Europe Books

Probably the best in its field. No other work contains so much important information on galleys and naval power in the age of gunpowder and on the history of Mediterranean warfare of the period. It is also a must for anybody interested in the modern struggle between Islam and Western World. Just like now when only the modern Empire (USA) can save our civilisation, so in the 16° century only the superior Venetian technology at Lepanto saved Europe from the same barbarians.
Indeed an outstanding book.

I've read the older printing more than once. Author John Keegan once described it as one of the best 2 or 3 military history books he'd read. This research didn't become popular until years after the printer was done. I've seen used copies selling for $150 or more. Since Prof. Guilmartin wrote this, more reserchers have produced quality work on galley warfare, but this original needed very little improvement. I still get benefit every time I read it. There's just so much thinking in here, even passing remarks expose me to new trains of thought. Even if you're not greatly interested in galley warfare, I think you can be exposed to a lot of potentially valuable analysis in historical work. Gunpowder and Galleys examines 16th century Mediterranean warfare. This period saw a climax in fighting between the Moslem Ottoman Empire and countries of Catholic Christian Europe. If you ever thought the Battle of Lepanto was a simple brawl between violent armed men at sea, you'll learn a more intersting tale here. The Christians won, but very narrowly. Much of the arguing and complaining after the action can provide a vehicle for appreciating the skill and nerve that the flotilla commanders provided. For example, Gian Andrea Doria (a Genoese mercenary in the Spanish fleet) earned much criticism for his conduct in the battle. However, I tend to think he placed victory in Don John's hand by keeping Ottoman admiral Uluj Ali out of the fight just long enough. If you read this, there's much opportunity to learn about a fascinating period of history. (Information: Guilmartin was kind enough to mention me in his introduction)

I received Gunpowders and Galleys as a Christmas present and I am immensely pleased. This book deserves its reputation as not only a topnotch work of naval history, but history, period. The depth of scholarship, originality, good sense, readable style, and careful interweaving of multiple sources of information makes it a superb book that ought to provoke thought outside of the narrow field of galley warfare.

In particular, his insistence that the galley is intrinsically bound up with the economic, cultural, political, geographic, technical, tactical, strategic, and religious context is a powerful antidote to narrower and more regimented approaches to the study of history. Not to mention, it also helps to shed light on current events. Our current dilemma in Iraq would benefit from adopting Guilmartin's approach by broadening our sources of information and deepening our understanding; failure to do so runs the risk of winning the war and failing to achieve our goals.

In short, Guilmartin's book not only teaches us about its topic, but provokes us to think holistically about many historical and modern events.

Guilmartin's book offers an excellent fusion of military history and history of science. His wide-ranging work of course offers a thought provoking argument about the adaptability of traditional Mediterranean galley based naval warfare to gunpowder weapons,(which he finds initially effective but ultimately a technological dead end).
But there's a lot more to the book than that. His work challenges traditional thinking in a variety of areas,ranging from bronze metal cannon-casting, to the applicability of Mahanian ideas about sea power to the Mediterranean world,to the passing of the Asiatic horse archer. Although Guilmartin's conclusions have been challenged, Gunpowder and Galleys remains an outstanding work, which sets the bar very high. It's a pity that it is no longer in print.

For this reader, Gunpowder and Galleys is as much about the American Failure in Vietnam as it is about the 16th century. Read between the lines and you'll see.

The publisher owes it to the public to reprint this wonderful volume.

This was an excellent, intense account of a unique king's biography. I read this book to get more info on William the Conqueror, but now I'm obsessed with Harold II. A must-read for history buffs.

In terms of English history,not much is ever really said about Harold. Those who are looking for an informative and surprisingly entertaining work on the Monarch should look no further.

Ian Walker has left no stone unturned in the telling of Harold Godwineson and his family. Starting from his grandfather and father and ending with his grandson becoming the prince of Kiev.
After reading the book, you come away with a sense of the time that he lived in and more importantly a sense of the man. Walker is also very good at surmising how certain decisions and choices that were made having an effect on the people at the time. Case in point the effect of how Harold's contemporaries veiwed his oath breaking to William. Few historians are able to do this.

The author does love his dates and locations, but he is very thorough when it comes to extended family. Also and most importantly, he writes with a point. Instead of going off on a half page tangent, Walker writes in brief and consise paragraphs. When a major player such as William, Tosti or Harald Hardrada comes along, he writes a full chapter.

I have been looking for a book on this king for long time and this has surpassed my expectations. A definite "must-have" for English Monarch and Anglo-Saxon enthusiasts.

