Cultural Books

Felice Vinci
The Baltic Origins of Homer's
Epic Tales:
The Iliad, the Odyssey, and
The Migration of Myth
(Inner Traditions, Rochester, VT) 2006
xiii+370 pages
ISBN 1-59477-052-2 (pb)

Critiqued by Frederic Jueneman

As perhaps an interesting preliminary aside, Roman author Felice Vinci's original 1995 book in Italian, Omero nel Baltico ("Homer in the Baltic"), was highlighted several years ago with a précis of his study of Homer's epic Iliad and Odyssey. Originally it was met with some skepticism; but hopefully since, it has captured the notice of some attentive classical scholars, who had no preconceived notions of their own, to further the study of Homeric lore. Now, finally, the full-scale English language version is widely available for critical analysis. (A contemporaneous Russian edition has also been recently published.) And, it might be amusingly mentioned that Vinci's popularity has since risen in Scandinavia, as these peoples were given a revitalized legacy, but his esteem has proportionately declined in Greece, since he has uncharitably taken away the cherished and hoary heritage of Homer from Aegean waters and moved it en masse into the Baltic. Notwithstanding, Vinci has done his homework remarkably well, as his extensive knowledge of Homeric Greek, as well as of ancient history and literature, comes through clearly.

The Foreword to this edition is by Joscelyn Godwin of Colgate University, a scholar who might be termed a student of esotericology (study of the occult), but who wouldn't be among my first choices as a preface author. Yet, his extensive knowledge of obscure esoteric practices and cabalistic lore from around the world puts him in a somewhat unique position. Such antiquated if otherwise unorthodox lore places almost all significant mythic events near the Pole, a premise that highlights the basic hypothesis of Vinci's repositioning of Homer's epic in the north.

This reviewer's only problem--albeit a minor one--is that Vinci has opted for literal, historic names and faces on what may otherwise be universal symbolisms, if not generic mythic themes. in Homer's epics, despite the fact that extensive Achaean and Trojan genealogies are sprinkled throughout these poems. Moreover, having been involved during an early editing process, this reviewer may also seem to have a conflict of interest in writing this critique; however, to be sure, there aren't many so intimately acquainted with Vinci's effort.

It should be said about both the Iliad and Odyssey, despite their heroic premise--if the discerning student of Homer hadn't otherwise noticed it--they are essentially Travelogues par excellence. But, even more than this, the Iliad is a compendium of peoples and cultures from various ports-of-call around the Baltic world, as outlined in exquisite detail in Book 2, "Catalogue of Ships," while the Odyssey itself more fancifully outlines economic trade routes taken by these intrepid Nordic seafarers, under the rubric of Ulysses' adventures, along with the constant dangers and other vicissitudes of wind, weather, and shoals that can trouble courageous mariners.

Homer seems to have efficiently used the Trojan War as the pivotal epic theme to highlight Baltic civilization, culture, and concomitant malignant unrest during the Sub-Boreal climatic plunge in the early second millennium BC, with the resulting armed conflicts for more habitable and sustainable territories, coupled with the ongoing quest for less frigid environments. These hostilities, coupled with the encroaching freeze, inexorably contributed to the eventual disintegration of Nordic society that finally impelled both their southward and their southeastward migrations to more temperate seaport climes. And this, in turn, was perhaps exacerbated by the eruption of Thera in the Mediterranean circa 1627 BC, as determined by dendrochronology (tree-ring dating). However, apparently not everyone did leave this increasingly Frigid Zone, as hardier peoples did remain in the northern climes to eke out an existence and evoke further Nordic legends and tales. Homer's epic is perhaps the only surviving classic from that epoch, as others may well have been lost. And even here, there seems to be the ghost of two Homers, as the Iliad and Odyssey are each stylistically distinct and dissimilar, as if they were orally relayed and later penned by different authors.

The literary artifact of the quest for the affections of Helen of Troy emphasizes one aspect of their regional cultural and moral values, but on this Vinci is silent except to comment that the heroine Sita is similarly abducted from her betrothed Rama in the Hindu Ramayana.

Further, these so-called "trade routes' in the Odyssey, are both a mnemonic of those sea passages and a verbal itinerary of what would otherwise have been forgotten and hence lost by these migrants. The superlative detail in Homer's epic lyrics are therefore not merely poetic hyperbole, but arrows-in-time of Mediterranean and Anatolian, if not, according to Vinci, Aryan, heritage, as well as tangible, albeit arcane literary directions to their former locales. That they were indeed lost and forgotten, it is our present task to remember and find them once again.

Vinci's reconstruction used the Greek biographer and moralist Plutarch (46-120 AD) as his initial guide for the identification of the Homeric Isle of Calypso, Ogygia (Stóra Dímun), off the coast of Norway in the Faeroe Islands. And, that these sea route mnemonics had also been forgotten and lost is noted in the writings of the geographer Strabo (63 BC-24 AD) and earlier historian Thucydides (471-400 BC), who thought Homer was a good storyteller but a rather poor geographer, where many Homeric islands are either missing or misplaced in the Mediterranean. Vinci attempts to amend these ancient erroneous impressions, as well as those of contemporary scholarship, with what might be termed geographical, morphological, and literary archeology. The actual physical digging and future confirmation of his arguments he would leave to the field archeologists. But, he has also left a pile of detritus for the philologists and historians, as there are still many linguistic and chronological problems.

One never knows what one might find while unearthing literary relics. Fossils are where you find them, as every paleontologist will acknowledge. Some plots of ground are more fertile than others, but the trick is in finding them. Hellenic authors and their present-day progeny have looked in vain in the Aegean for the likes of Homer's "long isle" Dulichium, "sandy" Pylos, Achilles' home of Phthia, and "white-cliffed" Cranae. They never had really existed in Mediterranean waters. But, they all have place in the Scandinavian world, which is where Vinci has discovered such vestiges of literary fossils, not only in Homer but also Saxo Grammaticus and the Icelandic Eddas, and parts of the Finnish epic Kalevala, among others.

