Germany Books

What can I say besides this is a great book. It really helps understand Ringeck's work. Get this book if you are interested in German Longsword fighting. Though if you are starting off I would recommend the excellent book Fighting with the German Longsword, also written by Tobler.

This book also works well with Sigmund Ringeck's Knightly Art of The Longsword by Lindholm and Svard. Same material but some different interpretations.

If you are interested in this book go to the publisher's website. It's in stock there at the regular price, not this inflated used market price at Amazon.

This book is essential for anyone interested in doing medieval swordsmanship. Tobler has done all the hard work for you, he has interpreted the moves perfectly. There is very little guesswork left up to you, each move has many pictures showing every subtle change in position. Easy to follow and the pictures are very clear. A great book, none better.

`Western martial arts are every bit as sophisticated as their Asian counterparts. The German martial systems incorporate both armed and unarmed combat, with and without armor, on foot and on horseback, using daggers, long and short swords, bucklers, shields, falchions, and spears and poleaxes.'

In Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship, Christian Henry Tobler has done an outstanding job of introducing the reader to the skills and methods of the Germanic man-at-arms.

The book is broken down into five major sections:
>> Longsword Techniques
>> Sword & Buckler
>> Wrestling Techniques
>> Armored Combat
>> Mounted Combat

Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship is an interpretation of the teachings of Master Johannes Liechtenauer and of the later work in the 15th Century of Sigmund Ringeck, a descendant of the Liechtenauer school and master-at-arms to Albrecht, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Duke of Bavaria.

While there were, of course, no photographs in the 15th Century ~ Christian Henry Tobler has filled Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship with hundreds of photographs demonstrating the techniques of the masters. He has made an accurate interpretation of the techniques described in the writings of the masters and displays that described in photographs.

Each photograph is clear and in sequence allows the reader to learn the techniques of the masters. These techniques are highly effective and the more one practices, the greater insight one gains into the secrets of the masters of arms of the 15th Century.

The book concludes with a glossary of terms well-worth learning to improve understanding of this text and others related to it.

I found Secrets of German Medieval Swordsmanship to be an absolutely indispensable reference for the student of Medieval Swordsmanship and Western Martial Arts.

This book is very clear, well written, and wonderfully photographed.

It provides an excellent view of 15th century european martial arts as being every bit as advanced as those of the orient.

The instructions are clear, and the methods practical.
If you fence, practice kendo, or any other sword art, and are interested in learning how fights were really fought (as opposed to how Hollywood wants us to think they were) I fully recommend this book.

I first bought Mark Rector's _Medieval Combat_, but I didn't feel I truly grok'd many of the illustrations in that book until after I read this book.

For the most part I think that Mr. Tobler's interpretations of Ringeck's verse are dead on target. But in many cases, it seemed pretty nebulous what Ringeck meant - not that surprising considering we are trying to take a very abstract description of a full-sensory 4d event - verbal, and put back all those lost details.

In those cases were I couldn't figure out for myself what Ringeck meant, Mr. Tobler's work seemed at least internally consistant, and well thought out.

Again, excellant.

Snow Moon Rising is an intimate glimpse of the seasons of Mischka Gallo's life. From her happy childhood, in spite of social injustice and bigotry against the Roma people (derogatorily referred to as Gypsies), Mischka maintains her innocence through her mid-teens. Only later does reality harden her. She displays a zest for life and heroic strength, believing that, "Everyone should feel the love, enjoy the exhilaration life afforded... [O]ver time she came to realize that each soul needs its own private place and solitude to nourish both joy and pain" (p. 2). It is this optimism that allows Snow Moon Rising to inspire us, rather than let us be defeated by the malice Mischka faces.

Many fictional stories are based on the atrocities of Hitler during World War II, but Lori L. Lake uses an uncommon perspective, telling the story from the Roma and German point of view, and then adding a refreshing twist. Without gratuitous sex or violence, Lake succeeds in writing an emotionally charged, action-packed, and authentic story. Her tight, crisp narrative flows seamlessly as Mishka, at eighty, recounts her life's experiences to her fifteen-year-old grandson, Tobar. As the events unfold, it's easy to imagine her world. Mischka says to Tobar, "I don't want to end your childhood with sad stories, but remember, after darkness there is always light. Just like after the moon disappears, the sun always rises" (p. 5). Throughout Lake's novel, the theme that resonates most isn't the bleakness you might expect, but rather, is hopeful.

The relationship between Mischka and Pauline Stanek (Pippi), as friends and lovers, spans seventy-one years. Pippi is the sister of a wounded AWOL German soldier, Emil. The Roma clan adopted Emil when Mischka was a child, and he became a beloved cousin of Mischka. It is through Emil, that Mischka and Pippi meet for the first time. The connection and kinship they feel is immediate. The two young girls make a vow to remain friends, forever bonded by heart, spirit, and soul. It seems theirs was an unlikely union, considering that homosexuality was considered a sin and punishable by death and both women end up on opposite sides during the war. Pippi knew Hitler to be the madman that he was, but what choice did she have when the Third Reich summoned her and ordered her to serve at a labor camp? One wonders how many unwilling German guards and soldiers were as much a victim of the war as the prisoners.

Snow Moon Rising is a page-turner because Lake carefully balances the storyline, choosing only the scenes that move the plot along. The immediacy and transparency, as the story unfolds, allows the reader to engage both emotions and intellect. The reader not only understands the horrid situation--but also feels deeply along with Mischka, her people, and Pippi as well. The narrative summaries don't lecture, but rather convey feelings, making the scenes compelling. This reviewer imagines what it must have been like in Mischka's camp: the sounds, the smells, the tastes. Even though written in English, you feel like they are speaking a foreign language, without having to sift through a lot of cumbersome dialect. The Roma and German phrases add to the story and set the tone for readers who are fluent in any language.

One would think it depressing to be Mischka in those days. A Roma woman was like chattel without civil rights; however, to watch Mischka before she was forced into marriage, and later, thrown into a concentration camp, she was the light in a dark world. She maintained her dignity in the face of inhumane treatment as her means to fight the enemy. The way Lake captures the heart of this admirable woman is the reason Snow Moon Rising reminds this reviewer of a photograph. Mischka thinks, "Memories surfaced, and pictures rose up from hidden recesses, not in the sepia tones she so often remembered, but stark, bright, vital, and as colorful as modern photographs" (p. 5). This is a fair description of how Lake tells, and shows, Mischka's story with clear and vivid detail, which remain bright despite her often dismal surroundings.

