Germany Books

This esoteric work is a gem for the history buff as well as for the airship enthusiast. The photos alone make the book worthy enough to justify the effort of cracking open one's wallet. The information on the airships - or should I say "big slow explosive aerial targets" - and the intrepid units that flew them appears to be well-researched. If only all the world's power-hungry aggressors put so much effort into doomed ideas like the airship, we'd live in a more peaceful, albiet smokier, world.

In the 1996 hit film 'Independance Day' the terrified populance of the worlds major cities cringe as huge ships of an invading force hover overhead. While that movie was simply escapist entertainment, something strikingly similar happened (over London, at least) during World War I; Germany tried to force England into submision using that uniquely German invention, the Zeppelin. 'The Zeppelin in Combat' by Douglas H. Robinson, is regarded as the standard reference on this particular facet of WWI. The book documents the trials, tribulations, and tragedies of the attempt to make the airship into a viable weapon. Covered is the role of the airship in the famous Naval battle of Jutland, an extraordinary attempt to supply troops in Central Africa via airship, and several vivid accounts of British pilots that successfully shot down Zeppelins. Other topics include the story of one crew downed in the north sea, who's eventual fate was revealed by a note washed ashore in a bottle. Another crew became the only hostile forces to march over English soil during either world war when they were forced down during a raid (although not too terribly hostile, they were captured en masse by a lone policeman on a bicycle). Personalities include Hienrich Mathy, the Red Baron of airships, and Peter Stasser, the Naval leader of airships whose almost religious belief in the airship as a weapon of war lead to his own death in an Zeppelin off the coast of England. This revised edition includes many photos published for the first time. For the serious airship enthusiast, this book provides fascinating reading. One caveat, however; the book is published by Shiffer Military History, and contains numerous typo's (as many Shiffer books do). But all in all, they should be applauded for publishing a book at all on such an arcane subject

Douglas H. Robinson spent a number of years at Friedrichshafen at Zeppelin. This is primary source material for anyone interested in the history of airships. The research in this book is expemplary. The level of detail is fascinating. And it is very well written. Highly recommended!

My wife gave me this book for Christmas a couple years ago, and I cannot say enough good things about it. This is a subject I had a lot of passion for, and I could not be more pleased with this volume. There is a TON of information crammed into this 400+ page big book.

Let me break down the highlights:

1. PICTURES: The book goes out of its way to show you as many pictures as possible of these German WWI airships and their crews and sheds. It is simply fascinating to watch the development of airships throughout the war (as the pre-War DELAG designs give way to more modern rudders and shapes...to the height-climbers painted black on the underbelly to confuse anti-aircraft fire). There are many many good sized pictures.

2. AIRSHIP RAID REPORTS: This feature just stuns me. Every single raid is documented in chart form, complete with which Zeppelins participated in the raid, take-off and landing times, distance ship travelled, average speed, number of crew, fuel use, oil used, hydrogen used, and (onimously) whether it returned to Germany safely or not.

3. HISTORY: 19 of the 24 Chapters are devoted to the WWI history of German combat airships. One warning: the commentary is slightly dry. You have to be pretty interested in the subject to get into the storyline. The book has depth, and will reward the studious reader. This is nearly primary-source information.

4. AIRSHIP HEROES: Peter Strasser (Naval Head of German WWI Airship Division) and Heinrich Mathy (one of the more successful airship captains) are quite prominent. There are stories of many other airshipmen as well. The personal aspect is a huge strength of this book.

5. OTHER AIRSHIPS: Also covered are not just Zeppelins, but Schutte-Lanz airships, which were rigids with wooden frames (verses aluminum in Zeppelins). Peter Strasser was not a big fan of these "glue potters" as he called them.

WARNING: This is a fairly technical book. If you want an airship book for more casual reading, check out "The Hindenburg - Illustrated History" by Rick Archbold. It is much lighter, but not nearly as detailed on this era of airships.

I am the founder of a charter school in Michigan. Before deciding to found such a school, I read voluminous texts about the history and purposes of public education. This is, by far, my favorite text on education history.