The Danish historian Saxo Grammaticus (1150-1220) recorded parallel legends in his Gesta Danorum (Danish History), which dovetail Nordic legends in many respects with the Homeric epics, where occasionally even the names look familiar. In like manner, both the poetic Elder Edda (12th century) and the Younger Edda, penned by Snorri Sturluson in the following 13th century, have such corresponding themes where Nordic gods play the analogous roles of the Homeric heroes. One wonders if Saxo and Snorri previously had read Homer, or if these were from independently homomorphic tales. In the Kalevala, Väinämöinen has a leg scar comparable to Ulysses' childhood injury; and similarly, one might compare the godlike smithys from the far north, notably Ilmarinen and Hephaestus, who fashioned armor for their respective Finnish and Achaean heroes. Moreover, such oblique references appear throughout Indo-European mythic literature, much further afield than either the Mediterranean or the Baltic.

Where Saxo outlines the history of the Danes in lower Scandinavia, principally Denmark, Homer--by way of Vinci--describes the rest of the Baltic world, although Saxo does look eastward and places the Hellespont in the Gulf of Finland, far from the Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey, which is most unlike the sea that Homer called "wide" and "boundless."

Vinci's repeated excursions into etymological concordances are fascinating, but not fully convincing at least until further evidence is forthcoming, despite his caveat that "considerations based on geography and climate are far more reliable than similarities in place-names." Nevertheless, the poetic clustering of Homeric homonyms in names and places from both the Mediterranean and the Baltic worlds frames a persuasive argument.

His occasional references to the loss of the linguistic element "v"--the digamma--from ancient pre-Homeric Greek could well be such an etymological fossil and a potential linguistic springboard for additional appraisal. (The digamma had fallen into disuse except for an Aeolian dialect.) For example, Livy records the flight of Antenor with his Eneti allies after the fall of Troy, which might account for the Etrurian founding of a Veneti seaport colony later known to us as Venice, although the recorded history of this city just dates from our own 5th century. Similarly, the missing digammate prefix in the word "Achaean" would make "Vachaean" sound like "Viking." It's unfortunate that Vinci's protracted discussion of the linguistic significance of the digamma was edited out of this edition. However, there's lots more room for further philological study, to add to what has already been done long before Vinci came on the scene.

It has also come to the attention of this reviewer that Etruscan tombs in northern Italy frequently commemorate themes from both the "Trojan War" and the "Seven Against Thebes," an otherwise unaccountable provenance unless both ancient Troy and Thebes were originally located in the north. Interestingly, to confound this puzzle further, Vinci adds, "Thebes was not an Achaean city and did not take part in the Trojan War." This makes one wonder why the Etruscans venerated such funereal encomiums if their forebears did not participate in the Achaean-Trojan conflict. Even so, Etrurian origins are thought by received wisdom to be formerly from northern regions. In addition, Vinci does identify today's quaint Finnish village of Toija near the coast in southwestern Finland as being the putative site of the mythical Ilium of Homer, far from the Anatolian site at Hissarlik on the shores of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean that was uncovered by Heinrich Schliemann circa 1873.

In the Odyssey Homer describes an immense "flowing away" (ápsoros) current plowing silently through the ocean as Potamós Okeanós (literally "Blue River") that has all the earmarks of the Atlantic Gulf Stream, of which we presumably attribute its discovery to Benjamin Franklin circa 1770. The 8th century BC poet Hesiod had also remarked on it, which leads one to think that much of Homer has been swept aside by scholarly oversight when their attention is more-or-less rigidly confined to the Mediterranean. It also augurs for an Atlantic voyage of Ulysses to more distant and exotic ports-of-call, which may well have been as far west as Iceland, Greenland, or--heavens forfend!--the eastern seaboard of the Americas.

The vast plains of Homer's world do not reside in the rocky crags and spires of the Aegean; the terrain of the Iliad speaks of rolling hills and secluded seaports, specifically the harborage of Homeric Sparta, which otherwise is located far inland in the Mediterranean Peloponnese. Nor, for that matter, the non-Greek Homeric sources of tin, copper, iron, and particularly amber, although scattered artifacts have been found at Mycenae and other Mediterranean sites, despite similarly scattered ore sites in Anatolia, in and around the Black Sea. In the northland there are ancient copper mines in the Shetlands and tin ore in Cornwall, with immense iron deposits found in northern Sweden on the Gulf of Bothnia, and of course amber in areas rich in conifers. Magnetite from Sweden may have been the origin of ancient but crude compasses, which guided these daring ancient mariners through foggy seas across the ocean to Iceland, Greenland, and even the Americas for exploration and additional resources. Until the collapse of the warm Atlantic climatic phase prior to the second millennium, such seafaring across an oceanic expanse would certainly be possible, if not probable, during more temperate meteorological conditions.

So too, found in the far north, are prized gold and silver, which adorned the breastplates and shields fashioned by the gods for the Achaeans, perhaps along with Plato's celebrated orichalcum. Some of the world's finest gold, as well as silver, are found in Lapland in the northern extreme of Finland. Curiously, the precious orichalcum of Plato's fabulous Atlantis may turn out to be the platinum mined in the Urals. But, these minerals are less easily accessed today as they might have been during a pre-glacial Boreal phase--relatively ice free--several thousand years ago.

The climate of the northland underlies the Odyssey portrayals of "close-fitting" garments and long tunics, wrapped around "like the peel on a dry onion." And, in the Iliad, we similarly read of "thick furs" and "thick cloaks and blankets." All such descriptions are of Bronze Age clothing as found in Scandinavian burial tumuli, even as to the golden shoulder buckle worn by Ulysses to fasten his cloak.

Wind, fog, and rain also afflicted the combatants during the remarkably short season of the Achaean-Trojan skirmishes, where often one warrior could not see another. It should be said that the Iliad itself actually describes just a month-long finale of the ten-year hostilities over what appears to be an ongoing turf war, disregarding the overlay of Homer's plot theme in the quest for the satisfaction of honor and Helen's return to the court of Agamemnon. The constant references to inclement weather, and even the occasional allusions to ice and snow, all seem to denote unrelenting characteristic atmospheric conditions in the northlands. It also appears to this reviewer that the Achaeans wanted to once-and-for-all bring the economic dominance of Troy to its knees. In fact, the artifice of the "Trojan Horse," described only in the more imaginative Odyssey, may be an early description of a siege engine to breech the timbered walls of Troy.

