S Books

I have only read the version of Babi Yar by Anatoly Kuznetzov. I'm not sure it is the same book as the one described here by A. Anatoli. However the book I read in 1980 left an indelible impression. The horrors of human cruelty and survival instincts of the oppressed are portrayed very well by the author especially since it is being told from the viewpoint of a 12 year old. As someone else commented; it is not for the squeamish.

I first read this book in high school as a shelf clearing library rat. It was not recommended, it was not widely known, it just sat on a shelf gathering dust. As far as I could tell, I was the first person to check this book out of my high school's library....books used to have cards glued to the back page where you signed your name...this one had no signatures. I read "Babi Yar" 3 times in the next 2 weeks and was stunned at the inhumanity of people towards people. I actually had trouble sleeping for a while. I didn't run across this book again for another 25 years. It kind of jumped at me from the shelf at my local library. It offered the same brutal emotional clubbing at 41 that I had experienced at 16. No different. How horrible can we actually be as humans? Pretty damn horrible it appears. The progessive rape of Kiev (et al) by Stalin, the Nazis, and Stalin AGAIN is a mostly overlooked story. This one tells it quite well. Music lovers should listen to Al Stewart's "Roads to Moscow" for a somewhat hurried reference.

This is by far the most significant piece ever written about the Holocaust. Amazingly, the author was a KGB agent while writing the book. He died under very mysterious circumstances.

It is amusing that one of the reviewers questions the authenticity of the story.

I recommend reading books by Elie Wiesel and Imre Kertesz as well. Read Yevgeny Yevtushenko's great poem too.

I am reluctant to believe that this novel is all true. It is sold as fiction, placed in libraries in fiction, and even teh Library of Congress lists it as such. Whether or not, it remains that this is an intruiging novel. I read it when I was a senior in high school back in 1996, and it has always been in the back of my mind.

Read it, research it, form your own opinions.

Some questions remain that I wonder about. Why were there no forensic tests or archaeological digs? Surely there is nothing to hide anymore. I would really be interested in reading further into this story and seeing what information can be gathered using science.

I am sorry for the above commenter's obvious pain my initial review caused. I was, I believe, researching in the worng way.

I read this book in the original Russian. I could not put it down until I read the whole thing. As far as truthfulness I have absolutely no doubt, since his accounts are the same that I have heard from my own grandparents who fought in and survived in the war. To the reviewer below - Jeannette DuPree (South Carolina), what do the modern historians doubt? The thousands of victims (including the immediate members of my family) of German brutality? It's revisionist lying.

Behaving as if the God in all Life Mattered is a marvelous book, which I had heard about through the grapevine over the years, but had no idea how to find. Now, in her 1998 updated version, which I located on Amazon while looking for her new book, The MAP System of Healing, a very useful book as well. I am reading "Behaving" now and enjoy it imensely. It is so true and right in its assertions of Nature Spirit's willingness to work with us in our gardens, that I read a few pages daily as a meditation and to make the book last. Thank you, Machaelle, for this delightful book. Winifred O'Brien

The information in this book is great. I could have done without so much life-history in the first half of the book, but I understand why she included it, and think for many people it will be helpful. The second half is great. I wish her garden was still open to the public sometimes.

This book was delivered within one week and it was in great condition.
Thank you.

We come to things in our lives on the path to enlightenment & greater understanding..at exactly the correct time for learning it, If we listen things will jump out at us to purchase ,learn, dig a little deeper for information vital to our own search... This is one increadable piece of that small amount of phenominal information out there for us to learn & understand..gain a greater knowledge of, there is so much to everything around us in everyday, in every place we are, we can only keep trying to strive to be better, listen harder, be quieter, feel the energy..pure raw energy of all life around us, that we are absolutly connected to... This book is by far one of the best Ive read & strongly recommend to any & all on a path of greater understanding of enlightenment & love...