Most education historians make the mistake of blindly accepting as a premise the common misconception that the intended purpose for the development of compulsory education in Prussia was the mass production of soldiers and obedient subjects. Research proves this to be utterly false. While certainly it cannot be argued that the training of the young has been misused at points in history by tyrants, including Hitler, you can't label an invention by its misuse. All innovations have the inherent danger of perversion for evil purpose.

Compulsory public education has a very interesting and wholesome history. The research of Melton sheds much needed light on the perpetually maligned history of compulsory education. This is a must read for those wishing to learn the intricate truth of the evolution of Prussian/Austrian systems of education. The revelations of this probing research succesfully challenge the commonly held prejudices regarding state-run educational systems.

Melton's view of schooling in Prussia and Austria is both informative and precise. He is an under-rated scholar with fascinating perspectives on 17th century European history.

This is a fine book. Meticulously researched and referenced. My interest in the history of education arises out of the fact that I don't intend to send my daughter to school choosing instead to educate her at home. One reason I'm doing this is that mainstream school, whether state or private, is not primarily about education but about structuring society to create a class system and about mentally programming its participants into some role within society. That's quite a bold statement to make and I made it after only a little research. While I might be totally convinced of it, I have be aware that it might be wrong since my daughter's future is at stake. Hence my desire for further research, a desire most ably satisfied by this book. If you read Melton's book you will be left in no doubt as to the veracity of the statement. Also in the book you will find described most of the mind control and indoctrination methods that we associate with modern school and which in alternative education circles is known as the hidden curriculum.

For me a major benefit of this book is that it is written by someone not involved in the alternative education movement, someone who has probably never heard of us or read any of our material. In 'Absolutism', Melton offers independent verification of some of the ideas circulating among an otherwise small group of people. Melton agrees that Prussia is where the origins of compulsory modern schooling lie, but whereas the movement customarily places them in the Prussia after the battle of Jena round about 1805, after Fichte's addresses to the German nation, Melton has them in the Prussia of the early 1700s with methods under the direction of one August Hermann Franke. A piffling discrepancy you may think which makes no difference to the children with lives blighted by school, but all the difference in the world when analysing the philosophical roots of compulsory school. It should also makes a difference when considering reforms to school or its abolition. With Melton's work we can now make a small but significant correction and state that the origins of the education systems in most countries of the world are attributable to Christian Pietists under contract to the Prussian State. Before, the origins were customarily attributed to solely the Prussian State with the silent implication that the origins are secular.

There is much more in this book. As well as home educators, practitioners of alternative education and education historians, this book will appeal to people interested in other aspects of the history and in the politics, philosophy, and religion of eighteenth century Prussia and Austria. In it you will read about Cameralists, the textile industry, labour shortages, seigniorial authority, the rise of agrarian capitalism and much more. Chapter 3 deals with things like baroque Catholicism, popular comedy and drama, and literate theatre - stretching the relevance to add a bit of colour I suspect but good fun nonetheless.

Be warned though, this book is not a primer. You will need to have some prior familiarity with the material to derive maximum value from 'Absolutism'.

As I said at the beginning this is a fine book. Thank you for writing it James Van Horn Melton. Good health to you and your family.

This is one of the most important books I have ever read. And I have read a ton. I know everyone is at their own place on their path of learning, and the materials we find along the way sometimes speak to us, and sometimes not. But, where I am on my own path, this book ties so much together and is opening me up to so much more that I am just in bliss. I did read 'The Betty Book', the first in this group of three, for the base of their story, and would recommend others do the same. But THIS book....is amazing. I hope others find as many clues to growth and expansion in it as I am.

This is perhaps the greatest spiritual tome I've read.

This book truly captures Betty White's essence -- her work in this realm was decades ahead of its time. Written in a tone unlike many of today's egotistical and self-aggrandizing spiritual mediums, these divine messages will remind your soul of its sacred path. In the end, the profound light of love that Stewart Edward and Betty shared will bathe you. In a time when so many souls in today's world long for this reawakening, count yourself blessed and share her gift with others once it comes to you.