With an impressive bibliography at the back of the book, Lake's extensive research is rewarded by the vivid and heart-rending account of what life was like for the Roma "Gypsies" during WWII. Snow Moon Rising is easily Lori Lake's most accomplished work to date. The novel has already won the Alice B. Reader's Appreciation Award 2007 and is nominated for numerous other accolades. Fans of fiction containing historical truth will cherish this novel, and it would be a fine addition to any library.

Popular lesbian author Lori L. Lake has always been the consummate craftsperson, but she comes of age in this haunting, terrifying and ultimately splendid novel of the persecution of the Roma people in Nazi Europe. Although the protagonist, Mischka Gallo and Pippi Stanek share a love that lasts for decades, this is not your typical lesbian romance. Lake has her eyes set this time on a higher plane, and she realizes it in one of those rare lgbt novels that deserves the label, "literature," and that will have you alternately shivering in fear, crying with the pain of the oppressed which she so vividly captures, and laughing with delight at Mischka's indomitable spirit. Solidly researched, with come-to-life characters and the sort of detail that says, "You are there," this is the kind of writing that transcends labels.

Victor J. Banis, Author of COME THIS WAY

Lori Lake has a gift. It's not so much about constructing sentences that call attention to the writer. No, Lake pretty much vanishes behind her prose. And that's a good thing, especially in this compelling historical love story that spans two World Wars and the horrors of the Nazi "work" camps. Lake creates two indelible women, Mischka and Pippi, who, from the very beginning of the book, creep into your heart and stay there, making Snow Moon Rising nearly impossible to put down. It's obvious Lake has great love for her characters and the magic she works is that she transfers that love to you, her reader. Lake has written a moving story that transcends genre and touches our hearts and minds with a very universal message about the persistance of love and human connection, even in the face of terrifying odds.

This is not the most tightly written novel you'll buy, but it has a big heart and I, for one, take my hat off to any lesbian author who's willing to write more than a cheesy romance. I won't describe the plot , since other reviewers have already done that, but I will just say that I felt very drawn into this story. It's quite a long one and should be read over a few days so that there is time to take in the full detail. But Ms. Lake writes with great feeling about the plight of the "Gypsies" during World War II. I was really touched by the enduring love of Pippa and Mischka and the honest account of their history with all the fascinating insights into the Roma culture. People often forget this was a whole population that also fell victim to the Nazis. This book is not a romance. It's a rare exception amongst the books normally published for lesbian readers, a strong story about human struggle and right and wrong. There are fancier books out there set in this terrible period of history, but most of them do not have lesbian characters. This one does and it is well worth your time to read.

Mischka Gallo was born with a vivid spirit--and that's a good thing. Her life is anything but easy--first growing up among the Roma in a traveling caravan in Poland and Germany, then marrying an abusive man, being sent to a 'work camp,' and finally coming to America with little more than her name. Mischka's spirit refuses to be cowed by circumstance or by man. She meets the love of her life at a young age but it takes many years for her to accept that this love is beyond anything she's familiar with.

Pauline "Pippi" Stanek is a meek woman on the outside, but a fighter inside. She first meets Mischka when her brother marries into the Roma clan. Though Pippi is a few years older, the two become instant friends. Due to Mischka's vagabond life and Pippi's more traditional one, they don't see one another often, but when they do, their friendship remains intact.

The story is told through a series of remembrances and begins with an elderly Mischka talking to her grandson about his name, Tobar, and about the importance of family and tradition.

Mischka's life is not an easy one. The Roma are looked down upon, feared, and in some cases despised, but held true to their traditions and to one another. This is the heritage Mischka wants young Tobar to understand, and in the telling, she reveals much about her own beliefs. Mischka tells about her own youth, remembers her marriage and her family, and doesn't gloss over her difficulties. She embodies the idea that one can triumph over any adversity.

Pippi and Mischka's most poignant meeting is at the work camp. Pippi is 'drafted' into service as a supervisor because she is an exceptional seamstress, while her childhood friend Mischka is a prisoner. Mischka and the other women she befriends here find subtle ways to survive.

The title comes from the Roma way of naming the months. The Snow Moon rises in November--a time for rituals to banish negativity. Snow Moon Rising is a love story, but not your typical love story.

Armchair Interviews says: A story where hope, sense of family and love shine through.

This book is a wonderful mixture of fictional literature combined with the political backdrop of the reunification of Germany and an insider's view of the classical music world as seen through the eyes of a student conductor, Cooper Barrow, a conservatory dropout returning to his first love, although the challenges he faces are significant. The story follows Mr. Barrow's studies with a master conductor suffering from his own demons, in Germany where the culture, language and methods are not familiar, where he falls in love with a fellow musician, which of course has its own complications. The book is extremely well written, and is a pleasure to experience, sweeping the reader into the world in which Mr. Barrow is trying to make his mark. He is tormented by his teacher, trying to learn all he can under extremely difficult conditions pitted against other student conductors in an overly competitive environment, always with the fear of failure hanging over his head. The lessons he learns take him to new heights in his musical endeavors, forever changing his perceptions of music, and through his affair, his perceptions of life.

There is a bootcamp sort of relationship between our protagonist and his tough German professor who has been through the worst of Hitler's attrocities. Both wounded geniuses need a little bit of love and a chance to realize their true talents and role as real players in the world of concertmasters. A female oboeist from Eastern Germany plays a role in both of their lives while she deals with her own deamons escaping from the East. There is real passion in the romance that occurs, but the over-riding theme seems to be the affects of the pain and suffering that some of the Germans have lived through during the reign of communism and Hitler.

Sometimes, the story seemed a bit harsh and strained, although in the end, I think it was very realistic and the outcome certainly not a stretch. And for a non-musician, there is huge and interesting insight into the world of musicians and the huge effort and talent it takes to get to the top.

