History Books

Like many other reviewers, I first read this book and the other Williamsburg novels in my teens. I loved them, and read them repeatedly. That these books are so beloved of teen-age girls forty years ago should give a good idea of what they're like. This one is probably the best, but all are sweet love stories with an interesting historical setting--good plots, memorably noble and heroic characters, and happy endings, both on the personal and historical level. There's little real pain and suffering, no matter how horrible the historic event described was, and few really bad guys. If you want enjoyable, G-rated escape, these are your books.

Dawn's Early Light, the first book in the Elswyth Thane Williamsburg series, is a delightful read with memorable characters and an accurate rendering of Williamsburg's Colonial days leading up to and through the Revolution. Here we see the beginnings of two families: the Days and the Spragues as well as the beginning of our nation. From the first moment when Julian Day steps off the boat from England and is met on the wharf by St.John Sprague, Thane's story captured this reader who read it for the first time in the 60's and has just finished reading it again. The characters and their stories, their loves and heartaches in the midst of this tumultuous Revolutionary period have become a part of my own story. What better way to learn history than through the eyes of those who lived it. Kudos to Thane for a well-researched account and for the portrayal of flesh and blood characters who captured the heart. It is wonderful book. Enjoy! Ann Westerman

My grandmother passed the Williamsburg novels on to me when I was 16. I devoured all of them that summer. I always wanted to read them again, and yesterday on a whim I decided to do just that. It has been 16 years since I last read the series, and I'm enjoying Dawn's Early Light with a new appreciation.

Thanks to the Internet, I now know more about the author. Elswyth Thane (1900-1981, American) was a romance writer in her time. She wrote several books, but the Williamsburg series are her most popular.

I'd say while these novels have a healthy dose of history -- historical characters like Jefferson and Washington interact with our fictional characters in "Dawn's" -- they are first and foremost romance novels. Therefore, female readers might enjoy them more, which seems to be the case from the comments posted here!

This is the beginning book in a series of books called the Williamsburg novels. I have been reading and re-reading this series of 7 books for over 50 years. They are my all time favorite books. Each book deals with a war or pre-war action (except the war of 1812) in which the US has taken part from the Revolutionary War (Dawn's Early Light) to the Civil War (Yankee Stranger) to the Homing with is the last of the series and the 4th book which deals with WWI and WWII and the years in between. They are a great source of history. Ms Thane (widow of the explorer Dr. William Beebe) has done an excellent job of research for each of the books. I hope others find them as wonderful, and as entertaining as I do. I have read my old copies until they are falling apart. I was very excited to find they had been reprinted and purchased them immediately.

The advice is--- don't make the same mistake I did. Upon reading all the glowing reviews, this series of books sounded like just what I love to read--- long,interesting books, interesting characters. So- instead of buying them one at a time, I bought the whole darned Williamsburg Series, plus a few more by the same author, "Queen's Folly", the "Tudor Wench" and "Tryst". What a disappointment. Since this review is about "Dawn's Early Light", I won't mention how boring the other books were, but I've got to say-- "Dawn" was the best of the lot. However, I could hardly bring myself to finish it, but I did. The other books were just as boring--- if all the references to war had been left out, they would have been pamphlets, but much more interesting. Ladies, these are men's books-- unless you like to read of ambushes, guns, dead horses. I think Elswyth Thane had seen "Gone With The Wind" and was trying to emulate it in her work. She failed miserably. I should have bought one book to see her writing style, and I would have saved some cash, because I wouldn't have wasted my money on the rest.

One of the better books I've read in a long time. On par with "Kite Runner", this novel also provides historical background. Like others, I read this in two sittings and was saddened that it had to end. A book that creates such vivid pictures as this does is a treasure. Enjoy!

