Germany Books

A wonderful introduction to and overview of the works of one of the only coherent intellectual "schools" of the 20th century. Jay describes the penetrating insights (and weaknesses) of the thought of Adorno, Horkheimer, Marcuse et al., with mercifully little of the psychologizing that one often finds in intellectual history. Ideas and their relation to historical context are the focus, rather than personalities and psyches. The book is readable enough to be attractive for non-academics and academics alike. It would have been nice to have more on the post-1950 period, but the as the subtitle makes clear, this is beyond Jay's purview for this book.

Even though a few years old by now, this is still the finest volume on the (at one time) subversive and all-encompassing attempt at rewriting the understanding of man, with special emphasis on reconciling Marx with Freud. The movement was known as The Frankfurt School, and its leading lights are examined here, both in life and thought, with a special emphasis on the former. Other books have come out since then, some had greater access to previously unavailable documents. Even so, no other book beats Martin Jay's scholarly and eminently readable account. If you must read just one book on the movement, read this one.

This was one of the best books I read in graduate school. After 20 years this is still a great reference for anyone interested in the development of American universities. This work is an essential part of the intellectual landscape to anyone navigating the currents of the reactionary neocon thought, which developed in large degree in opposition to the legacy of the Frankfurt School. While the Frankfurt School's students seemed to dominate academe for a generation or more, the new invisible college is dominated by the reaction to this major stream of thought.

28 years after its initial publication, Martin Jay's "The Dialectical Imagination" is still the best introduction and most indispensable guide to the Frankfurt School's history and thinkers. Jay can easily be forgiven his occasional historiographer's dryness and insistent reminders of the boundaries of his project (I would be a rich man if I had a nickel for every time he writes that "such considerations fall outside of the area of the current inquiry" or something to that effect). Moreover, even if subsequent publications of the translated correspondence and unpublished papers of figures like Benjamin and Adorno have robbed Jay's book of some of its potential for novelty and scoop, Jay still provides the best and most pithy assessments of the major points, and he does so without sacrificing the scholarly rigor that organizes "The Dialectical Imagination."

The book could certainly better fulfill its role as research tool if the publishers would sponsor an updating of the notes and citations; now that everything has been published and republished by presses like Fischer and Suhrkamp in Germany and by the likes of Continuum, Columbia, Harvard, etc., in the English-speaking world, Jay's opus might be more helpful were it not to insist on citing the original issues of the institute's journals, to which most of us simply don't have easy access.

That's a small bone to pick, though, with such a thorough book. Jay's chapter on the philosophical roots of critical theory moves quickly but surely (despite the occasional dependence on disciplinary argot that may slow down readers not steeped in the vocabulary of "isms"), providing a crucial backdrop to his reading of the Frankfurt School's entire intellectual contribution. This chapter grounds Jay's book safely, and the subsequent chapters make good on this very promising start.

"The Dialectical Imagination" is sure to remain the best available introduction to the thought of the Frankfurt School on the whole. I cannot recommend it highly enough for those interested in the history of philosophy in the 20th century, in radical politics, or in developments in literary theory.

Frankfurt school is now a part of history. Not much of its arguments are reproduced now a day. For example, their critical cultural theory opened up the vast terrain of cultural study in capitalism. But their characterizing cultural consumer as dumb passive receiver is too much extreme to be real. Now nobody hold up such a position. Its perspective seems locked in the interwar period. Indeed, the power of the school comes from the distinctive problematic derived from such a peculiar era. But the strength is the source of weakness. But even we don¡¯t follow their lines, we should know what they said at least in cursory manner, for their theories are now classic in each field.
This book must be still the most authoritative history of Frankfurt school from its inception to 1950. but it deals with not only chronological events but also what the first generation of the school, such as Horkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse, Walter Benjamin, and Fromm, worked. This book is the intellectual history of the school. The author illustrates the school against the time of school. As Hegel said, thought is the child of its time. So the thought should be located in the right context to understand. The society of Western intellectuals faced a crisis in the interwar period. The impact was severe especially to German intellectuals. The thought of Frankfurt school is one of the reactions to the crisis. Marin Jay succeeds in reconstruct their time in front of us. This book is the ¡®must¡¯, if you want to be oriented to Frankfurt school.