Identity and power characterize both the themes of The Student Conductor and the writing itself. Ford knows the world of classical music profoundly. Everything is depicted correctly. Astonishingly, he simultaneously captures the tremulous mindset of an American in 1989 Germany. This is a novel in the mold, curiously, of Faulkner. It is about a time and a place, but it is mostly about memory and love. Like Faulkner, Ford explores both individual and collective experiences of history as well as of life and music. While perhaps not quite on Faulkner's plane, Ford is a superb writer, though given to the occasional stiff turn of phrase. This is an extraordinary novel, and ranks with Frank Conroy's Body and Soul as one of the best fictional depictions of the world of classical music.

BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT. This for me was one of those rare books that one cannot put down. I love this book. The story keeps you involved and surprised at many of the twists and turns. Mr. Ford has managed to convey such emotion through his magnificent descriptions of the times, the music, the little know world of the conductor, wonderful descriptions of the German scene and on top of all that gives us beautiful love scenes and the tragedy and politics of Nazi Germany. Bravo Mr. Ford. Your book was a true gift.

After finishing 'The Student Conductor' and replacing the dust jacket, I noticed that the front flap contained a blurb comparing its author, Robert Ford, to John Fowles. I hadn't thought of that but instantly agreed on seeing it. In fact, make it a blend of Fowles and Erich Ambler. Mr. Ford's writing exudes erudition and clever insights without even a hint of showing off or straining for effect. He effortlessly creates an authentically European ambiance and engages the reader with his characters' (and his own?) finely-tuned sentiments contrasting today's healthy Germany with its profoundly divided and dysfunctional predecessor during the cold war. In this setting Ford weaves an Ambler-like tale of intrigue involving a promising American apprentice conductor, a brilliant but unstable teacher who seems bent on surreptitiously destroying his best pupils, and a beautiful oboist with an enigmatic past.

But that's not all. Ford delivers much more than just an engaging yarn to anyone who might be curious about the trade secrets of conducting, the ambitions and anxieties of classical musicians, and the nuts and bolts of orchestra management. He has mastered the technique of using professional jargon and recondite references in such a way that the reader is gradually drawn into the psyche of the protagonist (Cooper Barrow, the student conductor) and begins to acquire an enhanced musical understanding that feels real. And in fiction, the feeling is what counts. I confess to a little thrill of edification on learning that the famous tuning note A-440 actually vibrates 443 times per second.

A trio of tiny glitches stands out only because the book is, overall, so perfectly crafted. On page 15 "lay" is used where "lie" belongs. On page 216 "lay" again appears where "laid" should be, and on page 231 "affect" incorrectly takes the place of "effect."

Mr. Ford's first novel is a treat on several levels and I am glad to recommend it with enthusiasm.

I just finished this superb work a few moments ago. Warning: once you start, you will not be able to put this book down.

As others have said, this is a true story which reads like a finely crafted work of fiction of the historical "thriller" genre. The constant tension is palpable as our heroes, the downed American airman desperately seeking help in occupied France, the young, small town schoolteacher who decides to risk all to hide him, the brave French Resistance fighter, all attempt to evade capture and death at the hands of the Nazis. That's all you need to know. Treat yourself...get this book and find out what happens to them. As the story draws to its end, you will truly care. I promise.

I love stories of the WWII era in occupied Europe and have read many, both history and fiction. Alan Furst's works of fiction are good, especially the earlier ones. Robert Ryan's works, The Blue Noon and Early One Morning, are both superb. They are based on actual events and real persons, with additional fictional characters inserted. A central "real" character in the latter, race car driver Robert Benoist, appears briefly in The Shadows of War.

Airey Neave's They Have Their Exits is a thrilling true memoir of escape from a Nazi prison camp. Neave also appears briefly in Ryan's The Blue Noon. Clare Francis' Night Sky is by far the best fictional work I have enjoyed of this genre.


All these books are excellent page turners. If you only read one, however, read In The Shadows of War. Whether you are interested in WWII and/or clandestine operations in occupied Europe or not, you will love this book and be moved by it.

I first encountered Thomas Childers in his excellent courses for The Teaching Company. His full history of WWII and his course on Hitler's Empire are excellent. Childers is a highly regarded U. of Pennsylvania professor of history. I recommend those works as well.

This is a very well written story of both the French resistance and the story of one of our pilots that crashed and was helped to avoid the Germans in occupied France. It also documents the experience of the pilot when he is captured by the Germans. It is a chilling example of the cruel treatment the pilot and other prisoners had to endure.

Thomas Childers has done it again - a truly amazing recount, from a very personal view, of another air war story from WW-II. His previous "Wings of Morning" was spell binding and yet here is "In the Shadows of War", another captivating book to be read over and over.

this book is fascinating as it ties in a captured American pilot's story with that of the French underground. A sobering view of the stranglehold the Germans had on occupied France and the tragic and heroic struggle of ordinary people.

i must say i am not the most advid reader in the world but when i bought this book i could not put it down. this book has it all, great adventures rich with texture and amazing characters!
there are many subplots to this book which also help advance the story to a wonderful ending. what a great movie this book would make and the fact that it really happend makes it even more compelling. thomas childers is a wonderful rich story teller. thanks for a great read!

If you're an armchair historian on World War II,then this is an excellent account of Hitler's obscure rise to ultimate power.This is a fascinating look at all the secret saboteurs against the furiose fuhrer.If you're intrigued by the history surrounding the Hitler topic,you'll be spellbound by this book.I never realized the various plots ,inside and outside his inner court,that were being hatched around him.Some will argue it was fated that he would survive.Many would agree it was just bad luck.I still find myself asking if Hitler wanted to destroy Germany on purpose,in revenge for being an 'oddball outcast'.Hitler was seen as a backwood peasant,and not of Viennese artistic quality.Many 'Hitler Histories' claim he was a 'house-painter'.This was not true.He was a failed baukunstler student,that later painted postcards for tourists.Himmler is often listed as just a 'chicken-farmer's geek',when he in fact had technical training at an argicultural institute,as well.The sagacious Himmler was aware of Hitler's ill-gotten birth,ab ovo,and probably felt he was better off as the 'propaganda-direktor'.Rather than the Nazi party's leader.Himmler saw the potential marriage between Hitler and his niece ,Gisella Rubel,as another generation of 'genetic-trouble' for the Fuhrer and an image-problem for the party.It was not discussed in this book,yet it can be speculated ,that Himmler's SS had Rubel killed and Himmler then instructed a 'suicide-scene' staged.Hitler believed fully that 'in-breeding' was preserving of the Aryan race,when in fact it was creating genetic dead-ends for extinction of the human race.At any rate,the various Allied countries valiently tried to eradicate the polemic dictator from his post.This engaging book gives the agentry accounts of the agent-provocateurs involved.From his egregious wanderings into the beer-hall rants then onto his fusty bunker of despair.This is a gripping book about the assassins of change,who failed to curtail the actions of a desperate madman,whose demagoguery bedeviled an entire nation into ruin for a generation.