This book is an excellent starting point to learn about the battles in North Africa in 1941-1942. The book covers the battles in North Africa during the time that Rommel commanded German and Italian forces in that theatre in World War II. The book begins with Rommel's acceptance of a command in Africa in February 1941 and ends in November 1942 when Rommel's armies are outnumbered and overwhelmed near El Alamein.

The story is primarily told from the divisional level, interspersed with interesting facts about the major figures involved, of whom the focus is on Rommel. (E.g., Rommel, by August 1942, had survived longer (over 18 months by then) than any other field officer over age 40 in Africa in the Wehrmacht, despite his constant, and dangerous, trips to the front; and during the campaigns in Africa became in June 1942, at age 50, the youngest German Field Marshal ever.) The strategy and tactics of the commanders on both sides is well covered, as well as the hardships endured by the Germans and Italians, whose supply lines were subject to frequent disruption by the Allies.

The photos are extremely well selected, including a couple of rare shots of Rommel in field shorts. There are even a few full-color photos, including an amazing overhead shot of a Me 109 fighter in full camouflage that blends in perfectly with the landscape below. The maps are in color, numerous, and also well done.

The book even includes an interesting section on the 88-mm Flak batteries effectively used by Rommel, with clear descriptions on how these weapons operated and were used in desert conditions as an extremely effective anti-tank weapon.

I am a big fan of anything Time Life puts out on World War 2. I found this whole series of books very interesting for the amount of detail, the layout and the overall look of the books. This is the best place to start if you want to learn about World War 2. They are very easy to read with a great deal of corresponding diagrams, maps and photos and really bring the words alive. I think if you are a real die hard World War 2 buff you need to get a copy of these books.

Once again Time-Life has presented a very good condensed book, this time on the life-and-death of the Afrika Korps. It goes into the story from the beginning ,from where it started, what was initially a simple mission to shore up the flagging Italian position in Africa turned into a fierce battle to the death. Had Rommel succeeded in Egypt, then the British would have been dealt a crippling blow strategically. Most books ignore this man's role in the German success, but I was very pleased that this book dedicated a few pages to him. This man was Hauptmann(Captain) Hans-Joachim Marseille, the "Star of Afrika", who was probably the best and deadliest gunner in the skies of World War II. His phenomenal 158 kills against British air forces was the highest for any German, and his 17 kills in a single day remains a record to this day. He earned an immortal place in the pantheon of great fighter aces of WWII. No one talks of great aces like Molders or Hartmann without mentioning Marseille. All in all this book is very accurate, it describes the harsh desert war with objectivity. In the end it gives a good account as to why the Germans lost in the end. As far as condensed books on the Afrika Korps go, I would say this is definitely a book worth reading.

This is the finest book about the holocaust, and perhaps one of the finest books that I have ever read. It should be required reading at the high school or college level, as well as for heads of state.

Mr Shepard did a superb job of illuminating the story of the liberation of Bergen Belsen by the British. The writing is very clear and compelling. It is definitely in my top collection of ""top 10 most clearly written books", making the reading of a very sad chapter of human history very rewarding indeed.

I purchased this book at the Bergen Belsen Memorial (sorry Amazon) at the end of my visit there between the USA's first two games at the 2006 World Cup.
My father (who is still living) was a US Army medic in World War II. A few days after the British Army liberated Bergen Belsen his company of medics (29th Div. 104th Med Bttn, Co. A) was assigned to Bergen Belsen and remained there for a day or so to provide assistance to the surviving Jews, Polish slave laborers and other internees.
Ben Sheperd's prose held my interest easily and I finished his book during my flight back to the states. Most accounts I have seen in print, film or other media cover little of what happended at concentration camps after they were liberated by Allied forces. This account is an objective look at both the successes and failures in the approach and actions of the British authorities who were in charge of the camp. One major area of criticism is that there had been clear pre-liberation indications and hard intelligence as to what was transpiring at the camps, yet the planning and approach was undertaken largely in ignorance of the conditions.
My only disappointment is that the book makes no mention of the (albeit brief) contributions of American military personnel like those in my father's unit. However as the book was written for a British audience by a BBC producer and the post-liberation operations were overwhelmingly performed by British civilian and military personnel, that is quite understandable. The book does mention the volunteer efforts of American Friends Service Committee personnel.