The great storytellers like Singer, Twain, and O'Henry, always seemed to write invisibly. They served story so strongly, that it was easy to get lost in their powers. David Benioff serves us just such a feast in "City of Thieves". These days, it is so rare to read a book where the author is confident and skilled enough to step back from the craft of writing. He is clearly in control, but his deftness allows a great yarn to simply capture the reader. The richness of word is palpable, yet Benioff is so comfortable in his skin, that story never serves writer. The themes are so universal that this work transcends a war story, a coming of age story, and a love story. It is simply about the human spirit, and how in our most difficult moments perhaps we live our most fully.
There is no greater thrill for a reader, than to witness a writer "become". "City of Thieves" is that moment for David Benioff. Not only is it great literature, but it is one terrific "read".

A good mix of humor and the terror of surviving in WW II Leningrad. Not a top-tier novel, but one that reads smoothly, moves quickly and holds one's interest.

This book was really excellent. I enjoy reading WWII novels, and this one is one of the finest I've read. All the characters are well written and the dialogue between Lev and Kolya is witty and entertaining. The author does a great job describing the cold and the conditions in which Leningrad's residents lived during the siege, without making it a "bummer" of a story to read.

The premise--finding a dozen eggs--is a crazy one, but when you consider the conditions in which the characters are searching, it seems plausible. The people and sites they encounter along the way are believable and entertaining, just like the main characters.

I highly recommend this book. It was very, very good.

In City of Thieves David Benioff sets his characters off on an absurdist quest: to find a dozen eggs in a frozen, starving war zone. Along the way the readers are treated to a detailed treatise on the meaning of survival, friendship, and hope, all of it dressed up in a story that is deftly plotted and wonderfully described. This is a novel you don't want to miss.

My wife and I like to listen to a tape while we read the book. We are rereading this book that way. It is a classic and a good introduction to Alaska, where we have lived and worked and touristed.

Want to read about the realities of the 49th state????
Want to really learn something about this region???
Want to get good visuals????????
If NOT don't read this book!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book is a wonderful relic, the last plausible vision of a living American frontier. In the mid seventies, McPhee went to Alaska to do a few pieces for the New Yorker. He met a lot of trappers, prospectors, and "river people" who'd built moss-chinked cabins and whose individualism, gruff hospitality, and happiness he admired. McPhee made a plea for democratic access to Alaskan land. He argued that land far from roads should remain fair game for homesteaders in perpetuity.

It is odd to read an ode to Alaska's wild immensity at a time when islands are being evacuated in the Aleutians, polar bears are drowning, and the permafrost is melting. The question these days is not whether Americans can still choose to live in more or less untainted outback. The question is whether that outback will soon be transformed beyond recognition, not by oil drilling, but by climate change.

What Coming into the Country offers the twenty-first century is escapism and nostalgia. McPhee's account of the political squabbles over the location of Alaska's capital has lost its relevance, but the rest of the book still comes to life. We meet a mix of clannish Christians, proud native people, and prickly bootleggers in the small, dry town of Eagle. McPhee's tale of a man's survival in sub-zero weather after a plane crash constitutes a minor classic of its own.

The book reminds us how powerful the frontier fantasy remains in American psyches. Can it be harnessed as a metaphor? Can the dream of self-reliance on a private patch of woods help motivate us, indirectly, to cut carbon emissions? It has motivated us to go camping and conserve some wild lands even while ruining others. Still, I suspect that as the environmental movement shifts in response to global warming, we may have to jettison the frontier fantasy. It depends too much on a view of nature as more powerful than man. Whether or not we agree with Bill McKibben that we have arrived at the end of nature, we know that everything is responding to elevated temperatures. There is no untouched patch of land left in Alaska. The romance of a homestead sours when the flora and fauna are marching north past the log cabin, driven by coal and oil fires from all over the planet.

I traveled to Alaska in 2006 but lived there in the early 70's. Why I delayed so long in reading "Coming into the Country" I don't know, but John McPhee has taken me back to that earlier day. Both his character and place descriptions are wonderful and make me long for the cabins, the ice break-up, the dogs, the bush planes, and the 55 gallon drums. The Anchorage of today is much changed, but the bush is still there -- Thank God.

We bought this book in Nome, Alaska on a visit there in 2001 (my brother owns a flying service there). I took my time reading it the first time. Coming into the Country is not a book to be read quickly, but, rather, one to be savored, taking time for the details to seep into the crevices of one's memory until they become part of one's knowledge base. Every page holds a vast amount of information that if read too quickly blurs to nothingness and is lost.

