S Books

Blood Done Sign My Name is a non-fiction work that combines the personal memoirs and research of Timothy Tyson, Professor of Afro-American Studies at the University of Wisconsin. The most striking aspect of the novel is the description of Dickie Marrow's murder from the points of view of different citizens of Oxford. This unique feature makes the book appealing to many age groups. Teenage readers can relate to Tyson's personal anecdotes about growing up in rural Oxford, North Carolina. Even if younger audiences do not understand the symbolism behind the text, they can still enjoy the well-developed characters and eventful plot. Adult readers can gain insight into many themes concerning race and white supremacy. Tyson elegantly expresses the naiveté of children on the issue of morality and treatment of other races. This is best conveyed in the passage where young Tyson taunted a black child solely because his friend had started an insulting chime. The author describes that it was fear--not hatred--that bred the twisted idea of white supremacy. Parents can also connect with the decisions and actions of Vernon and Martha Tyson. The Tysons believed that their children should be exposed to many different opinions yet respect all races. The difference in perspectives in the work allows readers of all ages to enjoy and understand the truth behind the Civil Rights Movement.
The book contains a few minor flaws that diminish the lucidity of the text. The plot is rather erratic; from time to time, the events are not connected perfectly. This technique may be Tyson's personal style of writing, but it proves to be rather confusing at major points in the plot. For example, Tyson usually explains a personal memory of the murder and follows it with completely unrelated information about another character. These discontinuities in the plot make the book difficult to comprehend at first. Gradually, however, the reader gets acclimatized to this original form of writing. The gaps between personal stories build suspense and enable the reader to process a feasible prediction for the sequence of events. The novel also includes many extraneous details about minor characters that play an insignificant part in the plot. Tyson extensively describes his mother's childhood, even though his mother does not affect the sequence of events in any fashion. This extra information, however, does not detract from the book's overall theme. Though the story contains a few negligible weaknesses, Tyson maintains his overall claim and presents it in an interesting and distinctive manner.
Blood Done Sign My Name is an enthralling story that expresses the moral wrongs of racism. To call it a mere story does not do Tyson proper justice; it is more fitting to call the book a documentary. By citing several engrossing stories throughout the novel, Tyson maintains the reader's attention and successfully proves his thesis. Other than its occasional lack of continuity, Timothy Tyson has written a classic non-fiction work for readers of all ages.

Few books are as challenging for me as this one. I lived through the years of this story and consistently refused to believe that our racism was as extensive or deeply rooted as it was. Take away: the challenge to see it in our present day and to do something about it.

An essential history and memoir of a time whose facts are often forgotten and even actively repressed. The present doesn't make sense without honestly examining the past, and this book does that with humility and emotional power. Even if you think you know this history (as I did) you very well may not.

I was born and grew up in Oxford, North Carolina as a white boy, and graduated from theUniversity of North Carolina in 1949. I have lived in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland for many years.

Tyson deserves credit for deploring the murder and acquittal of the murderer in the book. However, he tends to be polemic: all black people in it are noble; all but a few white people are some combination of racist, ignorant, or narrow-minded. (It is similar in that respect to LeonUris's novel "Exodus", in which all Jews are noble and bigger than life, while all others are hatefulor, at best, not very bright.)

He often uses a down-home style of writing, calling his parents "Daddy" and "Mama" and being addressed as "Little Buck" by his father, which he apparently feels makes him and his family seem to be folksy, good plain people.

However, the book is not without its shortcomings.

Accounts of questionable credibility:

¶¶He states that tear gas was used by Oxford police in 1944 to dispel a crowd of black people who were protesting the arrest of two men. I witnessed the event and remember no tear gas--had there been, I think I would never have forgotten it.

¶¶An account of the torching of buildings in Oxford on May 25, 1970 by angry black people following the killing of Marrow describes two tobacco warehouses which were amongthem:"Inside these warehouses were eight hundred thousand pounds of golden cured tobacco, a known flammable substance, with a total value of more than a million dollars." I find it hard to believe that any tobacco would have been in those warehouses in May.