The long winter nights of the polar climes north of the Arctic Circle do not rule out anything significant in the underlying themes of myth, where, for example, Persephone spends her half-year in the gloomy company of her husband Hades, brother of Zeus. Or, where Ulysses drifts northward with the Potamós Okeanós from the Isle of Circe to the Cimmerian land of Styx to consult with the ghost of Tiresias, the erstwhile king of Thebes. During Arctic winters we have both the light of the Moon during its periodic phases to illuminate the tundra, and the sometimes-spectacular aurora borealis as the porphyréen îrin (colored arch) spread across the heavens by Zeus for the aesthetic benefit of mortals. Nightfall in the Arctic does not mean it precludes activity, mythological or actual.

But, when the Sun's light finally begins to gradually reappear through the recurring twilights of spring, Homer speaks of "revolving dawns" that can only be observed in the far north, not in continental Europe nor the Mediterranean. Furthermore, the curious hapax legomenon of Homer--amphilyke nyx--is a linguistic fossil referring to the "dimly-lit night" during which Achaeans and Trojans fought during the day and throughout the Arctic dusk and into the following day, a phenomenon only experienced during early or late summer months in far northern climes. In another instance, King Nestor of Pylos recommended that campfires should surround each Achaean encampment; but, without any further clarification by Homer, most scholars assume that this advice was for discouraging potential Trojan infiltrators or from a surprise attack. However, according to classicist Alberto DiPippo of Univ. of Santa Clara, since there's no dark nighttime per se in far northern summers, such well-placed campfires would more realistically discourage the abominable insect infestation that usually plague such humid polar regions during the summertime.

This brief critique is but a small part of what Vinci has laid out for the reader, since we haven't even touched on what these ancients ate or drank, or did for their amusement, or even as to the ultimate migration of the Achaeans as ancestors of the Mycenaeans and later Hellenes, and who may even have been the personification of the fabled Peoples of the Sea.

And finally, to indulge in a reminiscence: While editing the first draft of this book some years ago, it was then presciently written "...this is a Homeric world that was once almost irretrievably lost, but at long last has now been found where it has always been."

For those who have actually read and pondered the Homeric sagas, many difficulties present themselves in trying to visualize the battles, the geography and the scenery when compared to the eastern areas of the Mediterranean Sea. In this book, Felice Vinci proposes and very well defends the seemingly outrageous idea that the events described in the epics actually transpired in the Baltic Sea. He contends that these events took place at the end of a particularly warm period, and with the dropping temperatures, the actors of the Homeric dramas fled south and occupied the warmer Mediterranean. Transposing the names of their former cities to their new homes, once things settled down, the epics were put to writing.

This is a bold and exciting assertion. This book explains and defends the premise very well. I strongly encourage people to read and ponder. It is a rare thing when something this bold and of this scope can be conceived and propounded with such dignity and vigor.

Put down whatever you are reading today and get this book!

Making comparisons of climate and geography, including place names, between Homer's ancient Greek classics and the Baltic Sea coastal areas, Vinci engages in intriguing, fascinating, but also well-substantiated speculation on the bases of Homer's works. Eons ago when the epics originated, climate was warmer in the Baltic region. Though it was not as warm as it commonly is in the eastern Mediterranean lands including Greece, Vinci finds references to this one-time warmer Northern European climate in the Odyssey, for example, with its frequent mention of cooler, damper weather often forming mist. Ulysses, the main character of the Odyssey, is more like a Viking seafarer than a typical Greek sailor. Vinci even finds many references in the Baltic region to the Trojan War poetically recorded in Homer's "Iliad." The link between the Baltic region and ancient Greece is strengthened, though not confirmed, by the migrations of Northern peoples to areas of Asia Minor. As Vinci recognizes, "further archaeological corroboration" by experts in different fields would be necessary to confirm his theory. But in pursuing it, this work covers many little-known but interesting and colorful aspects of the ancient European world and also enhances appreciation of the literary style and the cultural material and sources of the works.

It is a curious fact that the geographical descriptions furnished in Homer's Iliad (the story of the siege of Troy) and Odyssey (the story of Odysseus's journey home after Troy's fall) do not easily match the assumed Mediterranean topography. Various prehistorians, historians, archeologists, and linguists have expressed their consternation about Homer's geographical details. It was Plutarch (46-120 A.D.), who in his essay "The face that appears in the lunar orb," unequivocally states that Goddess Calypso's island of Ogygia mentioned in the Odyssey was situated "five days' sail from Britain, toward the west."

Vinci, a nuclear engineer by profession and a passionate classicist by vocation, took Plutarch's statement as a serious clue to search for the geography of the Homeric epics in the North Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean. He has amassed a mountain of evidence in favor of the Baltic origins of both Greek epics. Similarities between the mythologies of the North and the Mediterranean have often been pointed out. Vinci argues that a deterioration in climate around 2000 B.C. caused some of the Scandinavian peoples to migrate south. As time went by, the epics were claimed by the Greeks for their own Mediterranean culture and environment.

What about Schliemann's Troy? Although this intrepid explorer undoubtedly discovered the Mycenean civilization, his claim to have unearthed the city of Troy has never been universally accepted. Already Strabo ( ) denied that the "ancient Ilium ( Troy)" was to be found in Anatolia. A better candidate for the Homeric Troy than the Anatolian town of Hisarlik, excavated by Schliemann, is possibly the Finnish town of Toija, as suggested by Vinci.

Vinci's audacious rewriting of Homeric culture and mythology is a creative proposition, which deserves to be further investigated. He has my full vote of confidence.

[...]

Felice Vinci traces the Greek epic tales of Homer to an original Baltic setting. Scholars have long troubled over the misfit of geographical information that the Iliad and Odyssey relate. Vinci makes a strong case that the Mycenaeans came from a then much warmer Scandinavia and migrated south to the Aegean, taking their epic stories with them. Correlating place names between those in the epics with those in the Baltic and North Sea regions, he pinpoints the locations of every major city, including Troy. Further strengthening his case, he demonstrates the cultural parallels between these mythic tales and others from Scandinavian culture.

