History Books

I was unfamiliar with the Kindertransport that moved 10,000 Jewish children to safety from the Holocaust. This biography brings that event to life through the memories of Lisa Jura. At 14, her parents sent her to London and the book covers that wrenching journey and the next six years of her life. Growing up during the blitz in a refugee home with 31 children makes a fascinating book.
Lisa's devotion to music weaves the story together as she strives towards her parents' dream. Becoming a concert pianist seems unachievable under the circumstances, but this touching biography details Lisa's progress towards that goal. This account has appeal for both adult and teen readers.
I also recommend In The Shadow Of The Cathedral: Growing Up In Holland During WW II by Titia Bozuwa

author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
August 30, 2002

Vienna, 1938. In the city of Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven and Strauss, 14-year-old musical prodigy Lisa Jura looks forward to a promising career as a concert pianist. Hitler has other plans. With the breaking of glass on Kristallnacht, Jura's dreams are shattered.

Internationally celebrated concert pianist Mona Golabek, with journalist and poet Lee Cohen, has crafted a loving, lyrical tribute to her mother, Lisa Jura, in "The Children of Willesden Lane: Beyond the Kindertransport: A Memoir of Music, Love, and Survival."

Jura was one of 10,000 Jewish children saved from the Nazis by the British and sent on the Kindertransport to safety from Eastern Europe. Already being compared to "The Diary of Anne Frank," this simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting tale weaves together the stories that Golabek's mother told her about prewar Austria; the gut-wrenching separation from her family; life at the orphanage on Willesden Lane; and the power of music to help her survive.

As Jura's mother, Malka, puts her on the train, she says the prophetic words that will sustain and inspire her daughter and future generations: "Hold on to your music. Let it be your best friend."

In a world turned ugly, the beauty of music becomes Jura's strength, and, against tremendous odds, with the help and encouragement of the 30 other displaced children at the orphanage, she wins a scholarship to London's Royal Academy.

"Each kid saw something in my mother's music that reminded them of what they had left behind in Czechoslovakia, in Austria, in Germany," says Golabek, a Grammy-nominated artist, "and that's what I tried to do in the story, not only to pay homage to my mother, but to all these kids and to their bravery."

The book opens with Jura's tantalizing daydream of performing in a great concert hall and closes with the fulfillment of that dream, as she makes her debut before an exhilarated crowd. And in between, the pages burst with melody: Jura pounding the cadenza of the Grieg "Piano Concerto" to drown out the sounds of bombs during London's blitz, Jura visualizing Chopin fleeing a flaming Warsaw as she struggles with the somber coda of the "Ballade," Jura remembering her mother's Sabbath candles as she plays the solemn opening of Beethoven's "Pathetique."

"My mom and her mother never cared if a piece is in C major. What really counts is the passion behind it, the image. If it's `Clair de Lune,' imagine the moon over a desert island. That imagination allowed her to survive the horrors of what she experienced, because a C-major chord will not inspire you through the horrors. It's the moonlight, the idea that maybe the composer wrote it for someone he loved. These things inflamed her imagination, and that's how she inflamed mine."

And now Golabek's book will inflame the imagination of a whole new generation. The Milken Family Foundation, together with Facing History and Ourselves, an educational organization that teaches tolerance to 1 million students annually, are working with Golabek to bring the story to schools across the country by developing a companion curriculum guide.

Plans are under way to launch the book in Austria, and make it available to teachers as part of the now mandatory four-year Holocaust education program for students.

The saga of Golabek's 18-year struggle to get the story published is almost as harrowing as her mother's story itself. "It went through many, many writings; many, many ups and downs, starts and disappointments," Golabek says.

Now the accolades and offers are pouring in. On Sept. 24, she will be an honored guest speaker at the California Governor's Conference for Women at the Long Beach Convention Center and will appear at Beth Am on Nov. 17 with her sister, pianist Renee Golabek-Kaye, and Jura's four grandchildren, all musicians: Michele, 16; Sarah, 14; Jonathan, 8; and Rachel, 7. Brandeis University will honor her at the Skirball Cultural Center next March 31.

Last week Golabek was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition and was the subject of a feature story by Andy Meisler of the New York Times. In the planning stages is a concert next year co-sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and the Austrian government. And, of course, Golabek is considering movie offers.

On her syndicated radio show, "The Romantic Hours," which highlights stirring writings against a musical backdrop (Saturdays at 10 p.m., 105.1 FM), Golabek often quotes the poet Jean Paul Richter: "Life fades and withers behind us, but of our immortal and sacred soul all that remains is music."

"That was a quote my mother taught me, and the whole reason why I wrote this book and why I created `The Romantic Hours' was that my mother felt through words and through music our souls would be immortalized."