ALL OF LIFE IF LIFE. I FIND ANYTHING THIS AUTHOR WRITES IS EASY TO READ. EASY BECAUSE OF THE WAY IT'S PRESENTED. I ENJOY HER SENSE OF HUMOR. THE CONTENT GIVES ONE MUCH TO PONDER. THE BOOK MADE ME AWARE OF HOW LITTLE, STILL, MOST HUMANS ARE TAKING ADVANTAGE OF WHAT THE PLANET HAS TO OFFER. ALL THE POWER, HELP &HEALING THERE IS AVAILABLE IF ONLY WE LISTEN; LOOK.

I was expecting a book that was translated into modern readability, and that is exactly what I got. Although the book is incomplete, it gives the reader the best part of Ben's writings in a no-nonsense format. This book also helped be get a very good grade in my History Final.

I am a pretty big Franklin buff and probably read about a dozen books on him, but this one stands out as the one I would recommend the most. First and foremost the excellent rewriting of Ben's text create the wisdom of Franklin in it's most accessible form.

Reading Franklin can often be challenging to sort out the entire meaning due to the antiquated language of his day. This book restates his thoughts and wisdom with updated syntax and language, so you can focus more on the wisdom, less on the translation.

The author (McCormick, not Franklin) did an outstanding job organizing both the time line of his life and his mastery of business, politics and science.

For those who have an interest in learning more about the greatest American, this is the book I would recommend most. For those passionate about Franklin this book feels fresh, rich and thoughtful.

--Cudo

This is a great modernized adaptation of the real autobiography.
There are some areas that could have been better,
but no one can ever completely communicate the intensions of the original.

I almost gave it 4 stars -- but I gave it 5 because the minor flaws
are off-set with the great format and organization of the book.
The original is not as well organized as this one.
I recommend reading both versions for greater understanding of this unique life.

Ben Franklin: America's Original Entrepreneur is the modernized version of Ben Franklin's autobiography. Though extremely intriguing and interesting in its own right, the original biography was written in a rather disjointed way in the natural language and voice of the times. These aspects make reading the original autobiography difficult while reducing the powerful messages contained in this important man's life. I believe the author has done a tremendous job of reorganizing Franklin's musings and updating the text into modern English so that Franklin's true messages are clearly understood.

As I read this book, I keep thinking that this was a man who would have been interesting to meet. He was steadfast in his values of integrity, humbleness, thriftiness, and a strong work ethic. Yet, he continually tried to better himself and the world around him.

I was also surprised at the number of interesting things that Ben Franklin had accomplished that I didn't even realize he was involved in. For instance, I hadn't realized his part in setting up the first public library, fire department, and militia in Philadelphia. I also hadn't realized that this man's talent for gently but firmly guiding projects to completion without being in the spotlight. I think that says something extremely important about his character both in his daily life and business affairs.

As with all of Blaine McCormick's work, "Ben Franklin" is a marvel of clarity and insight. McCormick is a thoughtful writer with a deft hand for both language AND research -- a rare combination. I recommend this highly not just to people to are interested in Franklin, but to people who are interested in the United States ... how we got where we are today.

I was looking for a collection of Bill Mauldin cartoons for my father. This book is full of 'em.

My father (who was part of the occupation of Japan in 1946) had a copy of this book. I grew up knowing Willie and Joe. My nephew likes to look at my copy, and I explain the war as best a civilian might, using the cartoons. He's been looking at them since he was five, and when I got a new copy of the book I let him have my old one for himself at the age of 8 -- I find nothing in there inappropriate for a child. I believe it to be a good introduction to that which it is my personal duty to never ever let the next generation forget, what the Greatest Generation did for us all. And yes it's really hysterically funny, even for a civilian, even for a small boy in the 21st century.

My nephew is too young to know that every year on November 11 in the great Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy the WWI flying ace would prepare to go over to Bill Mauldin's house to quaff a few root beers and swap stories. The inside of this book reprints one of these cartoons, in which Woodstock and one of his little birdie friends are marking the day by portraying -- Willie and Joe!