Tobacco was brought by the farmers to Oxford warehouses from mid-September through mid-November, where it was sold at auction and immediately taken by the buyers to their Oxfordprocessing plants, and then shipped off to the cigarette manufacturers. By some time in late
November, all of the warehouses became empty.

Although the whole procedure I describe above could have changed somewhat by 1970, I still find it hard to believe that there would have been tobacco in the warehouses in May, by which time it would have probably become dry and crumbly.

¶¶The following exchange supposedly took place during the 1930's between Major T.G. stem (a prominent white man in Oxford) and a man described in the book as "a local white bootlegger." Having occurred long before Tyson was born, it was recounted to him by Thad Stem, the Major's
son and a close friend of the Tyson family.

"Major Stem was leaving Hall's drugstore with his son (Thad) and they passed Mrs. G. C. Shaw, the wife of the principal at Mary Potter High, the local Negro high school.

'Good afternoon, Mrs. Shaw,' the Major said, tipping his hat.

A local white bootlegger, idling under the store awning, accosted Major Stem. 'Why'd you call that [...] woman Mrs. Shaw'?" he demanded.

'Well, Mrs. Shaw's older than I am,' he began softly. 'She's better educated than I am,and she has
more money.' Then, thrusting the bootlegger away from him, the major exploded: 'But more to the point, what I call Mrs. Shaw is none of your goddamned business, you low-life taxidermist, you two-for-a-nickel jackal, you knee-crawling [...], net.' These were the days when
people really knew how to cuss. Back then, the appendage 'net' meant a real [...]...on the way home (Thad) asked his father why on earth he had called the bootlegger a 'taxidermist.' The major said quietly that a taxidermist is a man who mounts animals."

If not a total fabrication, the story seems to me to have been mostly made up.

In those earlier times, I never heard any white person in Oxford address or refer to a black person as Mr./Mrs./Ms. (However, by some strange logic, a black doctor was referred to as Dr. X by white people. Dr. Ellis Toney was a black practitioner there for many years and was so referred to. The same was the case for some black ministers, who were referred to as Pastor or Reverend
such-and-such.)

¶¶In writing about the slave trade, Tyson speaks of "the dark Atlantic, where the bones of somewhere around ten million Africans settled into the sand, thrown overboard by the slave ships that plied those waters in the early days of the republic (the USA)."

Where did this 10 million figure come from? Tyson provides no source. One reference, "Slavery: A World History", by Milton Meltzer, says that about 2.2 million died that way.

¶¶Degrading most of Oxford's black people by stereotyping them as uncultured:

The most puzzling aspect of the book is: On the one hand, Tyson makes the legitimate point that black residents of Oxford and Granville County, after long having been subjected to a segregated, inferior status in society, deserved to be recognized as having equal rights with white citizens. Yet, at the same time, he consistently shows these same black people as being crude and unable to
say anything without massacring English grammar.

"I knowed him right good, and I liked him all right. He didn't hurt nobody." "Yeah, we was listening to TV, that's how we got involved in the first sit-ins in Oxford, because we saw on TV they was doing it up in Greensboro." "Me and a guy named Ronald Jordan, me and him climbed up on the Confederate soldier..." And there are many more.

I know from personal experience that many black people in Oxford, then and now, are much more cultured than Tyson portrays them. I also know from my volunteer work at the Helping Up Mission in Baltimore, where I tutor men who are recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in the 3R's (all of whom to date have been black), that most black people, like anyone anywhere, will grasp an opportunity to become more cultured.

Note: The running together of words, without proper spacing, and the breaking up of lines above are done by Amazon. My original review did not have those errors. I have repaired them by subsequent editing, but they persist.

Marshall H. Pinnix

I finally got around to reading this memoir this summer and was in awe of the author's narrative gifts. This story reads like a novel and is full of plain human wisdom, an emotional openness combining humility and pride, wry humor, sharp political analysis, and a can't-put-it-down story line that comes to terms with America's number one cultural problem: racism. This is a book of local history that gets at the human condition, and a work of history that reads like great literature. I'm telling everyone I can to read it, and that includes whoever reads this. Don't pay attention to any of the so-called "corrections" made by some other reviewers here. This is a must-read historical work that shows an astute and perceptive ability to understand its widely varying participants' points of view and experiences, while not shrinking from the moral and historical obligation to draw judgments. There is only one word to use: *brilliant.* (I'm not one to use that lightly when talking about either autobiography or
history.)