Everyone who takes English history probably remembers 1066, William of Normandy, the Battle of Hastings, and King Harold; essentially the date, the location and the leaders of the combatant armies. Some may remember that the fight was over the right of succession to the throne of England after the heirless death of King Edward the Confessor. A few may even remember that Edmond Halley's famous comet made an appearance just beforehand, creating great consternation that was immortalized in the Bayeux tapestry. For most, Harold's reign seems almost a foot note, hardly more than an intermission before the main event of the Norman conquest. With William and his successors come castle building, classic knighthood, feudal society, all the "romance" of the middle ages. Harold is so often treated as a cipher to all of this that the true drama of this transitional age is often lost on the student. Harold is just "the loser."

Ian Walker's book brings this period more into focus. He approaches his subject by examining, not only Harold's own life and career, but that of his grandfather and father, creating a sense of the venue for the events of the Conquest. Harold is no longer just "the loser." He is a powerful and intelligent warrior, dealing as often in diplomacy as in bloodshed, able to play the chess game of power politics in a very turbulent time. He was in fact "the last Anglo Saxon king," and his time, like the withdrawal of the elves from Tolkien's Middle Earth, is the end of an era. His predecessor Edward was the last of the line of Alfred the Great, the king who had wielded the tiny Anglo Saxon kingdoms into the one kingdom of England. William and his successors would turn the island into a developing nation state striving for a place in a world among other rising nation states.

I found particularly interesting the author's approach to the period as one of a family biography. Harold was not just a famous figure in history, he was a member of an ambitious extended family. Like the Borgias in a later time and place, Harold's father and his grandfather played major roles in English political life during the years preceding the Conquest, as did he and his brothers in their own time. Walker follows these careers, because it is the net created by their liaisons that defined the period. Pull out any of these lynch pins, and the history of the era would have been vastly different. Interesting too were the careers of Harold's children, who went on to carry the family into succeeding generations of international leaders. I have often wondered what the fates of descendants of famous people have been. What did happen to Cleopatra's surviving children for instance? At least in this instance, more is documented about Harold's children which gives a sense of closure to Walker's book.

Thoroughly enjoyable and informative study.

This book has enough detail and judicious use of sources to be of great use to the academic historian, while the author's lucid writing style and the sensible structure of the book will no doubt make it accesible to the interested layperson. Well done!

This is a great book for anyone interested in the mysterious and obscure events of England in the year 1066. Walker does a great job, trying to bring Harold Godwinson to life.

An excellent addition to the literature on Yugoslav and Serbian history. A must for anyone who would like to learn more about the region. Concise and easy to read. The entries on events and important individulas and institutions have not been burdened by the subjective interpretations and judgements. Highly recommended reading for general public and Yugoslav scholars.

Prof. Suster's book is a well documented and highly sophisticated work on history combining first-hand information, clear presentation and reliable analysis on many until now partially or wrongly interpreted historical phenomenons from troublesome Balkan history. Comprehensive in its analysis, the book is based on new historical literture and balanced in its historical judgments. Both biographies and historical analysis are based on scholarly literature from West and from local historiography. The emphesis is, as expected on contemporary history, covering all important facts of the last decade, but the most important historical phenomenons are, some for the first time in English,presented without any prejudice. In all respects this book will be an essential guide for everyone, from university professors and students to general public, tending to learn more on history and politics in Serbia, Montenegro and their neighbors.

Finally, a comprehensive and coherent volume on Yugoslavia from a Balkan expert and an IPE scholar. The post-Cold War literature on international relations of Yugoslavia's demise, in its substance and method, for the most part, has not discriminated between truth and opinion -- between what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what is only a subjective judgment, separated from the facts, unrealistic, and informed by prejudice.

Regrettably, information and knowledge about Serbia, Yugoslavia, and the Balkans have often been created and distributed by media generated and / or by media forwarded pictures, reports, and commentaries. This type of evidence has largely been based on leaks from known and unknown sources. Therefore serious readers, scholars, and policy makers engaged in the Balkan affairs and U.S. foreign policy should pose several questions.

(1) Has the so-called "advocacy journalism" based on the reports from conflict stakeholders -- past, current, or prospective clients and proxies -- provided information or disinformation?

(2) Has the advocacy journalism cultivated (a) ignorance and cognitive closure about causal links and their effects; (b) stirred input-output discrepancies that led to cognitive dissonance and suppression of reasoned judgment; or (c) has it enhanced our understanding of causes and consequences of internal conflicts and interstate wars?