This is one of my all-time favorite books. If you are a musician, you will fall in love with it. The story is inspiring and moving and will make you appreciate music to the greatest extent possible.

Full of history. Easy to follow. Great read for young and old alike.

This is a story which every parent should read to their children. Talk about the history of WW2 and discuss the extremes of humanity. A book which once read you will never forget.

This book is a very interesting account from the Sub commander. The first hand accounts described by the writer are what makes the book a cut above most.

The man has done it all, i.e., fantastic submarine skipper, Medal of Honor Recipient, and writing skills to match. This book is a classic, and anyone interested in WWII submarine warfare absolutely must have this book in his shelf!

Outstanding read---puts you on the submarine, with all the tension and excitement---and yes, the inherent boredom. I'm a former submariner and my old CO (Dennis Oltraver, CAPT, USN---who went from E-1 to O-6---so quite a man in himself) knew O'Kane and copied much of his leadership style. In turn, I copied my CO---when I read Clear the Bridge, I was amazed at how I knew what O'Kane would do (particularly on personnel issues) before I read the next paragraph---I learned from someone who learned from him. Sadly, CAPT Oltraver died of cancer, or I would thank him for his legacy of leadership, some of which was learned from a master leader and legend, RADM Dick O'Kane. This book is as good as Ed Beach's Run Silent, Run Deep---and in some respects better---for his is a first person account. Highly recommended.

This is a great book. The fact that is was written by the Captain of the Submarine makes it that much more meaningful. I couldn't stop reading it, but my one complaint is that it is very technical and lacks some emotion. The author, being a "career navy man" uses abbreviations and phrases that don't mean much to the layperson (and the glossary doesn't help much in this regard) and there is an overall lack of "passion". There is very little discussion of his personal feelings or the mood on the ship. For example, he describes a depth charge attack (a crack and a boom and pressure through the hull) as something that made the men realize the training exercise did not approximate reality (or that the real thing was nothing like the Hollywood version). I thought a depth charge attack was one of the most terrifying ordeals in a submarine and as a result was very interested in reading what it was like by someone who was there first-hand, but it gets very little coverage.

However, knowing that the events were real and the people were real makes this book an excellent read. I recommend it.

O'Kane's the real deal, sailor, warrior, leader, survivor and writer.

This is his story and that of the USS Tang, one of the most successful submarines operating in the Pacific. O'Kane was one of a new breed of submarine skippers who traded caution for results with great success but at huge risks. One of the most effective tactics was to take the surfaced submarine into the middle of Japanese convoys at night, attacking multiple ships and then escaping to the depths.

The action is heartstopping and explains why the Navy pulled some of the more conservative older skippers out of their boats and replaced them with men like this. But the story is much more than simply tactics and bravery above all expectations, it is a story about true leadership. Young MBA's would do better asking themselves what characteristics of leadership did O'Kane and his officers utilize to achieve so much with so very little in tangible rewards to offer their crews. There were few rewards for the truly outstanding sub crews, congratuations, a sense of team and the dubious honor of being sent back out on patrol as soon as possible.

The description of various engagements may seem a little dry and technical to someone who has not been out on the sea on a dark night trying to make sense of faint shadows and movement. For fans of surface warfare who think subs are like hunting with poison gas the descriptions of night surface attacks in the middle of escorted convoys will fully dispell that image.

The book is a great reminder of the incredible courage of those who have gone to sea to defend our country for more than 220 and those who continue to do so today.

This was a wonderful addition to my Christmas advent celebration (audio version)! Others have explained the story line, so I'll only add that I found the quality of the narration and sound to be excellent (one demon has a very funny/cheesy voice, but upon reflection, it seems appropriate that a lesser demon would have to pretend to be scary since the poor things have no true power over us!) This production reminded me of the excellent Focus on the Family Radio Theatre productions which I also enjoy.

I love the fact that this story is presented in visions of warfare and heavenly battles since it is so very easy to forget that the battle that has raged since the beginning of time hasn't ended yet. We are still called to be warriors; remembering that our enemy is not flesh and blood and our weapons are not made by human hands.

Listening to this story will put you in a place of awe and wonder and maybe even cheering out loud for our conquering King! There is love, truth, and redemption in this story. A genuinely uplifting way to prepare for Christmas!

p.s. For those who critique everything "spiritual" by requiring that every word come from the Word and be filtered through your doctrinal beliefs, you are missing the point entirely. God's story didn't end hundreds of years ago when the Bible was written, nor does the Bible contain every bit of human, much less spiritual, history of the world. Nor does it contain all of the future (after all, it doesn't mention each of us who passionately believe and are "on mission" for Christ in this day and age,) and we are very much a part of God's cosmic story!

what i understood the intent of this book to be was that lucado wanted to convey the message of the vast love of God. i think he did this exceptionally. the books reads quickly (about 2 hours), and is worth buying for your personal library.