McPhee's descriptions of the land, its rivers and mountains, its challenges, its beauty, and its people are thorough and draw the reader into the pages of his book. It takes a certain kind of person to survive in the Alaskan bush. I, for one, am drawn to its splendor, its starkness, its fearsomeness, but am sure I don't have the right stuff to live there long term. The river people and others, who thrive in communities like Eagle and Central (even Fairbanks and Juneau), have remarkable stamina and a strong determination to live the lives they choose in their respective settings, all of which are breathtaking in their beauty. McPhee also writes of the tension between the races (Indian and white)and the human dynamic among community members (the good and the no-so-good)that always accompanies the sharing of space and resources.

Over the past five years, I've picked up CITC now and then to re-read parts of it. Most recently, I re-read the whole of Part III Coming into the Country. This is my favorite section because it focuses on the bush and its people, most particularly on Eagle, Alaska located on the Yukon River and just across the International Boundary from Canada's Yukon Territory. (Incidentally, the term "coming into the country" refers to the arrival of a person into the Alaskan bush with the intent of staying. I may move from Michigan to Ohio or New York or California, but, if I go to Alaska, they call it coming into the country. "Brad Snow and Lily Allen came into the country in 1973." "Joe Vogler came into the country in 1944." "John Borg came into the country in 1966" (and he's still there. Check out the Eagle site. Borg has worn many hats in Eagle and still sits on the board of the Eagle Historical Society and Museum. Borg's wife, Betty, is the board's treasurer).

The original copyright on this book is 1976, thirty years ago. The growth in technology since that time has allowed almost every municipality to have their own website. Eagle is no exception. [...]

Carolyn Rowe Hill

A friend of mine from the Bronx told me about this book, and I'm glad she did. This if a beautifully written story that gets at the truth of both the time and the heart. The Bronx is a place that seems mythic and all too real to me and this writer keeps both of those images alive.

I loved this book. It gave a shape to Pearson's life and let me understand that there is a shape to all of our lives. It's just up to us to find the meaning that is there for us notice.

For me Dreaming of Columbus read more like a novel than a memoir. I mean that as a compliment to the writer. The story had the feel of fiction to it, as if you could see inside the characters lives and enter the story for a while. I loved it.

Michael Pearson has the right idea, but the ideas that are gathered into the book are a little disjointed and fractured. If he could smooth out the stories so that blend one into the other, the entire book would read better.
On the positive note, Dreaming of Columbus would definitely stir memories of the neighborhood for those growing up in that part of New York. He does have some descriptive stories of people, places and landmarks in the book that are entertainingly delightful.
If you are a Bronx native, I would recommend this book so you can remember things you may never see again.

Despite the images of sea voyages inspired by its title, Dreaming of Columbus is not the story of a young man spending his salad days in exotic, foreign settings. Instead, Michael Pearson takes the road less traveled and keeps his story closer to home. The reader looking for journeys will not be disappointed, however, in the imaginative way the Pearson uses literature to break away from the confines of the Bronx and the unpredictable, bourbon induced, violent outbursts produce by his father's rage to live. Although Pearson engages in excessive epigraph dropping, the means by which literature provides an avenue for escape adds a universal element to his narrative from which we call all learn something about the art of bridge building.

This is one great book to read. It is a must read for anyone who is interested in the TRUTH. As a private investigator, I do not subscribe to theories or schools of thought merely because they are in print. I am a true investigator by profession, and any of the information of facts that are presented in this book can be researched by anybody and verified. The only reason why more people have not heard of this book or read it is probably because they don't want to believe it or are too scared by what they might find out. I also think more people haven't read it because our so-called responsible journalists have not been as responsible as they claim to be in covering it.

This book presented information about our government that I already knew from studying politics in college (I have a bachelor's degree in Political Science). It presents information that I have been telling my friends about since I was in college. This information can easily be verified by simple searches on the internet.

I recommend this book to anybody who is really interested in the truth.