(3) Have we improved our learning skills, and advanced our knowledge with briefings, statements, and judgments provided by bureaucrats, staff members, and policy makers in a ministry or agency?

Answers to these questions and the outcome of such a research and management of international affairs have been adverse for history, theory, and policy. We have discovered ex ante and the ex postfacto fallacies and errors in the intelligence process, and planning. We have had to contend with policy advocacy and implementation that stem from these fallacies and errors. Serious and much needed research to discourage the use of fallacies and to avoid costly conceptual and policy errors, so far has been insufficient and inadequate.

Suster's Historical Dictionary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the English-speaking world has long been overdue. Since the end of the Cold War, the public was satiated with the literature on ethnic and regional conflict. This literature, with few exceptions, lacked the precision and depth required for serious social research. Academic and policy discourse has been in need of a discriminate and balanced evidence and inference. We make history and theory synthesis possible through this intellectual production of discriminate and balanced evidence and inference.

Zeljan Suster's book fills the large factual and analytical gap that exists in the contemporary literature on Yugoslavia. Besides the comprehensive lexicon of the names, events, and processes, the book's introductory chapter provides a concise but inclusive analytical background for the main period covered in the book. This analysis is refreshing and stimulating. It makes prospects for serious research on this and similar topics important and feasible. The Historical Dictionary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should be a standard reference for scholars, students, and policy makers.

Boban S. M. Pesic, University of Pittsburgh

Finally, we have a comprehensive and coherent masterwork on Yugoslavia from a Balkan expert and an IPE scholar. The post-Cold War literature on international relations of Yugoslavia's demise, in its substance and method, for the most part, has not discriminated between truth and opinion. It has not discriminated between what is true objectively and rationally, supported by evidence and illuminated by reason, and what is only a subjective judgment, separated from the facts, unrealistic, and informed by prejudice.

Information and knowledge about the Balkans, Yugoslavia, and Serbia,have often been created and disseminated through uncorroborated reports and teleological research prone to errors: accepting a (policy) claim when it was false, rejecting it when it was true, or solving the wrong problem instead of the right one. Serious readers, scholars, and policy makers engaged in the Balkan affairs and U.S. foreign policy, therefore, should pose several questions:

(1) has the so-called "advocacy journalism" based on the reports from conflict stakeholders -- past, current, or prospective clients and proxies provided information or disinformation?

(2) has the "advocacy journalism" cultivated (a) ignorance and cognitive closure about causal links and their effects; (b) stirred input/output discrepancies that led to cognitive dissonance and suppression of reasoned judgment; or has it enhanced our understanding of causes and consequences of internal conflicts and interstate wars?

(3) have we improved our learning skills, and advanced our knowledge with briefings, statements, and judgments provided by bureaucrats, staff members, and policy makers in a ministry or agency?

Answers to these questions suggest that research and management of international affairs, so far, have been adverse for the study of history and policy. We have discovered fallacies and errors in the intelligence process and planning ex postfacto. We have had to contend with policy advocacy and policy application that stem from these fallacies and errors. Serious and much needed research to discourage the use of fallacies and to avoid costly conceptual and policy errors,so far, has been insufficient and inadequate.

Suster's "Historical Dictionary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" in the English-speaking world has long been overdue. Since the end of the Cold War, the public was satiated with the literature on ethnic and regional conflict. This literature, with few exceptions, lacked the precision and depth required for serious social research. Academic and policy discourse has been in need of a discriminate and balanced evidence and inference. We make history and theory synthesis possible through this intellectual production of discriminate and balanced evidence and inference.

Zeljan Suster's book fills the large factual and analytical gap that exists in the contemporary literature on Yugoslavia. Besides the comprehensive lexicon of the names, events, and processes, the book's introductory chapter provides a concise but inclusive analytical background for the main period covered in the book. This analysis is refreshing and stimulating. It makes prospects for serious research on this and similar topics important and feasible. The "Historical Dictionary of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia" is a standard reference for scholars, students, and policy makers.

S. B. M. Pesic, University of Pittsburgh

This book, which is both detailed and accessible, is a valuable contribution to the recent body of literature on the former Yugoslavia. As a who's who and a what's what on the region's historical and contemporary figures and events it is an excellent starting point for the student, researcher and even the casual reader who will certainly have been exposed to a lot of media coverage of the region, but who may have found that the media explained only a little.

The alphabetic listing format is easy to use, and the extensive bibliography and chronology provide reference points for the reader to find out more on the many interesting aspects of the history and culture of the Balkans.