His thesis is not as far fetched as this reviewer intially assumed it would be. We can see many places along the east coast of the United States named in honor of cities and towns in England, as namesakes of the original homes of the newcomers to the New World. If Vinci is right, inhabitants from northern Europe migrated south to the Mediterranean area and renamed numerous places in honor of their former homeland as well. Readers of Homer's stories assumed that they described events in this new homeland rather than their possible real places of origin. Many scholars considered these stories to be myths because they fail to fit the Near East setting, when they in fact fit much better in the far north and may represent real events after all. It would be like someone assuming that stories about the English Wars of the Roses occurred along the Atlantic seaboard of North America, where the interrelationship all the places named would be a jumbled mess, when in reality they took place in England, where all the geography actually fits.

Toward the end, Vinci mars his fine research with extrapolated speculation in an effort to suggest that Sumer, the early Hebrew patriarchs and everyone one else from the Middle East started in Scandinavia. This diminishes the legitimacy of his main theory. Had he left out such claims, his case would be stronger.

Vinci himself allows that his ideas rest upon cultural and geographic evidence and need archaeological research to confirm them. His argument is so strong, though, that it alone should be justification to explore physically the places that he identifies as the actual locations of the events of Homer's tales.

I am sure my view of this novel is skewed because I have served in the military and have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. When I reached the end of the text I was shocked to find that the author did not serve in the military. He writes as if he has been on the front lines and lived these experiences.

There were a few sections that I thought were drawn out but over all he captures the essence of being in an unpopular conflict and the hardships of being deployed from the view of the soldier.

As I read this I kept thinking about Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers. Only because, like that book, it is designed to try and help us understand how "normal" people become transformed and forever altered in battle and being surrounded by death. Because this story is written with the extra layer of the Israeli culture, that never should be seen as "almost american" or "almost european", we might begin to understand how the internal struggle there is deep seeded and difficult to pigeonhole. His Lesham's writing is clear and concise and while often humorous, in a Catch 22 kind of way, it is still affecting and meaningful. This is definitely worth the time.

There are many books that address what it feels like to be a soldier. I haven't read many about what it feels like to be an Israel Defense Force (IDF) soldier. I did read the excellent "Adjusting Sights" by Haim Sabato, which, like "All Quite on the Western Front" by Erich Remarque" talks about what it's like to be a soldier in an apolitical world. Beaufort, however, markedly deals with what it's like to be an Israeli soldier. This might be disturbing to some based on your own personal politics. For me, it was eye-opening. It contained so much of the emotional side of war from the point of view of platoon leader Lieutenant Liraz "Erez" Liberti. I felt the bravado, the terror, and the love that pervaded the soldiers' souls during their station at Beaufort, an Israeli-occupied outpost in Lebanon.

I'm not a person who gladly reads war novels. However, I thought I'd give this one a try because I discovered it was about Israel (and not about North or South Carolina as I had previously guessed from its title of "Beaufort") and, within a few pages of the opening of the book, mentioned Qiryat Shemona, a town in Israel in which I had lived when I was younger.

A note by the author at the end of the book made it very clear that all of the characters except for one were fictitious. However, they were based on some real stories of IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers. What stood out in my mind was how true the details - the denied fear, the camaraderie, the agony - of their situation seemed. In addition, I entered a world I'd previously denied in my mind - the utterly horrific situations faced by IDF soldiers (and, most likely, soldiers of other countries as well). Whether their own politics beliefs had a role in placing them there or not, they had a job to do. It had to be done well or it ultimately would place their own lives and those of their comrades in jeopardy. While on civilian leave, the ugly truth of their lives as soldiers had be squelched and only its perceived beauty be allowed to shine forth (Think bravery, honor, patriotism, etc.).

There is one part of this book I found especially touching. It was the part about Mickey Bayliss, a soldier usually wearing a knitted kippa (skullcap used for religious Jews) who decided to remove it while on base. I could see how this was disheartening to Erez. It was also disheartening to me. It was as if Bayliss were saying that his level of spirituality was decreasing. That was so sad.

The story is a brutal but realistic account of the lives of a platoon of soldier. It should be read with the thought how devastating the effects of war are everywhere. It would be wise to note as well that there is ultimately no absolute right or wrong to war. Sadly, war exists and will continue to exist forever.

Leshem, Ron. "Beaufort", (translated by Evan Fallenberg), Delacorte Press, 2008.

Boys to Men

Amos Lassen

If you haven't heard of Ron Leshem's "Beaufort" you will. "Beaufort" which is now available in English (translated beautifully from the Hebrew by Evan Fallenberg, author of the amazing "Light Fell") is the book that the Academy Award nominated Israeli film is based. In its original Hebrew the book won Israel's top literary award and the film went on to win the award for best director at the Berlin International Film Festival.
The story is set in 1999 in the north of Israel and in southern Lebanon during the conflict between the two countries. Lieutenant Erez Liberti, nee Liraz (but nicknamed Erez because his commanding officer feels that Liraz is too feminine) is the main character as well as narrator of the book.
Beaufort is a military outpost that Israel captured from Lebanon in 1982 and it is the focal point of the book. It is at Beaufort that relationships are built between the young Israeli soldiers stationed there and this is what this book is about. Leshem manages to blend historic fact and fictional personages as he tells the story of that period before Israel withdrew from Lebanon.
In order to enjoy the book, no prior knowledge if the situation is necessary and the writing is beautiful--something that does not necessarily happen in a translated work. It reads as a black comedy but what it really is, it seems to me, is a coming of age story. We get a picture of what war is from the point of view of a soldier and even with its crude language and mounting death tolls, this is a story of friendship and Leshem shows us what the bonds of manhood are. Subversively funny and funny at the same time, we read about the horrors and ridicularity of war as well as of the camaraderie of men.
To the very few Israeli soldiers who occupy the fortress, Beaufort is hell and is surrounded by the enemy. Liberti, for the thirteen men that are with him, wears many hats--he is a confessor, a slave driver and a hope for survival against the terrible attacks leveled at the site. It is a tense rime for the young men and death seems imminent. Liberti and his men create their own world and spend a lot of time talking--talking about the things that all young men talk about--women and sex; however they add another topic to their discussions--death and their dead comrades. The guys are frightened, angry and tired. They receive one last order; they are to perform a mission that is to change everything and thereby show just how futile war is.
At a time in out own history when we are engaged in a war with an enemy of which we know little about and in a place of which we also know nothing, it is to our advantage that we read about the horrors and futility of battle. Ron Leshem and his translator Even Fallenberg give that to us and do so beautifully.