I am especially intrigued by how lucado described the Godhead (oneness) -- very accurate!

A Cosmic Christmas is without doubt one of the best books ever. I'm 11 years old, in the 4th grade, and want the book for Christmas. Even if you're not a Christian you should read a Cosmic Christmas because it is so entertaining. The plot makes you want to keep reading and holds you in suspense. This book is a major contribution to our world literature, and I think it is just as good, if not better, than Harry Potter.

Max Lucado looks at the Christmas story from a very different angle in his first novel. Loosely based upon the scriptures, the story tells of Gabriel being summoned by the Lord to go to Earth and deliver a great message3 that is reminiscent of the opening scenes of "It's a Wonderful Life". There are some fictional angels who appear now and then, but it helps to flesh out the story. The most poignant scenes are when Gabriel does arrive on Earth and actually is protecting Mary from Satan just before the birth of the Messiah - this is, of course, a fictionalized account.

However, the book does have its drawbacks. First, the size and shape of the book make it awkward to hold and read. This sounds petty, but it was a real problem for me. Also, the illustrations did not add to the story and were misplaced. I could have done without them. Most importantly however is that the book is just too short. There are not enough details and it really feels more like an outline than a compete story.

Why 3 stars?:
While Lucado's first novel is an interesting take on the story of the Nativity, it was not designed particularly well. It will make a nice addition to Lucado fans' bookshelves, but otherwise it could be skipped.

I always imagined Jesus' birth as a peaceful event, lambs lowing, all's right with the world. This book opened my eyes to other possibilities and it's probably much closer to the truth.

Spectacular, but not a quick read! If you or someone you know has cancer, then this is a must read. The author did a marvelous job of chronicaling the research path to great discoveries for cancer. Unfortunately, Dr. Folkman passed away last month but after reading this book you will have a better understanding of the legacy of important research he left behind and how it is continuing by the minute

This book is great gives a good understanding of the research community and the search to understand angiogenisis.

This book is a very well done documentary of the trials Dr. Folkman went through to have his ideas on cancer treatment considered. His ideas are now becoming the new approach, offering much needed hope for patients and their families. For anyone interested in cancer, this book is worthwhile.

This book by Robert Cooke is incredible! Mr. Cooke is able to explain to the average layperson the medical concepts of angeiogeneis conceived by the most under-valued person of our time: Dr. Judah Folkman. Dr. Folkman is to cancer what Salk was to Polio! Personally, Dr. Judah Folkman is my hero! A real hero, deserving of the Nobel Prize....and I don't speak lightly. I am a cancer patient that has recently learned that my cancer (thought was beat) has advanced to my lungs. The ONLY therapy for me is in an ANGIOGENESIS drug therapy program for a drug currently in study and labeled as "PI-88." I am just so confident this drug will work. I am the only patient with my type of cancer cell (adenoid cystic carninoma), so I am a little bit more of a lab rat for this program.

God Bless Dr. Folkman and h is incredible perserverance! His story should be a movie----a tale better than SeaBiscuit! He is my SeaBiscuit!

LHH

Chances are someone close to you has succumbed to the ravages of cancer, while you and the medical establishment could only sit by and watch the process reach its inevitable conclusion. The good news is, for nearly 40 years, Dr. Judah Folkman has been pursuing a cure for cancer -- or at least a way to fight tumors more effectively than chemotherapy or radiation -- that only until very recently has garnered serious attention. Dr. Folkman's theory is called angiogenesis, the process by which cancer cells emit an agent which triggers the growth of blood vessels to feed the growth of the cancer itself. For years Dr. Folkman's idea was basically scoffed at as the flailings of an amateur researcher, but Cooke shows how Dr. Folkman has perservered -- while maintaining his brilliant career as a physician -- and eventually, through a slow accumulation of experimental evidence, as well as the discovery of several antiangionesis agents, turned opinion around. Throughout this engaging and fascinating retelling of Folkman's journey, Cooke also provides an eye-opening account of the workings of academia, medical research, and their relationships to those Orwellian biotech companies you keep hearing about. The science is clear and vivid, the battle to defeat cancer inspiring, and the promise of victory -- thankfully, finally -- just around the corner.

A. Schopenhauer and Ralph W. Emerson deserve to be read together. I remember reading these two at roughly the same time and they blew my mind open, splattering it on whatever was behind me. Schopenhauer writes beautifully, with great wit, humor and massive quantities of vitrol all at once. R. J. Hollingdale, famous for his superlative translations of Friedrich Nietzsche's writings, does justice to this collection; it's only a shame that he never translated the rest of his writings, or at least the World as Will and Representation.

