John Winston Books

Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze was written by Elizabeth F. Lewis and set in Chungking, China. It is told in the first person and teaches about China in the early 1900's. Young Fu is a good book about a[...] boy (Young Fu) who moves to the city with his mother and becomes an apprentice to Tang the Coppersmith. He has many adventures and becomes a favorite in the shop. I thought it was strange that good luck seemed to follow him everywhere. I enjoyed the sarcastic and humorous remarks throughout the book. There are no very sad parts and I think altogether it is a nice book.

This book is good! It shows just how hard life can be during a war. It is about a young boy who has just moved from the country into the bustling Chinese city of Chungking. He is being apprenticed to a well-known coppersmith who goes by the name of Tang. I like this book because of the stage of life it describes during the 1920's China. The thing that I don't really like is that the book almost seems to drag on, but otherwise it is a great book!

Great book with huge insight into Chinese thinking and culture. Full of adventure and drama, with a rich cultural background. Very educational, with a focus on character issues! Definitely recommended for teens and adults or a challenge-loving younger student.

Young Fu, 13 has just arrived in the Chinese city of Chungking from the country. In between working at the copper shop where he's an apprentice and studying with the teacher that lives above him, he manages to squeeze in adventure such as, cheating the fire dragon of it's prey, saving silver from the Ban-keh, and rescuing a fellow worker from the Ya-men.

I was sorry to see that many kids had trouble reading this book.
It's true that it may seem to bog down in spots, but only to build up to the next interesting bit that comes along.
This book is very well written, but, alas, it is not geared towards the younger set. One could compare it to, say, the Hornblower novels, or A Single Shard...
Perhaps the problem is with the Chinese culture being so different, but the main thrust of the book is a rags-to-riches theme, much like Horatio Alger's books, but not so simplistic.
People who have read the other works I mentioned should enjoy this book with little or no problem. But I know that there are cultures which I don't want to read about, maybe the Orient isn't your cup of tea (pun?)...
I wish it had been longer, as thick as "Shogun" or something...

John Edgar Wideman has composed an interesting take of two lives gone wrong in his memoir, "Brothers and Keepers". In the memoir, Wideman explores the causes and consequences of his brother's life sentence in jail for murder. Wideman speaks his mind about the whole affair, but also lets his brother do his fair share of the talking through a series of interviews the two shared in the prison visiting room. Though the basic goal of the memoir is to determine how two brothers followed such radically different paths, it delves into the broader topic of African-American men and society.

Even though it overall is a great experience, two problems I had with the novel was its lack of structure and Wideman's tendency to rant. It seems that Wideman tends to build up a subplot, but then just as suddenly dashes away to discuss something new. This makes the book difficult to read more than a few pages at a time. As for the ranting, it's like Wideman tries to use the text as a way to vent his frustrations about racism in America. His whining can get excruciatingly annoying. But, despite these problems, "Brothers and Keepers" is an excellent look into the lives of two African-American men, while reflecting on the role of the African-American race as a whole.

Brothers and Keepers is a fantastic memoir written by John Edgar Wideman that explores how the narrator and his brother, Robby, end up living extremely opposite lives. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Wideman and his brother are not given all of the best opportunities but Wideman does what he can to work hard. His efforts result in a well educated, middle class man, while his brother ends up a convict. The memoir explores where the two divulged and what influences they've had throughout their lives.
In terms of actual material, the memoir is ordered in a way that keeps the reader riveted throughout all of the text. Wideman tells the story of his brother's crime, divulging from that plot to reflect upon their family's life as a whole. These unique reflections provide valuable insight into both John and Robby's most inner thoughts. The pace of the novel is fairly rapid; although, sometimes I found myself losing interest in Wideman's reflections, anxious to hear the next part of Robby's tale.
What makes this memoir most unique is the frequency with which Wideman acknowledges what few or many details he is capable of recalling from his past. Not only does this make the story even more believable, it allows the reader to make many of their own decisions about what really happened in John and Robby's lives. The reader also gets to hear the voice of Robby, who also often fails to remember specific or important details. Wideman writes, speaking for his brother (the text uses no quotations), "Must have passed out or gone to sleep or something, cause it gets blurry round in here. Don't remember much but they gave back my clothes and took me Downtown and there was a arraignment next morning" (103). On one of the most important and emotional days in Robby's life, he can't seem to remember how the day ended. It is these sporadic inclusions and omissions keep the reader inquisitive throughout the text.
Overall Brothers and Keepers is a very well written memoir that forces readers to dig deep into their own mind because most humans struggle with very similar life dilemmas, although probably not to the same extent. Although some may argue that that some memories ramble on too long, each provides a unique perspective about Wideman and the human race as a whole.

