customer rating:

Great Overview and Photo History
Well written text that is based on facts, not opinions.
Stunning history & photography outweigh typographical errors

Black Sunday: Ploesti
Mike Hill
Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Romania | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0887405193

Book Description

Tidal Wave! August 1, 1943. The legendary low level raid on Ploesti, Rumania by the 376th, 93rd, 44th, 389th and 98th Bomb Groups, is described by author/historian Mike Hill in this new large format, 50th Anniversary book. Never before published photos taken during the raid, many from the original negatives, dramatically show the raid, and give the reader a sense of the intensity of fierce flak, and aerial combat. Mike has interviewed many of the surviving veterans of the mission, giving the story a personal flavor from the unique view-point of the crew members. Also included is a complete listing of the aircraft and crews that flew the mission. Mike Hill also the author of The Desert Rats: The 98th Bomb Group and the August 1943 Ploesti Raid. The dust jacket artwork for this new book is by Mike Boss.

, over 350 b/w photographs, 9" x 12"

Customer Reviews:

Great Overview and Photo History.......1999-08-08

As a researcher on this topic for a relative of one of the 98th pilots lost on 1 Aug 43. I can only support and endorse the comments from tdolson@byu.edu from Provo UT , July 10, 1998 Stunning history & photography outweigh typographical errors Michael Hill has re-visited one of the most dramatic bombing missions of World War II. It was the longest bombing mission to date in the war, by the only bomber with the range to do it. He leads you through the exact targets and squadron placements, by name of pilot of each B-24 aircraft (178 of them), and simultaneously unfolds the "big picture" of the low-level raid on the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania. At least one bomb group was told in their final briefing, "coming back today is secondary." What a nice send-off to crews who had been training in the Libyan desert with exercises in formation 50 feet above the sand dunes! This dramatic mission resulted in the loss of over 360 crew. Some planes returned with corn stalks in their cowlings! The extensive list of crews, by airplane, and many photographs of planes and crews make this a must purchase for those whose relatives participated in the raid. The main distraction from the book is the extensive typographical errors, inconsistencies and mis-spellings of crew names, names of planes, and so on. But I am richer and my family history is stronger because I have read this book. Thanks, Michael, and thanks to the publisher for investing in a visually and textually compelling work. (If a second edition or printing is planned, perhaps a re-editing to keep the errors to fewer than can be found in this review could be undertaken.)

Well written text that is based on facts, not opinions........1998-10-11

This book is very well written, and the minute by minute sequence of the Ploesti raid is exciting to follow. Much of the text is written in a first person point of view, and is not the usual boring documentation of historical events. As you read through, you feel as though you are hearing the crewman's stories firsthand. The smell of burning fuel and the heat of the flames is not hard to imagine, if you let your mind wander a bit. The numerous photographs are some of the best reproductions I have ever seen in a WW II volume. They follow the text accordingly, and are not all jammed in one spot as some books tend to do. The only "flaw", in my opinion, is the lack of extensive interviews and photographs from the German and Romanian defenders on the ground at the time of the raid. Other volumes on the Ploesti raid have touched on these interviews and photos, so the information is out there. Perhaps a volume two on this subject will appear in the future.

Stunning history & photography outweigh typographical errors.......1998-07-11

Michael Hill has re-visited one of the most dramatic bombing missions of World War II. It was the longest bombing mission to date in the war, by the only bomber with the range to do it. He leads you through the exact targets and squadron placements, by name of pilot of each B-24 aircraft (178 of them), and simultaneously unfolds the "big picture" of the low-level raid on the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania. At least one bomb group was told in their final briefing, "coming back today is secondary." What a nice send-off to crews who had been training in the Libyan desert with exercises in formation 50 feet above the sand dunes! This dramatic mission resulted in the loss of over 360 crew. Some planes returned with corn stalks in their cowlings! The extensive list of crews, by airplane, and many photographs of planes and crews make this a must purchase for those whose relatives participated in the raid. The main distraction from the book is the extensive typographical errors, inconsistencies and mis-spellings of crew names, names of planes, and so on. But I am richer and my family history is stronger because I have read this book. Thanks, Michael, and thanks to the publisher for investing in a visually and textually compelling work. (If a second edition or printing is planned, perhaps a re-editing to keep the errors to fewer than can be found in this review could be undertaken.)