"Air War Against Hitler's Germany" by Stephen W. Sears.
Simon & Schuster, New York, 1964 & 2004.

The famous author, Stephen W. Sears ("Landscape Turned Red", 2003), has produced a concise history of the air war against Nazi Germany. The author's emphasis is on the USAAF Eighth Air Force, which flew out of England against the Nazi Occupied continent. The very first chapter, "Mission Number 52", recounts the first real mission that the Eighth Air force had against Nazi Germany: the bombing of the Focke Wulf aircraft factory in Bremen, April 17 1943. From then on, the author retraces the history of air war, how the RAF took over the night while the USAAF took on daylight "precision" bombing. The book builds up to the build-up of thousand aircraft raids, the fire storms in cities such as Hamburg and the need for fighter escort for the daylight American attacks.

The author likes (in my humble opinion) the B17 Flying Fortress more than the less "pretty" B24 Liberator, and he provides much detail about the development and general workings of the B17, how the aircraft is started and taken off from an airfield, the B17 ability to fight off fighters, and the ability of the B17 aircraft to carry bomb load. Having said this, I point out one of the most interesting chapters is Chapter 4, (page 45), entitled "Target: Ploesti". The raid on Ploesti was flown by B24 Liberators (for a single book that addresses the Ploesti raid, see, "Into The Fire: Ploesti" by Duane Schultz).

The importance of fighter escort for the bombers is presented in Chapter 6, "Little Friends"; this chapter is a concise summary of the impact of P51 Mustang and its ability to prevent the German Luftwaffe from interfering with the American Air Force's bombing of Nazi Germany. In fact, this small book (only 124 pages) is a concise summary of the air war in Europe, the pros and cons of the bomber war and the highlights of the actual events. The paper back that I borrowed from the library was profusely illustrated with black & white photos of the B17 in action, the insides of the bomber itself and action-torn aircraft.

Very good for young adults to learn about the WW2 bombing campaigns against germany.

My favorite television show as a kid was "Twelve O'Clock High," and for me there has never been an airplane as important as the B-17. I know I bought models of the "Memphis Belle" several times and it was not until about ten years ago that I finally got to not only see but climb inside an actual Flying Fortress, only to be amazed at how small these bombers actually were. That becomes an important fact when reading "Mission Number 52," the opening chapter of Stephen W. Sears' book on "Air War Against Hitler's Germany" for the American Heritage Junior Library. The story of the 52nd mission flown by the U.S. Eighth Air Force was a raid on the Focke-Wulf aircraft factory at Bremen in northwestern Germany. Sears details the entire mission, from the pre-dawn briefing, to the bomb run over Bremen, to the finally tally of how many American bombers did not return from Mission 52.

Sears presents Mission 52 as providing his readers with both the promise and the problems of the American air offensive against Hitler's Nazi Germany and the controversial policy of daylight precision bombing; after all, the Luftwaffe's attempt to use daylight bombing during the Battle of Britain had not succeeded. After a thorough explanation of the debate over the theory, Sears provides a look at what the Germans were doing to defend the Third Reich. Other chapters are devoted to the famous raid on the oil refineries at Ploesti, the "Autumn Crisis" of the American daylight bombing offensive, and the P-51 Mustangs and other American fighters that served as "Little Friends" to the bombers. The final chapter details the victory that was won in the air, despite German advances in creating the first jet aircraft, and covers the fire-bombing of Dresden, which becomes the European theater equivalent of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with three RAF and American raids doing what it took one atomic bomb to do to a city in Japan.