It's hard to believe this isn't a work of fiction. This guy is filled with hate and rage and loathing as he watches the German-speaking people descend into madness. Incredible writing, powerful ideas. Get it.

It is true that Reck has a sense of class superiority to the Nazi's but that does not obscure his central point--he knew they were monsters--and he died for that. Counts for something you know. The invective is superb and more over Reck recognizes real resistance like the Scholl's (were they aristocrat?) and damns the generals assisanation plot as a an opportunistic move. Furthermore The Nazis crimes were pandemic--the annhilhation of the Jews, but also gypsies--and if one is making measurements which seems to me silly--the obliteration of 20,0000 soviet citizens. By the other reviewers logic if the destruction of the Jews is the question by which Germans will be judged, then Stalin becomes a heroe for saving the bulk of Soviet Jewry --sending them behind the Ural mountains--I don't think I want to go that route. It also explains why Israel refuses to make Dietrich Bonhoeffer a "rightious gentile" which is a scandal.
No The Nazis were monsters such total monsters that any costly resistance derserves honor. This is the best anti-Nazi book theis Jew has ever read.

If, like me, you view the nazi era as a reaction against modernity, this is a book that will cause severe cognitive dissonance.It's Written by a member of the old Prussian aristocracy whose biggest problem with the nazis appears to be their populism. It's laden with classist terms like "canaille" and "mass-man" to the extent that he almost appears to blame german workers for their own alienation which led to the development of nazism. This is not the only dubious historical claim: he seems to believe that ndudstrailisationwas responsble fro the two world wars and not the other way around. Nevertheless, there are enough fascinating insights to make the book worthy of your attention, and it's worth bearing in mind that he wasn't writing with the same sense of historical distanciation that we have. Just remember, the worst thing about the nazis wasn't that they were boorish illiterate charlatans but that they killed 6 million jews and almost brought an end to western civilisation.

I have read this book twice, once in the original edition and then this edition. It is a fabulous book.
As to the Reck's aristocratic prejudice, this is something he is quite clear about, but he is a democrat as well -- hence he praises the opposition for being just that. Also, the individuals who really bear the brunt of his wrath are the Generals, the Junkers and the Kaiser before him who forsook their aristocratic upbringing, and sold out Germany long before Hitler took power, and then flirted with him as a novelty.

It is hard to understand Reck's viewpoint without at least visiting or living in Germany and especially Bavaria -- which is a bit seperatist. Also, note his praise of the Munich uprising -- a communist uprising -- where people were still treated with diginity.

His anger is with the sort of lowering of standards, the rise of the masses spurred on by hate, and constantly bombarded with propaganda. It is truly a remarkable book and one that has tremendous relevance for these times.

The title is a calumny. As his translator, Paul Rubens, points out, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen was a prophet - not in the vulgar sense of one who predicts future events, but a prophet after the fashion of Jeremiah, William Blake and Dostoyevsky: one who comments on the present from the perspective of the Most High. As such, even when his own death is imminent, Reck most certainly does not despair. Like the three individuals mentioned above, he is angered, disgusted, saddened and horrified by what he sees around him; his journal is filled with images of Calvary, the plague, and the Apocalypse; yet he continually strives to see his own and his country's ordeal as a time of suffering and repentance which must be endured to make way for a new and better world. None of which is to say that his thinking is "mystical" in the sense of being vague or escapist; indeed, the immense value of Reck's diary, both as literature and as a historical document, lies in its brilliant combination of sharp observation and lucid analysis. Although he makes the all-too-common error of lumping in the plotters of 20 July 1944 with the many opportunists who tried to dissociate themselves from the regime as defeat began to loom, Reck's analytical passages offer as clear and concrete a picture of the corruption underlying Hitler's Germany as any historian I have encountered. Telling details of life in the Third Reich - the omnipresent thuggery and tale-bearing, the forced barracks-gymnasium atmosphere, the all-pervasive lies and propaganda - spring out of every page through tartly written anecdotes and vignettes. The peculiar detestability of the Nazi functionaries - frustrated schoolteachers and jumped-up mailmen posing as masters of the world - is described and analysed with perception and admirable loathing. This elderly, conservative, royalist aristocrat - a member of a class who, because they did not support the Weimar Republic, are too often labelled supporters of the Nazis - displays a courage, intelligence, breadth of culture and (I cannot emphasise it enough) a faith which makes his journal as moving a human document as the more famous diary of Anne Frank.