As a friend of Wim Dankbaar i know how precise he is in his research.
If he can not prove it for 100% he is not accepting it as evidence.
A example?. There is a blurry picture of a two color Chevrolet like the
Maroon with white 1963 Impala SS that James Files was driving in front of the Dal-Tex building after the killing on 22 November 1963.Wim then says: if you look at the shadows it must be after one o clock so it cannot be James his car because they where already gone.
Wim spend 20 years and more than a million dollars of his own money to
find the truth and i believe a 100% he found it.
Tony Roozeboom Californie /the Netherlands

To those skeptics who claim we'll never know the truth in our lifetime, ask yourself this question: Would I recognize the truth if I saw it? Wim Dankbaar's elegant research proves the old adage: Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. Thanks, Wim!!

The book gives a fascinating insight into the murder of JFK. The subject, James Files seems to be very credible. The author of this book has also produced a just released video documentary titled "The Grassy Knoll". It is the MOST informative video piece I have ever seen regarding the assassination and the people involved. It's truly amazing.

What gives this book weight is it's thoroughness, and how well it is documented. The author actually interviewed James Files and videotaped it, one of only 2 video interviews Files has given. Seeing the video was an eye-opener, and the clincher for me as to whether or not his story is real. In my mind, it is. But this book tells the story of not just the operatives on 11-22-1963, but the background of what and who motivated it. There are pieces of the puzzle in this book that are not found elsewhere. This may be the most complete and convincing documentation that the assassination was a conspiracy. The book points out that the cover-up continuing to this day is evidence that the government still acts in shady ways. That is why this story is still relevant.

This is a moving book about the soldiers who have died during the Iraq war and the families that they left behind. Sheeler's writing is excellent and he engages the reader from the first page. The book brings you closer to the families who have lost a son/husband/father and helps to tell their story. It also tells the story of the men who had to deliver the casualty notifications to each of the families following the fateful knock at the front door. This book stays with you long after you put it down and you can't help but be inspired by the courage described within its pages.

This book may be the single best I've ever read on the bond created among the youg men who fight for the United States.

Weather you are for or against our going into Iraq you will be so moved by Mr. Sheeler's fine portrayal of Marine Major Steven Beck, (now a Lt. Colonel).

Advising next of kin of the death of their warrior son (or occasionally daughter) is the most difficult assignment.

The word "closure" just does not apply since we all need to never forget those that have died for us.

Mr. Sheeler, who is young and probably a liberal, manages to accurately portray the entire process of the duties of the Marines as they "never leave their fellow Marine," until final interrment.

Great job!

Jim Sheeler's story in the Rocky Mountain News was far more affective than his book. The concentration that focused the story in the newspaper was entirely too diluted in the book. The images and the impact of the account of the return of Lt. Cathey to his wife were so well done as to make one to consider enlisting in the United States Marine Corps just because you knew they would take care to assure your family and the country that your sacrifice was meaningful. Mr. Sheeler's article should be required reading for every American.

While the stories of the other lost soldiers and marines were informative and added to the understanding of Major Steve Beck's goal of having every serviceman's story told in the clearest voice, no matter who that soldier was or where he came from, the story of Lt. Cathey was enough. If every one of the fallen were treated with that kind of respect, even in the public's eye, as at the airport on arrival, then we all would appreciate what price we are paying for the world in which we live today.

Please, please take the time to read this beautiful tribute to the fallen and their families and friends. We see the photos of soldiers and sailors on the evening news broadcasts every night. We momentarily feel bad and then life again intrudes along with the next TV program. This book should be required reading for every American...but especially for those in the Pentagon, the White House and Congress who send our military in harms way. These are not just numbers...these are people...sons, daughters, husbands, wives, fathers and mothers who are sorely missed. I was so impressed with Col. Beck. Why isn't he being asked to teach others how to do this so difficult job??? A beautiful book but you will have to read it in stages..it's too hard otherwise.