A brief passage for those who might be otherwise daunted:

"Dilettantes! Dilettantes! -- this is the derogatory cry those who apply themselves to art or science for the sake of gain raise against those who pursue it for love of it and pleasure in it. THis derogation rests on their vulgar conviction that no one would take up a thing seriously unless prompted to it by want, hunger, or some other kind of greediness. The public has the same outlook and consequently holds the same opinion, which is the origin of its universal respect for 'the professional' and its mistrust of the dilettante. the truth, however, is that to the dilettante the thing is the end, while to the professional as such it is the means; and only he who is directly interested in a thing, and occupies himself with it form love of it, will pursue it with entire seriousness. It is from such as these, and not from wage earners, that the greatest things have always come." pg. 227

My copy is showing age and serious wear; I'd recommend picking up two, you'll be reading this into the dust.
If you enjoy the 'gallant' misogeny and self-sure egoism in passages like those from his essay "On Women" I'd reccomend Max Stirner's "Ego and its Own"--a must for rampant individualists. Another plus: caustic enough to rile the ire of a young K. Marx. Thoreau minus patience.

I came to Schopenhauer's work reluctantly, having been put off by two things: first, his well-known belligerent attitude towards women (misogyny is an understatement); and second by Nietzsche, who - despite an early infatuation with Schopenhauer - later turned against his "mentor" (of sorts), claiming his work lacked any ethical applicability.

Yet, as an avid reader of philosophy in general, I found myself repeatedly drawn towards Schopenhauer through various resources. After putting my prejudices aside, then, I have to say that I consumed this volume with great enthusiasm and found Schopenhauer to be one of the clearest, most articulate philosophers in the Western tradition. He was, in a word, a genius.

Sure, the "Buddha of Frankfurt" (his nickname) was not saint, but Schopenhauer himself would have been the first to admit it. That said, I think the chapter on women and Nietzsche's complaints should be kept in mind, but not used to disallow the rest of his brilliant methaphysical writing.

I want to mention here, too, that the introduction by R.J. Hollingdale is outstanding and helpful. I have read Kant, but I still found his summary of philosophy leading up to Schopenhauer to be a refreshing and lively review (compared, say, with the dull, unhelpful introduction by Dave Berman in Everyman's edition of The World as Will and Idea). It is hard to sum up Kant's thought in a few pages, but Hollingdale does a great job, I think.

Finally, I don't think you need to have read Kant to understand most of the ideas presented in this text. Also, I have to concur with Schopenhauer's university philosophy professor, G.E. Schulze, who told the young thinker to stick with ONLY Plato and Kant - but to that small list I would now add the name Schopenhauer.

I highly recommend this text for both beginners and experts in the field -it is THAT good...and it just might change your whole perspective, if not your way of life. Amazing!

What shall I say of Schopenhauer? I've read much of his "The World as Will and Idea," but I like his "Essays and Aphorisms" better. The "Essays" state all of his major ideas but in a more enjoyable and palatable form. His magnum opus explicates his philosophy more completely, but I was bogged down by his incessant treatment of Kantian transcendentalism, which contextualized his work and gave it legitimacy within his time period.

But I would argue that Schopenhauer is known for his pessimistic interpretation of existence, and his intellectual and artistic reworkings of Vedantic and Buddhistic philosophy. He was able to enmesh Kantian and Eastern idealism within a conernful way of life within the world.

One delights in Schopenhauer's verbal abuse of life, Christian metaphysics (not Christianity itself), and optimisms of every kind. He has a way of reducing cherished sentiments and ideals to the absurd mechanisms of control and torture: the systems of human existence.

Read the "Essays" if you want to be challenged, if you want to have some wicked fun, and if you wish to consider your own existence within a definite and different (but not necessarily definitive) framework.

This is a brief compendium and collection of Schopenhauer's expository writing, suitable for a quick introduction to many of his ideas and most famous sayings. Few philosophers were as clear and concise in their writing as he was, and this little book contains many of most quotable and trenchant passages. The Schopenhauer neophyte as well as the more experienced reader will find much to reflect on and to entertain here.

Personally, I like Schopenhauer despite his overall downer message, although his philosophy and metaphysics, which is which is called absolute voluntaristic idealism, hasn't faired that well in the last 100 years, although when I was in college 30 years ago he seemed to be popular among the students I knew who were studying philosophy.

There are several reasons why Schopenhauer's thought is still important. An idealist like Kant, he kept Kant's distinction between the noumenal and the phenomenal, between the mental and external representations of reality. Kant's defense of idealism, that some ideas or at least mental processes are innate, is still relevant in modern brain science and neurobiology and in Chomsky's theories in linguistics, especially in regard to Chomsky's ideas about language learning and acquisition, in which there is support from brain science for a built-in facility in humans for language, and possibly an innate syntactical generator component to language ability.