Shattered!: 50 Years of Silence : History and Voices of the Tragedy in Romania and Transnistria

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Shattered!: 50 Years of Silence : History and Voices of the Tragedy in Romania and Transnistria
Felicia (Steigman) Carmelly
Manufacturer: Abbyfield Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

the fist expose in English about the Romanian and Transnistrian tragedy and the post-war cover-up. Over 500000 Jews were killed in the Romanian Holocaust and their story has been one of obscurity in the history of World War II. This book fills a major historical gap in holocaust studies. the historical section of this book is based on research done by Jean Ancel and Dora Litani pioneers in the history of the Romanian Holocaust. Includes survivors' personal testimonies which demonstrate the annihilation suffering and unspeakably traumatic experiences in Romania and Transnistria but also allows us to witness their courage faith and hope for the future. This book contains new revelations from recently released Soviet documents and eyewitness testimonies

Fortress Ploesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil

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72 y o female response
Fortress Ploesti - WW II Air War Revisited
The Entire Ploesti Campaign, Told Well!

Fortress Ploesti: The Campaign to Destroy Hitler's Oil
Jay A. Stout
Manufacturer: Casemate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Romania | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1932033181

Book Description

Unlike previous books on Ploesti, Jay Stout goes well beyond the famous big and bloody raid of August 1943 and depicts the entire 1944 strategic campaign of twenty-plus missions that all but knocked Ploesti out of the war and denied the German war machine the fuel and lubricants it so desperately needed.

While Fortress Ploesti is the narrative history of the entire air campaign to deny the Ploesti oil complex to the Axis powers, it is also a launching point for the author's inquiries into many aspects of the American strategic bombing effort in World War II. It delivers across the board.

Stout, who served as a Marine F/A-18 pilot in the First Gulf War, asks questions about aviation combat history and technique that any modern combat pilot would be dying to ask. He carries the ball far beyond the goal post set by all other Ploesti historians. He has gone out of his way to describe the defenses throughout the campaign, and he brings in the voices of Ploesti's defenders to complement the tales of Allied airmen who brought Ploesti to ruin. He describes the role of the bombers, that of the fighters, the ant-aircraft defenses, even the technique of obscuring the Ploesti complex with smoke.

In the end, Stout's narrative describes the entire Ploesti effort for the very first time in print, and, by proxy, guides the reader through the intricacies of the entire Allied strategic bombing campaign in Europe, and all the weapons and techniques the Axis powers used to parry it. His lucid presentation of complex issues at the tactical and strategic levels is impressive.

Jay Stout's previous books include Hornets Over Kuwait, his Gulf War memoir and, as co-author, The First Hellcat Ace.

Customer Reviews:

72 y o female response.......2006-06-30

Very hard to read and much technical stuff that I did not understand as I am not an air plane person nor military.

Fortress Ploesti - WW II Air War Revisited.......2003-12-02

A well researched account and easy read of one of the most effective bombing campaigns of WW II. The author places the reader in each combat crew position involved in the raids, starting with the well documented August 1, 1943 low level raid and then picking up the less recognized high level raids that ran from April 5, 1944 until August 1944 when the Soviet Army took over. Stout covers the action from all the angles, that of the B-24 crews, the Romanian, Bulgarian, and German fighter pilots and indivduals on the ground.

This a must read for WW II buffs, especially for those air crew members of the past and for todays "fly boys" that have a need to understand their heritage. Jay Stout has covered the complete Ploesti Story. I strongly recommend Fortress Ploesti.

The Entire Ploesti Campaign, Told Well!.......2003-11-21

Having read the advance review copy, I am pleased to record my impressions of this title.

First, let me say that there is a deluge of WWII books coming out these days. Unfortunately, most rehash often-told stories of the war. Fortress Ploesti is not that kind of book. It breaks new ground entirely, and that fact alone makes it a worthwhile addition to the literature on the subject.

The author, himself a combat pilot veteran (Iraq) has long been fascinated with the massive and well-known single bombing expedition of August 1943 against Ploesti. This book, however, includes that mission but also covers in depth all those missions that followed in 1944, a massive strategic campaign of more than twenty missions that had a significant (and yet ironically overlooked) effect on the course of the war.