Whether you support the war in Iraq or not is immaterial. This book is about the people who pay the ultimate price. The parents and children, brothers and sisters, spouses, and soldiers who served next to those who have been killed in Iraq. Final Salute tells the stories of the deceased with great respect, but the thing that makes this book important is telling about the REAL casualties of war. The people left behind. From the soldiers who inform the families to the children who will never know their parents, it explains the human cost of war.

Big beautiful book. There's no index, nor no page numbers.
Type face is easy to read. Style of writing is easy to comprehend.
It's highly illustrated and the ideas cleverly presented.

I was expecting the usual fae-inspired absolute in-depth fluff, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that this book instead is an interesting anthology of life of the gnomes from hat to toe. Daily life from day to day through all seasons.

There's no definite storyline, but there are many stories scattered throughout. At the end of the book, strangely, it kept eluding to the fact that there may or may not have been gnome involvement. I never figured out why the authors wanted to add that bit of sentiment unless it was to protect their reputations. It doesn't matter to me if gnomes were involved or not.

I enjoyed reading the book. They covered most any aspect that one can think of in pondering the dynamics of existence of such a tiny being. I was especially impressed that there was very little fluff or magic in the telling about the gnomes.

This book would be an interesting addition to a nature folks fancier collection because of it's presentation of ideas for possible ways of survival of nature folks in the woodlands.
:)

Excellent resource items for collectors who have just started or are ole hats at it.

I Wasn't Quite Sure..What to do when I was in the company of gnomes but this book has helped me fit in. A tremendous help!

If there is a better book suited to bridge the gap between children and adults, then I have yet to see it. In this book, all aspects of the lives of gnomes are presented, from their physical attributes to the way they interact with nature. In between you will also learn about their economy, diet, their dwellings, social and family structures, how they court, and the games their children play and even the fact that the females are bosomy but do not need to wear a brassiere.
I "learned" a great deal from this book, for example I was unaware that there are six different types of gnomes. They are:

*) Woodland gnome
*) Dun gnome
*) Garden gnome
*) Farm gnome
*) House gnome
*) Siberian gnome

Illustrations accompany most of the descriptions; they are very well done, adding a great deal of charm to the book.
If you are looking for a way to amuse your children for hours, then read this book to them. It is a fascinating fantasy, presented in such a serious manner, it will make them believe that gnomes do in fact exist.

This delightful book has been a wonderful resource to my family over the years. It has charmed all six of my children when moping in bed because of sickness, and is now loaned out to grand-children. It doesn't sit on the shelves with the other books; and visitors invariably pick it up and flip through it - then need to have it torn from their grasp to come and sit up to table.

I think the most extraordinary thing about it is that it has no age range - it really is for anyone and everyone......

Being a bit of a nostalgia freak, I have more than a few books highlighting 50s and 60s pop culture. This is my second favorite, with only Populuxe rating higher. It's a memory-invoking rush of nostalgic nosh, with plenty for your mind to delightfully delight in. You'll treasure this book. Ton of full color pictures and lively appreciative writing makes you want to read this book again and again. Holy Nostalgia, Batman!

After hearing about this both the book and the CD, both by Hal Lifson, I just had to get these. I could not put this book down. I called my mother about it and thanked her for letting me born in such a cool year! I have always been a fanatic for that type of pop culture in the '60's. My sister once told me that I was born twenty years too late! After reading this book, I couldn't agree with her more! If you know someone who was born in 1966, and looking for a birthday gift for them, look no further than this book. This book rocks, and so does Hal Lifson!

What a groovy book, baby! I was only three years old in 1966 but I remember just about everything in this delightful scrapbook that's a time capsule for everything from that hip decade.

Hal Lifson has collected photos, ads, album covers, toys, etc. that brings back a very cool, swingin' period in American culture. The Beatles, Batman, James Bond, Playboy, Nancy Sinatra--they're all here!

Definitely a book for anyone alive at the time. Or anyone interested in what that was like.

Hal Lifson took me on a journey that was so exciting, I couldn't stand it! From Batman to The Monkees to the Beach Boys song "Wouldn't It Be Nice", I feel like I've relived my childhood all over again. Now if I only had my Batman utility belt again....

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to take that journey, even if you weren't born yet!