The editors of this book take a dual perspective, that the air war over Europe proved to be more that Billy Mitchell and other advocates of air power had ever conceived, and that from a contemporary perspective these lumbering propeller-driven bombers carrying payloads of "conventional" bombs are considered obsolete. However, in this interesting volume Sears shows exactly what they accomplished to win the war in Europe. This book is not only illustrated with historic photographs taken during World War II, including combat photographs, but also by paintings and sketches done by American, British, and German artists. "Air War Against Hitler's Germany" is not a comprehensive look at what the 8th Air Force accomplished, but it certainly covers the main points with enough depth and insight to make reading it well worth the effort for young students interested in the subject. For older readers it is a reminder what the "Memphis Bell," which I finally got to see on display at Mud Island, and thousands of other Flying Fortresses and Liberators accomplished during World War II.

If you love Ansel , then you should love Albert too . though most of Ansel's photogarphs shows the beauty of nature ,Albert showed his sensity in humaneness and manmade stuffs .

German photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch insisted that his photography was merely a matter of cataloguing of material phenomena, and that it represented a "new objectivity" (Neue Sachlichkeit). He also insisted that he was simply a "recorder" of said objects.

That might strike people as odd, in this age when pretentious "post-modernists" defile Christ in urine, or actually sell cans of their own excrement to the Museum of Modern Art for tens of thousands of dollars, when *anything* and *everything* qualifies to be deemed as art, without any formal -- or toilet -- training necessary. Yet, Renger-Patzsch disdained the moniker of "artist" that his enthusiasts tried to make stick to him. I wonder if he would still have that attitude with all the literal crap that poses as art today.

Renger-Patzsch's photographs weren't merely objective, they were pure idealism, for he always arranged or composed the subjects of his photographs to be seen in their best light. Whether it was simple pictures of common items, such as hand trowels, shoe trees or foliage, his photographs had a sensuous quality to them that makes the viewer want to reach into his photographs to touch them.

He had a gift for making the commonplace beautiful and for creating gorgeous landscapes out of factory works and basalt mines. His industrial prints are contemporaneous with any of Charles Scheeler's or Margaret Bourke-White's, but bear a much subtler imprint; There is a quiet quality to his prints, in which man is either alone and isolated or conspicuously absent (as with his photographs of houses outside of Essen and Dortmund), but the handiwork of man is ever-present.

His photographs are very strong, nonetheless, very masculine. He had a stylised eye that cut extraneous subject matter out of his images the way a butcher slices fat away from a side of bacon. Yet, the beautiful, transparent delicateness of his photographs of glass beakers from the Schott Glassworks in Jena speak with a gentle, feminine voice and his photographs of enamel bowls or a child's Pelikan paintbox have a Japanese feel to them, in their iconic and minimalistic compositions.

It is sad to say that even most American enthusiasts of fine-arts photography have never heard of Albert Renger-Patzsch. This volume, nonetheless, contains the best of his work and makes a strong argument for including him in the pantheon of the twentieth century's greatest photographers.

The great German photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch, who first came to prominence in the 1920s, here receives a first-rate presentation worthy of his stature. The self-professed striving for "objectivity" in Renger-Patzsch's work leads, seemingly paradoxically, to a poetic intensity only achievable by a master artist. Readers of The New Yorker may have seen, in a recent issue, a stunning photo of a snowy field broken by fencing -- that was a Renger-Patzsch, and they will want to check this book out. But everyone should. The reproductions are superb and the supporting scholarly materials are extremely informative.

This is an exquisite book. Such cosiness and wonderful living spaces, truly exhilirating. I don't have much time to write this review but I read through the book this Saturday morning and it's impact is priceless - I briefly and partially read person's view from Canada below and they say it perfectly.

This book takes you inside some of the most interesting and memorable homes in the Alpine region. Fully trilingual - everything in the book is presented in German and French, along with English - this book also has stunning color and black and white photographs on almost every page. Makes an excellent coffee table book. If you love interior design, and are curious about the Alpine way of living, this book is for you. What a shame that it is currently out of print.