The Israeli author Ron Leshem wrote this in Hebrew in 2006 and won Israel's top literary award - "The Sapir Prize". Leshem co-authored the film version of "Beaufort" which won the Berlin International Film Festival's "Silver Bear" for Best Director. And now in 2008 it has been wonderfully translated into English. The story takes place in February 1999 in Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon during the Israel/Lebanon conflict. The main character and narrator in the story is Lieutenant "Erez" Liberti. His real first name is Liraz, but in basic training, at the very first roll call, the platoon commander said: "What kind of a name is that? Liraz? That's a chick's name. From now on you're "Erez", like the cedars of Lebanon." And from there on out he was Erez.

Though this entire story takes place during war, as Israel enters and mans the infamous Beaufort outpost that was taken from Lebanon in a historic battle in 1982, the powerful emotional strength of this story isn't in constant grisly battles of weaponry and uncountable deaths and killings. Though any amount of death is too much and there are horrendous emotional heartbreaking deaths on the battlefield, the strength, power and heart rendering beauty of this story is in the building of the relationships between the young Israeli soldiers. I am a Viet Nam era veteran and when I entered the military I wasn't old enough to "legally" drink, but I was old enough to "legally" kill. I understood that, having been raised to respect and appreciate the price that America has paid for the freedoms we possess. Looking back on my life I thought I was already a man when I entered the service, but I was nothing but a boy. When I got out of the service I was a man, knowing things I wished I never got to know. That's what this story is about. Erez, though only a couple of years older than his troops was not happy with the discipline he saw in his "KIDS" as they got ready for battle, so he runs them into the ground. As the story unfolds the reader gets to learn intimate details about Erez and the thirteen boys/kids/men under his command. Friendships are earned, not born, when everyone's life is on the line every second. I can attest to the fact, that the true mettle of a man, even with all the training in the world, mixed with all the youthful male "bravado" and braggadocio, is not proven or understood fully, until the first mortar's, the first missiles, and the first rockets land in the middle of your platoon! That's when a true "man" is forged.

After the first death in Erez's squad, by my experience, it becomes a necessity to inoculate a close knit group on the battlefield with some form of "dark-gallows-humor" and that's what Erez's "kids did. They invented a game called "WHAT HE CAN'T DO ANYMORE" and it's what everyone played when a friend was killed. I.e. "Hetzl" (I've used a fake name so I won't reveal an individual's death before you read it.) won't be able to get laid anymore... he won't be able to piss off a mountain peak anymore... he won't know his parents were proud of him anymore.. etc. "Gallows humor" at its finest, and it does help you soldier on in your tight knit group where each and every life is dependent on the other to stay alive. As these boys become men, there are gut-wrenching tears shed as the cost of war includes heads literally blown off bodies during missile attacks, arms and legs destroyed, which the soldiers feel is worse than dying. There are attempts through tears to stuff friend's innards back inside him as they realize in horror they can't save a friends life. But through it all, the beauty of friendship and trust and "LOVE" emerges miraculously through the horror of the battlefield, like the beauty of a flower sprouting up through a crack in a deserted sidewalk in a ghetto. This is an unforgettable book that I recommend to all.

I have yet to read this book. But the book is in good condition.

I received the book two weeks ago and finished it in four days. This is a well written, very informative insight into the life of Dr. Shabazz. She was a powerful woman, who did her best to protect her daughters from the evils of the world. Some might say that she sheltered them to much, but who can tell a mother that she's being overprotective of her babies? Against all odds she survived, her support system was outstanding, her vision was remarkable. I enjoyed every moment of this book.

This book gives a lot of insight as well as details from Betty's perspective. At times you feel like you're reading from an autobiography.

This book is not only an informative and revealing biography of one of America's hero's, Dr. Betty Shabazz. This is also a historical biography of a remarkable woman. Most informative is the likeness and kinship many woman can identify with especially struggling mothers, aunts,and grandmothers who find themselves trying to raise young boys alone. Often without the assistance of fathers, grandfathers, and positve male role-models.

Hers not only is the story of being Mrs. Malcolm X, Dr. Betty Shabazz, but also tragically grandmother/mother/counselor to our often time rebellious and misunderstood young black males searching for their fathers and father figures.

But in the mist of this tragic situation her family can and must relish in the life of this remarkable, remarkable Queen Mother Betty.....

Mr. Rickford gives us just that in this important piece of literature.

Nisha Watson
Durham, North Carolina

I would of never in my mind think that a person could write this kind of book it is almost like Betty Shabazz is saying tell my story Tell them I feel really glad that I purchased this wonderful work All women should read it

I found this book to be very informative and very well writen! I particularly enjoyed learning true historical facts that have long been misrepresented, or clouded with partial information. I highly recommend this book to any reader who enjoys history and is interested in learning truth.

I don't know about the book, but the author brings an entire new meaning to the term, "head up".

Call me Ishmal......

Simply put, I love this book. I like the fact that it summarizes the lives of so many African Americans including the famous and the still unknown. I highly recommend this book to any reader seeking information about the lives and consequent impact of some of our heroes.

I bought this book in hardcover when it first came out and since then have bought several copies to give to other people, both black and white, both young and old. Without fail, this book has impacted people, and every one of them has told me how much they learned from this wonderful book.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did a masterful job in gathering these inspiring stories from what has been, unfortunately, the footnotes of history, if they were acknowledged at all. The achievements by black Americans and their contributions to this country have been largely ignored by historians until recently. And even today, many black Americans who were not taught as young people about their heritage remain oblivious to what should be a matter of great pride.