For all of my life, I wondered why I am the way I am. And then I picked up this book and was thunderstruck by the similarities between myself and the dueling class of German Officers at the turn of the century. Blood will tell is what I take away from this book.

Quite a lot of insight into the world of German dueling....Dr. Evil has a mansuer scar....shouldn't you?

Seriously....GREAT read!!!!!!!!!!!!

In addition to the dueling aspect which is the subject of this book, it provides an interesting look into the lifestyle of end of the century europe. A few sections come off a bit dry and must be pushed through but that is to be expected in any informative work. One thing I was slightly disappointed with is a lack of a section detailing actual duels the author researched. Weaponry, style, result, and the pretext which started conflict would make for a nice appendix. I would recommend this book to people who wish to look at history from a different perspective instead of just wars and revolutions.

Insightful, witty, and iconoclastic, Kevin McAleer's study of the duel in fin-de-siecle Germany is essential reading. McAleer brings to light a whole subject essential to the development of the modern mind-set, but which has previously been almost ignored by historians. Read alongside Peter Gay's "The Cultivation of Hatred" and "The Naked Self," one gains new insights into the culture of both the ninteenth and twentieth centuries.

Say you were a young German male, a college graduate, a member of a fine family and while at a party a drunken army officer made a crude comment to your girlfriend. Say the time was 1900. You would be honor-bound to challenge the rouge to a duel and probably would not have even questioned whether it was proper or not, whether you would be better off simply letting the insult pass. As a perceived member of the top five percent of the German population considered able "of providing satisfaction" (it was up to you to make the distinction as to whether you belonged, that the officer belonged was indisputable) you would be required to challenge or thus lose all claim to elite social status. You would have seen the slight has not one against your girlfriend, but as one against yourself, your honor, since the perpetrator obviously expected to get away with this insult unpunished. By offering a challenge you became his equal and by accepting it he accepted you. Honor was in the act of coolly facing death at the hands of a worthy opponent, showing your courage. In all an antiquated attitude as seen from our perspective or to some even idiotic, but worthy I think of tempered respect since it showed despite its faults and trivialities a spirit of nobility and honor largely forgotten and almost incomprehensible in our materialistically-obsessed world today.

Kevin McAleer's book, Dueling, The Cult of Honor in Fin-de-Sièle Germany is a brilliant attempt to dissect a society confronted on one side with rationalized industrial modernity and "traditional" concepts of honor, manliness, courage and duty on the other. In a society increasingly dominated by new elites who achieved their status by making money or acquiring an education, the older Junkers saw their concept of "Standesehre" or class honor, as being one of the few unique qualities they retained. As McAleer points out however, the urge of the up and coming elites to the duel was almost insatiable. German Catholic and Jewish student groups, traditionally considered incapable of giving satisfaction by the Protestant Junkers, were some of the most enthusiastic duelists prior to World War I, while dueling among military officers actually declined.

Why did dueling last so long in Germany? In Britain it had disappeared by 1850 and in the US died for the most part with the Confederacy in 1865. Here McAleer goes into the importance of the army in German society, in its still intact aristocracy of that time and in the desire of the newly formed middle classes to ape their social "betters" in all forms.