"Hal Lifson's 1966" is, indeed, the ultimate time machine. It works on two distinct levels. First, having lived in the San Fernando Valley during that period, I found the book to be the most delightful, teary-eyed journey back to the old stomping grounds...who says you can't go back home?! To see a picture of the old Encino Bowl...the last time I even thought about it was when I was sneaking a smoke in the parking lot on the way back from ELEMENTARY school! Second, and more important (yes, important), "Hal Lifson's 1966" captures the innocence of the period...perhaps the last innocence the country enjoyed before it was forced to grow up during the Watergate hearings. Indeed, the lack of any political references keeps the journey a magical mystery tour. Honey West, Catwoman, NANCY SINATRA...many a 13-year-old boy lost his innocence "appreciating" these classically sexy women. Thanks, Hal.

A MAGNIFICENT BOOK. I LIVED FOR A YEAR WITH THE KURDS OF NORTHERN IRAQ, AND THIS IS THE ONLY BOOK I KNOW OF WHICH DOES JUSTICE TO THEIR BRAVERY AND SUFFERING. TUCKER DID NOT JET IN COUNTRY FOR A FEW DAYS, CONDUCT A FEW INTERVIEWS AND THEN RUSH HOME TO WORK ON HIS MANUSCRIPT AND MEET WITH HIS AGENT. HE HAD THE FORTITUDE AND INTEGRITY TO SPEND MONTHS IN COUNTRY, LIVING WITH THE KURDS, GAINING THEIR TRUST AND LEARNING THEIR HISTORY AND TRADITIONS. AS A RESULT, HE WAS ABLE TO COMPILE A STUNNING COLLECTION OF INTERVIEWS OF ASTONISHING QUALITY. IF YOU WANT TO COMPREHEND THE INHUMANITY OF SADDAM AND THE UNPARALLELED COURAGE AND STRENGTH OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE, READ THIS BOOK.

Mike Tucker.
Hemingway is back.
Hell is Over.
5 stars.
This is a great book. What genius! To
go to Iraqi Kurdistan, in the immediate
aftermath of the liberation of Iraq, and
interview the people who, for the first
time in their lives, can speak freely and
without fear of how they sacrificed,
struggled, and survived years of oppression
and brutality. The Kurds. What Tucker
does in this book is not only brave, as
Bob Kerrey states on the cover, but
it is honorable and noble. This is
the voices of Kurds from all walks of life.
And they are fascinating people. Thanks
to the many reviewers whose insightful
comments on this site led me to purchase
both this book, and Tucker's other great
book from Iraq, AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ. 5 stars.

Like AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ, HELL IS OVER is a jewel of
a book. Definitely 5 stars. Mike Tucker lets the Kurds
of Iraq tell their stories. His insight into the
intelligence campaign in Iraq, and how the Kurds can
help us defeat insurgents and terrorists in Iraq,
is more timely than ever. I very much enjoyed all of
this great book, especially the last section,
"The Road Ahead," where younger Kurds speak of their hopes
and dreams for the future of Iraqi Kurdistan. 5 stars.

Engrossing, vivid, and magnificent. Tucker journeyed to
Iraqi Kurdistan and returned with the only book that
lets the Kurds tell, in their own voices, their stories,
their tales of suffering and endurance and hope.
Incredibly timely, as Saddam's war crimes trial is now
underway in Baghdad, and Tucker has previously-unreported
Ba athist war crimes perpetrated against the Kurds in
HELL IS OVER: VOICES OF THE KURDS AFTER SADDAM.
This is landmark work, like his other great book from
the Iraq War, AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ. Mr. Tucker is now
back in Western Iraq, with Marines and special operations,
and he will no doubt write another great book from
Iraq. But thank God he wrote this one, HELL IS OVER.
I really appreciate what the previous reviewer said,
on the people in this book being "salt of the earth,"
yes. You hear the backbone of Kurdish culture and
all Kurds, here, in this historical gem. Earthy,
warm, rich, raw, gripping and insightful. 5 stars.

Since the end of the United States-led war to liberate Iraq, journalists and authors have descended into Iraqi Kurdistan to try their luck at telling the Kurds' story, taking advantage of the fact that, after decades of war and isolation, the area is once again easily accessible.

