Germany Books

When Heidi's father is called a border crosser for living in the East but working in the West,the Westerners are very angry because he has a very well paying job and some of the westerners don't because easterners take their job oportunities.Vater, Heidi's father, must lie and say he is currently looking for a job in the East.When the family built up enough courage they decided to live in the West so he can keep his well paying job,he needs to keep his job because Mutter(Heidi's Mother)is pregnent and can not work she doesn't make any money so Vater must make enough to keep food on the table. The family took such a long time to make this decision, some terible things began to happen in Berlin, like the war, the Berlin wall is going up and its difficult to cross because of gaurds. To make matters even worse Heidi's Grandfather Opa has just died of a heart attack,so Oma,Hiedi's Grandmother,must come live with Heidi and her family.She thinks she has time to make desisions on what to take...but she soon finds out the wall is going up and they must cross NOW!!!

Will Heidi,Vater,Mutter,and Oma make it across the border...find out by reading this GREAT book that is full of adventure and mystery. To tell you the truth i had to read this book for a book report, normally when reading for a book report i am bored out of my mind. this time it was different this story was just soooo interesting i just could not put it down...i give this book TWO THUMBS UP!!!
*Tabby =)

Escape to West Berlin is a wonderful "can't-put-it-down" book for young readers of all ages. Like Maurine Dahlberg's other novels, this one is well researched, educational, and entertaining.

This is the most charming book I have come across in years, and I can't wait to read the original in German (available now on amazon.de for about $30.) The combination of master storytelling by Dische and Enzensberger and Sowa's richly surreal art is mesmerizing. The story is light, simple, and very rewarding. You will return again and again to this story of a rabbit traveling through modern Germany. It brings back memories of my time in both East and West Germany, around the wall. When I read it, I smile and feel better.

The story of little Prince Esterhazy is so simple and charming, sure to delight young and old. We bought the book because we are huge fans of Michael Sowa's art. The illustrations are at the same time surreal and precious; a bunny trying on boxer shorts? A bunny in the bathtub? Fantastic! And the poignant story of a bunny finding love as the wall falls in Berlin is too sweet.

In 1938 Nazi Germany Franz Schmidt has a good life. He is happily married to Helga and they have a delightful four year old daughter. He works as the chief internal auditor at Banhaus Wertham & Co. where he is very highly regarded by the Werthan family that owns the bank. Franz feels pretty good about himself also since he stepped in to defend a Jew attacked by Nazis three years ago at the cost of an eye though he swears he holds no grudges against the Nazis.

Franz's life changes when the Nazi Party deposits large sums of cash at Banhaus Wertham & Co. with the demand that anyone with the slightest Jewish blood be fired as the law states. Half-Jewish Fraulein Dressler, competent secretary to the bank's general director, will have to be released. Upset over the injustice, Franz decides to help Dressler while plotting to castigate Herr Dietrich, the Nazi mole just put inside the bank. Though the price of being caught could reach his beloved family, inactivity would cost Franz much more.

This is an exhilarating historical tale that takes the reader back to a highly volatile and dangerous time to be a freedom lover. The story line is fantastic as it moves rather quickly forward yet provides fully developed characters whose behavior especially reactions during crisis are brilliantly rendered. However, the key to Marshall Browne's tale is Nazi Germany on the brink of World War II that comes so alive. Author of the well written police Inspector Anders tales Mr. Browne's latest work will be on everyone's short list for the genre's best novel of the year.

Harriet Klausner

In the foreboding atmosphere of 1938 Germany, Franz Schmidt is a quiet, contented family man, proud of his Teutonic heritage, and chief auditor at Wertheim's, a venerable commercial bank that has just landed a major Nazi Party account. He's also a man who lost an eye three years earlier defending a Jew.

As in Australian author Browne's Italian Inspector Anders novels ("Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools," "The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders") the pace is deliberate, the protagonist deliberating. The tension builds by increments as the enormity of the bank's move into Nazi business becomes clear to the hapless bankers.

Nazi functionary Dietrich, attached to the bank, quickly homes in on Lilli Dressler, the director's Jewish secretary. As Jews have been barred from banking, Dietrich arranges to have the Gestapo arrest her. Schmidt and Lilli's boss separately attempt to save her, and when their illegal efforts fail, Dietrich is exultant. Magnanimously sparing the men from prosecution, Dietrich has them where he wants them.

In chilling increments it becomes clear that every aspect of privacy - from phone lines to family relationships, personal friendships and private histories - is compromised. Dietrich seems omnipresent. Heartsick, Schmidt's resolution hardens into a daring plan of heroism and revenge.