Disclaimer: The writer of this review is a professional historian with a Ph.D., but one who has never met Timothy Tyson.

Far better written than most, Class 29 transcends military memoire to become an emotinally authentic, engagingly human account that will interest even readers who are not SEAL afficiandos.

I'm a sucker for a story, and John Carl Roat knows how to tell one. He has one of the most incredible writer's voices I've ever encountered. It's like sitting with him over coffee and listening to him spin yarn after yarn about the earliest days of SEAL training.

Roat's dry and often wry sense of humor had me laughing out loud on every page. Endearingly willing to admit to his own human shortcomings, Roat sees the humanity in others. In a few strokes he captures those essential elements of character that make a reader care. Over and over I cheered, and sometimes, I cried.

In one memorable scene, in which another trainee reaches back to give Raot a hand over an obstactle course, Roat talks about how the trainees themselves in subtle ways played a part in who made the grade and who didn't.

Other books about SEAL training will give you detail, endless detail, about SEAL training today, but no other will make you understand so well what makes a man become a SEAL, and what becoming a SEAL makes of a man.

Mary Margret Daughtridge, Romance Author, SEALed With A Kiss
SEALed with a Kiss: Even a hero needs help sometimes...

This book is real!! It's a fast easy read with no dull moments. It is a testament to the tough nature of seals past and present.

John Roat's book demonstrates the toughness and determination that was required in the early days of SEAL training.

I enjoyed the way that he describes in great detail the training that he went through. It's like you are right there with him.

Also, there are many stories about their "interactions" with their instructors.

I especially appreciated the last chapter in the book where the author describes, by observing the training the candidates currently go through, the differences in training between then and now. The training now has causes less long-term damage to the body, especially to the knees (the duck-walk was a favorite of the instructors back then).

Above all as you read the book you can see his loyalty, after all these years, to his team members.

To the point, easy to read and like a couple reviewers said " It makes me proud and it made me laugh" Who thought SEALs would be such down to earth enjoyable guys.

This was written for my Classmates and like them it has brought me nothing but joy. The book comes from the heart, theirs and mine. I've been pleased to hear how much help the book was for some in getting through BUD/S. I do love the questions from young men who aspire to become Team Members so feel free to ask. I will do my best to answer.
realnavyseal@yahoo.com

John Carl Roat
Class-29, UDT-21, UDT-11, SEAL Team 1

If you enjoyed Oke's "Love Comes Softly" series, you will surely love this book! This is my favorite of her books and I recommend this one to anyone who wants to read a good romance novel.

A gown of spanish lace is about a young women that is a school teach.
and a young man that has been raised by outlaws and without a mother.

its a wonderfull book about two young agult finding love..
and a young man finding out how he is... and coming to belive....
its a graet book full of mystery and Love and advetures. and a little acshon. graet graet book!
and I think you would enjoy it!
:-)

I loved this book it was wonderful they was they fell in love. Ariana and Laramie are perfect for each other. Ariana lived the life of a schoolteacher who was hungry for god's word. She wanted her students to feels the same. She loved her town and every thing it stood for. Well. She loved being a teacher. She was adopted. Her parents died in a raid on their wagon trail. All she has heft to remember her mother by is a dress, which she planes to wear when she gets married. That wont is for a while. Soon Ariana is kidnapped so that Laramie's father can get Laramie to kill some one. She is kept in a hut near the camp, the people that live in the camp our robbers and are horrible men. They are widely known. None of them know about Ariana being on there camp except for the boss and one of the other members of the camp. Sam, Sam told Laramie about his past, well at least as much as he knew. Gave him a trunk filled with Laramie's stuff. From when he was a baby. While Ariana is a captive her and Laramie fall in love by simple acts of kindness. Soon Laramie helps her escape. He almost kills someone for it. Once they escape there past begins to unravel, in a strange way the to lovers are connected very closely. Soon all is settled but the ending will take you by surprise. You don't see it coming.