Tucker, a war correspondent and former U.S. marine, traveled throughout Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2003, and Hell is Over is a collection of his interviews. The collection divides into three parts. One focuses on stories and recollections of the peshmerga, literally "those who face death," a term used both for Kurdish guerilla fighters and their militias. The second highlights torture by interviewing former political prisoners and family members of those raped, tortured, and killed, as well as the reaction of U.S. servicemen who witnessed the excavation of mass graves. The final part takes up the story of artists, politicians, and women's rights activists.

Hell is Over adds color to the Kurds' history. It does not, however, give context. Aside from a short scene-setter describing little more than the period following the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, there is no history. While Tucker dedicates his book to the memory of Kurdish nationalist hero Mulla Mustafa Barzani (1903-79), he does not explain who Barzani was or why many Kurds hold him in such esteem. For that matter, Tucker does not explain who Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani is, a glaring omission given that Talabani controls half the Kurdish zone and is now president of Iraq.

Tucker surrenders balance and accuracy to his own romanticism. He thanks Kurdistan Democratic Party leaders in his acknowledgments and appears to have had no contact with independents or with officials in areas controlled by Talabani. Accordingly, he uncritically accepts canards about Talabani, such as his having sided with Saddam Hussein against Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani. While Talabani may have sought Iranian assistance in the 1994-97 Kurdish civil war, it was Barzani who invited the Republican Guard into the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, where they rounded up and executed Iraqi opposition figures. Tucker does describe Saddam's mass graves, but he makes no mention of the 2,000 Kurds who disappeared during the 1994-97 Iraqi Kurdish civil war. While Tucker describes Masoud Barzani's son Masrour "as one of the young lions of the Kurdish leadership," he neglects to mention Masrour's role as the head of KDP intelligence and as the enforcer for Barzani's business interests.

Tucker concludes Hell is Over with a plea for U.S. policymakers to listen to the Kurds more closely. Unfortunately, his collection is more a testament to the skewed narrative that can result from listening without a critical ear to Kurdish officials. A far better option for historical and political context is Christiane Bird's A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan.[1]

[1] New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.

Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2005

We are accustomed to viewing excellent documentaries on the TV and the big screen. It is nice to find a literary documentary just as enjoyable. The mid 19th century was an incredible time for change. Europe was adjusting to the post Napoleonic ideals of political and religious freedom. The United States was fighting against the secular immorality of slavery. Prussia was building a military machine to dominate Europe. Italy was struggling with a unification which would require shedding the medieval yoke of the Catholic Church. In the midst of these changes a 6 year old Jewish boy , Edgardo Mortara, is kidnapped within the Papal States under orders of the Inquisition. The charge is that the boy has been secretly baptized. The baptism cannot be undone and therefore the boy cannot continue to live with his Jewish parents. Governments from around the world protest the kidnapping and Pope Pius IX responds with traditional dogma. This is a wonderful researched narrative which brings together themes which will be of interest to Christians, Jews and any reader curious about the changing role of the Roman Catholic Church in this period of European history.

The excellent DVD, "Secret Files of the Inquisition", (available from Amazon and Netflix) dramatizes part of this story and includes commentary by the author, David Kertzer.

Simply one of the most insightful books I have ever read. Thank you Mr. Kertzer for illuminating this fascinating event in our history.

Douglas Wood has already summarized and evaluated this book, justly praising its historical worth. I'd like to add a note about its shock value; in a moment of history when anti-semitism seems to be a joke in some people's minds, surely this is a book that might make the pain and folly of bigotry "real" in terms of a single family, and therefore accessible to readers who can't empathize with mass tragedy.
It's also quite a thrilling book to read, by the way, a better detective story by far than Dan Brown could manufacture.