We have taken great steps to equalize human rights, but we still have a way to go to completely obliterate the racial prejudice many of us grew up with. Books like this by people with the stature of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will help get us to where we should be--respecting people of all races, colors and creeds.

What's more remarkable than the informative nature of this text is how it came to be...
An African American sport icon who gained success through one of the primary avenues African Americans have to reach affluence (sports and entertainment) just to use it as an avenue to actually uplift the intellectual level of his community. Well done!
I can't tell you how many tears it brings to my eyes to see a brother who achieve greatness through the stereotypical avenue of sports and actually use his greatness to do the truly great...uplift his people. Though there have been lists and books previous to his on the same subject, it has rarely been done by a person with such influence among youth, and for that I credit him unlike other past atheletes who simply use their stardom to sell grills, orange juice, or try and become rappers.

Peace to the God

"Boat Camping Haida Gwaii" is being reprinted by Northwest Coast Books and will be available from them and from Amazon before the 2008 paddling season. I am very happy about this, as Northwest Coast Books is physically located in Haida Gwaii, and revenues from sales of the book will now go into the local economy. The publisher, Janet Gifford-Brown grew up in Sewell, on Masset Inlet, accessible only by boat. She and her husband, Michael Brown, are experienced boaters who use this book for their own voyages. -NF

As a longtime resident of this beautiful & remote North Pacific archipelago known as Haida Gwaii, I enjoyed Neil Frazier's guidebook very much. It is extremely informative in matters of interest to travellers in this unforgiving marine wilderness, the hard facts of survival. As well, the author shares his thoughts on the ongoing rape of the ancient forests of spruce & cedar for which the Queen Charlotte Islands are famous. His maps are accurate & current, his directions are lucid & easy to follow, and his advice is worth heeding. Very few of Haida Gwaii's 5000 full time residents have been to half of the places that Mr. Frazier has visited. And the author's extensive knowledge of the human history of these islands is evident throughout the text, and is usually reflected through entertaining anecdotes about Islands residents, past & present. The indigenous Haida people especially are portrayed in a romantic light that stirs the imagination. All in all, the book does what a good travel guide should do- it inspires me to want to load up my boat, and head off on an extended boat camping journey of my own, and to once again marvel at the endless majestic beauty that is to be found in every corner of Haida Gwaii.

As a longtime resident of this beautiful & remote North Pacific archipelago known as Haida Gwaii, I enjoyed Neil Frazier's guidebook very much. It is extremely informative in matters of interest to travellers in this unforgiving marine wilderness, the hard facts of survival. As well, the author shares his thoughts on the ongoing rape of the ancient forests of spruce & cedar for which the Queen Charlotte Islands are famous. His maps are accurate & current, his directions are lucid & easy to follow, and his advice is worth heeding. Very few of Haida Gwaii's 5000 full time residents have been to half of the places that Mr. Frazier has visited. And the author's extensive knowledge of the human history of these islands is evident throughout the text, and is usually reflected through entertaining anecdotes about Islands residents, past & present. The indigenous Haida people especially are portrayed in a romantic light that stirs the imagination. All in all, the book does what a good travel guide should do- it inspires me to want to load up my boat, and head off on an extended boat camping journey of my own, and to once again marvel at the endless majestic beauty that is to be found in every corner of Haida Gwaii.

"Boat Camping Haida Gwaii" guides readers not only through the waterways surrounding the Queen Charlotte Islands, but also through the history of the region, and the policies that continue to degrade these coastal areas. The guide is filled with detailed maps as well as pointers about where to land and where recent clear-cuts preclude camping. Even if you don't own a boat or a tent, you will still find the author's discussion of the past and possible future of these islands to be a useful guide for thinking about the fragility of the few "wild places" that are left, and about the price of ignoring the long-term effects of deforestation and overfishing.

Also if you are not a sailer or not going by a kayak, this is a beautiful and great book for all lovers of these islands. I spent recently one week there and this book would have been an
enormous help for planning the trips. Beside the technical information about kayaking, the book contains a lot of
very interesting information about the history, the people, nature etc. Every time I open and read in this book, far away again from this paradise, all my impressions and pictures are
reviving. Should I ever have the chance to go again to the Charlottes, I would put this book at first in my suitcase.

This is a nice book (and a good value) but the only real connection between Bombay and Miami Beach is that the author lived in both places. Sure, both cities have Art Deco but as I looked through this I was startled that the authors tried to make a Miami Beach connection, when the buildings in Bombay appear to be "separated at birth" from places you see in London or Sydney. Have a look at the Victoria Coach Station in London and you'll see what I mean.

Of course this makes sense since India, Australia and New Zealand were all outposts of the British empire.

Bombay Art Deco is a beautiful book in many ways. The colorful photos of the Art Deco buildings complement the well-written prose. Navin Ramani is the perfect person to write such a book. He grew up in a Bombay Art Deco building as a child and now lives in South Florida and has immersed himself Miami Beach Art Deco. He truly loves and respects the architecture and is an advocate for its preservation. He takes beautiful photos, too.

As a Miami Beach Art Deco guide myself, I loved the chapter on BoMi(BOmbay-MIami Beach), A Tale of Two subtropical Deco Cities. The chapter compares the similar climate, seaside geography, optimism and Hollywood ties of Bombay and Miami Beach. On one page is a Miami Beach landmark and on the facing page is a comparable Bombay landmark. The similarities are truly amazing and one could easily be interchanged with the other. For example, the Indian Merchants Chamber (1935-40) is juxtaposed to what is now Jerry's Famous Deli (1940). The caption is "Curves folding in on curves."

I recommend this book to anyone who likes Art Deco. AFter reading this book, you will want to travel to Bombay to see these buildings for yourself.