In a sentence: This is an excellent book about honesty and fact and fiction. It blurs the lines between truth and lies, real and fake, memory and what happened v.s. what really happened. Beautiful. Wideman puts himself and his family front and center and at the core of the story. One is not quite sure which is fiction and which is non-fiction. Also, when persons speak there are no quotation marks and the reader distinguishes who is talking by the choice of vocabulary and flow of the language. You can really hear the difference in your head.
The basic discription is: It's Wideman trying to make sense of his growing up and how his broother ended up in jail for murder.
This is a great book for lovers of Paul Auster in that "what is the truth of the matter?" is a recurring question......

wideman tells an excellent tale about how two siblings of the same environment can go on to lead totally different lives. One brother is a world reknowned novelist and professor. The other brother is a convict serving a life sentence for murder. Wideman explains and analyzes how culture, including racism, classism,and self-identication, influences a person's lifestyle. At times the memoir seems reminscent and nostalgic. Other times, wideman tends to get lost in his own thoughts while writng, which makes the work appear as therapeutic writing not intended for others to read. The issues he raises in the book such as racism, self-identification, and guilt, helps us as readers to recall our own issues with these subjects and how we can work through them.

As a proponent for art that breaks the rules, I was both impressed and confused by Wideman's foray into creative nonfiction. He explores the relationship with his brother, Robby, who was involved in criminal activity and subsequently sent to prison. Wideman engages the reader with detailed descriptions of not only the physical barriers between himself and Robby but the emotional canyons that separated and then, ironically, brought them back together. This work also examines the ways in which race and class affect those most at risk in America, specifically African American men.

At times, the scenes between brothers are eloquent and endearing. However, much of the writing seems stream-of-consciousness, with Wideman switching voices and recalling seemingly random memories. Understanding that this book is Wideman's attempt at answering questions that have plagued him his entire life - self-exploration - as readers, we work through his issues with him. The journey is an arduous one for both writer and reader and if you plan on picking up this book, be prepared to work.

Mr.Irving takes the gloves off with this informative and well researched book. Although written in the early sixties, it hasn't lost it's impact. The Allies went way overboard in destroying the city of Dresden despite it's limited strategic value.

First, a disclaimer: a couple of "reviewers" here have seen fit to dismiss David Irving's "Destruction of Dresden" because they dislike the author (or rather, his controversial positions on some matters irrelevant to this book). This is the worst of prejudice--to "kill the messenger" just because one dislikes an unrelated message.

In fact, David Irving's great accomplishments with this book stand aside from his other works, and are essentially above reproach. The scholarship for this book is exemplary. It was exhaustively researched and is thoroughly referenced. (There are hundreds of footnotes citing primary sources, and lengthy appendices.) Irving interviewed hundreds of first-hand witnesses from all relevant nations. He nonetheless manages to avoid sensationalizing the events. Even more importantly, "The Destruction of Dresden" attempts to acquaint a largely ignorant world (outside of Germany) with one of the most horrific military atrocities of World War Two. That it happened to have been committed by the "righteous" Allies, rather than "the usual culprits" disturbs many people to no end.

It is vital to recognize that Mr. Irving never sides with the Germans, nor does he justify the persecution of Jews and other victims of wartime atrocities. Indeed, he repeatedly sympathizes with Jewish victims, and criticizes the men in power who were responsible for making the decisions that harmed innocent people of all backgrounds. To claim that Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies and the other recognized groups of victims are the only people deserving of our pity, or to profess that the Allies were always more ethical than the Axis powers is to perpetuate a lie and to denigrate the losses of all who suffered. Mr. Irving deserves our respect and willingness to be objective for having written this book.