A Jewish family's illiterate Catholic housekeeper sprinkles well-water over an infant child and furtively mumbles the baptismal sacrament. When the Inquisitor learns of the deed, he orders the kidnapping of the then six-year-old Jewish boy. This foul deed is almost certainly sanctioned by the highest levels of the Catholic hierarchy. The police forcibly remove the child from his family's Bologna home and swiftly transport him to the Church's House of Catechumens in Rome for reeducation. Despite all protests from the boy's family and the Jewish community and in the face of a destabilizing international uproar, the Holy Father refuses to yield. By holy grace, the boy has been miraculously saved and the Church keeps him, inculcates him in the Catholic Christian religion, and assiduously converts the boy.

The boy kidnapped in the name of religion? Edgardo Mortara. The Holy Father in question? Pope Pius IX. The year? 1858. That's right 1858, not 1458, not 1658, but smack dab in the middle of 19th century Europe.

Historian David Kertzer tells the complete tale in his excellent work, `The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara.' As Kertzer relates in the epilogue he learned to his surprise that there was no reliable work on this topic. Kertzer sets out to remedy this gap and succeeds by examining the episode in fine detail. Using detailed court and police investigation records, Kertzer explores numerous evidentiary questions such as whether the baptism took place at all, whether the proper conditions for a valid lay baptism existed, who put the girl up to it, and how did the Inquisition find out about it?

The story is told against the background of the movement to unify Italy under secular rule. And here is yet another surprise for the uninitiated reader, including this one: until 1861 the Pope was still the temporal ruler of a wide swath of the Italian peninsula (this rule continued on a lesser scale to 1870). The treatment of young Edgardo was one of the factors that helped build support across Italy and internationally for the Risorgimento or Italian reunification.

The episode also hastened Pius IX's evolution, shall we say, to reactionary beliefs. Pius IX not only made papal infallibility part of Church dogma, but he also issued his infamous Syllabus of Errors in 1864, a broad attack on rationalism, science, and religious freedom - really a frontal assault on the Enlightenment and most other signs of progress in the previous three centuries. If Kertzer's book does nothing more than direct his reader's attention to this astonishing document, he has succeeded in the historian's task.

Kertzer examines the trial of the Inquisitor in detail and the formidable difficulties facing the prosecution. For example, what crime did the Inquisitor commit when his acts were legal at the time he committed them? Would the new government prove willing to violate the fundamental principle that the accused must have had notice of the illegality of his acts?

As for Edgardo, he remained with the Church fathers until he reached his majority and by then his conversion had firmly taken hold. He went on to become a famed proselytizer for Catholicism especially among the Jewish peoples. This role may help explain why this story has remained untold: it embarrassed Jews and Catholics alike.

Some readers may find the detail devoted to the investigations and trials to be excessive, but bear in mind that Kertzer is writing the seminal history of Edgardo's kidnapping. A fascinating tale full of surprises, very highly recommended.

I can't help but think that millions who do not know that they are interested in the history of the Italian Risorgimento would suddenly find themselves incapable of putting this book down. David Kertzer kept my attention while helping to answer my questions regarding how a country that is predominately Roman Catholic can name streets, buildings, and piazzas after the heroes of the Risorgimento who took by force most of the lands ruled by the Pope while Pope Pius IX called upon all the faithful to oppose them. I am now closer to seeing how statues and monuments honoring Garibaldi, Mazzini, Cavour, and King Victor Emmanuel can share the beautiful Italian landscape with cathedrals and the Vatican.
Historical events are impossible to understand without learning of the human issues of the times in which they transpired. Such a study should not be a dry recounting of the facts when it can be, as Kertzer demonstrates, a living, breathing, gut-wrenching encounter with those who created that compelling history.
I know it's almost cliché to say that this reads like a good novel, but it's true.
The trial of Momolo Mortara rivals any of the stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and it is all the more riveting in the context of the amazing events that led to it. Sherlock Holmes could not have used his powers of deduction more skillfully than Momolo's attorney used his unbiased mind to separate facts from prejudiced and selective interpretations.
I give this book my highest recommendation. I hope that THE KIDNAPPING OF EDGARDO MORTARA has been or will be translated into Italian. Perhaps a greater awareness of the past can positively influence current challenges in Italy involving the assimilation of other cultures and religious beliefs - brought on by mass immigrations in recent years.