Browne has captured the Nazis' fanatical mania for control, their mastery of detail and intimidation, their paranoia and arrogance. Schmidt's complexities reveal a tangle of motivations, not all of which he understands, or admires in himself. Events build, from the first slow tightening of the noose to a choking breathlessness. A masterful thriller, as intelligent as it is dark.

This book opened my eyes and heart to the consequences of what can happen when evil is allowed to spread unchallenged. It taught me that actions, and inaction, have a ramification and that the evil that Nazis perpetrated was enabled, in large part, by the looking away of those who should have acted.

This was the textbook for an amazing history class I took in my senoir year of high school. I never got around to doing most of the writing assignments for the class because I was so caught up in the book. It's full of stories, some historical fiction, some primary source material, and all well-chosen. The subject matter is primarily the behavior, psychology, and history of intolerance and hatred. It's not exactly a comforting read, but it's definitely thought-provoking, and covers significantly more ground than just the Holocaust. Very well done. A textbook that you can't put down is a very rare and valuable thing.

Contains 20 classic fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm's vast supply of enchantment and wonder. Each story has a full-page, full-color illustration by Mercer Mayer, and contains many small, black and white page decorations that follow the theme of the tales. Great for children and adults!

Contains 20 classic fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm's vast supply of enchantment and wonder. Each story has a full-page, full-color illustration by Mercer Mayer, and contains many small, black and white page decorations that follow the theme of the tales. Great for children and adults!

AN exclusive analysis of the economy,politics and the society of the Federal Republic of Germany. Each page is full of information and this book is recommended not only to the one related to the studies of economy or politics but also to the general for this is book is carefully written to teach those who have little idea of what economy is. WHat the federal did in order to revive their economy amid the restrictions of the allies, the economic Miracle and so on. Written by Brilliant guys from all the fields from economics to politics.

AN exclusive analysis of the economy,politics and the society of the Federal Republic of Germany. Each page is full of information and this book is recommended not only to the one related to the studies of economy or politics but also to the general for this is book is carefully written to teach those who have little idea of what economy is. WHat the federal did in order to revive their economy amid the restrictions of the allies, the economic Miracle and so on. Written by Brilliant guys from all the fields from economics to politics.

Hard to argue with the other reviewer here. The book is usefully divided into chapters by branch of service (after introductory comments in general on the uniforms). The branch of service info is all footnoted with reference to German regulations, and discusses waffenfarben, shoulder strap devices, "elite unit" insignia where it deviated from the norm, dates of issue when insignia details changed, collar tabs, cuff titles, and other misc. insignia associated with each branch.

Jam packed with this information, the text is fully supported primarily by rare and unpublished wartime photographs.

A colour photo section is included; the photos are a bit murky and the section is not greatly organized, but is a nice addition.

There are also useful appendices and annexes giving a survey of numbered regiments of the various branches.

All major branches that wore the AFV uniform (both field grey and black, as well as denim summer variants, all of which are discussed and illustrated in this book) are covered, and even the Propaganda Companies, with several rare photos of the AFV uniforms in use by an Armoured Propaganda Company.

Most complete resource out there - be advised only Army formations are covered, no SS or Luftwaffe coverage - as the title very well states!

The black wrap-around jackets with bloused trousers worn by Germany's Panzer troops were perhaps the most engaging and attractive uniforms of World War II. Field Uniforms of German Panzer Forces in World War 2 covers all the field uniforms, insignia, and headgear worn by the German Army Panzer forces from 1934-1945 in one massive volume. Each armor-related branch of the service is described with details about uniforms and insignia within these units. The book features both period photographs and color images of uniforms in private collections.

The authors have divided the book into thirteen chapters representing twelve different branches of armor in the Wehrmacht. Each chapter begins with an overview of the particular group of Panzer troops, followed by a detailed account of their uniforms, branch colors, and specialized insignia.

In addition to extensive, fully documented research, the authors have selected a combination of more than 300 studio portraits, in-the-field images, and death cards to trace the evolution of the various uniforms of the Panzer troops in WWII. Great images run the gamut from beret-wearing troops astride Panzerkamfwagen IIIs to coverall-wearing soldiers of the Eisenbanpanzerzuegen (armored rail cars). If you even have a passing interest in Germany's armored forces, this book will provide an intimate view.

In the final hours (well really months) of World War II, the German military was still fighting to hope against hope taht something could turn the tied of Allied victory. This was the time when in Hitler's bunker the synchopants were still trying to durry Hitler's favor. This was the time when the Americans, British and Russian armies were reducing the amount of Germany that was left under Nazi control on a daily basis. During this time, units like that of Gen. Steinhoff were still fighting against all odds to try to turn things around.