Myself and my wife have just bought an art deco apartment in Sydney's inner western suburbs where there was a proliferation of small (generally 4-8 residence) deco style blocks built through the 20's, 30's and early 40's. When we were searching out books to learn more about the style elsewhere in the world this book on Bombay Art Deco really stood out, partly because my wife is an early career South Asian historian (with a specialization on modern Delhi) and neither or us had any idea that there was this collection of buildings in Mumbai. Dehli has its own Art Deco architecture exemplified by buildings like the Imperial Hotel which is a mix of Art Deco luxory and imperial Raj projection of power. However the style in Bombay exemplified in this book looks like it's something different again; sub-tropical and closer to holly-bolly-wood glam in parts than imperial grandeur. We'll be traveling to Mumbai next October for the first time to see these buildings first hand and to take some photos - we reckon this book has given us some great ideas on where to go and what to look for.

A superb tribute to the whole art deco movement, this book is also a loving tribute to one evocative facet of Bombay,her art deco glory.

Excellent job Navin, brings back memories of those beautiful cinema halls where we would take in morning shows bunking off from college, walks along the Oval maidan (hearing Wilson Pickett at your place) and up Phirozeshah Mehta road and across Fountain to Rhythm House...past Dhanraj Mahal and into the Sea Lounge for endless refills of coffee patiently poured by Mr D'Souza until closing time.

One of those rare books that makes one say WHAT a city!!

Who would have thought that Bombay would have the largest concentration of Art Deco buildings outside of Miami Beach. There is a photo on pages 272-273 of Marine Drive, Bombay and you could be forgiven for thinking, at a quick glance, that this might be Ocean Drive, Miami. Navin Ramani reveals the background to this remarkable architectural heritage in the front of his book: the opening of the Suez Canal, a merchant class settling in Bombay, the city becomes the center of the Indian architectural profession and extensive land reclamation from 1929 all helped to create a unique Far Eastern Deco habitat.

The book's many photos show plenty of apartments and commercial buildings with their concrete curved lines, geometric floor patterns and streamlined appearance. It's unfortunate though that the photos also show plenty pipe-work and aircon units spoiling the external look of so many of them. It is the movie palaces that really show off the Deco style. The interiors of the five featured bubble over with streamline curves, recessed lighting and flamboyant marble floor patterns.

Ramani's book will surely be the definitive one about Bombay deco but I was rather disappointed with many of the author's photos. They lack a sharpness and the color is rather muted and dull. I became aware of this when I compared them with Arnold Schwartzman's clean, focused photos of Deco LAndmarks: Art Deco Gems of Los Angeles and in fact there is a good example of the photographic difference in Ramani's book on pages 256-257, on the left is a dull, flat photo of 63 Marine Drive, Bombay and the right a similar looking Hotel Victor in Miami but the photo is sharp, clean and colorful. Still, despite this Bombay Art Deco is certainly worth having if you love this exuberant architecture.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

The first portion of this book follows the young nomad Fadumo as she travels and wanders with her family in Somalia. The descriptive writing of Somalia and the scenes laid before the reader are simply breathtaking.
Then we follow the young girl as she undergoes FGM (female genital mutilation), becomes ill and travels to Germany for medical treatment. Eventually she marries and becomes a fighter against FGM.
A must-read for those wanting to see a woman's life in Africa and how FGM affects the young woman's life.
It is also an interesting read about the choices she takes in her life and the other women in her family who remain subservient and stuck.
Although how much of this is determined by her father who let her live with one uncle who was very giving and caring ---while her sister Khadija ended up with another uncle who was abusive and cruel.
In closing, this book is a quick read and you won't be disappointed.

This book is very well written. It makes the reader aware of female circumcision and the problems associated with it.

Excellent - very enlightening to a women's crisis and so well written.

Can you imagine being born into a Somalian nomad family, and then, because of illness and the luck
of the tribe, being transported first, to a life of relative luxury, in the capitol city and ultimately to
Germany? The transition from one distinct culture to another in Europe reminds all of us of the need
to respect those aspects of traditions which bind people together and try to alter, as humanely as possible,
those traditional practices that do injury, particularly to women. This is a wonderful, courageous story.

This book was difficult for me to read because of the subject. I was not prepared for the female mutilation chapter. I kept reading because I wanted Mrs. Korn to overcome her obsticales both physical and emotional. It was hard to beleive that there are places in the world that actually allow such a practice. It certainly makes it clear that men in Somalia are the ruling force and women are mere vessels for having children and being slaves to their husbands. There was a point where I even got tears in my eyes this story touched me so much. I must say towards the end I did get a bored with all the politics and preaching. I know these things are important and more people need to be aware of it but I was more interested in Mrs. Korn's personal journey. This is a must read especially for women.

My children and grandchidren love this story. I bought the book to read to my youngest grandchild, who is 2 and a half. We love both the story and the pictures. We also have fun braying, barking, meowing and crowing like the heroic animals in the story. When her dad was her age we lived in Germany and visited Bremen and saw the statue of the animals.

The illustrations are delightful for this traditional story. A great gift for any child or adult.

Some animals were going to Bremen Town to be musicians. On the way they saw some robbers. They kicked them out and the animals never went to Bremen-Town.
The donkey kicked the robber with his hind legs, that is why I liked the book.

The animals were going to Bremen Town to be musicians because the owners were going to kill them. On the way to Bremen Town, they met some robbers. The animals stole a house from the robbers.
I liked this book because the robbers looked funny.

Of all the stories my father read to me as a child, this was my favorite. Its endearing story of self-discovery is timeless, and not to mention quite humorous for a six year old boy. It reminds me of a time far less complicated and will thus always hold a special place of affection for me. This was the Catcher in the Rye of my Elementary years. I would highly recommend this to anyone with children looking for quite simply a flat out good story to read them that they will enjoy.

The fates of those who sacrificed during the 60s to make America a more perfect union were varied; Some were cut down by assassins. Others re-defined the struggle by securing historic victories at the ballot box. Most simply returned to anonymity, choosing to bear the scars of battle in silence.
While many of these heroes remain unsung, the legacies of the more prominent among them have been well-documented in mainstream media outlets dutifully marking civil rights anniversaries as a way of gauging how far we've come since then. In some cases, these stories have now been re-told so often they seem dated and stale.
But John Blake's compelling new book, "Children of the Movement" traces those human blood lines forward and breathes life into these intimate -- but largely unknown-- family portraits. His interviews with the sons and daughters of those who fought for America's soul are at once inspiring, depressing, universal and utterly unpredictable.
Blake's sparing but effective writing frames each vignette, putting them in context without overwhelming you with tons of historical detail that might have detracted from the narrative. His book is not only a pleasure to read, but also informative, captivating and timely.
Most of all, "Children of the Movement" reminds us that while the struggle for civil rights has changed much in a generation, it is still far from over.