The author's style is very conversational--easy to read, enjoyable, entertaining, and very enlightening. Included are interviews and recollections of the pilots who participated, including Third Reich pilots, which provides an entirely new perspective on this phase of the war. Stout's experience as a fighter pilot helps describe what these men recalled and experienced. There are also two galleries of photographs, many previously unpublished, but they were not included in my copy of the advance galley.

Book Description

A Jewish leader's 1946 report about the murder of 400,000 Romanian Jews, which was suppressed for over forty years by the Romanian government.

Death on the Black Sea: The Untold Story of the 'Struma' and World War II's Holocaust at Sea

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Turkey and Great Britain and their treatment of human refugees.
A Shameful Story
The Floating Holocaust
Lessons From the Depths...
Lessons From the Depths...

Death on the Black Sea: The Untold Story of the 'Struma' and World War II's Holocaust at Sea
Douglas Frantz , and Catherine Collins
Manufacturer: Ecco
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0066212626
Release Date: 2003-02-04

Book Description

On the morning of February 24, 1942, on the Black Sea near Istanbul, an explosion ripped through a ship filled with Jewish refugees. One man clung fiercely to a piece of deck, fighting to survive. Nearly eight hundred others -- among them, more than one hundred children -- perished.

From this dramatic prologue Death on the Black Sea unfolds as a powerful story of endurance and the struggle for survival aboard a decrepit former cattle barge called Struma. The only path to escape led through Istanbul, where the desperate passengers found themselves trapped in a closing vise between the Nazis and countries that refused them sanctuary.

The story of the Struma, its passengers, and the events that led to its destruction is investigated and revealed fully in two vivid, parallel accounts set six decades apart. One chronicles the diplomatic maneuvers and callousness of Great Britain, Romania, Turkey, and the rest of the international community, which resulted in the largest maritime loss of civilian life during World War II. The other part of the story recounts a recent attempt by a team of divers to locate the Struma at the bottom of the Black Sea, an effort initiated and pursued by the grandson of two of the victims.

A vivid reconstruction of a grim exodus aboard a doomed ship, Death on the Black Sea illuminates a forgotten episode of World War II and pays tribute to the heroes, past and present, who keep its memory alive.

Customer Reviews:

Turkey and Great Britain and their treatment of human refugees........2007-02-20

An unheard and untold story of World War II. Romanian Jewish emigrants are stranded on an old ship waiting to get settled somewhere. Great Britain does not want them in Palestine and Turkey does not want them in Istanbul. After spending two months in the harbor of Istanbul, the Turks tow the ship out to the Black Sea where a "heroic" Soviet submarine torpedoes it. There is a lot of blame to go around. The Romanians and Germans for starting the Holocaust. The British for losing sight of human kindness and turning a blind eye toward this suffering. The Turks for not doing more to help these poor people. Finally, the Russians for torpedoing a ship full of civilians.

The authors detail the journey of one man to find why his grandparents were on this ship and to locate the wreakage of the ship. This is a great read. This shows mans inhumanity to man.

A Shameful Story.......2005-01-01

The story of the Struma, probably one of the least known of WWII, is also probably one of the saddest chapters of both the war and the Holocaust. At least two countries (Britain and Turkey) and possibly more were presented with the opportunity to save the almost 800 passengers who were sailing on the Struma and, for various reasons, all elected not to do so. As a result, the Struma ended up being torpedoed by a Russian submarine with the loss of all but one of those aboard. The authors give a very good history of what led up to this fateful voyage, including detailed biographical backgrounds on many of the passengers. Intertwined within the story is the modern day search for the wreckage of the ship by the grandson of two of the people who died when the ship went down in the Black Sea, and a final goodbye by many relatives of the victims of this tragic event. This is a great addition to both the literature of the Holocaust and WWII and I highly recommend it.

The Floating Holocaust.......2003-05-24

There are countless stories of the Holocaust that can never be told because those who experienced them were lost in the mad destructive fury. The story of the doomed ship _Struma_ might be one of those stories, except that one of the nearly 800 people on board survived the sinking of the vessel. _Death on the Black Sea: The Untold Story of the Struma and World War II's Holocaust at Sea_ (Ecco) by Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins, is not just a survivor's story, but a full accounting of a shameful atrocity that has been largely overlooked, even in histories of that bleak time.