Well written, readable account of the major plots and attempts to kill Hitler over the course of his political ascension to his final self demise. Impressive telling from young Georg Elser's early attempt to kill Hitler in 1939 with an ingenious self made bomb that exploded on time but after Hitler prematurely left the podium to his military enemies the British who initially found the task undesirable. The telling of these grand and individual plots parallels the rise and fall of the Third Reich. The detail is quite refreshing discussing how initially vulnerable to assassination Hitler was partially due to his grandiose perception that he was supernaturally protected from death. Aside from external and internal plots within the military, the author explains in impressive detail how the various heroic undergrounds were successful in killing numerous Nazis while suffering great and shocking reprisals for their success particularly in Poland and Czechoslovakia. An ultimate example is the Czechs pulling off a major assassination with the killing of Heydrich. Impressive is the author's documentation of the various anti-Hitler networks involving such prominent military men such as Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster who both suffer once exposed. The highlight of the book of course is the great attempt that almost kills Hitler, the bomb planted by war hero Stauffenberg in the Rastenburg map room. The author also tells why the assassination failed that is an interesting and new revelation. Another interested party is Hitler's favorite architect and armories coordinator, Albert Speer, who the author recognizes as potentially self serving at Nuremberg but the author also recognized Speers' desire not to have Germany destroyed as Hitler wished at the end. The book also includes an excellent collection of photographs of the collaborators and other fascinating photos such as Goring inspecting the destroyed map room to a startling picture of the extraordinary intense gaze of British Colonel Noel Mason-McFarland during a pre-war German military review. Mason-McFarland emphatically stated before the war that a sniper could easily dispatch Hitler and save Europe.

I really enjoyed this look at the various attempts on Hitler's life. Moorehouse not only gives the reader the straight facts of the attempts, but manages to give the right amount of background information so you can see just how each plot came together. It left me wondering just how many other schemes were out there that were swept away by the winds of time. A book like this really makes you think of how things could have been so different.

Although I was aware of some attempts on Hitler's life, I did not know that there were so many and from so many different sources - both within Hitler's entourage as well as far away from it. The author has provided well-researched and reasoned renderings of a subset of these attempts - the most fascinating and surprising ones. But in addition to discussing these various attempts in detail, the author has also presented much valuable information on the background history and evolving politics of Germany from the end of World War I to the end of World War II. The brutality of the Nazi regime is also amply discussed. As expected, particular attention has been paid to the instigation, structure and evolution of Hitler's security organization. The book's writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative and very engaging. It should be most relished by history buffs that have a penchant for the Second World War.

Roger Moorehouse's "Killing Hitler" is a tragic chronicle of the alarmingly few individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who saw early on (or too late) that their "leader" was a mass murdering psychopath and acted accordingly--to no avail.

Though their bravery is commendable, one cannot help feel terrible anger and frustration as one gets into the thick of Moorhouse's feverish narrative. At long last, one has to ask, why didn't someone in the Wehrmacht simply get on good terms with Hitler, stand next to him, and ignite a live grenade? Suffice to say that any evaluation of posterity is just that, and only a slight percentage of those still living have had the experience of living in a ferocious totalitarian state like the Germany of 1933-45.

Perhaps the most impressive of the would-be assassins is Maurice Bavaud, a young idealist with deep roots in Christendom who, in 1939, waited for Hitler to show up at his annual "Beer Hall Putsch" celebration (where the equally courageous Georg Elser would plant a bomb which missed only because of a chance early departure by the dictator) took a pistol, and was foiled because of a group of German civilians. This was not the first time Bauvaud would make such a naked, furious attempt on the Fuhrer's life. Captured and guillotined in 1941, Bavaud stated baldly that whether Germans would accept it or not, he had been acting not only in their interest but the interest of all humanity. Only Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg's already well publicized attempt rivals that kind of courage.

The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 is given an impressive, if limited, recounting here: the PHM (Polish Home Army) managed to kill 9,000 SS soldiers and, through the utlitization of suicide bombers and guerilla attacks, eliminate a few important members of the Third Reich. The RAF's bungled, halfhearted attempts to bomb Hitler's HQ in East Prussia really didn't need mention here.

How desperate some former Wehrmacht soldiers were for Hitler's death is given heart pounding illustration here, in history's first suicide bomber, Rudolf-Chriastoph Von Gersdorff. Having served as an unofficial emissary for Henning Von Tresckow, a lifelong opponent of the Nazi regime and a key figure in the July 20th attempt, agreed to an act of utter self-sacrifice in order to get rid of Hitler: "At this point it became clear to me that an attack was only possible if I were to carry the explosives about my person, and blow myself up as close to Hitler as was possible."
Lining his uniform with "clam mines" obtained from a fellow officer (Col. Brandt, who knew nothing of the attempt, and who ironically would be the man to move the briefcase bomb away from Hitler on July 20th), he armed the mines with a trigger that would give him exactly ten minutes in which to approach his target and "kiss the sky". Hitler was, at the time, speaking in a German museum--originally Gersdorff was to approach him while the speech was being made and stand beside him.

Hitler cut the speech, was intended to be thirty minutes, to two minutes, and despite Gersdorff having already activated the device--with 5 minutes left--his attempts to stay near Hitler were in vain. Hitler may have noticed that Gersdorff was unusually "eager to talk" and the demonic instinct of self preservation kicked in: in any case, he said goodbye very quickly. Gersdorff then ran to the restroom and defused the bomb with trembling hands.

Moorhouse gets downright unethical--probably desperate for material, but still--including Albert Speer in this book. Speer was Hitler's devoted architect from the beginning of the war to the end and was much a brainwashed Nazi as Himmler, Goerring or Goebbels; he was just charismatic and knew how to BS the judges at Nuremburg. He lied about his knowledge of the atrocities and the Allies, not having evidence ofhis full knowledge which would emerge years later, bought it. Aside from a few scholars who have an unhealthy fascination with him, the general consensus is that he should have been dangling at the end of a rope with all the rest. The only reason he had even a passing thought about assassinating a man he otherwise had nearly homoerotic feelings for was the destruction of Germany. And that's all it was, a passing thought. It should probably be removed from the book.