This is the best book that Oke has written. I absoulty loved it and couldnt put it down until I finished it. Read it.

I really enjoyed this book.
My mom read it to me when I was three or four and recently
She recomended that I read it myself.
I am really happy that I did. It is about
a sixteen year old girl named Ariana who is a schoolteacher.
one day two men come to the school house and kidnap her during a blizzard.
She is taken far away to an old, small, dirty cabin and locked in. When she gets a new guard, Laramie, at first she is afraid of him, but then she starts to enjoy his company. He does not mistreat her and he buys her food and soap and all she needs. one day he decides to help her escape. It is a dangerous and risk, but Laramie is willing to take it and liberate her out of camp. Will they survive?
see for yourself. I think that you should definatly buy this book It has many twists that I did not mention. 5 STARS!

As you begin to read chapter one, this book will become a page-turner. The amazingly woven detail gives life to this story of over fifty years ago. Author Taylor Branch documents how M. L. King, Jr. walked into the storm of what was to become the Civil Rights Movement, and was then sucked into its vortex. As a "boomer" I was alive during parts of this, growing up in the Midwest. I remember some headlines and TV scenes, but reading the minutiae of what was behind those headlines was like unto discovering a mother's diary. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The best single book on the civil rights movement I have ever read. Parting the Waters is partly a wonderful, complicated biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. However, it is also a history of the early years of the entire civil rights movement. King, SCLC, and SNCC are described in great detail and their efforts are set against a background of federal reluctance to intervene in the South. Inspiring and detailed.

I am about halfway through this book. Even though I have not finished yet I feel compelled to comment on it. I believe it is extremely important for African Americans of my generation to get a more complete understanding of the civil rights movement. So far this book has opening my eyes and changed the way I view our African American experience.

What is best about this read is it flows like a history book. I give much credit to Mr. Branch for simply telling the story and not adding too much of his own commentary and opinion. That is one of my pet peeves with many of our `writers' today. They want to impose their opinions and biased interpretations. We do not need opinions. We need to educate ourselves with facts and draw our own conclusions. Okay, I will get off the soapbox.

Anyway I highly recommend this book. It is a very long read, but if you seek a deeper understanding of the African American experience this is a great start. Many of the issues we face today can be interpreted more accurately by getting a more complete account of our past.

By most accounts, Branch's three volume history of the Civil Rights Movement is the authoritative account of Dr. King's life. But beyond the facts and history, this particular volume is an example of masterful storytelling. I read this book during my morning and evening commutes, stuffed between strangers on the train. Branch transported me to another time and place, at times on the brink of tears. Branch devoted decades of his life to crafting this story. His efforts leave us with an honest and beautifully told story - one of our nation's most inspiring and tragic.

This is the first of a trilogy of books on the civil rights struggle in the USA as centered around the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior. Covering the 1950s and early 1960s, this book lays the groundwork for many of the pivotal events that would take the civil rights movement onto the international stage and eventually legend. All the key characters of this movement would enter the stage of history here... Bayard Rustin, the gay, pacifist communist, would play a key role in organizing the March on D.C. LBJ, the master of the Senate, and then vice president would come to realize the need of the Civil Rights Act, as segregation was intertwined with poverty and to defeat one, he needed to defeat the other. Malcolm X would rise in the Nation of Islam, paving a path to glory and his eventual death. And the central character that bound them together; the Reverend Dr. King himself, would change history by trying to tie together the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, and legal debates into one cogent movement.

All of this and much, much more is laid out in careful, chronological detail by Taylor Branch. Backing every word, every name, and every date with citations to court documents, newspaper records, first-hand interviews and countless other sources, the author brings this period to life, vividly with raw emotion. This book lays bare the soul of America at this time, from the inner politics in the White House and courthouses throughout the South, to pressrooms, jails, and public squares. We, the reader, see how the Civil Rights movement ground forth one city, one law, one riot at a time. Incredible! Highly worth the time to read thru from cover to cover.