The history begins with an account of pre-war Romanian history, and the brutalities that occurred even before the country joined the Nazis. Only the desperate would have paid the shamefully exorbitant cost for passage on the leaky, filthy cattle boat _Struma_, with the hope of getting to Palestine. The British controlled such immigration, however, and restricted it so as not to bother the Arabs and their oil supplies. The ship left Romania in December 1941, with intent to sail out of the Black Sea, through the Bosporus Strait, and on to Palestine. The engine failed on the first day, was patched, and failed three days later. The ship was towed by a Turkish tug to Istanbul harbor. There the ship stayed for almost two months, while bureaucratic nonsense was conducted to seal the fate of the passengers. They slowly withered due to disease and lack of fresh food and fresh air. There was even bickering over a plan to let the children leave the ship, a plan that never happened because Turkey, following a suggestion from the British, cut the anchor of the engineless vessel and simply set it adrift. Stalin had ordered Russian submarines to sink all ships in the Black Sea to prevent them from getting to Germany. A day after being set adrift, the helpless _Struma_ was torpedoed, and quickly sank. Nineteen-year-old David Stoliar miraculously was rescued by Turkish fishermen, but was imprisoned in Turkey thereafter; much of the book is his story.

The horrific story of the _Struma_ is here told in a plain and unsensational way. The authors have rightly sensed that there is no need to try to make the account more dramatic by artificial recreations of imagined conversations or thoughts of the people involved. There is some heroism, like that of Simon Brod, an Istanbul businessman who selflessly devoted constant efforts to helping refugees of various kinds and from various sources. Such lights are few in this, one of the darkest episodes of the war and one that took longest to be seen clearly. There is a portion of blame to go to the U.S., which parroted the British line about the importance of limiting emigration, and did not want to get further involved. The evil of the Nazi purge is to blame, of course, in its Romanian variant, as is the ruthlessness of Stalin's blanket order to clear the Black Sea of shipping indiscriminately. Those on the _Struma_ died, however, because of the joint efforts of the British and the Turks, from veiled anti-Semitism to indifference to outright murder. Frantz and Collins have produced a vivid and shocking book to rescue a gruesome but essential story into history again.

Lessons From the Depths..........2003-03-06

A disturbing but important tale told in rich, compelling detail. The ``Struma'' was to be a lifeboat for desperate refugees from Hitler's Europe only to become a pawn of politics. History kept this secret too long, but thanks to Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins the story of the ``Struma'' has been recovered from the depths of obscurity. And just in time to underscore the real, human costs of indifference to brutal prower and the failure of reasoned diplomacy. Here, the victims have names and they haunt the pages of ``Death on the Black Sea'' -- as they must always the pages of history.

Lessons From the Depths..........2003-03-06

Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943, Revised Edition (Brassey's Aviation Classics)

Average customer rating:

KEITH B.
Memorable Account of a Legendary Air Raid of WW2
A Peek Into Post-War Triumphalism
The Best and Most Accurate for the time
Entertaining but not accurate

Ploesti: The Great Ground-Air Battle of 1 August 1943, Revised Edition (Brassey's Aviation Classics)
James Dugan , and Carroll Stewart
Manufacturer: Potomac Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1574885103

Book Description

On August 1, 1943, an enormous armada of America B-24 Liberator bombers roared at nearly treetop level over the peaceful farms and villages of Romania. This mission was Operation Tidal Wave. Its targetâ€”â€œthe taproot of German might,â€ Hitlerâ€™s giant oil refineries at Ploesti. Hundreds of U.S. airmen had volunteered for the mission despite warnings that half might not return. In thirty minutes, more firepower was exchanged than in two Gettysburgs, and five men earned the Medal of Honor. Ploesti presents a vivid reconstruction of a dramatic and controversial mission.

Customer Reviews:

KEITH B........2007-08-31

A VIVID RETELLING OF ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING & DARING AIR BATTLES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. SINCE I FIRST LEARNED OF THIS MISION WHEN I WAS A TEEN, IT HAS ALWAYS FASCINATED ME AND IT'S ALL THE MORE COMPELLING WHEN YOU REALIZE MOST OF THE FLYERS KNEW "COMING BACK WAS SECONDARY". MORE CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS OF HONOR WERE AWARDED ON THIS MISION THAN ON ANY OTHER SINGLE MISSION AND IT FILLS ME WITH PATRIOTIC PRIDE TO READ SUCH A
THOROUGH ACCOUNT OF "Operation Tidal Wave".