Although innate ideas probably don't exist in the way that Kant envisioned them, modern brain science has supported his theory that the mind or brain is actively involved in the organizing and structuring of the data from the senses, and that we couldn't make sense of reality if we didn't have inborn aptitudes and capabilities to do that.

Schopenhauer emphasized the importance of Eastern philosophy and the validity of its introspective methods, while maintaining his overall empirical approach. His moral and ethical philosophy is based on compassion rather than on practical and reasonable considerations like Kant's. He was probably the first important western philosopher to give credit to Zen and Buddhist thought, while remaining faithful to the empirical principles of science.

Outside of philosophy his thoughts have had a major impact on psychology and the arts. He was the most important influence on both Nietzsche and Wittgenstein, and he also had a great influence on Freud and Jung, and on writers and composers from Wagner to Tolstoy. During the 20th century, Schopenhauer's reputation faded and the importance of his work has been to a great extent overlooked, but recent books show that his importance is being rediscovered and reappraised.

I have to include this brief passage on his thought, since it's excellent, which I obtained from the biographies section of Bluepete website.

"Schopenhauer's system of philosophy, as previously mentioned, was based on that of Kant's. Schopenhauer did not believe that people had individual wills but were rather simply part of a vast and single will that pervades the universe: that the feeling of separateness that each of has is but an illusion. So far this sounds much like the Spinozistic view or the Naturalistic School of philosophy. The problem with Schopenhauer, and certainly unlike Spinoza, is that, in his view, "the cosmic will is wicked ... and the source of all endless suffering."

I have a personal anecdote to recount. My college roommates and I used to read Schopenhauer at night to each other over a couple of beers, and we found his acerbic, trenchant style and sharp wit a delight to read, and this book is perhaps the best example of his prose in that regard. One Schopenhauer quote I still remember after 30 years is: "Intellect comes from the mother; character from the father," which might say a lot about his family life and how he grew up.

Schopenhauer is also famous for quotes such as:

"The two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom."
(from his Essays, Personality; or What a Man Is).

"I have long held the opinion that the amount of noise that anyone can bear undisturbed stands in inverse proportion to his mental capacity and therefore be regarded as pretty fair measure of it."

"To marry is to halve your rights and double your duties."

I have to include my favorite quote on marriage here, although it isn't Schopenhauer's, and I don't know where it came from, although it echoes his sentiments: "Marriage is the institution where the woman loses her the name and the man his solvency."

His dyspeptic view of life might have been fostered by his delicate digestive system. He would spent many minutes poring over the menu before ordering his food in the cafes where he usually dined, because a wrong choice "could send his nerves ringing for days," according to one comment I read about him. Whatever the source of his pessimism, Schopenhauer seemed almost embarrassed and ashamed to be in a human body, because he did not seem to find much good in humans or human society. No doubt he would have preferred to be a higher, more intelligent species than humans, if such exists somewhere else in the universe. But Schopenauer didn't seem to think that intelligent life existed here. :-)

Whatever the current fate of his reputation, Schopenhauer was a uniquely gloomy intellect who contributed much to several areas of philosophy. And not the least of his virtues is that he was a true cynic and pessimist--surely the most accurate view of life, after all. :-)

Schopenhauer's father committed suicide. Son Arthur had been very devoted to his father Heinrich Floris. The high-sensitive son could not deal with the fact, that his mother Johanna had preferred to talk with Goethe in her Weimar Literary Salon instead of helping her husband, getting more and more depressed as a salesman in Hamburg. A typical, later on dialogue between mother (at that time a famous novelist) and son, fresh university lecturer: "One still will read my writings, at a time, when your books are out of stock and only one copy can be found in a lumber-room." Mother thereupon sneering: "The whole, complete edition of your writings, my son, still will be waiting to get an order to be shipped..." (the reviewer fears that his own frizztext-book might have to suffer the same fate). "The World as Will", as too much inconsiderate will-to-live - in such a way Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 - September 21, 1860) experienced the whole human being. With persistance and arrogance, with brain and bile, suffering and bitterly, but with sensitivity and empathy as well he wrote - trying not to get overwhelmed by disgust. He had a deep neurotic aversion against women (surely involved by his mother). Once he pushed in anger his charwoman down the stairs backwards. But this female individual offered resistance very intellectually: She successful called a judge and Schopenhauer was sentenced, to pay a pension to her - all her life long. But exactly this evil bile encouraged him, on the other hand, to fight against mother Johanna and Goethe, against Hegel and diverse money-lenders. However just opposite to his choleric, hot-tempered way of life, his philosophical theory proclaimed to be calm as a Buddha. He adored Eastern Vedic (Buddhist) Scriptures. He adored enjoying art as a way out of the more mediocre and less passionate masses. The summary of his philosophy finally is the reference to the noblesse to demand nothing; this German philosopher's hope is, that "willing" might be silenced. 150 years and some wars later we all should agree. "To be vulgar is nothing else than giving the leading role in our consciousness to the will and not to the cognition." This tiny book is still able to help today's readers to climb not a meditative, but a thoughtful level. And still it is not out of stock in the most nations ...