This book is actually a collection of essays. Lewis addresses various things such as, the glory of man as being a reflection of the glory of God, why he is not a pacifist (where he gives some pretty strong moral, biblical, and sensible arguments), speaking in tongues and various spiritual gifts (moreso on their implication, not on the technicality of each or what exactly each gift is), what he calls "is theology poetry" (or in other words, do we believe in theology just because the idea of a cosmic drama appeals to us), the affects of peer pressure and the gradual degradation of one's inner principles and also its positive affects when one surrounds him/herself with Christians, and forgiveness.

Overall a very enlightening read, in which many issues that are not commonly talked about are given attention. Not very long either, but packed full of insight.

I agree that this collection is often overlooked when considering the best works of CS Lewis. Among the essays, my personal favorites are Weight of Glory and Transposition. I highly recommend this book.

This is one of my favorite books by C. S. Lewis. The essays are all valuable in many ways; they all touch upon not just theology, but politics, science, life in general. Lewis packs down into uncomplicated prose some of the most profound thoughts I've ever considered in "Transposition" and "Is Theology Poetry?", and they have to be read several times to be understood. In some ways, all the essays are interlinked; it makes sense to read it--the first time--from start to finish. Those who have read only MERE CHRISTIANITY and SCREWTAPE will find here more personal, complex, and unsimplified Lewis.

For the serious reader of C. S. Lewis Christian apologetics, as opposed to his fiction and literary criticism, "The Weight of Glory" is Lewis at his deepest and best. The title essay alone is worth the price of the book.
And what is the weight of glory? "The load, the weight, the burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it.... All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one of the other of these detinations [heaven or hell]." (pp. 46-47)
But, wait, there's more!

There is a jacket blurb on The Weight of Glory from John Updike, who comments on both the comfort and pleasure afforded by Lewis. Neither should be underestimated. This is great devotional writing but it is also great writing, writing that is typified by Lewis' ability to deal with the weightiest of matters with a light touch.

It is a truism that our faith is reinforced whenever we see it embraced by great minds. Samuel Johnson believed that and it is interesting that Lewis often turns to Johnson for such reinforcement, as we turn to Lewis--one of the indisputably great intellectuals of the twentieth century. Part of that greatness comes from the stark clarity with which Lewis sees important matters. That makes his work accessible; it does not make it simplistic.

All of the lay sermons in this volume are trenchant, though 'The Weight of Glory' and 'Learning in War-Time' are exceptional. I especially like 'Is Theology Poetry?' and 'Membership' and find 'Why I Am Not a Pacifist' of particular interest and importance these days.

This is a book to be read, embraced, and shared.

This was one of those really excellent experiences. Shipping was done within the days specified. The shipper sent notification the book had been shipped and the book arrived within a week. Above and beyond expectations!!

Great Amazon Seller! Would buy from again. Received book exactly as described in great timing.

Don't you just love Beth Moore?!? What an inspiration Beth is to ALL Christian women across this world. God has used Beth in such an awesome manner - don't you wonder what it's costing her? To whom much is given, much is required. This book flows just like her Bible study with the same title. This book will help you to find areas in your life where you are being held back and weren't even aware you were being held back! There are so many things that we as humans accept as just a part of normal life. Beth shows us in biblical terms why that is just not true! Just because it's a common 'side effect' of living in this sinful world DOES NOT mean that we have to accept it in our lives! I strongly urge you to find a church in your area that offers Beth Moore Bible studies. Read this book - it will set you free!!!

Several of my friends and I are using this book for an e-mail small group Bible study. It is well suited for that with its short chapters and review questions.
I ordered 3 items at exactly the same time and had to pay 3 separate shipping charges. I probably would not do that kind of shopping again.

This is a fantastic Bible Study. I would recommend it for every woman no matter what their experiences are in life. Each of us deserves to be totally free.

This is a wonderful and touching story. It is a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who has ever had a pet. I especially like that it has a jack russell in the story.