Bill Mauldin is almost certainly the single best-known cartoonist of World War II. His cartoons, many of which I never saw before they were reproduced in this book, are REAL, they are not the result of some funny gag of some sergeant hanging out 50 miles behind the lines... they are the product of a "dogface," a fellow infantryman who saw things which rang true. Mauldin's Willie and Joe characters look like they've been through Hell because that's the way infantry guys looked after weeks on the line. And the humor Mauldin uses is the same kind of fatalistic humor that one sees in this situation.

This collection also has the added benefit of allowing the reader to see Mauldin's development as a cartoonist, from the ones he did while in stateside training to the postwar cartoons which showed the bewilderment of newly-released Soldiers back to civilian life. The large format of the book does the cartoons justice, a definite improvement over the smaller versions of the same work.

This work is all cartoons from the beginning of Army life to getting out. There are captions attached and this helps those who are not familiar with military life.
I think those who appreciate Mauldins books ae those who have been there done that.
The touch I liked very much was that Mauldin treated the German Soldier much the same was as the American Soldier. There is a saying a Soldier is a Soldier is a Soldier, we just wear different uniforms, and have to do what we are told.
What adds to Mauldins cartoons and captions is that he is talking for the civilian soldier, the guy who does not want to be here, but by miracle of miracles he is here and even stays.
Light hearted peek into the life of the Army Infantryman.
Want to know what life in the Army was like for your Father, Grandfather, a must book..

Bill Mauldin was a favorite of my father who served in WWII. I served 1968 to 1972. However, more recent veterans have not heard of Bill Mauldin. I showed this to some of them. They enjoyed it as much as I. The military has not changed in the sixty years since the cartoons were drawn.

Blade was .... completely different from the movie. The movie had more fighting and you didn't get to see the true meaning of the novel. The movie described Blade as a cold blooded slayer with no mercy. The novel describes Blade as someone who risks his life everyday to save the human race in spite of the fact that the human race thinks he's a murderer and wants him dead. He uses his powers to serve and protect the very species that depises and fears him-our own. He has the power of an immortal, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero.

Another ride on the good ol' roller-coaster of adrenalin! Who says books can't raise your blood pressure? For those who think so: Read Blade! Awesome action, packed with vampire-slaying excitement, and intense fun! I haven't even seen the movie, though I'm about to. If all movie-novels were like Blade, Carmike Cinemas will be seeing me more often.

Blade is the tightest book you'll ever want to read!!! The movie and the book are amazing. I've been watching the movie a hella-lot of times and you'll also like the book. Buffy v. Blade??? Blade all the way! cause he's the #1 slayer!

Blade was a kick ass book, completely different from the movie. The movie had more fighting and you didn't get to see the true meaning of the novel. The movie described Blade as a cold blooded slayer with no mercy. The novel describes Blade as someone who risks his life everyday to save the human race in spite of the fact that the human race thinks he's a murderer and wants him dead. He uses his powers to serve and protect the very species that depises and fears him-our own. He has the power of an immortal, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero.

I loved both the book and the movie. I was really surprised at how the book captured the manic energy of the movie and the complexity of the characters. The book really delves into the deeper areas of the characters and captures the feeling that it's hard not to admire Frost while you're hating him, he's an awesome villain. Even if you haven't seen the movie, read the book, it's an absolute must for anyone who's a fan of Anne Rice or vampires in general, as well as anyone who wants to read a well-crafted piece of literature.

This is a terrific book for a novice who is facing the scary job of picking a contractor, then working with that contractor, to build a house. There are so many things I didn't know, and wished I'd known, but there was no one to ask. This book is written from the buyer's point of view, and so it covers the questions only a novice would have, like 'why does the foundation look so funny?' This really is a peace of mind book, and it should also help you save some money because you know what the contractor is suppose to be doing, and paying -- and you can question what doesn't look right. I sure didn't know, but you will with this book.

I loved this book! It took all the fear out of building a new home. I loved the cautions and special beware's....they will save me lots of headaches. This author really knows how to make life easier!! Anyone getting ready to build a house should have this book in his back pocket at all times!!! A real Keeper!