Memorable Account of a Legendary Air Raid of WW2.......2005-05-05

I first read this book in 1964 when I was fifteen & never forgot
its description of the battle which one squadron of B-24s (flying so low that at least one plane returned with corn stalks stuck in its rear wheel well) fought at machine gun range with a Nazi armored flak train traveling in the same direction as the overtaking bombers -- to Ploesti. A mix-up caused three groups to approach the target simultaneously from three different directions at three different altitudes, stunning the German flak commander with what he thought was incredible American air tactics. I re-read it fifteen years ago & would like to read it again but find it is almost impossible to find at a reasonable price in its original edition -- so many libraries have ditched it due to wear or lack of interest. A great shame because it is one of the best accounts of a bombing mission I have ever read. My own dad was a teenage engine mechanic (fresh out of Aviation H.S. in NYC) of a B-29 -- 'Bengal Lancer' -- in India and on Tinian Island in the Pacific.

A Peek Into Post-War Triumphalism.......2004-10-26

This work is best viewed not as an objctive history of the event but rather a look into the attitudes of New Frontier America towards the war that America and the Kennedy generation had won. It is to that era and audience to which this work was addressed. The book brims with superlatives and lacks any real criticism or analysis of America training, equipment or tactics at the time of the raid. British and Commonwealth figures who do make it into the text are suitably odd colorful characters such as the RAF squadron leader (major in US-terms) who pops up as a gunnery expert. Germans are stoic and somehow unmenacingly militaristic and certainly not Nazis.
Perhaps the sadist part of this far to optomistic look at the USAAF's daylight bombing campaign is the uncritical acceptance of the wartime bomb damage assesment. This gave the Tidal Wave crews credit for reducing Ploesti's refined oil output by 50-70% for the rest of the war. According to the US Strategic Bombing Survey such levels of destruction were not reached until more than a year later after a series of much larger raids by the 15th Air Force. Read has history pretty bad, but as a socialogical look at America in 1963, quite good.

The Best and Most Accurate for the time.......2002-11-25

I am overjoyed that this great book is once again in print. Dugan and Stewart, both of whom served with the Army Air Forces in World War II and knew many of the participants, were in a unique position that later writers are not. While they were somewhat handicapped in that some of the documents related to World War II were still classified when they were writing, their information was based on knowledge provided by the participants when they were still young men, with the memories fresh in their minds, and less convulted by the effects of the distance of years and their own personal aging. I bought and read the original while on my way to US Air Force basic training in the summer of 1963 and it is still one of favorite books. Although modern enthusiasts attempt to pick it apart, it will always remain the most important book on the Ploesti campaigns.

Sam McGowan, Author "The Cave", a novel of the Vietnam War

Entertaining but not accurate.......2001-12-18

Definitely not the best book available about the low level mission;this is an entertaining book which is full of errors,notably the statement that Wongo Wongo {which crashed into the sea}was the lead plane.The lead plane was always Teggie Ann,a fact which can be verified by talking to members of the 376th bomb group.Still of some interest as long as the book is read with a skeptical eye.Black Sunday is better,though still flawed.

Third Axis Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945

Average customer rating:

One of the ten most important books on the Eastern Front in WWII: An exceptionally original and comprehensive military history.
A valuable look at an often-overlooked factor in WWII...

Third Axis Fourth Ally: Romanian Armed Forces in the European War, 1941-1945
Mark Axworthy , Cornel Scafes , and Cristian Craciunoiu
Manufacturer: Arms & Armour
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1854092677

Customer Reviews:

One of the ten most important books on the Eastern Front in WWII: An exceptionally original and comprehensive military history........2006-02-01

This book is not just the only English-language book on its subject, but it stands comparison with the best English-language studies of any individual country's armed forces in WWII.

The book has ten chapters. Chapter 1 is a survey of Romania and its armed forces prior to the war. Chapters 2-6 each cover one annual campaign over 1941-45. Chapter 7 is on Romanian armour, Chapter 8 is on the Romanian aircraft industry, Chapter 9 is on Romanian air force operations and Chapter 10 is on Romanian naval operations.