This book is the story of Willie Morris' childhood companion, a dog named Skip. Willie recounts his adolescent years and all the fond memories of his dog and friends as they grew up together in small town Mississippi. The story is heartwarming and the author paints a very clear picture of all the shenanigans, good times and bad that he and his dog had together over the years. I liked this book; but I think a male reader would appreciate the bond between a boy and his dog more than I can.

This was a great book! It was so touching and heartfelt. I love dogs and this book is an example of someone who loves dogs like me so I can connect! Greatly recomended!

Willie Morris was a truly great author! This story of his childhood with his dog was really heartwarming. It is so simple and warm and humorous, you will just love it. Warning: you will cry your eyes out at the end, but it's worth the pain. One of the best animal stories ever, I hope many kids read this in school. If you loved the movie "A Christmas Story" you will love this book. The movie version of "My Dog Skip" is also quite good, though it is kind of upsetting that in order to create drama the wonderful father of the book is kind of nasty in the movie. Willie Morris was a great author who also wrote a cat book entitled "My Cat Spit McGee" and several books about his life that remind me a little of Russel Baker's memoirs. One is entitled "North Toward Home", another "Good Old Boy" and one is about life in New York City.

Willie Morris has recounted the life of not just a boyhood pet, but a dear and close friend.
The Story of Skip's life as told by his owner is full of mythic adventures of childhood. Where every new day was full of joy and wonder. Morris' storytelling brings the dog, his family and the lush southern landscape into full and brilliant view.
When you read My Dog Skip you can just feel how much this young man loved and revered his dog.
Any of us who have had a much loved pet know that the bond between animal and human can reach so much further than just "pet and owner". Willie Morris makes the statement that Skip wasn't just his dog, but his brother... that is a beautiful thing. Morris grew up an only child but did not feel alone by any stretch of the imagination. He was loved deeply by and deeply loved his dog Skip.
Another great point made in this book is how Willie Morris learned so much from his dog Skip. He clearly states that the most lasting lessons he has learned about love and loyalty came from knowing his dog.
This book captures so well the love a boy or any human being can have for a pet... I loved the story and highly recommend it!

Actually sought this out to give as a gift to a very big fan of Shelby. This work is tremendous and for the fan or the enthusiast a brilliant read.

Bought this after I went on a self guided tour of Gettysburg one gray winter day, and wanted to learn more than I did or could remember from Elementary/High School.

Wonderfully written. I just wish there were more of the maps in the book to refer to as he talks about the movements.

Highly recommended

I could write a long review about how good this book is but that would be a diservice to the author. We lost a great historian when Shelby Foote passed. He was a historian who prefered to be remembered as a novelist. As a proud Vermont Yankee, professional historian, and living historian of that period, I tend to get cranky about revisionist views or the whole Sourthern "lost cause" foolishness. However, Mr. Foote, a proud southerner, wrote about the most important event in our nation's history without the prejudice or regionalism, so many bring to the topic. He could write excellent history and tell the story with the readability of a novelist.



We are poorer for his passing but the body of work he left behind on the Civil War will remain some of the must have items in any serious collection of books about that second birth of our nation.



We'll miss you Shelby but thank you for what you left behind.

Imagine, if you can, a book written by a modern historian that actually seeks the truth. Imagine a book written by a modern historian that is not slanted to promote his/her politics. Imagine a 20th century historian that does not even mention the sexuality (alternative or otherwise), of any historical figures in an entire book.
If you are looking for "the truth" at Gettysburg, "Stars In Their Courses" is for you. Shelby Foote is a fine author, and has written the book in a captivating manner that I highly esteem. Pick this book up and give it a try, one chapter should do the trick. You will have a good feeling afterward that you have learned something worthwhile about American History.

Heth upon hearing a rumour that Early's men had over looked a suppy of shoes (many of his men were barefooted) when they passed though Gettysburg the week Sent his lead brigade under Johnston Pettigrew to investigate. Johnston Pettigrew returned on thr 30th of June, mindeful of Lee's warning not to bring on a battle till the whole army was at hand, prudently withdrew when he encountered Federal troopers along a creekbank west of town.
Heth still wanted those shoes so he took Pettigrew with him to repeat what he had seen to Hill. Hill responded "The only force at Gettysburg is calvalry, probably a detachment of oberservation. Mead's infantry are still down in Maryland and have not struck their tents." Heth was quick to reply "If there is no objection, I will take my division tommorrow and go to Gettysburg and get those shoes." "None in the world" said Hill.