The book describes the whole process of dueling such as the levels of insult (1st, 2nd and 3rd degree), the duties and importance of seconds, negotiations between seconds, different forms of pistol duels, the student Mensur, a strange variant known as the "American duel" and much more. According to McAleer lethality increased greatly with the introduction of rifled-bore pistols. Still, one in four German duels was with sabers, which were hardly ever lethal. Along the way he destroys several myths about dueling that have come to us through Hollywood, such as the free for all sword fight with flying furniture, obstacle course run around and flowing conversation as well as the act of one duelist blatantly firing into the air. As the author points out, any self-respecting German duelist would have seen this latter action on the part of his opponent as an additional insult, an indication that he was not worthy of even participating in the duel. The author also provides the various German and French language terms in italics to aid in further study. In all a very interesting book that should please anyone interested in German History, the History of World War I, or 19th Century European History.

This is THE book about Charles and Ray Eames. Beautifully printed and designed and with more than 3500 photos to explore the work, year by year, of these two famous designers. The range of work is amazing, furniture (domestic and commercial) films, exhibitions, architecture, books even toys. I have a set of their 1952 House of Cards, a deck of fifty-four playing-card size cards that can be interlocked to create three dimensional structures, a very simple idea beautifully conceived.

If I have a criticism it is that the book does not have an index and that makes refering to it rather frustrating.

I think the book easily reflects the joy and stimulation that Charles and Ray Eames got out of the creative process.

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

2005 REVIEW NOTE Many of the pages in the book are devoted to the short films Charles and Ray created, you can get thirty-five of these on a wonderful six DVD box set 'The Films of Charles & Ray Eames' (ASIN B0009S2K92) they are available individually but cost a lot more than the box.

This is an excellent survey of the work of the Eames studio. It provides a chronological survey of the furniture, films, exhibits, and other work of the studio. It even provides a listing of the Eames staff at each point and time. Lavishly illustrated, it provides photographs of furniture, exhibits, and stills from the over 100 films produced by the Eames's. Highly recommended as the one book you must have about their work.

Charles and Ray Eames were not only creative artistic talents, they were also commercial geniuses (just like George Nelson was). These two talents provided the secret for success that would reward them throughout their life. This book gives in debt view about the vast creative inspiration that Charles and Ray Eames had. It documents in detail how Charles and Ray Eames got their early start (working on projects for the army among others) and how they expanded their line with Herman Miller.
The book covers the entire span from 1940 to the 1970's.
And everything is included, from their early plywood chairs, art and films. The stills that the book includes from their films are truly wonderful. This is a wonderful coffee table book, a joy to browse through. If you like modern design I also suggest to visit the wonderful online archive about George Nelson at WWW.GEORGENELSON.ORG and also the museum archive from Verner Panton at WWW.VERNERPANTON.COM

An exceptionally comprehensive year-by-year summary of the work of the Eames Office from the early 1940s to the late 1970s. Covers everything equally -- from wartime plywood experiments and herman miller furniture to toys, exhibitions, and, of course, films. A must for anyone interested in Eames design. Full of hard-to-find information and photos of rarely seen items.

Is the great book on Charles and Ray Eames I 've even read. The best book on my shelf. Even thought I can't afford to buy them all

I have not read this book. But simply because it is out of print and somewhat obscure now does not change the facts of its history. In its day this was a best seller and made into a famous animated short, "Education for Death" by Walt Disney Studios. Ziemer's work was widely read, not ignored.

Out of print, but definitely worth locating and reading. Fascinating, chilling first hand account of the powers of persuasion and propaganda employed by the Third Reich over the youth culture of wartime Germany. In the vein of "Sacred Blood," "In Pure Blood" and "Motherhood in the Fatherland," this work is especially noteworthy given the hostile climate between races that exists in today's political arena. Terrific resource and interesting reading.