Ironically, this--the first and best-researched book on the firebombing of Dresden--is now banned in Germany, due to political pressures there against Irving's other views about the War. No doubt this pleases many people who would much rather the world remain ignorant of what really happened when "the good guys" decided to wipe out a city and managed to kill a couple hundred thousand of its civilian inhabitants, with little thought and no remorse.

I HAVE READ AND EVALUATED ALL OF DAVID IRVINGS BOOKS---HE IS A GENIUS---HIS BOOKS ARE A "MUST READ"

Mr. Irving has played on misinformation to form a seemingly interesting book that unfortunately continues a tradition of propaganda dating back over 50 years. His deliberately flawed research relies on known propaganda, both from Nazis still active in the war and later Soviet sources, both with obvious reasons to twist the truth against the Allies. And he "embellishes" details from the National Archives in Washington, twisting the facts to supply histrionic twists designed to paint Allied (especially American) forces as being the servants of Satan himself! Irving is a discredit to authors of truth everywhere.

If you want an accurately and painstakingly researched book about the destruction of Dresden that is a fantastic read and depicts the actual truth (including the horrors) with countless interviews of survivors, read "Dresden, Tuesday, February 13, 1945" by Frederick Taylor. Irving's book should be sent to the trash bin.

Irving sits in a cell in Austria,a
shamelees little United Nations con-
trolled little Alps country with no
freedom of speech! This first book by
Irving is about Allied War Crimes. Yes,
Mr. and Mrs. America they do exist. Just
look what George W. Hilter is doing to
Iraq today! A great and tragic book. Mr.
Irving is to be commended!

Neither Charles Dickens nor Thomas Hardy dreamed of such hard luck. What impulse could drive an author to construct such an image of persecution, with love and success held just out of reach? I wonder how many have searched for a razor after reading this story. NOT for children, or anyone else.

I read A Dog of Flanders by Ouida mainly out of curiosity. I wanted to read the first "boy and his dog" book written for children. I didn't expect much, and I was surprised when I began to enjoy the story late in the book.

The story is of a peasant boy, Nello, and his dog, Patrasche. The boy just wants to be an artist and see a painting by Rubens. The dog (who has very human feelings) just wants to help the boy reach his goal. The two face absolutely every hardship possible in their attempts.

To enjoy this story, you have to take it in the context of the time it was written. The book is really, really sentimental. Every play for emotion possible is made by the author. Early in the book, it even says (in a literal tone) that Nello and his grandfather would just lay down and die if anything ever happened to the dog. Patrasche was their "alpha and omega." All of the sentimentality really bothered me at the beginning. I'm used to modern writing and didn't take the overplay of emotion well. I had to take into account, though, that Ouida wrote in the romantic tradition, when this type of writing was common, especially in children's books. Looking at A Dog of Flanders as an example from the time period helped me to enjoy the novel even through its oversentimentality. Overall, A Dog of Flanders is a pretty decent read. Most children of today wouldn't love it. A Dog of Flanders is definately a worthy read as a curiosity piece, though.

Ouida expresses depiction of the village in Belgium very beautifully.This also sadly beautiful tale written about Nello, and his dog, and Patrasche can make many people cry.@Nello works to one portion, though he is a boy, and he studies the importance of finishing alone. It is insisted that working hard at any work is important for this work.@Simultaneously, this work expresses the discrimination to a poor person.Nello who believed his future is a manly boy, being equal to the cold treatment by villagers.

The only other was "Little Women". Anyone that has felt the joy and harshness of nature, the love and devotion of a pet, the unconditional love of a parent, and an intense spiritual feeling(in my case a love of Jesus); will be deeply moved by this story. I was literally crying by the last page. This is a timeless story with a message for everyone!

Though I have known this story long time for 25 years or so, it was from animation. So it was different from waht I know. Basically it was same and I found the more details but I also foud some conflicts. Johan was 80 years old when Nello was 2 years old. His mother was very old or Johan was very old when he got his daughter. Nello died when he was 15 but animation was much younger. The problem I see is 15 years old boy is old enough to live by himself 100 years ago ( I might be wrong). Anyway setting of age is kinda wrong. By the way I read a book which is published in 1910 not this book. If this book is different, please let me know.