This affordable paperback edition of Volume V of Charles Oman's definitive study of the Peninsular War covers the turning point of the conflict. In early 1812, Napoleon withdrew some of his Imperial troops from occupied Spain for his ill-fated invasion of Russia. The dispersal of the remaining French troops to hold down Spanish insurgents coincided with a buildup of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, enabling Wellington to go over to the offensive with an experienced and well-trained force. The bold seizure of the Spanish frontier fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz opened the way for Wellington's magnificent victory of maneuver over Marshal Marmont's French Army at Salamanca. Although Wellington overreached himself at the siege of Burgos and was forced to retrench on the Portuguese frontier over the winter of 1812-1813, the French had lost the initiative in the Peninsular War for good.

Oman brings out how Napoleon's attempts to run the Peninsular War from Paris and Wellington's superior ability to gather intelligence contributed to French defeats. Oman includes a brief but fascinating account, perhaps particularly relevant for modern readers, of the challenges faced by the British Tory government in supporting a long and expensive campaign to dislodge the French from Spain and Portugal. The Whig Party, in opposition, decried every expense and every casualty in favor of an immediate peace treaty with Napoleon. Such a treaty prior to Napoleon's defeat in Russia would have ceded control of Continental Europe to the French Emperor. The Tory government withstood Whig opposition and internal dissension to perservere against Napoleon, trusting Wellington to fulfill the mission of his command.

Oman's command of his subject in volume V is masterful. His narrative is mature and confident. While the focus is on the operational level of war, Oman provides descriptive and ocassionally thrilling vignettes of the critical battles. The footnotes provide much additional context.

This volume and series are highly recommended to serious students of the Napoleonic Wars. The casual reader without background of the conflict may find this volume a very challenging read.

Volume V of Charles Oman's definitive study of the Peninsular War covers the turning point of the conflict in the Iberian Peninsula. In early 1812, Napoleon withdrew some of his Imperial troops from Spain for his ill-fated invasion of Russia. The dispersal of the remaining French troops to hold down Spanish insurgents coincided with a buildup of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, enabling Wellington to go over to the offensive with an experienced and well-trained force. The bold seizure of the Spanish frontier fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz opened the way for Wellington's magnificent victory of maneuver over Marshal Marmont's French army at Salamanca. Although Wellington overreached himself at the siege of Burgos and was forced to retrench on the Portuguese frontier over the winter of 1812-1813, the French had lost the initiative in the Peninsular War for good. Oman brings out how Napoleon's attempts to run the Peninsular War from Paris and Wellington's superior ability to gather intelligence contributed to French defeats. Oman includes a brief but fascinating account, perhaps particularly relevant for modern readers, of the challenges faced by the British Tory government in supporting a long and expensive campaign to dislodge the French from the Iberian Peninsula. The Whig Party, in opposition, decried every expense and every casualty in favor of an immediate peace treaty with Napoleon. Such a treaty prior to Napoleon's defeat in Russia would have ceded control of Continental Europe to the French Emperor. The Tory government withstood Whig opposition and internal dissension to persevere against Napoleon, trusting Wellington to fulfill the mission of his command. Oman's command of his subject is masterful; his narrative is mature and confident. While the focus is on the operational level of war, Oman provides descriptive and ocassionally thrilling vignettes of the critical battles. The footnotes provide much additional context. This volume and series are highly recommended to serious students of the Napoleonic Wars. The casual reader without background of the conflict may find this volume a very challenging read.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

Sir Charles Oman's comprehensive seven volume history of the Peninsular War is the yardstick by which any other history of this theatre must be measured. It is exhaustive in detail and in breadth of coverage. If it happened, it is in one of these volumes. Napoleon may have considered Spain a side show, but as results turned out it was a bleeding ulcer. French losses here, combined with the 1812 campaign, placed a strain on the Empire which could not be overcome by even the best generalship. Any true student of the Napoleonic Wars should find these books and read them. They are essential to a complete understanding of the conflict.

This wonderfully affordable paperback edition makes available Volume V of Charles Oman's definitive history of the Peninsular War, which covers the turning point of the war. In early 1812, Napoleon withdrew some of his Imperial troops from Spain for the ill-fated invasion of Russia. The dispersal of the remaining French forces to hold down Spanish insurgents coincided with a buildup of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, enabling Wellington to go over to the offensive with his experienced and well-trained force.

The bold seizure of the Spanish frontier fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz opended the way for Wellington's magnificent victory of maneuver over Marshal Marmont's French Army at Salamanca. Wellington would later overreach himself at the siege of Burgos and be forced to retrench on the Portuguese frontier over the winter of 1812-1813. However, the French had lost the initiative in the Peninsular War for good.