This chilling true account was written by an a man in charge of the American school in Germany who, by a series of miraculous means, is able to get the correct papers in order to visit the schools and other places where the Nazi ideology was starting at the earliest of ages. The read is sometimes quite shocking and disturbing, especially when it involves the young children's attitudes towards "non-Aryans" and the pregnant women's house (as someone else stated).
An interesting note about this book is that it was published in 1941, well before the Final Solution was put into full action. It's ironic that this author used the correct title for the book "Education for Death," since the young boys and girls were ultimately learning to kill. Another area of interest with the publication date is the question why wasn't this book more widely known and read when such events were actually occurring? This author wrote the book for the public to know what was happening, yet it fell upon deaf ears.

Out of print, but definitely worth locating and reading. Fascinating, chilling first hand account of the powers of persuasion and propaganda employed by the Third Reich over the youth culture of wartime Germany. In the vein of "Sacred Blood," "In Pure Blood" and "Motherhood in the Fatherland," this work is especially noteworthy given the hostile climate between races that exists in today's political arena. Terrific resource and interesting reading.

This is an American journalist's account of his 'tour' of the Nazi eductaion system. He visits schools, the Nazi party home for Aryan mothers, and various youth camps. The reading, especially that of the mother's homes, is horrifying...but an eye-opener to how Hitler's system operated. What is truly firghtening is that just a few years of rabid indoctrination turned a civilised people into those described in the book..it is unreal. The children know nothing but that Hitler is literally god and their main purpose in life is to sacrifice their life for this man. But if you can deal with the horror of this book it is truly a good work to read to understand what happened to Germany in the Nazi years.

I am not surprised that this book has unanimous 5 star reviews. John Treadway is a legendary figure in Balkan studies, and is quite rightly regarded as the world authority on the Montenegrin history of this period. He is uniquely able to make the study of Montenegro in the run up to World War One both scholarly and accessible, an all too rare feat in historical writing these days. Buy 10 copies of this book and give them to any historians you know to teach them how to write history properly. Christopher Catherwood, author of THE BALKANS IN WORLD WAR TWO (Palgrave, 2003)

John Treadway has been the most authoratative, brilliant and generally outstanding scholar of Balkan history in recent years, and this is the wonderful book that made his well deserved reputation. You simply cannot understand the Balkans without reading this magnificent book.

Brilliant study about Montenegro and its relationship with Austria-Hungary but also with Russia and Balkan countries, especially Serbia. This excelent book is based on critically confirmed facts and scientific knowledge. Professor Treadway stresses eternal wish of Montenegrins and their king Nicholas I Petrovic Njegos to restore medieval Serb Empire of Dusan Nemanjic: "Ambitious for his dynasty as well as his country and incited by the nationalism of his people, Nicholas dreamed of uniting all Serbs under his aegis and sitting upon Dusan's throne in Prizren" [page 201] I recommend this book to everybody who cares for knowledge.

Treadway has been extremely succesful in writing the dramatic history of Montenegro, its smart king and its brave people. After reading this fine historybook on the "black mountains" the reader will better understand the current trouble on the Balkans. Treadway describes in a detailed way why the two Balkan wars have taken place and what has been the political and geographical outcome of it. The Austrian-Hungarian influence on the European continent at that time as well as the Russian influence makes one see how history repeats itself today. For the current student on Balkan history, for the student on politics in the Balkan and for people who are interested in Montenegrin history this book is an absolute must! Highly recommended

I was lucky enough to have been a student of Dr. Treadway at the University of Richmond. This book was on the reading list for his class European Diplomacy from Bismarck to Hitler. Treadway's intense teaching style as well as his insightful sense of humor are seen in this work. The events leading up to World War I were both complicated, and filled with lots of "what if's..." Treadway concerns himself with the "Powder Keg" of Europe, the Balkans, and presents a unique and facinating overview of the events surrounding the Annexation Crisis, the Scutari Crisis, the two Balkan Wars, as well as the history of Montenegrin relations with Austria-Hungary, Russia, Turkey, and other Great Powers. How did this small country with virtually no resources come to play such a large role in European diplomacy and politics? Treadway answers this question, making his way to June 28th, 1914 and the assassination of Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo at the hand of Mlada Bosnia. Anyone interested in the causes of World War I would be interested in this book, moreso because it is written from the perspective of "the mouse that roared," the small country of Montenegro.