Exploring the TITANIC is a very profound read. Robert Ballard (author of this book) is an avid diver, with the dream of finding and exploring the TITANIC. He joined a bunch of French explorers, and traveled far into the deep of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland where the TITANIC sank in 1912. Ballard used Argo (an advanced water-safe camera) to take pictures of the TITANIC until he found that he could not use Argo anymore because the rough waves were pounding against it. Minute after minute, hour after hour, the Knorr (the submarine Ballard was traveling on) floated in a sea of darkness because the only light they had was the light from Argo. About ten hours went by before Ballard decided to use Angus. Angus was an older camera that Ballard had used in previous explorations. In an hour or two, Ballard had found the TITANIC. Somehow he was not satisfied. He wanted to take clear pictures but did not know how to get them with the technology that he had with him. He pondered this for days. He knew that he was about 13 feet above the TITANIC. Then it came to him that he just needed to go down 13 feet more to get his pictures. Ballard convinced the Captain to go down the 13 feet. When they reached their target, they were able to get their pictures.
Ballard's dream was still not fulfilled because he had not yet explored the TITANIC. About a year later, Ballard and two other divers went underwater to explore the TITANIC. They had traveled down four or five times to complete their mission of exploring the TITANIC. Ballard's dream was fulfilled.
I would recommend this book to any reader that is NOT sensitive. This book told about people on the TITANIC who died. I think the author told us too much about people's lives and made us care about them too much. It was sad when you found out the person died. If they weren't killed, then one of the person's loved ones was killed. For example, Jack Thayer was talked about very much in the beginning. I became fond of him because the author gave so much detail about his life. When Ballard told us that Thayer had survived the crash, he did not stop there. He went on to tell us that Jack's father and his friend did not make it. This made me very emotional. If you would like to learn about Robert Ballard and his exploration of the TITANIC, then by all means, read this book. If the sad parts about the people who died bother you, just skip those pages and you'll still learn a lot about exploring the TITANIC.

I first read this book almost 15 years ago, at age 5 : I loved it, and read it uncountable times. Today it is still just as fascinating. Beautifully illustrated and clearly written, it was the first of many Ballard books that I read. I would also recommend the Discovery of the Bismark and The Wreck of the Isis, just as interesting but less well known. A great way to start reading about the great ships of the past.

Goes behind the Titanic. Why did the Titanic sank, why it was built, how they came up with the name Titanic etc. It has everything you need to know about the Titanic. Even has real actual pictures taken of the Titanic in the water and above.

Do you like old ships? Well, I know the right one for you. It is the Titanic. It is about a ship that hit an ice berg and went down. So go under water with Dr.Robert Ballard and explore the Titanic. Good Luck! This book is recommended for 8 and up.

It's a true story about the Titanic and what things Robert Ballard and his team find in the Titanic.

Best photography book about we human beings covering pictures about love, marriage,birth,childhood, growing up, work, getting along, war, and old age.
It is truly well done and my favourite for myself and to give as a gift to someone you care about, who is interested in humanity.

Great book! I grew up with it, and rediscovered it just now. Wonderful!!

This is my favorite book. I purchased it when I was 18, and loved black and white photography. I am now 65, and still see the same basic beauty in the photographs. It's not about the 1950's, or showing American culture. It shows how universal and similiar all people of all races and cultures are. It shows young children playing, people falling in love, weddings, births, hard work, wars, death, grieving, and even hope from various people and countries from our planet Earth. One family. One people. This is a collection of love, not about a specific time, or place, or our differences. This is a book that shows our skin colors, clothes, and countries may change; but we are all the same.

I am so glad Family of Man is still available. I would also suggest that in conjunction with this book, you offer Family of Women, and Family of Children.