By then, the Luftwaffe had better equipment in the rocket armed ME-262 jets than they had ever had before. But it was a time when a handfull of these superior planes were attacking thousands of bombers escorted by more thousands of fighters.

Mr. Steinhoff continued to fly in defense of Germany until his 262 crashed on take off and he was horribly burned.

This is a book about a war time hero (176 kills) watching his country fall apart. Then it becomes a story of a man, horribly burned struggling through months in hospitals getting his face put back into something not too horrible.

"The Final Hours" by Johannes Steinhoff is a gripping account of the final months of the Luftwaffe, told by one of Germany's top fighter aces. This translation retains the very readable style Steinhoff used to recall his emotional roller-coaster ride from the highs of leading a group of Me-109's in combat; his frustrations with Hermann Goering, which were shared by other fighter aces; the lows of his punishment for his participation in this mutiny; the joys of redemption as he led the only Me-262 group in the Luftwaffe; and the mixed emotions of spending his final days of World War II as a prisoner of war.

Steinhoff begins the tale in the hospital as a guest of the Ami's (German slang for Americans) , following the crash of an Me-262 which left him permanently scarred. Readers immediately relate to Steinhoff, by feeling a sense of intense sorrow for this proud fighter pilot as he begins his recovery from horrific wounds. Along with two colleagues, these once-proud German soldiers, now feeling doubly depressed as both patients and prisoners, plan a bold breakout across the knee-high picket fence surrounding the hospital to go recover a type-writer to begin writing Steinhoff's memoirs. While sounding like a trivial excursion, this trek saved an incredible tale of the mutineers who tried to stop Hermann Goering.

Upon receipt of orders directing "Fighter Group 77 to proceed immediately to Schoenwald airfield where it will be engaged in Reich Defense," Steinhoff moved high fighter group from Transylvania, Romania to an area near Berlin in October 1944. The allies are enjoying near air supremacy over the Reich, and former allies such as the Romanians, are now flying Me-109's against the Luftwaffe. With the Reich collapsing, Steinhoff recalls the words of Hermann Goering from the Areopagus, where he blamed the Luftwaffe commander's failure to espouse the ideals of National Socialism as the cause of the failure to protect the Reich. The Luftwaffe commanders thought they knew better - the proper use of the Me-262, the first operational jet aircraft in combat, could help turn the tide of war.

Subsequent chapters recall the various paths the fighter pilots use to promote this taboo topic. The mutineers first try through the General of Fighter Pilots, General Galland; then through the SS; and finally through Hermann Goering himself. Surprisingly, rather than being executed, the mutineers are exiled to the four corners of the rapidly shrinking Reich. Finally faced with a dearth of experienced fighter pilots, Goering is forced to make Steinhoff's dream of leading the only group of Me-262 jet fighters into combat.

The fluid writing style accurately describes the love affair between pilot and aircraft, as he steps through his pre-flight inspection and through the thrills of combat. Steinhoff also recalls some of the operational testing of new equipment, like an electric gunsight that leads enemy aircraft (didn't work) and rockets that sometimes worked. The chapter tragically ends with the catastrophic crash of Steinhoff's Me-262, and his subsequent trip to the hospital.

"The Final Hours" is a truly engrossing book capturing the exhilaration of flying combat. Combined with the incredible plot to remove Goering as head of the Luftwaffe, you will be hard pressed to find a more interesting book on World War 2 aviation.

This book takes a closer look at the forms in nature, and deriving architectural design from it.

It is a valuable book for designers who wish to stimulate their creativity through visual inspiration, drawn from nature.

Be inspired by the the source of designers' products.. not their final product...

ON THE SURFACE OF THINGS by Whitesides and Frankel, is another book with extraordinary images; though it doesn't refer to architecture and design, it is very inspirational.

This is a beautiful book. Beautiful not in the sense of our usual architectural books that show you Mr. or Ms. Who-and-Who just made another billion dollar project that has a golden ball on top. This book belongs to another category.

This is a book that gets you thinking.

In a way summarized Frei Otto's life-long quest of looking in mother nature for inspirations. The images are stunning. And you do not see them in architectural books. But why do we go only to Corbu or Wright or Calatrava for inspirations while leaving out the world?

Architects are always looking for ways to get out of the box. In terms of inspirations, I think it doesn't get too much better than this.

An amazing story of the author's life and experiences throughout WWII. The hardships, the tragedies and the new start in America.

The fact that the information in the book is an account of true events makes it a fascinating read. I could not put it down.

If you have any interest in world history or simply want to be captivated by this interesting and amazing woman's life story, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

I was given this book, and at first, did not think much of it. But once I started reading it, wow. Everyone should read the first 75 pages to see what it was like under the Red Army. Great book; hard to put down.