This was Deighton's second book, before he became vaguely hackish and joined the Ludlum/Forsythe "hefty Cold War thriller" gang. Here he has style to burn, definitely influenced by Chandler but not at all a pastiche or pale imitation. His sentences are crisp and always un-cliched; his attitude, as filtered through his nameless British protagonist, is cynical and put-upon and tough as a blackjack. You're more than welcome to picture Michael Caine embodying the anti-hero, as he did in the effective (though a bit uneven) film.

on the second reading I found it quite annoying that Deighton is constantly playing some strange game:

1. Colonel Stok is at least 65 years old (the action takes place in 1963 and he participated in the Russian revolution in 1917 as an adult). It is a big stretch to believe that there are some colonels that are that old but it is impossible to believe that he will wear a corporal uniform to hide his position or that he was a captain in 1945. His name is intentionally mangled and his last name is anything but Russian.

2. Jewish girl is thinking about how special is it to visit her mother on Christmas.

3. French are eager to execute a Communist FTP member for war-time assassination of a collaborator. The whole thing seems quite ridiculous in addition to that in 1963 Commies were one of the biggest political parties in France and would be able to protect some of their own on this matter.

4. The whole 15 years long extremely dangerous affair was going to net just a few millions?????

I will read anything by Len Deighton and did so this past summer.7 books in all.
This was one of the best and I am still thinking about it months later.
His sense of style and turn of phrase includeds all the elements that make a fine writer.

This was the second Len Deighton I read and words escape me as to how I felt about it. The suspense started on the first page and carried through the entire book, with virtually no lapses in the storyline. The characters were extremely interesting and well developed...I could almost picture them as real people in post-war Berlin. I rank this book alongside "The Spy Who Came in From the Cold" and the Smiley trilogy, both by John LeCarre. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a good read.

An oldie but goldie in the cold war spy double double-crossing genre. This has an original 1964 publication date. It came after Spy Story. Some characters recurr in The Ipcress File where the proragonist (nameless in this) is called Palmer. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold had already been written (and we'd had Graham Greene).
I remembered it for the ingenious plotting. Re-reading it I'm struck by the quality of the prose. Later Len Deightons don't contain such fancy writing. He loves describing the shabby and dingy:
"I looked around at Grenade's office: the brown-stained wainscotting, the plaster walls discolored in patches near the ceiling and the old-fashioned metal radiators under which a rash of cream-colored pimples proclaimed the haste of a clumsy painter."

I was greatly impressed by this book. I now use it as a reference for any reading I do on World War II.

I was saddened not to find "Anzio Annie" (aka Leopold and Robert) referenced as such, but comparing google articles I found it to be the "28cm Kanone 5 in Eisenbahnlafette".

I was disappointed to find, as did another reviewer, that mortars and self propelled artillery were not included. Luckily, I had the "German Military Vehicles" catalog to refer to for "Karl" and "Thor".

I would have liked a more comprehensive index by popular names of various artillery. More history of the various railroad guns would have been an added attraction.

Overall, I do like the book. With other reference books and google, it adds to my library.

This book gives historical as well as technical knowledges about German artillery pieces of WWII. And there are lots of photos of them to help reader's understandings. The only regret is there is no chapters for German mortors and rockets of contemparary era. This book, however, should be the best reference to understand German artillery of WWII beyond amature levels.

This is the Best Book on German Artillery of World War II that I have read so far. It covers all artillery from small guns to the biggest Railway and coastal Guns. The technical Data is great and the pictures are very good. It also covers those that were designed but never used in World War II. This is the book for the person that wants to know all about German Artillery in World War II.