The book is packed with unique research, maps, line drawings, charts, organigrams and photographs, virtually none of which are available elsewhere. There is also a most comprehensive index.

I hesitate to describe any WWII book as definitive or indispensable on its subject, but "Third Axis, Fourth Ally" comes as close as any. Indeed, I consider it one of the ten most important books on the Eastern Front in WWII, dealing, as it does, with the third most important participant and its armed forces.

For anyone interested in the military history of WWII, I recommend it most strongly.

P. A. S. Jefferson

A valuable look at an often-overlooked factor in WWII..........1998-08-23

Although Romania's contribution to World War II, both on the Axis and Allied sides, was much greater than Italy's, it has received very little attention in the West. This is mainly because almost all Romanian action was on the Eastern Front, save for air actions against Western Allied planes raiding over Romanian oil-refining plants, and therefore got little attention from West-oriented historians. Axworthy has remedied this situation with this dry, thorough, careful overview of the Romanian experience in World War II. This is a valuable reference tool, but not for pleasure reading...hopefully, the change in circumstances in Eastern Europe will eventually bring out livelier memoirs of Romanian veterans before they all pass away.

The Romanian Army of World War II (Men-at-Arms)

Average customer rating:

Good look
Good overview of a neglected army, but too short

The Romanian Army of World War II (Men-at-Arms)
Mark Axworthy
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1855321696
Release Date: 1992-03-26

Book Description

Although Romania had fought for the Allies in World War I with the fall of her allies the Czechs and the French mid-1940 she was forced to join the Axis. A coalition government was formed under General Antonescue who proved to be one of Germany’s most effective military allies. The Romanian army saw extensive action and suffered terrible losses in operation Odessa and at Staligrad. By 1944 the Soviets were within the Romanian borders and the King sued for peace. Romania’s defection significantly accelerated the end of the war. Her natural resources were now denied to Germany and her forces constituted the fourth largest Allied army. this book details the uniforms, equipment and unit organisation of the Romanian army during the entire conflict.

Customer Reviews:

Good look.......2004-07-31

Rather than give a dissertation on the history of the Romanian Army (which seems to be a disturbing trend among MAA reviews in general) I'll focus my comments on what I think prospective buyers want to see - details of what is actually contained in the book.

Standard MAA layout; pages of text with accompanying photos, and a set of 8 colour plates centrally located. What is odd about this book is that the captions to the colour plates take up more than half the text. This is an unusual variant on the layout of most MAA books.

The text is divided into sections - an Introduction, a piece on The Army and the State which gives a nice description of the organization of the military, Equipment, which focusses primarily on tanks but also on small arms, Unit Organisation(sic) which describes the different kinds of divisions and also has a nice sidebar indicating which regiments were formed into which divisions, Campaigns 1941-1945, with a brief history of the employment of the Romanian Army, with nicely done maps, and then the plates.

The plates focus mainly on details of equipment, uniforms and insignia, hence the absence of this discussion from the main text, however, the captions are so detailed they may be considered an extension of the text. Plates cover the gamut from high command, to general staff officers, field officers, NCOs and men.

Disappointingly, the subject of rank insignia, or duties and responsibilities associated with the various ranks, is not addressed. Another volume in the MAA titles does cover rank insignia in detail - MAA 131 Germany's Eastern Front Allies and I would recommend that title be read in conjunction with this one, for those interested in a fuller understanding of the rank system.

Otherwise, a fairly complete initial look at the Romanian Army is provided, and some details of rank can be deduced from context clues in the plate captions.

Plates themselves are well done by a Romanian artist, and seem almost identical to Volstad's style, not a bad thing. Faces are a bit unevenly done, but details of uniform and insignia are clear, with borders well defined by black lines. Good array of poses and mix of subjects.

Rated down for lack of rank insignia information. Those not interested in that facet may rate this a 5 with regards to order of battle and historical info.

Good overview of a neglected army, but too short.......2002-11-20

The Romanian contribution to the Axis cause is often overlooked in the West, since they fought almost entirely on the Eastern Front and after the war, were behind the Iron Curtain. This book does a lot to remedy the lack of information available in English; I'd like to see more work done on Antonescu's army before all its veterans are gone, but this book's a great introduction for the beginner.

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