As a Flight Engineer with the 362Avn.Co. and having served under Col. Dunn I could not be more proud. After reading The Last Hookers I can honestly say I felt pride for the job we did in Vietnam. If anyone wants to know what Vietnam was like this is the book to read.

The Last Hookers provides us with a compelling inside look into the historical facts that shaped the Vietnam War (going all the way back to the earliest events in Europe and WW II). Colonel Dunn has truly authored a comprehensive, well written and definitive war story. The story details not only the politics involved behind the scenes, but how families from all sides were affected and coped with the strain and tragedy of the war.

While this is a work of fiction the historical facts woven throughout the story really bring the characters to life. This realistic book was a thoroughly enjoyable read that gave me insights into the events leading up to and including the war itself that I had not even considered before.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the Vietnam War! You will come away with a much deeper understanding of the conflict and respect for those individuals and their families who were directly involved. Great stuff!

LTC Carle Dunn has written the most comprehensive book on what the whole Vietnam War was really about. His book is a study in history with the causes and effects of policy and conflicts. "The Last Hookers" is very scholarly written but reads like a novel. I learned things about our history that I never knew happened--like how we almost got ourselves into a nuclear war over Vietnam when the French were losing the battle for Dien Bien Phu. His book gives inside information on the CIA operations that took place in Asia and we get an inside look at how policy and war are what shapes future wars and battles.

If you only could get your hands on one book about the history of the Vietnam War, this would be a good book to start with. You certainly get your money worth of information in 658 pages. The author shows his skills at putting together facts and data and connecting the dots to see the results on how it all fueled the fire for the decade's long problems in Asia.

This book is a history classic already; make sure that you get to read it.

This is a high tech book Tom Clancy would admire. It takes the reader from battle torn Europe of WW2 to the end of America's involvement in the war in Viet Nam. Told from the French,American,and Vietnamese points of view, the reader will have insights of the war from several perspectives.Any student of history, aviation buff, or avid reader will not be able to put this one down!

Carle E. Dunn has done the hookers and anyone who is interested in what really happened in Vietnam a great service in pointing out the good and the bad, the brave and not so brave, the strife and the glory. Having "been there, done that", the book brings out the history, the fights, the family of yesteryear long buried. It should not, for our brave who have given their all should not be forgotten. This book brings it well into the fore-front.

Carle clearly separates a bad war from the good warriors who faught it. The Last Hookers suggest a much more positive view of not just the outcome of the war, but also of American morale, competence, and performance. A must read.

Ex Hooker, (Recovery)

The Legacy, a historical romance, is a marriage of convenience story, but it is unlike the contemporary incarnation of this romance standard. T. J. Bennett has crafted a story that is reminiscent of the depth historical romances once had years ago. In recent years, that depth of character and story in many cases has taken a back seat to increased sexuality and eroticism. The extra spice, though pleasurable in and of itself, has come at the expense of big, bold stories.

Like many fans of the historical romance genre, I want it all - the sensuality AND the big story peopled with memorable characters who are multi-dimensional, conflict-ridden, and driven to sometimes desperate action.

In The Legacy you'll get that. In fact, the uniqueness of this story is evident from the first page when you see below the chapter heading: "Anno Domini 1525, Wittenberg, Electoral Saxony."

Yes, it's set in feudal Germany just after Martin Luther had begun publishing his reformation writings.

Baronesse Sabina von Ziegler, a former nun, is a ruined woman forced by her vengeful stepfather into an arranged marriage with a commoner, widower Wolfgang Behaim.

Each has been betrayed by Sabina's stepfather. Each has secret plans to bring to fruition. Neither plan to consummate the marriage. Yet, fate and desire have a way of interfering with the best laid plans, as we all know.

Set against the violent backdrop of a peasants' revolt and religious upheaval, T. J. Bennett has crafted an uncommon historical romance, and it is uncommonly good.

This novel is absolutely refreshing. The setting is unique, Germany at the time of Martin Luther's Wittenberg Theses. Heroine Baronesse Sabina von Ziegler is bold and daring but above all she is kind. Hero Wolfgang Behaim is a commoner forced to marry former cloister resident Sabina. Together they must overcome their mistrust and hurt.

Sabina's stepfather has blackmailed Wolf into wedding Sabina. He has no intention of keeping her as his bride. He is a widower with a daughter still in love with his former wife. Sabina is forced into marrying through starvation and cruelty. She totally feels betrayed by her stepfather. Her one salvation is that there is an inheritance coming her way after she marries. She hopes to annul the marriage and open a refuge for former nuns, who ascribe to the teachings of Martin Luther. Little does she know that her husband has given the inheritance back to her stepfather.

This is a smart novel on so many levels. Firstly Sabina and Wolf really like each other and the author shows this in little ways. Secondly they are respectful to each other even when they differ on religious teachings. Thirdly the sexual tension in the novel is well paced and believable. Lastly the history of Martin Luther's reformation and the peasant uprisings are interwoven into the story without losing the romance and passion of Wolf and Sabina's marriage.

Wolf fights his feelings from the start but just cannot help himself. Sabina recognizes that she can make a life with Wolf if he would only live in the present. I highly recommend this novel and am eagerly awaiting the next in this series.

THE LEGACY - T. J. Bennett
Medallion Press, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1933836362
April 2008
Historical Romance
Wittenberg, Electoral Saxony (Germany) - 1525

The dungeon is dark and cold. She's hungry. She hasn't eaten for five, or is it six days? Chained to the stone walls, imprisoned like an animal, the Baronesse Sabina von Ziegler is held captive by her stepfather. No one knows she's there, deep in the dank, damp recesses of his castle, and the Baron has promised she will stay his captive until she either starves to death or agrees to marry a man he has chosen for her. Sabina is strong. She has to be after nine years of imprisonment in a convent where the Baron left her following an impetuous marriage to a rake. But Sabina finally escaped and came for what is rightfully hers -- an inheritance of gold left her by her mother. The Baron has no intention of giving Sabina the gold. He would rather see her dead, especially after she cost him the life of his only son and heir. Finally, Sabina makes the bargain the Baron has forced her into, she will marry Wolfgang Behaim. But first, she wants her inheritance. Baron von Ziegler is no fool, and he agrees. But he lies. His signature on their contract means nothing. Sabina will never get one speck of her gold.