I'd like know where the person gets their medical information from? As a licenced med (paramedic), going to med school, I have to say that most, though not all, doctors do recognize the existance of the G-spot. After all the G stands for the doctor who, supossedly, dicovered it. And as for orgasms, any informed doctor will tell you that there are more than one kind, and way to get them. This book does a complete job of covering this one ;)

The belief that the G-spot does not exist is just as dogmatic as the insistance that it does! I suppose if the book gets people to talk and explore, it is almost worth the money, but every woman needs to find out about her own body, by herself and with her partner, and not try to live up the to expectations portrayed in this book - like the myth that G-spot stimulation will inevitably lead to a female ejaculation. Forget the super-sex pressures of sex books like this and just explore.

This is the best book I have read on this topic so far, and it is a pity that I haven't read it before. I truly believe that my sex life would have been different, and probably more fulfilling. This book is a must for all those women who do not find their G-Spot by accident, and especially for those who still do not believe that the G-Spot does exist. This book should contain enough scientific proof and information to convince everyone.

This book is only outdated BECAUSE it was among the first in its class to explore the concept that a woman is allowed and supposed to gain pleasure from sex and deliver that idea to the public. In that regard it is an amazing piece of sexual education literature. The revised edition was released in the early 80s, but I believe it was written much earlier than that. It was written during a time when women (and men) were much less informed about the female anatomy, and there are numerous accounts in this book of women being embarassed by their orgasms because they were misunderstood. I believe that this book is helpful not only to the women of the time it was written but to women today. I read this book knowing full well what a G Spot was and what it did but I still found the history of it to be quite fascinating. In reading this book I not only came to more fully understand my own body and how it works but also what I can do to help it work more efficently and to my best sexual advantage. This book changed my sex life in an amazing way and for that I will always be grateful.

This book was a boring weak monograph on a subject that needs new coverage. Instead of covering Fokorg's or Hammil's new theories and suggestions on stimulating the G-spot and explosive orgasm, this book brought me back to the 60s asking does a G-spot exist? and gave the reader endless detail to prove that it does. As a Gynecologist, I have been taught and I have taught that a G-spot exists for nearly 30 years. As a woman I was bored endlessly by a book that offered little to no new information on the G-spot and no information on stimulating the G-spot. Do not buy.

Regardless, I praise Amazon.com for advocating freedom of expression even if it may involve bad reviews of books they sell.

This is a great reference for writing questions or problems. It is horrible, boring, and mind-numbing when assigned as a reading text.

This book is So. Expensive. And, it sucks. I had like 3 hours to kill so I were going to read it, and it wasn't even funny. Plus I just hate it.

I can receive the book within a few days and the book condition is great.

I havent actually used this book yet for my class, but it arrived very quickly, and in perfect condition. It's a very cute, small book and it's a great size to fit in a purse. I'm sure that when I do actually start using this book it will be very helpful!

This book was a requirement for one of my classes and it was very helpful. My professor never taught out of it, but I'm glad she made us buy it. It helped a lot with MLA and APA citations that I had to do for various classes. It's small and handy and light enough to keep around in your bag when you're rushing to class and from class and finishing papers.

Enter into a world where knights battle for ladies fair of fortune and beauty, where power-hungry kings and lords fight for honour, glory and evil is always present to be ultimately vanquished by the noble King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table. This book was my first exposure to the Old English pronouns as it appears in the King James Version of the Bible. This children's rendition of Sir Thomas Malory's epic "Le Morte D'Arthur" is an excellent and indispensable introduction to the timeless tome of chivalry, honour, love, lust, power, glory, honour and belief in God Eternal. I highly recommend this book & "Le Morte D'Arthur" (the Keith Baines rendition is most excellent).

King Arthur and His Knights by Sir James Knowles is a nicely illustrated and approachable version of some of the Arthurian legends, with the younger reader in mind.

i.e. Have cool pictures of guys in armor with swords to go along with the writing. As far as that goes, reasonably well done.

This is an excellent book for any child (or even an adult). The pictures are crisp and colorful. The stories are thrilling and heroic. I've been a fan of Arthurian tales since I was small, and when my child was small I bought this volume for her. She has since moved onto the more detailed version, but she always enjoyed the stories in this simpler version of Mallory's 'Le Morte d'Arthur'. Great way to introduce your young ones to that great piece of literature.