Oman includes a brief but fascinating account, perhaps particularly relevant for modern readers, of the challenges faced by the British Tory government in waging an expensive six year campaign to dislodge the French from the Iberian Peninsula. The British Whig Party, in opposition, decried every expense and casualty in favor of an immediate peace treaty with Napoleon. The effect of such a treaty prior to Napoleon's defeat in Russia would have been to concede control of Continental Europe to the French Emperor. The British Ministry withstood both Whig opposition and internal Tory dissension to persevere against Napoleon and to trust Wellington to fulfill the mission of his command in Spain.

Oman's command of his subject is masterful; his narrative is mature and confident. While the focus is on the operational level of war, Oman provides descriptive and occasionally thrilling vignettes of the critical battles. The footnotes provide much additional context which will be of interest to the serious student of the Napoleonic Wars. The casual reader without background of the conflict may find this volume a challenging read.

This slim but lavishly illustrated volume offers a very perceptive analysis of the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth century re-examination of military matters that occured in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. It discusses the technological and tactical advances, in a more concise manner than similar works like David Eltis's, but it also integrates them into the renaissance of military philosophy, and indeed of all facets of society, that was occuring at the time. That analysis, combined with illuminating sidebars, several key case studies, and gorgeous artwork make this perhaps the top general reference for Renaissance military history.

First off, I knew nothing about war during the European Renaissance before reading this book, so I went in with pretty low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised- this book is fascinating. Thomas Arnold writes in a very clear style, that is easy to follow. His research is detailed, but he does not bog the reader down with too many minute details.

Also, this book is full of excellent graphics. It has many period prints, maps, tapestry images, and some well done battlefield graphics. I thought this illustrations really helped emphasize many of the author's key points.

This is the first book in the series that I have read, so now I have rather high expectations for the other volumes I purchased with this one. I highly recommend this book to any military history student, or anyone interested in learning more about how warfare changed in Europe during the Renaissance.

this book is part of the Cassell History of Warfare series that is currently being published and is, in my opinion, one of the best books in this collection (along with Hanson's Wars of the Ancient Greeks and Goldworthy's Roman Warfare). The first half of the book covers the developments on siegecraft, artillery, infantry tactics, and strategy of European armies in the 16th century; the second half covers the history of wars between the Ottoman empire and Europe and between Europeans themselves during the same period. The writing is succinct and informative. The illustrations are well chosen - both relevant and pleasing to the eye. Charts and maps are plentiful. You will enjoy this book.

Indeed a very nice book, with a lot of interesting information. The writer avoids the complicated style most historians dealing with the Renaissance prefer, and writes clearly, with regard of and respect to the ones who never have dealt with the complexities of the history of warfare, especially in a period such as this, when the wide use of gunpowder marked a turning point in the style of warfare and the perception of military tactics. Arnold covers every basic aspect of the Renaissance warfare, the decline of the Knight (in that old, medieval sense), the change in styles of fortifications, the change of the role of the general, the use of the artillery, etc, and does so while giving in the same time an accurate account of the main historical events (of military nature, obviously). Thus, the reader has an accurate, viewed from all sides, perspective of the matter. If there were more stars to give, I would definitely give them (!) although one must remember that this is an introductory study, and for particular details and a more in depth analysis there are other books to consider. In all this book is...a great place to start.

Thomas Arnold is a great writer, and having John Keegan as the editor of could only have helped the text. It is very easy to read and still extremely interesting, covering first the technical evolution of warfare from the 15th to the 17th centuries and then covering the major conflicts of the era.

Added to the strong writing and editing are many computer generated maps of individual battles and some great illustrations, many taken from period tapestries and paintings.

This book is probably the most clear, well-written book available on the subject, while still encompassing many lesser known facets of the Renaissance and even injecting some humor in a couple of passages.

Don't judge it by its textbook appearance and odd dimensions...it is anything but textbook-like and will undoubtedly lead you to buy more of the books in the series.