The last thing Wolf Behaim wants is a wife, but he agrees to marry the Baron's stepdaughter, sight unseen, to save his family from ruin. He's made a devil's bargain, and Baron von Ziegler will never let Wolf forget that he's beholden to him. Likewise, Sabina is forced into a marriage she does not want, and she vows this union will never be consummated. And as soon as she regains her strength, she'll collect her gold and be gone from this man's sight and his household. However, from the moment Wolf and Sabina meet, every contact ignites a smoldering passion they feel in each other's presence. Even though both of them deny the spark of interest they feel, it's only their strength of will that prevents their obsession from becoming full blown.

THE LEGACY Sabina von Ziegler is entitled to might never be hers to call her own, not if her stepfather the Baron has his way. Forced into this marriage against her will, she has unwittingly signed her inheritance over to her new husband, Wolf Behaim, who has his own reasons for allowing the evil Baron von Ziegler to blackmail him into marrying Sabina. Secrets are kept on both sides in this thrilling and emotional tapestry of love and betrayal. The Behaim family servants, Franz and Bea; Wolf's brothers, Peter and Gunter; and Wolf's daughter, Giselle, make up the majority of immediate secondary characters that are fully drawn and vibrant.

Set in the volatile era of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther's rebellion against Catholic doctrine, the beginnings of mechanized printing presses, and the end of the feudal system, new author T. J. Bennett's debut novel is an extraordinary look into a fervent time in history, where romance is rare and true love is still powerful.

Diana Risso, Romance Reviews Today

I read on an average of four to five books a week as I do not watch televisiion and I must say this was one of the best. I liked the background information,the banter between Wolf and Sabina and the different family secrets that caused these two to marry each other sight unseen. I thought the story was excellent and now wait patiently for the story of Gunter, Wolf's brother to come out next May2009.

TJ Bennett's premier novel is an unqualified joy to read. Set during Martin Luther's reformation movement of the 1500's, the historical research never intrudes on the story, but serves only to add texture to the setting; background for the heroine's struggle and goal.

The writing is so tight, each and every one of the four hundred fifty-five pages seems to fly by.

Banished to a convent by her step-father, as many `inconvenient' women were in that day, the widowed Baronesse escapes and returns to claim an inheritance left her by her mother. She wants only that. Her plan is to establish a place for others like herself; nuns who hadn't the calling, but who were pressed into service against their will. A farm where they could be self-sufficient and live in peace, perhaps.

Instead, she's thrown into the dungeon and tortured by the man who'd raised her, until she agrees to yet another arranged marriage. This time to a commoner. Still, she begs only her inheritance, her legacy, unaware her evil parent has bartered it.

Master Behaim needs funds to settle his dead father's debts, but more than that, he needs the Baron to keep what else he knows to himself. Blackmail is hardly grounds for a solid marriage, but he would protect his father's name. He'd fulfill his part in this devil's bargain then allow the woman to return to her cloister.

TJ is a uniquely skilled writer. The story is rich with character, plot and intrigue. And of course, romance! Don't miss it!

How different would Leni Riefenstahl's life have been had she not filmed Triumph of the Will? One can only speculate what films she would have directed and starred in after World War II were it not for Hitler insisting she do the film.

Riefenstahl has been referred to as a Renaissance woman, and she most certainly was. She was a creative being and expressed her creativity in dance, acting, directing, photography and ocean diving. These five areas, spanning her entire long life, are the subject of this sumptuous coffee table book.

Editor Taschen Angelica is to be commended on compiling this life-work on Riefenstahl while Leni was still alive to assist in the selection and arrangement of the photographs. The segment on the mountain films is worth the price of the book alone, but the color images of the Nuba are also amazing.

Riefenstahl's revenge against those who denied her her cinematic craft after World War II was being able to live to 101, and seeing her life-long accomplishments compliled into this book. Rumor has it Jody Foster is at work on a film project about Riefenstahl. One hopes Foster will get it right and cover her entire life, not just the years that caused so much controversy.

A biography in pictures of arguably the most influential female film-maker in the history of the medium...though all too many people in the industry are afraid to admit to it. Made the greatest propaganda film in history (unfortunate choice of subject matter) and the most important and influential sports documentary of all time (Olympia). Dancer, actress, director, producer, still photographer, underwater cinematographer...an astounding list of accomplishments driven by a desire to perceive and record the world around her has compelled Leni Riefenstahl since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Oversized, handsomely produced volume (typical Taschen quality) is packed with rare photographs and fascinating commentary. Note: sparkle in eyes of 19-year old dancer and 99-year old legend is exactly the same.

As gifted as she is controversial, Leni Riefenstahl's "five" lives are imminently fascinating as this impressive book will prove! Even to the uninformed or casual observer, this edition will entrance. A great addition to your library, especially if you are impressed by the 102 year old dynamo who continues to prove filmmaking and photography as an art form. A living testament to the fact that "bodies in motion, stay in motion!"

A biography in pictures of arguably the most influential female film-maker in the history of the medium...though all too many people in the industry are afraid to admit to it. Made the greatest propaganda film in history (unfortunate choice of subject matter) and the most important and influential sports documentary of all time (Olympia). Dancer, actress, director, producer, still photographer, underwater cinematographer...an astounding list of accomplishments driven by a desire to perceive and record the world around her has compelled Leni Riefenstahl since the beginning of the twentieth century.
Oversized, handsomely produced volume (typical Taschen quality) is packed with rare photographs and fascinating commentary. Note: sparkle in eyes of 19-year old dancer and 99-year old legend is exactly the same.

The striking front cover on this book is a publicity still as Junta, in the movie "The Blue Light" 1932. As impressive as the cover is, it gets better when you open it to reveal hundreds of artistically shot photos. Dr. Ruth says bigger is not necessarily better. However in this case it is; something about the size of the photographs add to their striking appearance. Most are in grainy black and white with some color sections. This book is just a wee to large to fit in my oversized bookshelf. So I am making a larger shelf to display the books front view.