I do not understand why it these stories of King Arthur and his knights have been dubbed a "children's classic". This thing is non stop bloody violence, beginning to end. War is glorified, men are measured by how many they have killed, heads are split in half (this seems to be the favorite method), guts spilled, villages burned and sacked, entire cities starve to death under Arthur's sieges, gruesome suicides by several women who just couldn't live without their man, countless incidents of, "I don't like your words so I'm going to kill you!" etc, etc, etc. Every conflict between two people, or countries, is solved through terrible, gory violence. Through all this Arthur and his men are the heros because they kill more men than anyone else in all the world.

Maybe I'm too modern, maybe I'm being a bit too politicly correct, but I don't believe this is good for children. Young adults, sure. After a child is old enough, after they understand enough about history, war, and have a definite grasp on what is real and what is simply a story. I bought this for my children and I always read things first, both so I will be able to discus it with them, and to be sure it is okay for them to read. I have decided that this book is not appropriate for children.

I hope this will help anyone who is considering buying this book for a child as a gift, thinking it to be a bit of a fairy tale, a legend, and nothing more. Do you want to give these ideas to your kids: When someone makes us angry it is right and glorious to attack them with weapons; if a woman loses her lover it is normal for her to be so grieved and incapable of caring for herself that she would commit suicide; that countries who disagree have a right to slay civilians as a method of getting their way; that the more people a man is able to overpower through brute force the better a man he is; and most of all, that God not only approves of these things but actually adores and rewards violence in His name?

This is interesting and even humorous reading for an adult, or a mature teenager. The humor coming in the form of the violence being so over done that visions of Monty Python dance in your head. The language is eloquent and a challenge to read. If antiquated language is what you are looking for I would suggest "The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood" by Howard Pyle, a book with its own share of violence, but unglorified, and with a lesson, a moral.

This book was about how King Arthur's life supposedly was. He was born after King Uther tricked an enemy duke's wife into thinking that Uther was her husband. That child was given to Merlin, and he was un-christened, and was given to Sir Ector. He became a squire at his new home and had a bigger stepbrother to help. When the sword in the stone appeared, all the knights and noblemen around England appeared to try and pull it out, since the person who pulls out the sword in the stone is supposedly the king of all England. Throughout his life he encountered many people like Sir Lancelot of the Lake, who fell in love with his beloved wife, Guinevere, and also gave birth to a child with his half-sister when she disguised herself. He would later become a legend for all the things he had done during his life.

I read this book because I watched the movie from Disney called "The Sword in the Stone." It sparked my interest of knights and I was fascinated with the Middle Ages ever since. Then when I went to the library, this book was the only one about King Arthur that wasn't checked out, so I read this wonderful recount of the amazing life of Arthur.

I recommend this book to everyone above the age of 9. There are some "not so good for children parts" in this book. If you are a child who wants to read about King Arthur, then you should choose this book. If you want something that is easier, I suggest you not to select this book since it is kind of a hard book.

I bought a Cruden's Concordance years ago and use it all the time. It is the best I have found yet. Then I decided to buy my friend and myself one to take to church with us so I ordered the compact version. I really love it and any word you want to look up in the bible is in there. Really nice!

Note: Your "helpful" vote is appreciated. Thanks.

My copy of "Cruden's Complete Concordance" has been well used over the decades. It should be updated into a larger format with larger print, but it is still a valuable work of some 800 pages.

Any word found in the Bible can be easily located, including variations of the word. For example, there is a listing for "fatlings," "flatling," "fatness," "fats," and "fatted."

Highly recommended along with:
"The New Smith's Bible Dictionary."

New Smith's Bible DictionaryNew Smith's Bible Dictionary

"Cruden's Compact Concordance" is a must own for those seeking to be genuine scripture scholars. It is small, user-friendly and easy to grab for quick word hunting. Just about all verses listing the particular desired word are presented as well as footnoted related ones for probing a possible better connection--extremely helpful if you are reading another Bible version. Most every day this book lands in my hand as I often need a verse and can't remember where to find it.