This book is a heavily researched piece of scholarship. Its biggest defect is its sensational sounding (and misleading) title. The Library Journal reviewer above probably read only the overleaf. While there are anecdotes in the book, the book is not anecdotal. The author appears to have read through hundreds if not thousands of law cases.
This book is an overwhelming endictment of the German judiciary, not just during WWII, but in the periods before and after it as well. It shows how the horror of that period had some of its roots in the German judiciary.
The book documents how during the Weimar period before world war II the Judiciary undermined the democratic government, supported the Nazis and helped bring them to power. One memorable anecdote occurs during the trial following The Nazi's beer hall putsch. German law required that, as an Austrian, Hitler be deported. However the court declined to order this, declaring that "Hitler is more German than the Germans" (or something similar). This is just one anecdote, but the chapter on the Weimar period covers the major instances of violence and insubordination during this period, and shows a persistent partisanship of the judiciary in support of the Nazis.
During the Nazi period, the author shows the courts helped strengthen Nazi rule. Here the author lays a number of myths to rest. One interesting chapter is on the Bundestag fire. The author shows how the courts acted in a pandering and biased way during the trial, and also acted to make the the Nazi government's appearance palatable to the rest of the international community. This is a far different exposition of this event than has appeared in German history books, where the courts are portrayed as acting heroically in the defense of justice.
Another chapter that overturns myths is the chapter on Resistance from the Bench. Judicial historians have long claimed that the judiciary resisted the Nazis despite great peril. But the truth
is that only one judge resisted. And the result was that after ten years of being a nuisance, he received early retirement (The story of the legal academics is identical. One professor from 600 refused an oath of loyalty to the Nazi government, and ended up with early retirement).
For Americans, the most disappointing revelations in the book may be in the final section, about the aftermath of the war. It turns out that the allies denazification program lasted no more than a few months. At that point, in spite of their own directives, the allies began permitting former nazis to serve in the judiciary. Within a few years they had given up on all restrictions against former nazis. So the judiciary was ended up being staffed by the same people after the war as during it. A vantage point from which they were able to hinder and prevent the prosecution of nazi criminals and fictionalize history to remove nazi period crimes from it. Once again there are some memorable (and hard to believe) anecdotes, e. g. West Germany passed a law in the 50's requiring Nazis be awarded civil service jobs, let concentration camp guards go free and awarded them state pensions.

Somehow, I have this feeling that this book just gives us the tip of th awful iceberg.

One need only remember the United States Supreme Court Justice William Brennan's Rule of Five. That the word of Five Justice's on the United States Supreme Court can over ride the express written word of all the Founding Fathers and all the American People. To know that what happened in Germany is not unique to any specific land.

However what really shocks me is not all the innocewnt blood the German Judiciary helped spill. Being involved with every aspect of the Nazi state. They were even represented at the Wannsee conference. What really shocks is is that after the war all the nazi judges lawyers and Law professors got their jobs back. Not one was executed by the allies, despite all that blood. And then they covered for the murderers. Many times revictimizing the victims of nazi persecution or genocide.

If this book proves anything it is that in any country an independent judiciary is a hungry fox with a key to the Chicken coop. And should be done away with.

One need only look at this country, whose courts in the past few years have systematicly through 'Evolving' Standards (LIE)begun replacing the Bill of Rights of our Founding Fathers with a Liberal Bill of Lies. With 'Cruel and Unusual Punishment' they try to abolish or restrict the Death Penalty for murderers. 'Seperation of Church and State' which is not in this country's constitution but that of the SOviet Union's, they have launched a culture war on the values of this country. The Second Ammendment they ignore. With Campain Finance 'reform' they deliberately allow the very people outside the political establishment to be gagged abridging the first ammendment rights they demand be respected for pornographers. I could go on.

This book is a must read.

How the German legal profession abandoned the rule of law, notably in the special tribunals (Special Courts and People's Courts) in Weimar and Nazi Germany. Muller notes that this trend pre-dated Hitler, that the laws enabling it were in the name of national security, that it followed the replacement of liberal with conservative judges over several decades, pre-Hitler, and that the judges had come to accept public affairs as a "friend or foe" paradigm with no room for loyal opposition.

1933 and post-9/11 are not identical, of course. The 1933 Reichstag Fire Decree suspended numerous civil-liberty sections of the republic's constitution itself, and for all citizens of the republic, while the current U.S. military tribunals simply remove a class of enemy combatants from normal criminal or military jurisdiction. However, the Weimar courts had created courts of special jurisdiction, and types of national-security offenses, long before 1933. Hitler merely took this trend, and the state-necessity doctrine, to its next logical level, and Mr. Muller is very good at putting this in its context. The injustices pre- and post-dated Hitler.

U.S. readers should remember that the German legal system had considerable differences with Anglo-American jurisprudence, with the latter's greater reliance on precedential case law, neutral judges, and independent defense counsel. Still, here we see how a once-proud legal system turned rule of law into a blood-stained rule of force, dressed in legal robes. A valuable, if chilling, work.