As well as ALL the other books from TASCHEN's "Interiors" series, this book is simply magical. It offers a great trip in the Alpes and simply gives you the opportunity to visit the most beautiful houses -- from simple chalets to deluxe houses -- of the mountains. The printing is fabulous and the pictures are of pure quality. Beautiful!

And Then There Was One... is a historical memoir covering the era from 1910 t o 1945. Author Michael Stone was born in Latvia in 1910, grew up in Moscow, relocated to Berlin with his family to escape the Communist Revolution, and emigrated to the United States when the Nazis emerged to take control. And Then There Was One... is a riveting personal saga that spans nations, and offers a very personal view of cataclysmic events that reshaped human history and the world. Enhanced with an appendix, bibliography, and index, And Then There Was One... is highly recommended reading.

(...)Twentieth century lives are often studies in chaos, disruption, and just one damned thing after another. For Michael Stone, born in 1910, it's a century of the murder of Jews and of coming to America and having the freedom to build a successful life. But a successful and culture life was Stone's in Latvia, born into a family of prosperous entrepreneurs. Memories, experiences, fascinating bits of information—The Cotton Club, speeches in Columbus Circle, in the Latvian army, upbringing, siblings and parents, and meeting European men and women who, through their experiences, would define the times. But also there is the malady of the century: the Nazi murder of Jews. A horrifying depiction of the roundup of the Jews of Riga: "Those actions were representative of a number of carefully planned acts of extermination of Jews, not only in various cities in Latvia, but also in other parts of Nazi-occupied regions in Europe." And the terrible personal experiences of Stone. "My initial reaction to being transferred from the hands of the Gestapo to the regular, green-uniformed police calmed me a bit." In an important sense, this is a modern American life: coming from war-torn Europe, a man prospers but remembers, for future generations, the terrible things done in Europe. And it is a history of all of Europe as that history affected poor, helpless people. Stone remembers in a thoughtful, scrupulously detailed way: And Then There Was One is a clearheaded and instructive memoir, related with passion, and with enormous sorrow(...)

Unlike traditional history books, which are written many years after events have actually occurred, this unusual book tells of the cataclysmic world events of the the first half of the last century from the perspective of one who was there. The reader will get a graphic description of the different cultures, customs and events as they then existed.

There are not many people today who can say that they were acctually present in Moscow when the Bolshevic revolution was unfolding. Michael Stone was there. In this meticulously researched volume, Mr. Stone vividly describes how he survived the bloody two-year civil war when his mother was brutally killed. He goes on to describe his family's flight from Russia to the Weimar Republic. He provides a first-hand account of the World War II from the German perspective. Mr. Stone writes with passion about his experience of being arrested by the Gestapo on charges of high treason, which carried a mandatory sentence of decapitation (He was ultimately pardoned by Hermann Goering, personally!) We are fortunate that Mr. Stone, who was thrust into the middle of the century's greatest historic events, survived to preserve the truth from his unique perspective.

This is a must read for all history buffs.

If you want a better understanding of David Hockney buy this book. It is a wonderful display of illustrations and information of a great British artist.

"David Hockney: Paintings" is well written and organized to foster a greater understanding of how Hockney evolves over the course of his career. Moreover, you will be impressed by the outstanding quality of the the black & white and color illustrations.

Authors Paul Melia and Ulrich Luckhardt provide the reader an excellent insight to the artistic thoughts of David Hockney. It also studies and explains the tremendous global popularity of the artist. This is a great book to have in the house.

I was more than pleasantly surprised by the extremely high quality of the reproductions. The book is split up in six chapters covering the main artistic phases in Hockney`s live and giving a lot of information about his paintings.
I find it extremely interesting not just to see Hockney`s work but also to read the details on the creative process leading up to the finished painting. A wonderful book!

Being a tremendous fan of Hockney's work, I was delighted to find this beautiful and informative book.

I liked the chronological organization as the book traced the artist's development over the years. I always find this such an interesting perspective, seeing how an artist's vision changes and evolves. And I also liked the way that the relationship between Hockney's life and his art is explored.

The illustrations were grand too!

A worthwhile book and a good study of Hockney, his life, and his works.