Spy glasses might be necessitated for investigating the minuscule print, but this is the only drawback to this slim lining assist.

My favorite recommended books are those that get people into the holy, immutable and inerrant Word. I also suggest the purchase of "Unger's Bible Dictionary" as an added comprehensive studious guide.

A Bible verse flits through your mind, but you can't remember it exactly, and you're not sure where to find it. You look in the Concordance in the back of your Bible. No help. Even the gigantic Strong's Concordance (which gives you a hernia to lift!) doesn't help because it's keyed only to the King James translation. Cruden's to the rescue! Look up a key word and you find the reference in 'most any translation. Example: you remember somewhere in Scripture the phrase, "God inhabits the praise of His people. So you look under "praise" and you find Psalm 22:3: "OH Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." OK, so you didn't recall it quite right. Now you know. Another example: you're curious what the Bible has to say about JOY. Wow! More than 2 columns of references on joy and joyful! A Bible study in itself. As a writer, I adore this book, but anyone who loves God's word and studying it will, too.

This could be a great reference, but the
print is so poor - not just tiny - but
as if photocopied too many times &
scrunched down to fit on the page.
I would have welcomed this reference in a larger, more readable
page-format. As it is, I feel it was a complete waste of money.

This is another of the biography collections covering World War II generals that was done in the early 90s by a British publisher. In this book we get an introductory essay by editor John Keegan that puts the rest of the book in context, describing how Churchill dealt with generals, what he thought of them, and how he related to them, briefly. After that, we have a series of short (each about 20-30 pages) biographies of various commanders from the British Army in World War II. The editor chose to restrict himself to officers from Britain itself, so no Guy Simonds or Bernard Freyburg. He chose commanders who had some influence on the outcome of the war, or who were somehow outstanding or memorable, so no Miles Dempsey. Instead, the editor chose those soldiers who stood out in some way, or were somehow instrumental in the victory in a fashion that can't be ignored.

Within this, as is usually the case in such a volume, the individual biographies are somewhat uneven. Some are written as if you know everything already about World War II, and others are written in a very elementary style, as if you know nothing. Some are also more editorial or review of the individual's character and actions (the essay on Montgomery is the most obvious one in this category) while other seek merely to inform you about the person involved. There are two combination biographies, one covering the "Desert Generals" (Cunningham, Ritchie, and Leese) and another covering two generals who were more involved in diplomacy during the war, Adrian Carton de Wiart and Edward Spears. These tend to do little more than recount the facts of these men's careers: there's no space for anything else.

I think the general researcher who's looking for a reference work covering this topic will find this book useful, if only in a limited fashion. Since the coverage is rather limited, you're going to be disappointed if a particular soldier isn't covered here and he's the one you're trying to research. On the other hand, if you are looking for information on someone who *is* here, then you're going to get more data here than you would from the Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography, for instance. So it depends on whom you're researching.

This collection of essays, edited by Keegan, provides a good introduction to most of the generals who made it to the top of the British Army in WW2. The essays are of varying standard and some require a knowledge of the subject and their place in the world. Each article has a bibliography and a career time line. Keegan provides an introduction as to each generals place in the scheme of things and his relationship with Curchill. Generally a good book with some outstanding essays.

This book is an interesting and exceptionally well-done introduction to the British perspective of World War II. Each of the seventeen chapter is a biography of a key British general during this conflict. Some are well-known (Montgomery), while others have largely been forgotten (Sir Henry Wilson). Five generals end up having to share two chapters. Each and every one, though, gets a good biography. There are differences in focus, emphasis, and interpretation, which is to be expected, but none of these entries is weak. This fact in and of itself makes this book unique among in its genre.

The authors come from a number of backgrounds: academia, journalism, and the military, including a general and a field marshal. One of the contributors is Australian, another is American and the rest are British. The reader is getting a good cross sampling of the British perspective.

The main theme that emerges from these essays is the importance of interpersonal relationships with both Churchill but also other generals. The chapters also do a good job of introducing the reader to issues in the literature without getting bogged down in the details. Each chapter concludes with a chronology of the general's life and career.