Due to my interest in the history of Europe in the first half of the last century, I have read quite a number of the standard histories through the second world war. As an attorney, I have also had a keen interest in legal theory over this same period of time. As to Germany, from the mid-1920's through the end of the war, I have generally run into two types of approaches on legal theory, both generally comprising a chapter or two of a larger history. Usually, the author either explained how judges had been "entangled" in the system and gave an almost sympathetic view of their position under the regime. These authors had the tendency to distinguish the more notorious judges from the judges in the lower courts. The other approach has generally cited a few outrageous rulings of courts during the period and leave the analysis at that. Muller has broken through these shallow approaches and finally given the insight into the courts that one would need to understand what conduct brought a citizen into the courts, what precisely happened to the citizen in the court and dynamic between the courts, law professors and the party in this context.

Muller cites to a breath-taking number of primary sources. I can only wonder how he could find the time to digest all those case records and case decisions. Indeed, I can't imagine how he found them. Regardless, as an attorney, I found his analysis totally objective and somewhat frightening.

As to legal theory, he is the first author I have run across who even tries to explain the transition of German constitutional law from the level directly tied to the age of the enlightenment in Europe to the Nazi regime. He sets out the evolution of the theories of leading law professors, the making and interpretation of statutory law and finally the impact of the utter breakdown of procedural due process to change the law concerned with human rights into a system concerned only with political self-survival of the state. He does not simply state who feel into what category on issues. He takes the arguments from the primary source material and sets out the actual decisions, theories and writings to support his conclusions.

One extraordinary part of Muller's analysis comes in the latter chapters. I had never read anything with any type of detail on this particularly issue, but through the use of primary sources, Muller cuts right into it. He addresses the impact of the Nazi legal system on German law after 1945. As an attorney, I found the analysis astonishing. The argument he lays out, and I cannot find anyway to disagree with, establishs that the large number of Nazi judges stayed in place and actually retired from the system long after the war. More importantly, many of the legal professors who helped develop the legal theories that enabled the crimes against humanity of the Nazi regime kept their positions and continued to teach their theories regarding such things as criminal law and procedure and constitutional law. The impact of the latter is profound in that these professors have taught a whole new generation of lawyers and judges who are in place today. I can only guess, but I have the gut feeling that this must have something to do with the current surge in far right-wing political activities in Germany over the last decade.

In summary, Muller gives an even analysis on an extraordinarily complex subject. He draws conclusions throughout, but explains precisely what he bases them on, so the reader can still draw his or her own conclusions. Again, I am most impressed with the primary source material that he has put together. In my humble opinion, this would be a satisfying book for anyone with an interest in history of the period or in legal theory. Muller manages to put forward the best elements of an historian and an attorney in his writing of this book. Believe me, that is a rare feat.

In reading and considering the implications of "Hitler's Justice" one can easily rationalize this tale of a judiciary gone mad when unleashed from the bounds and restictions of the rule of law, precedents, morality and human rational thought.

There is the obvious injustice on the individual level as documented by the author. Then, as in any corrupt system, there is the human cost to those who daily carry out such injustice and stretch credulity to justify the exercise. A major theme of the book is the ease with which judges adopted to Nazi jurisprudence. Those who objected could simply retire, knowing that someone who supported the twisted and perverted system would simply take their place and carry out the wishes of the Nazis, as outlined.

It is the ease to which German judges adopted and carried out Nazi justice that surprises and shocks. Yet, one should seriously consider that judges worldwide, no matter the system of government that is in place, carry out, and support, that system of government. Indeed, many prosecutors regard judges as a second prosecutor. With ease, judges commit injustices daily rationalizing them using some form of convuluted logic to deny obvious justice.

The historical analogies originating with the Reichstag fire through 9-11 to the USA Patriot Act leave a chilling trail that should strike terror, even more than a "terrorist," that an America, and an American government using that terror, can render more damage than any possible terrorist. An American government that sees "terrorism" as an opportunity to strike down the basic freedoms, beginning with those deemed outlaws, and ending with all Americans, is a logical extension of what happened under the Third Reich. Even more chilling is the existence of a willing judiciary to enforce that law.

The author outlines in well documented detail the types of laws,and their implications, which led the German judiciary to freely give up their independence. Are American judges any less willing to abide by the wishes of the current administration?

Muller has written an important, frightening insightful tale of how and why a judiciary can be corrupted. It is a must read to gain an important historical perspective on the current American hysteria over "terrorism."