Just as you assume that this is a great coffee table book you will find that there is more too it. Luckily the pictures are not cluttered or distracted by alpha pneumonics. All the descriptions are in a separate section. The title of the book is appropriate as it portray s the different vocations of Leni. (Dancer, Actress, Director, Photographer, Diver)

This book also enhances the viewing experience of Leni's films.

THE GERMAN CENTURY.

There have been huge volumes written about Adolf Hitler. These have gone into great depth about the nature of this evil man. Haffner writes a concise brief book about what Hitler was really about. He shows the man in all his details including successes, and crimes. Haffner experienced Hitler during his early life in Germany. He then emigrated to Great Britain and went back to Germany after WWII. Haffner details all the essentials of this man and his history. He shows the true evil of this man, and how Germans were fooled into following him. In the end, Hitler treated the Germans as a enemy too, and sought to destroy the nation.

This is my second book by this author. He was a good political historian of the German people. His treatment of this subject is right on the money. Each sentence is thought provoking and sums up the nature of this man.

It's really odd how Haffner has managed to cram so many valuable and unique insights into such a small book. Others have done a good job of reviewing this book already, so I'll just mention that I was particularly impressed with how Haffner explained, without excusing anything, how *rationally* one could have come to support Hitler.

His treatment is devastating precisely because he is able to recognize what appeared to be the (early) Nazi successes, and is able to highlight just where National Socialist ideology really did seem to many Germans, even those who loathed anti-semitism, to connect with reality, and ultimately, become synonymous with reality. I find discussions like this a lot more plausible, and therefore enlightening, than those which portray the whole thing as a full-tilt collective freak-out from day one which never did many any sense whatsoever.

Another discussion I thought was particularly enlightening revolved around Haffner's suggestion that Hitler in effect declared war on Germany itself; that he came to regard it as unworthy of him and the ideals he claimed to embody, and thus was worthy only of death in the end. In other words, his decisions near the end of the war, so disastrous to Germany and the German people, weren't so much the result of incompetence as of deliberate intention. If Germany couldn't, or wouldn't, be what Hitler wanted it to be, then it itself had to be totally annihilated.

Anyway, this book has a lot of bang for the buck. (By the way, Haffner apparently was an early anti-Nazi dissident and was expelled from Germany [moving to England] some years after they came to power).

Good luck.

As one who has read more than my share on the 3rd Reich and WW II in general, I didn't expect to be too surprised or enlightened by this book. I was wrong; it shows well how Hitler came to the point of being a demigod to many Germans and thus was able to eventually lead them (and Europe) to a destruction beyond their worst nightmares.

The one thing in this book that struck me as an idea that was totally novel to me was the thought that with the near miss to capture Moscow in 1941 Hitler knew that the war could never be won in the manner which he wanted. Basically, Haffner contends Hitler now knew that World Domination could never be attained in his lifetime and he turned to his other goal (mass murder of Jews) as his leading motive in his decision-making process. It is a very interesting theory, especially how it helped lead to his mysterious decision to declare war on America. I wish I could read historians response to his conclusions, but I don't totally buy it (although it is a fascinating view). I think it gives Hitler too much credit.

It may explain some of his strategic inertia but if he truly was resigned to defeat and wanted to kill as many Jews as possible before the end there is no reason for him to commit so many obvious strategic blunders that mounted on top of each other more and more. I think Haffner underestimates the effect of Hitler's drug use, sleeping habits, and his unshaken belief (maybe more than any other German!!!) in the "Hitler Myth".

I hope someone else with more expertise can comment. Also, Hitler's decision to declare war on America had to be madness more than anyhting else.

I know so many people have complimented this book, but I have too also. The insights that Haffner puts forth explain much of the confusion of Hitler's moves during World War II.

The book is powerful in its clear ascersions. It is also highly readable, though there are passages that must be read more than once to probe their depths.

Haffner offers a fresh perspective on Hitler, about whom most of us WWII buffs think we know a great deal. His major point--that Hitler was, in effect, a self-hating guy who turned his hatred in the end against the country he professed to love--is a very interesting viewpoint and one that can be argued and discussed forever. I'm encouraged to read more by this insightful writer!

I gave this book 5 stars not because it is an easy read and certainly not because books detailing the atrocities of the holocaust "should" be given a high ranking. I rate it high precisely because of the high quality of scholarship and because of the author's insights.

I will make no attempt to summarize this detailed, complex history. I will, however, paraphrase what I learned. The Nazis entering the halls of power in 1933 were antisemitic but, despite Hitler's barely-veiled threats in "Mein Kampf", there was no plan for genocide. Also, Nazi anti-semitism stemmed from multiple roots one of which was an ingrained pattern of belief going back centuries. Another root was no-doubt the Nazi struggle with Communists in Bavaria in the 1920's and early '30's. Many/most of these Communists were Jews. Somehow--gradually probably--the belief arose that the Jews were inveterate Communists and the Communist leadership was essentially Jewsih. Here, I think, we can smell a whiff of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

In any event, the Nazis were determined to get rid of the Jews by "humane" means and ratcheted up the pressure on German Jews to leave the country--school segregation, Stars of David, boycotts and Kristal nacht. Many left. Then came the war and suddenly millions of Jews were included in the Greater Reich. The Nazis, in their malign wisdom, decided it was necessary to compel ethnic Germans to live in or close to Germany; for Poles to settle elsewhere; and for Jews to survive as best they could. The Nazis got USED to the idea of absolutely controlling the movements and fates of millions of people although, at this point, murder was the exception.

No problem. Germany would win the war and the Jews--all the Jews--would be rounded up and exported to Madagascar. Germany, although militarily successful beyond their early expectations, couldn't defeat England...and...England controls the waves. Germany continued to gain ground--and Jews--in the East but had no military capability of shipping the Jews out. Something had to be done. Forced labor was definitely considered and, to a certain extent, was used. More radical Nazis--Heydrich, Himmler and probably Hitler--opted for mass murder rather than the use of the Jews as slaves.

The Nazi psychology is remarkable. To the extent that is possible to get into their mind-set, the "Final Solution" was incredible. Why not, indeed, use the Jews--many of whom were skilled craftsmen and scientists--for their talents? These arguments were definitely made but the exterminatists gained the upper hand. Here we see the schizophrenia inherent in Nazi circles. They came to a kind of evil compromise. Jews were worked as slaves as they were simultaneously starved to death. What kind of a worker is a starving, dying person?