A reader unfamiliar with British military culture will stumble on some issues: the acronyms are completely different: GOC and KCB to give only two examples. (General Officer Commanding and Knight Commander of the Bath---a knighthood that gives the individual the title of "Sir.") The practice of keeping generals on half-pay is another practice that is often referenced but never explained. (A general without an assignment received only half his pay. If he did not receive an assignment after two years, he was retired.)

Nonetheless, this book is easy to read and is recommended without reservation.

Churchill's Generals proves to be just that, basic introduction to the British generals who fought under Winston Churchill during the Second World War. Its an interesting collection of soldiers, some which every students of military history knows while others were folks no one never heard off until they read this book. These biographical essays proves to be a mixed bunch. Some are better then others. Some essays proves to be quite insightful and able to give an personal understanding of their subject. Others seem to be written by a clerk copying off some dossier file.

The book is a companion to its sister volumes, Hitler's Generals and Stalin's Generals. I would put this book above Stalin's Generals but its definitely inferior to Hitler's Generals. I haven't seen titles for Roosevelt's Generals or Hirohito's Generals so I guess we are stuck with these three books.

Overall, a pretty basic introduction essays. It should be enough to arouse your curiousity and hopefully you will read more on the subject. Some of the British generals like Slim really do need greater attention.

An interesting book about the Siege of Vienna and how the Turks almost managed to change the course of history. The Ottoman Empire was a powerful Empire in the world and made an attempt to dominant the life of Central and Eastern Europe. On September 11-13, 1683, Poles, Austrians, and Germans routed them on the outskirts of Vienna. After the battle, the Turk Empire became the Sick Man of Europe. The Turks and Islam came very close to upsetting the balance of power in Europe. A few more days of siege may have forced Vienna to surrender.
Stoye does a good job of showing the politics of how this siege and the resulting battle took place. Louise XIV of France was the mortal enemy of the Hapsburg and Spanish Empire. His efforts helped the Turks make a decision on the showdown with the Hapsburgs. Turkish court politics as well as John III's position in Poland are also discussed. The resulting combination of Hapsburg, Saxon, Bavarian, and Poles in confronting the Turks is also reviewed throughly. The result was the successful Allied effort in confronting the Turks.
As one of the reviewers has already mentioned, only two of the nine chapters dealt with the siege and battle. The rest was the history of the politics of this conflict. The first part of the book drags, but I managed to learn a few things about this famous conflict. This book is not for the beginning historian.

In summer of 1683, the powers of Europe put aside their differences to repel the last real Muslim threat to the West. Even France, while not contributing troops to the anti-Ottoman forces, stayed its hand while its traditional enemy the Hapsburgs were preoccupied with the defense of their Austrian capitol.

This is an epic story, and John Stoye conveys the momentous nature and scope of events. The gathering of the Ottoman armies, the franctic Hapsburg efforts to find military allies, the tightening noose of the siege, and the eventual military relief -all are covered in stunning detail. As C.V.Wedgwood wrote of John Stoye when this book was first published over 40 years ago -"the master of every aspect of his subject". Any criticisms are minor, but 1) more detail on the Ottoman governmental structure (ie the relationship between the Sultan and the Grand Vizier) and 2)a fuller explanation of 17th century siegecraft, would have been helpful.

Finally, compare the threats we face today to the days when Turkish cavalry prowled the Vienna Woods, and Europe trembled at the coming of the Turk.

The last gasp of Turkish expansion into Europe took place in 1683, when the Ottomans advanced into Hungary and Austria and besieged Vienna. This expert history goes into great detail about the political and diplomatic context, with particular attention to the Habsburg obsession with Louis XIV's France. The relatively brief sections on the actual fighting will be enough for most readers, but may be disappointing to military history buffs. The book includes some black and white plates and several maps. Fine scholarship, though not light reading.

This book really isn't about the siege of Vienna at all. It's really about the political events leading up to the Ottoman invasion of Austria. The siege itself and the ensuing battle are given scant attention, which was a huge disappointment for me. The political environment is an interesting subject, but the military events themselves are almost completely ignored. That's too bad, because that means only half the story is told in this book. Making matters worse is the fact that the book is a slow, dry read that failed to captivate me in any way. I'm unaware of any other books on this subject though, so I'm afraid this may be the only gig in town.