This is really one of the most fascinating books to deal with the civil rights movement in recent years. The author does not rehash old ground, but instead strikes out to see what happened to the next generation born of the activists, heroes, martyrs--and even the repulsive racists--of the 1960s. The older generation that we all know in another context turn out to have been parents ranging in quality from wonderful to awful--and those who knew them 40 years ago may sometimes nod their heads knowingly and say "Told you so!" It adds a human element to our knowledge of that great movement that shaped modern America and inspired the world.
I should add that I took this book with me on two hurricane evacuations this year (you can see that I am from Florida, The Hurricane State), and I could not have wanted for a better literary companion. I recommend it highly.
It does not pretend to tell the whole story of the civil rights movement--but it does tell an aspect of it that no one before John Blake has put between hard covers. No library dealing with that era is complete without this book.

As a child born in the late 70's, I've often felt, in some sense, that the Movement was something in the "past tense"...something that was really (according to History Books) only associated with MLK and other "icons".

After reading Children of the Movement, I realize I was reading the gaps of my childhood history books. I was also hearing the story told from the children...the youth of the 50s/60s...the ones that essentially "gave up" their fathers and mothers for the cause.

Wow...what sacrifice...John Blake makes you look at MORE than the leaders we often hear about, but forces the reader to face how the movement affected children of the time and how the pain and loss weighs on all of us today.

The only way to ensure this perspective is HEARD is to recommend this book to an educator you know...a History professor, a Social Studies teacher...someone who can truly ensure that children today absorb this rich perspective...

This book should be required reading for anyone from the age of 10 to 100, but particularly for those members of the last several generations who may take certain freedoms and rights for granted. For anyone who may be only slightly familiar with the struggles, sacrifices, pains and scars of those who fought for civil rights in America, Blake's book is a vital history lesson, presented in fascinating narratives that captures the reader's attention from beginning to end.
By focusing on the children of the movement, Blake gives a fresh and often unpredictable view of the civil rights movement. The extensive use of photographs was an important compliment to each and every chapter.

John Blake's book, "Children of the Movement," provides a powerful, if painful, glimpse into the heart and soul of the Freedom Movement of the Sixties, as, an insightful portrait of its legacy, through the lens of some of its children--one of whom is my own daughter, Ericka Abram. Blake's tenderly-written report reveals many common themes in the perspectives and lives of these offspring, the most compelling for me being that Movement parents seemed to have been so committed to our cause and protecting our children from the social ills we fought, we forgot to tell them what and why we were fighting. The resulting common disconnection between parents and children is more broadly reflected in the confusion and despair of today, in dealing with unrelenting racism and poverty and oppression, that stand in the stead of the clarity of purpose and commitment of the past. Blake's book opens the door to a healthy discussion toward healing familial wounds and easing generational divisions so as to bring us together in a new effort to finally find freedom in America.

The book arrived in a timely manner and was exactly as described. This title has great artwork.

I have found that the best way to learn about many subjects is to pick up a children's book from the library. In a good children's book, the facts are clearly and engagingly laid out, often with wonderful illustrations. You finish the book knowing that you have learned something you didn't already know, and it was explained so simply and clearly that you are not going to forget what you've learned. Cleopatra by Diane Stanley is that kind of book. While it is written "simply", it does not talk down to the child or to an adult reading the book. It just says what happened in a memorable way. Books like these teach history the way it ought to be taught. Highly recommended.

This book isn't a history or academic work. In fact, it's a picture book designed for children ages 7 and up. However, that should not suggest that it's not worth a read even for adults as an introduction to the life and times of Cleopatra, Antony, and the fall of the Roman Republic. The author presents a detailed, fact-based account of the queen's life, including pertinent and amazingly helpful references and quotations from Plutarch's histories. No fictional flourishes were added to richen the story, and though sometimes opinion slips in in a description of a descision or event, the story is very unassuming and true to historical evidence and generally accepted fact.
So, as a short academic text, this book lays out the basics of her life (her marriage and civil war with her brother Ptolemy, wishes for an empire combinging East and West, affairs and marriages to Caesar and Antony, defeat at Actium and suicide in Alexandria,) in an inviting, exciting manner. But, in this case, its more important role is as a picture book, a role that it magnificently fills and excels in. Stanley's illustrations are beautiful and lavish, scenes of the beautiful queen and the people of her life set among breathtaking scenery such as the Alexandrian palace and harbor, the streets of Rome, and flowing sea. One particular favorite of mine is the illustration of Cleopatra's vessel as she approaches Antony's encampment at Tarsus, in which she sits reclining, dressed as Venus, in all of her splendor upon the magnificent boat and splendid sea.
For the fledgling historian (particularly a child interested in history) this book is a must. I recommend it to anyone wanting a springboard from which to learn about the wonderful, tragic, and tumultous life of the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, and the fall of the Ptolemaic empire.

Diane's Stanley's illustrations are masterful, incredibly detailed, and wonderfully expressive; every page (except for the two useful maps) is covered with either spreads that have been delicately painted to look like tile work, as can be seen on the marvelous cover, or has large and intricate paintings, with so much in its compositions that one can look at them repeatedly and find new things to admire.
Stanley's technique is superb, and her medium is gouache.

The history is fascinating and clearly written, and describes the times that Cleopatra lived in as well as what is known about her, which as Staley and Vennema point out, "Everything we know about Cleopatra was written by her enemies", and also, though we know what Julius Caesar, Mark Anthony and Octavian looked like, all we have of Cleopatra's image are crudely carved coins, as her statues were destroyed.
Though only 48 pages in length, each page has either information worth reading and learning (by both children and adults), or is graced by Stanley's beautiful work, making it weighty in content; as an artist and illustrator, I tip my hat to her creativity and skill.

My son borrowed this book from the school library and loved it so much we're buying it.