I first found this book at Foyle's in London, about 35 years ago, and it struck me. Since then, I bought five copies of the Family of Man, but no one remained in my home, because ever I felt the need to give this book to someone I loved or trusted.
What is making this book so precious to me?
First the idea itself of collecting pictures from the whole world (remember, when Steichen launched his project, the Cold War and the related hysteria was at its peak). This to demonstrate that all the human beings have to pass through the same events in their life: birth, growth, education, emotions, work, love, children, reflection, death. This apparently trivial concept leads to a conclusion by far less trivial: we all do belong to one family, our species, the humans (by the way, this thinking had not so great success in the past, nor the present seems to be more benevolent).
The Family of Man is exactly the visual demonstration of such a concept, by comparing the same events as viewed from different geographic and cultural perspectives, by means of photos from renowned or unknown photographers (of course, the pictures from the US are prevailing in numbers for logistics and statistical reasons: it was by far more simple for an US photographer to even simply receive the news of the Steichen project than for a photographer in Rwanda or in the USSR).
Steichen and his assistants made an impressive selection, shortlisting 503 pictures from the over 2 million they received. By the way, Steichen was a photographer, and his selection also considered the aesthetic side of the question: most of the pictures selected simply are wonderful.
The result is this book. I think no one on this planet can miss it, because The Family of Man is representative of a large part of our culture and on our very nature.
To give an example, in my opinion this book is at the same emotional and rational level as Homer's Odyssey, Dante's Divine Comedy, Melville's Moby Dick, primo Levi's If this is a Man, or the ancient Greek lyrics, to quote some comparisons.
I hope it will continue to be published; we, the humans, desperately need it.

Set in the early days of the war, this is the story of a young man's efforts to join the fight and parttake in what we now know as The Battle of Britain. Geoffrey 'Boy" Wellum managed to join very young as many did just like him, go through training and then be sent to the front where he aquitted himself well. Having myself joined up at the same age but a few generations later, it is not difficult to imagine the challenges laying ahead, nor being one of the youngest, and always the youngest... But unlike our times, in a battle of life and death, where the protection lay in the early anticipation of the other's moves, ability to outfly and the size of the petrol tank of your opponent, proximity to your own base, even sheer luck in fact, was the wand that decideded the cause of events. I recommend this book but even more so recommend you to go to one of the events given in the U.K. each year to meet with the airman in person. That is the best ending to the book. Any book for that matter - given the tumultuous circumstances of when it took place and the subsequent years. I could only wish he would write yet another - of those years fought in Hawker Typhoons - as a test pilot and I am sure...more!

Simply put. I could not put this book down. i felt i was in the cockpit at times with geoffrey.I finished the book wanting more.

I have read many flying books including many dealing with WWII. First Light is outstanding and one of the best.

The author brings life to an incredible odyssey from a young college student to RAF ace. In a matter of a few months he went from an aviation cadet to reporting to a front line fighter squadron. Wellum brings life to arriving at the Spitfire equipped squadron without ever having seen one up close much less having any flying experience in them.

His arrival occurred at the same time as the desperate struggle to evacuate trapped British and French forces from the beaches at Dunkirk. Within a couple of days of his arrival 25% of his new squadron members lay dead at the bottom of the Channel or on the beach.

What some may find redundant is really the exhausting, terrifying daily routine of continuing aerial combat over England and then the Continent. Wellum's descriptions of aerial combat are fascinating. Some battles are against vastly superior forces of ME 109's while in others weather becomes a deadly enemy.

The author's humble writing style makes all the more impact. For those who fly or are history buffs this is a must read.

I served in the RCAF durin ww2. I later flew fighters in th USAF, served as captain on USAirways for 28 years.I have written 5 books on aviation.Jeoffrey Wellum's book is a master piece.His breath -taking descriptions of aeral battles puts you right in the cockpit of his BEAUTIFUL Spitfire.
" The narrow legs of it 'undercarrage give it a delicate apperance.It has the air of a thoroughbread---It's ellipitical wings and sleder body give it an air above all other fighters,the sound of it'sRR Merline engine produces a sound ,like nothing else in the air.I firmly believe that the Spitfire was the most beautiful fighter of ww2, and I as jeoffery said ,I would also give my arm to fly it.
I don't know which was his most dangerous flying conditions were,weather flack, or bullets. He did a yomans job in all these instances.
I have read dozens of books by RAF fighter pilots, This book is at the top of my list.Great job " BOY"

Excellent first person account of the Battle of Britain but not the best I've read. If you're looking for something with a little more of the overall picture, try Fly For Your Life by Robert Stanford Tuck. Tuck's book is definitely the best memoir on the Battle of Britain I've come across and one of the best WW II books I've ever read.

This is the first "insect" book I've seen that is told as a story. As such, it can be used as a reference book; but is delightful when read cover-to-cover. It is a combination biography, natural science, and how-scientists-find-out book. The engaging writing, clear descriptions, fascinating photos, and exacting descriptions of scientific research are rarely found in one volume.

It has been said that life is chemistry, and some says that chemistry is life. If you seek what molecules are behind the different defense systems in insects, this is the book. Excellent.

Let me put in my two cents' worth, as well. This is a fabulous book even for those who aren't into bugs. Eisner is a warm and wonderful writer who's enthusiasm for insects is infectious. It inspired me to a) raise some cockroaches to study their behavior (and thereby risk divorce), and b) search for spiders by flashlight (and thereby risk neighborly opprobrium).
Buy the book, kick up, relax, and enter the surprisingly fascinating world of insects and chemistry.