Blythe Lipman

I have never found a more useful book when it comes to getting a house built. It is the ultimate guidebook and it's worth 200 times it's price! This should be a required purchase for everyone who is building a home...it will save them thousands of dollars!

Wow! The book really took my fears away about building a custom home. It went through every single process in detail and now I know what to expect. It also gave tips on how to save money. My wife and I are now actively looking for land to build our new home.

Although I only plan to build a large garage with granny flat over it this book was a great help. I tend to be a bit of a know-it-all and this book went way beyond what I thought I knew.
I have found it to be very helpfull in about 100 ways beyoud just the simple construction of the structure.

Regards, John V. Southern California.

What a wonderful book. Beautiful photographs of wonderfully organic pieces. It's a joy for anyone who likes interesting, kinetic works of art. For anyone who works in metalcrafts and jewelry, it's also a wellspring of ideas. These pieces really help to open the imagination to the possibilities of what can be done with some wire and very little else--no solder, no kilns, no adhesives. The paradoxical simplicity and complexity of these pieces is wonderful. Not only does Calder's work inspire creativity, it rekindles the joy of creating.

An absolutely wonderful book! The jewelry Calder designed and constructed is without compare. Top quality photography!

It is amazing what he did with only wire.It pushes your mind to the creative edge.Every page gives new inspiration!!!! Highly recommend to all that make jewelry.

The production quality of the book is wonderful. Photos are very high quality, and there are a lot of them. The paper is heavy-duty and will stand up to all the viewings this book will receive in our house.

I didn't know much about Alexander Calder or his jewelry, but enjoyed the discovery of both through this book. My only complaint (if it can be called that) is that it arrived shortly before I needed to take a trip, and the size/weight of the book precluded me bringing it along!

It's a great inspiration to see those pieces.

I have always loved Calder's work and am a jewelry maker myself, yet I hesitated before investing in this book. It is well worth every cent. The photos are beautiful and depict the liveliness and earthiness of Calder's jewelry amazingly.

Reading this book is an emotional and stirring event on many different levels. It offers one of the clearest and most succient histories of the period just after the Second World War. The book also does an excellent job of providing balance between the outsized personalities who helped shape the airlift and the amazing achievement that the airlife in itself was.

One of the most touching aspects however is the human aspect of the story. Besides telling the story of the candy bomber which has already been told many times before, the book gives a great history of how the German people were shown the light and turned their backs on a totalitarian form of government towards one that the democracy that exists today.

All in all this is an epic read from an epic time. The subtitle captures it best when it says that it was America's finest hour.

A book that I could not put down! Why? Simply wanted to know who und what will be next to help a downed nation to stay alive with an "enemy" on each side. All in all it shows as well that politicians are only people with faults and their own agendas. Too bad. The outcome was heroic but only because of the "little man" who did the work and not because of the politicians or in spite of them. That could have gone easily the other way. Thank God it did not and I was able to see for myself what became of the once so helpless nation and the real big brother who helped. Not the one who just listened and then pounced.

I am a Korean War veteran and somewhat of a history buff, especially during the period leading up to and including the aftermath of World War II. I cannot praise this book enough. Andrei Cherney has written the absolutely best description I have read of the events and people that resulted in the Berlin Airlift and how close we came to World War III at that time. Of special interest to me is the way he describes our great military leaders of that time, especially Generals Clay, Bedell Smith, Curtis LeMay, Marshall, Tunner and Omar Bradley, along with Secretary Forrestal, Thomas Dewey, John Foster Dulles and President Truman. With the exception of President Truman I have formed through Mr. Cherney's eyes a completely different opinion of these great men, somewhat less stellar giants than I previously supposed them to be.

This book is an extaordinary effort on the part of the author and may very well be the most interesting book I have ever read.