The histroy of the development, weapon specifications, ammunition and use of all forms or artillery used by the German armed forces in World War II. Catagories covered include: Field, Infantry, Mountain, Medium, Heavy, Superheavy, Railway, Anti-Tank, Costal, and Recoiless artillery. Illustrated with 250 photos and 150 drawing. Text is by one of today's outstanding writer of military history and technology, Ian Hog

I'm an italian student and I find this book the best one under the tecnical aspect. There are a lot of details, photoes and dates. This is certanly the best catologue of the german artillery of WWII that an amatour can read. N.B.: for the non-english people. Language is quite difficult in this book, it isn't very simple to read.

This well detailed highly insightful book on this formidable weapon of the Kriegsmarine is a must have for anyone interested in the naval actions of WWII. It gives insightful information on these ships, their weapons and the men who manned them, the tactics they used and as their battles.

Excellant book

The content is wide and varied, with coverage of actual actions you don't usually see in this type book. There are many vignettes scattered about telling the story of certain people or operational aspects and events. One problem that may bother some is that there is very little organization to the book. Pictures and information on the the S-boats' typical enemies are also included, but it can be distracting because it is scattered around. You can't really sit down and read it straight through, but in my view it is mainly for reference anyway. In that role it is the best book available on the Schnellboote currently available.

Jean-Philippe Dallies-Labourdette and Bruno Pautigny book S-Boote, does a very good job of telling the story of the German Navy's version of MTB's/PT-Boats (note: S-Boote were bigger, initially more heavily armed, and used more effectively than their allied equivalent). In this book, the authors tell us about the initial development of S-boote (their pre-war years) and follow it up with a very good year by year summary of how the S-boote did and what their equivalent were like at the same time period.

Overall, this book is really a 4.5 star book, but since Amazon doesn't support half stars, I had to round down this time because there aren't that many descriptions of engagements, especially given the price of the material. However, the pictures are great, there's interesting material on the types of mines the German Navy used, and some good general material that can keep wargamers, modeler, or historians interested.

This book is one of the few that deals with the German Schnell-Bootes - a small but ferocious and important corps.
The Schnell-Bootes, or in English: E-Boats, were the fastest ships on the sea, using special scientific advances. They were the scourge of British coastal convoys. This book is also recent so the author has included the Lyme Bay attack, which nearly averted D-Day, and thus could have change the war.
The text is short and to the point, all important aspects covered. The photos are just stunning!

Another great large format photo book from "Histoire & Collections". Hundreds of quality photos supplemented with many two page artist color renderings of different S/E boat types and Flotilla insignia. Included are many photos of crew members showing uniforms and personal equipment. The text covers construction, history, types, tactics and personnel. A must for the hobbiest and those interested in the Kriegsmarine.

In recent years there have been a number of books published featuring color photography of the World War II era. George Forty's GERMANY AT WAR is unique in focusing solely on the Third Reich and its rise and fall. Featuring over 280 images, Forty's book is a fascinating, compelling visual guide to that long-ago evil empire.

The photographs in GERMANY AT WAR run the gamut from 'glamour' shots of Hitler, Nazi officials, Generals, Admirals and various war heroes to frontline photos of Wehrmacht soldiers freezing on the Russian front; homefront scenes of ecstatic Germans celebrating Der Fuhrer's rise balanced by later shots of ravaged German cities; assorted German airplanes, tanks and ships; photos of Jews, Gypsies and other victims of the Third Reich; etc.

Some of the images have appeared previously but in black and white. Seeing those images in color does produce a more visceral response. Those previously black-and-white villains and assorted scenes take on life. Looking at the party rally photographs, for instance, you start to laugh at the ridiculous appearance of some of those Nazi henchmen in their comic-opera uniforms until you remember those 'super-men' helped kill illions of people.