Thus what started out as a movement for shoes ended in prehaps the most important battle of the War!

Sheby Foote is a master story teller who turns history in to classical literature. He includes many maps to help understand the grand movement of both armies.

Standing in the way of Heth's men to'get those shoes' was John Buford, a tough, Kentucky-born regular with a fondness for hard fighting. Though Hill was correct that at the moment there were only cavalry in Gettysburg, these troops (two brigades) were armed with the new seven shot Spencer carbine. They belong to Reynold's Corps who's infantry were that night camped just six miles from Gettysburg.

What would you do to 'get those shoes'?

*The title is from John Buford addressing his troops on 30 June 1863. "....You will have to fight like the devil until supports arrive."

Simon Wiesenthal is best known as the man who had been indefatigable and single-minded in trying to bring Nazi criminals to justice as long as there was a single one of them left. For him this was an absolute moral imperative and something that he felt he owed to the memory of the murdered millions of Jews, of whom Wiesenthal could so easily have been one: he was the survivor of a succession of concentration camps: the Janowska camp outside Lvov, Plaszow (the camp of Schindler's List), Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen, and finally Mauthausen. It may come as a surprise to some readers that Wiesenthal was sensitive to the moral problems raised by the issue of forgiveness - yet this book is a moving meditation on that theme. According to his biographer, Hella Pick, Wiesenthal had `always considered it his most important book'.

Cruelty and casual murder were everyday occurrences in the Janowska camp, and are described in gut-wrenching detail in the first half of this episode from Wiesenthal's life. While doing slave labour at a military hospital near the camp, he was secretly brought to the death-bed of Karl, a gravely wounded 21-year old SS officer whose conscience was wracked - not just at death's door, but apparently immediately after the event - by his participation in a horrific massacre of Jews in Dnepropetrovsk. The officer got a nurse to find `a Jew', who happened to be Wiesenthal, to whom he could make his confession and from whom he could seek forgiveness. Wiesenthal wanted to get away; but something - apart from the dying man's grip - made him stay to hear him out. A Catholic priest later told him that that alone should have helped the man to die in peace, since confession and genuine repentance are more important than any absolution. But at the end Wiesenthal left the room without saying anything. Quite apart from the sufferings he was himself undergoing at the hands of the SS just then and from his expectation of death at their hands at any moment, it was not for him to offer forgiveness on behalf of the victims of Dnepropetrovsk. But the issue haunted him - had he done the right thing? After the war he sought out the SS man's mother. The young man had come from a devout and Social Democrat family who were distressed when their son had joined the Hitler Youth and even more when he had volunteered to join the SS. But the mother was convinced that her son had been a good man. Wiesenthal said nothing to her about what her son had done... The short but haunting book charges the reader to put himself in Wiesenthal's shoes and to ask himself `What would I have done?'

Before publishing his book in 1969, Wiesenthal sent his manuscript to a number of distinguished thinkers for their response, and the comments of ten of them were included in the first edition. Further contributions were made by others to the 1997 and 1998 editions: there are now 53 altogether, and they make up nearly two-thirds of the book. They include - to name only the most famous - those of the Dalai Lama, Cardinal König, Primo Levi, Deborah Lipstadt, Herbert Marcuse, and Desmond Tutu.