I began reading this book because my husband (Lt. Ben Knight) flew one of the first missions over the corridor into Berlin in 1948, probably before the official airlift began. I hoped to learn more about his activity during this time. What I learned was how close we came to losing Berlin and so much more, but for the efforts of a caring pilot.
It was a pleasure to meet the author and to hear that Hal Halvorsen is still a great hero to the German people.
It was a hard book to put down and I shall read it again.

In June 1948 the Soviets blockaded Berlin by cutting all rail and road links to the parts of occupied Germany held by the three Western powers. Food, fuel and all other necessities for the city came then only from the Soviet occupied eastern regions and were available only to the eastern portion of Berlin, the sector of the city controlled by the Soviets. Berlin was an island in the middle of the Soviet occupation zone and was utterly dependent on the outside for all of its needs. Not that many of these needs were being met. Berlin remained largely in a state of ruin, its populace wretched and impoverished, unemployed, living in the ruins (sometimes open to the weather), underfed and subject to a stench from wartime dead still lying beneath the rubble or buried in shallow graves. Only a few weeks worth of food, fuel and other needs were stockpiled in the city and western Berlin faced the prospect of starvation and economic annihilation. This state of affairs resulted in part from the attitude of the occupying powers, all of whom had entered the occupation of Germany to punish the "evil" Germans. None were concerned that the Germans were suffering dire hardships.

The Western Allies accordingly saw the blockade as simply a diplomatic and policy problem at first, a furtherance of the campaign of subversion of free governments that the USSR was perceived as undertaking in Europe. Because Berlin could be neither militarily defended nor supplied without resort to atomic weapons (the Red Army was vastly superior in numbers and otherwise to any conventional military forces available in Europe), the alternatives seemed to be to risk atomic war or abandon Berlin. Because both of these alternativs seemed unacceptable, there arose a need to buy further time for decision. From this in turn came the idea for a temporary airlift, a desperate and ad hoc measure to slightly bolster existing stockpiles in Berlin and thus buy time for the policy debates.

This book tells the story of how a stopgap airlift became The Airlift a legendary operation that ran like a clock and supplied all of Berlin's needs until the Soviets caved in May 1949. In fact it did not supply all of the needs and some starved in Berlin that winter. But the Airlift, by dint of heroic and highly organized efforts, did supply enough to stave off total collapse and to provide hope for Berliners. The efforts of the original "candy bomber," Gail S. "Hal" Halvorsen, in dropping candy to children caused the US and others to see the human issues at stake and to appreciate the heroism of the Berliners in resisting the blandishments and threats of the Soviets. The Berliners were won over by acts of human kindness such as those of Halvorsen and by the Herculean efforts of the Airlift. It also helped to get the Marshall plan enacted and was a major factor in the rearmament of America (including the first peacetime draft in our history) and it helped create the imperial presidency that we still have today.The Berlin Crisis and the Airlift, the author believes, were also the determinative factors in deciding the 1948 presidential election for Truman.

The book tells all of this with both power and eloquence. It ranges from high policy and political scheming to the experiences of ordinary people. There are incicsive portraits of men such as Truman, LeMay, the tragic Forrestal, Bill Tanner and others. It tells a story that many Americans today do not know, when the US achieved the moral high ground worldwide, in a way it has never been able to duplicate since.

The book has some flaws. It is told almost entirely from the American viewpoint, and it is the Americans who are the good guys and the Soviets who are bad. There is almost nothing about what was going on in Russian thinking. Indeed, the book appears to be based almost exclusively on published sources and all of them listed in the bibliography are in English. Only a handful of contemporaneous documents and private paper collections appear to have been consulted. Nonetheless this is popular history at its best.

I purchased a hardcover copy from the Charleston historical society's downtown office. I was vacationing and looking for local fiction, opted for Colonial period rather than Civil War or present-day. The streets and historical character of downtown are still present and make this book more interesting. The historial accuracy is very good, although overly worshipful of Marion and his role. I understand the cultural differences between present-day readers and Colonial slaveownwers, and we shouldn't demonize Colonists for that, but CG does tend to perpetuate the oxymoron "well-treated slave" (and Charleston's place as the busiest slave trade port in the New World is ignored by the book). As for Celia, "Sassyface" certainly has gumption, and this can get annoying for mature readers. But it's overall pretty good, and for teens (especially girls), this book is a treasure.