Nazis responsible for Jewish labor made precisely this complaint to their superiors but, like I said, the exterminationists won the argument. Or, as one Nazi official said, "We may lose the war against our external enemies, but we'll win our war against the Jews." [!].

Still, the holocaust was not deliberately sadistic. German soldiers suffered imprisonment and even death for deliberate cruelty against the Jews and other people. Not that there wasn't plenty of sadism but this was counter to official Nazi policy. The killings, the camps, the gas chambers were meant to be cold, efficient and mechanical. Let Poles, Ukrainians, Russians and even Jews do most of the real dirty work.

There are still important questions. How many Jews actually died? I've heard figures of six to fourteen million but how were these figures arrived at. Robert Conquest, in his studies of Stalin's purges, actually studied Russian population statistics to come up with a minimum of twnety million people murdered by Stalin. Why hasn't this been done for the holocaust? Maybe it has and I'm not familiar with it.

In one sense the precise number matters only to the dead. Is a person who murders 100 people less evil than someone who murders 1,000? I doubt it.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Christopher Browning has left us with THE book written on the topic.
Highly detailed, meticulously and flawlessly researched this book presents the result of many years of careful studies.
The gradual shift in Nazi-Policies to wholescale extermination of an important part of the European population is well described and intelligently subdivided in chapters by which the author helps the reader along carefully page for page sharing his wealth of knowledge and understanding of "the inexplicable".

It is after all one very well crafted piece of research dealing with one truly important topic in human history and clearly shows, as the Nazi administration struggled along to find a "viable solution", that early naivety of both victims and on-lookers was terribly out of place. True, the Nazis took great pains to hide the truth from the population, but it is only through this book that I came to understand how they actually succeeded. The monstrosity of the crimes becomes even more perplexing by understanding the gradual shift in time and place from mass-deporting and sorrounding the victims to mass-murder. What could have been expected from a sick brain like Himmler's, who had been a large scale chicken breeder in Bavaria before?
This book is an outstanding achievement. !Principiis obsta!

This is a most commendable work from Browning, an internationally repescted Holocaust researcher who conclusively demonstrated that Hitler, while desiring of the cleansing, ie, forcible expulsion, of the Jews from German dominated Europe, in one way of another, had never decreed that the Final Solution , as coined by Himmler and his deputy, Heydrich, should end in the death camps and gas chambers.

The radicalization and escalation of measures against the Jews mostly originated from his underlings who competed for brute power in a polycratic, darwinist bureaucracy, and who sometimes paid little attention to Hitler's expressed wishes, unless they were set down as written directives.

On wonders all those counter factual arguments puit forth by the Intentionalists that Hitler, mindful of the adverse consequences (!) of a written directive putting Jews to death, was careful not to lay down a paper trail leading to him as the main culprit, when Hitler himself signed a directive for the forced euthanasia of crippled , mentally handicapped, and deformed GERMAN babies and old people (what would cause a greater outcry amongst the Germans, should a directive be found, one for disposing of thier own kin and the other of the despised Jews?).

As from 1939, Hitler, as evidenced by all the OKW/OKH/OKL/OKM dairies as well as his so called table talk,concerned himself exclusively with foreign diplomacy or his campaigns, and never gave much thought about domestic politics or internal administration, thus leaving a void for his cohorts to enagage in a free for all power grab, with to each his own interpretation of what Hitler mentioned as the end of Jewry in Europe, and each and everyone going for increasingly radical measures as justification for aggregating addtional power/authority to oneself.

All in all, this is a sad book to read of the fate and treatment of the Jews by their persecutors, tormentors and executioners, be they Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Dutch, French, Italians, Russians, Slovaks, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Belgians, Greeks....

This is one of the best books on the market that explains the political development of the Holocaust inside the Nazi power circle. It provides a strong argument that the Nazis did not originally plan to exterminate the Jews in Europe, but rather export them from Germany. Browning's thesis is a challenge to the slippery slope fallacy, which suggests that just because a person steps a foot in one direction doesn't mean he'll step a mile. The Nazis clearly started out w/ a 'Final Solution' plan of sending the Jews to a place like Madagascar (which was on the table as late as the Battle of Britain), but after the invasion of Russia this 'Final Solution' snowballed into a landslide of killing Jews via gas chambers (not that the Anti-Semitic rhetoric of the early 30s were justified in any way, whether pro-genocide or pro-expulsion). The Nazis took a step in a bad direction, and then they walked a mile along that evil path. This would give logicians a nightmare.

Most people assume that Hitler ran on a genocide program in 33. This is a dangerous assumption, for two reasons: 1.) it tends to view the Nazis as a supernatural party of evil. Make no mistake, the Nazis WERE evil, but they believed themselves to be do-gooders who provided solutions to the problems the average German faces. Did the German people know what they were getting into in 1933? Sure, they were willing to view Jews as the scapegoats for the Depression, but did they hate Jews enough to kill them? This book challenges the "Hitler's Willing Executioners" theory, because although Hitler touted a Final Solution in Mein Kampf, that wasn't interpreted by him or his companions as outright genocide until 1941.

And 2.) Holocaust deniers use this fact, that the "Final Solution" in the 30s meant population dispersal rather than genocide, and then they play the "Well, if you were lied to in high school about the original intentions of the Nazis, what else were you lied to about? (hint hint, you were lied to about the Holocaust period!)" card to gain confidence w/ the unsuspecting listener, and then convert this person into a Holocaust denier. It is important that we know the facts about the Holocaust, so that the uninitiated in deep WWII history won't be hoodwinked w/ "gotcha" facts by Holocaust deniers.

The mystery of how the Final Solution became the Final Solution will never be truly solved, that is lost to history, lost within Hitler's mind. Christopher Browning explains some of the forces and events that sped the Final Solution along. Browning may be the most eminent Holocaust scholar in America today. He has been looking at the whys and hows and wheres, mainly of the executioners, where motivations are still not crystal clear. What I saw as a reader was that the road to the Final Solution was almost an organic event. Poland was the first step, ethnic German resettlement next,then the necessities of occupation and finally Russia. Not one decision, but as you will see, decisions and choices dictated by events as much as ideology. This story will carry you along with fascination, with horror, and with a chilling understanding, not justification mind you, but understanding.