Some of the respondents seem to me to veer away from the question Wiesenthal had posed, and draw a distinction between forgetting and forgiving; others discuss the question of collective guilt (some reject it; others blame all the bystanders) - interesting, but irrelevant in the context of this story. Almost all agree that whilst individuals can forgive offences committed against themselves, no human can forgive in the name of other victims. In such cases, if the victims cannot be asked because they are dead, perhaps only God can be asked for forgiveness - though one respondent says that God was hardly fit to forgive something which He had after all allowed to happen. And the Jewish tradition has it that even God will not forgive the unpardonable sin of murder. It is unpardonable, because it is the one sin for which reparation is impossible. The Christian tradition, basing itself on Jesus asking God to forgive them, `for they know not what they do', and on the idea that you must hate the sin, but not the sinner, shaped the answer of some Christian respondents. Some say that forgiveness is not only a boon to the penitent, but also for the victim, freeing him from the burden and poison of hate. Two Asian contributors, one a survivor from the Khmer Rouge and the other a victim of the Cultural Revolution in China, blame only the top leadership, and have some understanding for those who were brainwashed.

One respondent hopes that Karl will rot in hell; others also refuse to accept the genuineness of his repentance, indeed stress the offensiveness of him putting a Jew - chosen not as an individual but picked at random - under the moral burden of hearing the confession and being asked to forgive. Wiesenthal at least saw Karl as an individual and is capable of some compassion towards the dying man and later towards his mother (but one respondent thinks that Wiesenthal did wrong to shield her from the knowledge of what her son had done).

These are just some of the responses to Wiesenthal's question. It is a question addressed to all of us, and it is not surprising that this book has been used as a text in many courses on the Holocaust.

Multiple issues arrived ahead of schedule and are in new condition.The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness (Newly Expanded Paperback Edition)

A wonderful short story of 100 pages, written very well. The opinions of all the commentators afterwards on Wiesenthals dilemma is very intriguing. This book gets you involved, and could be the best book ever written on the topic of forgiveness. You just can't help but think deeply about the author's decision to forgive, and also about forgiveness in your own life.

This book is a must for anyone who wants to understand the mortal dilemas which affected those who suffered so much from the violence of the holocaust. Amazing that ther author was able to retain his huaminity in the face of such evil, and a testament to his moral character.

This book focuses on a cogent question by way of a true story and invites response from all sorts of people with pertinent experience, providing biographies of these respondents. The topic is forgiveness. I found the analysis by Dennis Prager, an L.A. talk show host, the most understanding of Christian/Jewish outlooks and Jose Hobday's perhaps the best of the Christian contributions. I am eager to discuss it with members of my theology group.

This book is a great read. It is refeshing to be able to read words, thoughts and dreams from people as they perform such honorable duty overseas. This book is powerful and should be required reading for all, especially Americans.

Some anti-war activist may think it is "pro-war" but it isn't just that. This book reveals personal thoughts and challenges faced by American military personnel in wars from the Civil War until the later conflicts in the 20th century. It is pro-war, anti-war and everything in between.

This book reminds me of the sacrifice that so many make for their country. It is a great tribute for those who have served.

I actually read a review about this book and gave it as a gift to my sister-in-law who teaches high school history. She LOVES it and told me it was an amazing collection of actual letters. She said all of the teachers that she works with have been borrowing it!!

I received this book as a gift because my family knows I love reading personal histories from those who lived it and "War Letters" seemed perfect for that. I enjoy learning what life was like for the average citizen in an era, whether its someone riding the Erie Canal in 1840, a foot soldier in the American revolution, or a journal from the Civil War.

This is a remarkable book and taken individually there are many, many heart-rending emotional stories that probably need to be read by many people. It does in fact put a personal face on war. Because it is a collection of letters, the book is easily read in short spurts; you don't want (and shouldn't) read this book quickly.

I only gave the book 4 stars because I actually found it hard to read. While the personal letters (the spelling, mannerisms of the authors) help tell their stories, it also keeps the book from developing any flow. Some letters are agonzingly slow to read and understand. I'm certainly not faulting the authors or their stories; but if you're looking for a great, well-written, smooth-flowing story that you can't put down, this isn't it.

i only gave it three stars because many of the stories were more about patriotism than about the war themselves. Of course every book has its bias so its still a useful and moving read when taken with this grain of salt.

This book is awesome, I have read it numerous times. My heart goes out to the letters writers and receivers... I urge you to spread the word of this book... It will really open your eyes to see that Military Personel and their signifigant others are real people, with real feelings... I really look forward to another book like this coming out. I will definately buy it.