CELIA GARTH takes place during the American Revolutionary War in the city of Charleston, South Carolina. Celia, the main character is a "sassy" twenty-year-old woman who worked as a seamstress in a very fashionable clothing shop. The inhabitants of Charleston were divided in their loyalties. Some were Tories and supported the king and England; many others were supporters of the revolution. After two months of conflict and bombardment, British forces occupied the city of Charleston.

The local hero in South Carolina was Francis Marion, called the "Swamp Fox," by the British. His goal was to keep the British army occupied in South Carolina, and away from General George Washington who was fighting another British army in the north. Celia and her friends supported the revolution and acted as spies for Francis Marion during the two years of the British occupation of Charleston.

The book is full of the flavor and feeling of the late 1700's. Luke Ansell, an American soldier sings the following little ditty, as he walks home after his first meeting with Celia Garth.

"Now girls why act so shy
When provoking men come by?
You know you're only wondering
how you strike us--

Oh forget the won'ts and can'ts!
For since half the world wears pants,
You might as well own up to it--
you like us!"

I learned a great deal about Charleston and how the people of that town lived through the very difficult years of the American Revolution. The book gives a lot of little tidbits of interesting information. For instance, it was popular for the colonial women to name their male babies, George. They would then tell if their baby was named after King George of England or General George Washington.

This is a well-written and very enlightening story.

At the prompting of my mother, grandmother, and aunt, I first read Celia Garth before I was old enough to even understand half of what Gwen Bristow writes about. Since then, I have read it many, many times, and it remains one of my favorites to this day. Celia is such a vivid character, and getting to see Charleston and the Revolutionary War through her eyes is like being there yourself! I cried my eyes out at the plantation death scene, marveled at Celia's courage through it all, and could barely contain my glee when she finally realizes her true happiness. I would recommend this book to anyone, young or old; if you haven't read Celia Garth, you're missing out. And if you haven't ever visited Charleston, SC--well, need I say more? You can see the harbor as Celia did, walk the same streets, see the spire of St. Michael's, and much, much more. It's not the same Charleston as it was a hundred years ago, but it's close enough and thoroughly enjoyable.

The first time I read Celia Garth was about eight years ago. I found it sitting on a bookshelf in my house, and I couldn't put it down. It immediately became my favorite book, and to this day still is. I just recently started reading Gwen Bristow's others, and I can't put them down either! Her Historical Fiction is amazing, and her ability to combine her fictional characters with non-fictional people and places is the best I have ever seen.

I first read this book in high school many years ago. I have not been able to find another copy until Amazon. It is probably one of the best historical fictions next to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. Gwen Bristow is a great writer as you can also experience in her Santa Fe Trail. Anyone interested in the Revolutionary War from a woman's prospective will love this book.

This is very touching story of the (mainly) men who conducted the recovery operations at Ground Zero. The telling is true to the tremendous respect shown to those who perished (nothing titillating) and is inspiring in its humanity and faith. Anyone who has ever worked anywhere will appreciate the turf skirmishes that were waged.

The writing, however, is a bit simple.

I have not even finished reading this book yet, but I am blown away by the extraordinary story this man has to tell, and told with such heart. This is a major contribution to the history of 9/11.

Excellent read. Heartbreaking at times, but well written of the trials and
tribulations of the Ground Zero Recovery mission
This book honors the months day after day the recovery workers devoted to trying to find bodies. Some of the rescue workers suffered emotionally and physically, yet others kept going to the end.
I recommend highly

It was an incredible and accurate account of the heroics and emotions involved in the months of recovery at ground zero. A must read.

This is the story that needed to be told of the many courageous, heroic men and women involved in this search and recovery effort. It is also the story of the courageous, heroic families who lived through this effort with their loved ones. It is a must read.