This is an excellent book to share the insect world as they protect themselves from their environments.

Thomas Eisner is J. G. Schurman Professor of Chemical Ecology at Cornell University and his life long fascination of the insect world has blessed us with an extraordinary, in-depth knowledge of bugs and their awesome capabilities, esp., in chemical defenses which have led to the discovery of many helpful medicines, etc.

Eisner's many beautiful color photos and micro-photography turn this book into a coffee-table txt book on insect ecology and this is worth the price of admission on just that aspect alone.

The famous sociobiologist/entomologist, friend and research collaborator of Eisner, E. O. Wilson, "Diversity of Life", et al., wrote the Foreword to this book and gives a good summation on the focus of this book: "The many behaviors he [Eisner] has discovered and explained, and their implementation by life around us, amazing in a variety and precision, are the worthy focus of this book." Well put.

After the Foreword is a great quote about insects in general: "What makes things baffling is their degree of complexity, not their sheer size... a star is simpler than an insect." From: [Martin Rees, "Exploring Our Universe and Others," Scientific American, December 1999]

In the Prologue, Eisner has given a great appraisal of the insect world in: "They have succeeded in one major respect where humans have failed. They are practitioners of sustainable development. Although they are the primary consumers of plants, they do not merely exploit plants. They also pollinate them, thereby providing a secure future, both for themselves and for their plant partners." Indeed, symbiosis, harmony...

...And, Eisner on his hopes for this fine book: "If this book contributes in any way toward bolstering the preservationist spirit, as I hope it might, it will have fulfilled it's purpose."

It has certainly "edified" my preservationist spirit and will no doubt do the same for others!

This is one of the most poignant books written about figure skating history. I knew the story of the 1961 tragedy, but this book focuses on each skater in ways I've never seen done before. MUCH more here than just a focus on the famous Owen family. Good reading, well worth the price. ORDER IT!

If you are a fan of figure skating, this book is a definate must read. It opened my eyes to things about skating and competition that I did not know as a former figure skater. It is a wonderful tribute to the skaters of the 1961 U.S. Team.

In 1961, the greatest tragedy in U.S. figure skating history - and possibly world figure skating history - took place when a Sabena-Belgian Airlines Boeing 707 developed problems trying to land at Brussels airport. The plane nosedived into a farmer's field, killing everyone aboard. Among those on board were 18 members of the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating team, who were heading to the World Championships in Prague. This is the story of those skaters.
This book focuses largely on Laurence & Maribel Vinson Owen, as well as Stephanie Westerfield, who were the most well-known members, but also mentions skaters such as Laurie Jean Hickox and Doug Ramsay. It talks in-depth about the training & competitions they went through to become U.S. Figure Skating team members, as well as the terrible accident itself & how it affected U.S. Figure Skating at large - especially the rush to produce new skaters to replace those so tragically lost.
Journalist (and adult competitive figure skater) Nikki Nichols has done an excellent job in telling the very real stories of these people who were the Americans' best hopes for 1964, and never got to perform. Most of today's figure skaters have never heard the sad story of the 1961 US team, and this book is an excellent telling of their story. Highly recommended.

.......the Vinson-Owen legacy in its fifth generation.......?

This is the story of the 1961 American figure skating team whose plane crashed, outside Brussels, en route to the world championships in Prague, killing all aboard and changing the face of American figure skating forever. Previous reviewers criticize the author for relying so heavily on speculation, but for an event that happened nearly five decades ago and many of the people who could tell the story are deceased as well, I think she did an excellent job.

To me, the biggest scandal in the book was not the Laurence Owen/Stephanie Westerfeld rivalry, but rather the dissolution of Stephanie's family shortly before the crash. Her parents have both been dead for over 20 years and therefore cannot tell their stories, but to have a child who was a champion figure skater AND a budding concert pianist.....are there enough hours in the day?

Maribel Vinson-Owen didn't seem to be the most likable person (a vast understatement) but she blazed trails without realizing it. A Radcliffe graduate, the first woman sportswriter at the New York Times, AND she nearly destroyed her coaching career by allowing a black skater to practice at her rink? That took some guts. This skater, Mabel Ferguson, continues to promote skating to the black community.

This book is a quick read, and I ordered it at the library the day before seeing "We Are Marshall", about a plane crash that also killed 75 people. The Sabena crash officially had 73 casualties, but one of the passengers was pregnant and a farmer was killed on the ground by falling debris. It doesn't look like things have changed much regarding the treatment of crash survivors' families, but that's another book altogether.

Most of the 1961 performances can be viewed on You Tube.

I truly enjoyed this book. One of my best childhood friends died in the 1961 plane crash, her name was Laurence Owen. This book brought back many memories of a wonderful young girl taken far to soon. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Figure Skating. It gives insight to many of the wonderful people who died on that February day.