Given its broad coverage of Third Reich personalities and events, GERMANY AT WAR is a wonderful time-capsule and a must-have selection. It really brings the Third Reich to life. Recommended.

Este livro do Geroge Forty trata essencialmente de um ensaio fotográfico da Alemanha durante a 2ª Guerra Mundial. Com mais de 300 fotos a cores, é possível ser transportado para a época examente pela cor das fotos que variam ente a vida comum do dia-a-dia do povo alemão quanto a vida no front.

Em um conflito onde a maioria das fotos são em preto e branco, uma copilação de exposições a cores dá uma sensação diferente, trazendo uma realidade que intrínsecamente se encontrava distante devido ao distanciamente provocado pela falta de cor. Com esse livro a questão se coloca diferente. Lá estão vários personagens importantes da Alemanha na época vestindo os uniformes em uma naturalidade nunca antes vista. Tal naturalidade, provocada pela cor, é um dos pontos máximos desta obra de Forty.

O texto é bem simples e pequeno, apenas apresentando ao leitor uma introdução e contextualização do período de forma que este se localize tanto geograficamente quanto temporalmente. Há também, para cada foto, um pequeno texto acompanhando.

Porém o autor, que já foi diretor e curador do famoso Museu de Tanques de Bovington em Dorset na Inglaterra, inexplicavelmente apresenta alguns erros no texto que acompanha as fotos que, para um olho treinado como o dele não deveria acontecer. Como por exemplo na página 154 na foto do Stuka. Obviamente que os mecânicos não estão em cima da asa do avião aproveitando o sol do Mediterrâneo e sim fazendo um contrapeso de modo que o avião seja puxado para fora do buraco onde está atolado. Tal foto é repetida no livro Luftwaffe Colours - Stuka Volume One de Peter Simth publicado pela Classic na página 49. Segundo Smith, o Stuka não está no Mediterrâneo e sim na França durante a primeira ofensiva alemã na Batalha da Inglaterra.

E na foto da página 170, está claro que Hitler examina junto ao Dr. Porsche um tanque alemão, no caso o protótipo do SdKfz 184 Ferdinand (ou Elefant) e não no PzKpfw VI Tiger Ausf. E.

Afora estes pequenos contratempos, o livro é muito bom e recomendado tanto para modelistas quanto para historiadores e aficcionados.

I commend the author & editor for the selection of photos & informed captioning. This book is unlike no other in that it shows the full glamour of the Nazi's in color & helps serve to explain why they had such appeal to their fellow countrymen. The pictures have been excellently reproduced here & the printing is of the highest quality (I have the hardcover). If you want forget the evil for a moment & see the Nazi's as the world saw them at both the genesis & height of their power, awe-inspiring, you should have this book as a photo companion any history you read. The devastation of the war & holocaust is included to bring you back to reality.

This book is a compilation of color photographs from Nazi Germany during the Third Reich era. The photos were from archives as well as participants' personal collections. There are photos of the military in battle, the politicians prosecuting the war (especially Hitler), and ordinary citizens on the home front. The author adds narrative background information on the war from the German perspective. While there are several books of American wartime color photography, this is the first I have seen from the enemy point of view. I recommend it to all persons interested in visual imagery from the Second World War.

This is a fantastic collection of color photographs from Nazi Germany. They are a combination of pictures from offical archives and personal collections, most of which I have never seen before. The photos include everything from party rallies and parades, to the Russian front and the Luftwaffe. Many are just pictures of everyday life in the Third Reich. They include both the leading henchmen of the day, as well as ordinary Germans and even Jews and other persecuted persons. As I was flipping through the book, I was really struck by how the sharp color photographs made the images that much more real and personal. The picture quality is excellent and many of the photos look like they could have been taken yesterday. This is quite the contrast to the black and white photographs that we have all seen, which just don't convey the same feeling of realism and proximity. With these, you really feel like you could be "there" and thus the era is brought to life. Highly recommended for students of Third Reich history.