When I heard that Karen Davis was writing "The Holocaust & The Henmaid's Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities," I had to wonder: Do we really need more evidence, however persuasive, demonstrating how the genocide of Jews and other humans in World War II is similar to the institutionalized abuse of farmed animals? Will Davis shed fresh light on a subject already illuminated by other animal advocates such as Charles Patterson, whose groundbreaking 2002 book "Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust" is a comprehensive examination of the controversial and troubling connection between factory farming and Hilter's Final Solution?

But in reading her take on the subject, it is clear that Davis can indeed contribute something meaningful on this matter and furthermore offers an intriguing perspective on issues ancillary to the main argument. Davis, the president and founder of United Poultry Concerns, explains that her book grew in part from PETA's 2003 "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign (which was, in turn, inspired by "Eternal Treblinka"). PETA toured the country with this exhibit, displaying graphic photos of chickens in crowded cages and stacks of dead pigs alongside disturbing images of concentration-camp inmates in their tightly packed wooden bunks and the piled bodies of Jewish Holocaust victims. The juxtaposition of these comparable scenes was meant to stimulate contemplation, but it also raised the ire of groups like the Anti-Defamation League and even Jews for Animal Rights.

No doubt hoping to avoid much of the criticism PETA (and Patterson) faced, Davis is sensitive to readers who may regard the Holocaust as such a sacrosanct point in human history that any parallel with the slaughter of animals for food is, for them, profane. "For many people," she writes, "the idea that it is as morally wrong to harm animals intentionally as it is to harm humans intentionally borders on heresy." Notwithstanding this sensitivity, she invites the reader to consider how the forced labor of the concentration camp is akin to the internalized forced labor of chickens on factory farms. (The "henmaid" in her title is an inspired allusion to Margaret Atwood's popular 1986 novel "The Handmaid's Tale," which describes a near-future dystopia in which a large segment of women have no control over their reproductive systems and are routinely inseminated, only to have their offspring taken away. Such an existence is no mere fiction for farmed animals, who have been deprived of their dignity and freedom.)

Although a slim book (it weighs in at only 133 pages, including the notes, references and index), this is a dense volume and not exactly what I was expecting from the author of More than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality. With its references to existentialists Kierkegaard and Sartre, "The Holocaust & The Henmaid's Tale" reads more like an academic text than your typical book on animal rights and seems intended more for scholars than those already well versed in the atrocities of animal agriculture. The writing, however, is lucid and compelling; indeed, chapter three stands out as one of the most poignant and thought-provoking descriptions I have ever read on the brief, tragic life of a battery hen. Davis takes pains to clearly contextualize our use of the very word "holocaust" and demonstrates that taking what the Nazis did to the Jews and comparing it with society's enslavement and slaughter of non-human animals is meant to raise the status of animals rather than demean humans.

Still, the author is well aware that many people remain indignant about this issue, and consequently she has an extra hurdle to overcome. It's difficult enough to convince the average meat-eater that animals have as much right to live in peace as humans do. Add to that a topic as emotionally provocative as the systematic murder of millions of Jews and you're likely to incite anger. (To wit, a typical anti-animal-rights site posts this sentiment on the topic: "I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that there exists a group of people who put the Holocaust on the same level as meat packing.") Davis manages to diffuse the controversy, I believe, by focusing much of her attention on the link between language and attitudes. She discusses, for example, how Holocaust victims have described being "treated like animals," but that for many people such a comparison does not work in reverse. She writes: "To be `treated like animals' is an insult because the experience of animals is assumed to be vastly inferior to that of any human being, most of all one's particular group.... Presuming an immeasurable gulf between humans and animals allows one to appropriate animal abuse as a metaphor for one's own mistreatment while simultaneously dismissing the metaphor, and hence the `animals,' as `just an expression.'"

Not surprisingly, Davis has found much inspiration in "Eternal Treblinka," which contends that the Nazis applied the efficiency of animal agriculture and science to their own fascist agenda. But she takes Patterson's premise a step further. She asserts that the controversy that surrounds comparing the confinement and mass murder of "undesirables" with the abusive system of factory farming - comparing the suffering of human animals with that of non-human animals - emphasizes the very speciesism that allows animals to be exploited. More to the point, turning a blind eye to abuse gives us both "They were only chickens" and "They were only Jews."

I believe we need "The Holocaust & The Henmaid's Tale," if for no other reason than to remind us that the oppression of animals serves as the model for all other forms of oppression and therefore must not be ignored. There is, after all, a correlation between the activity of scholars and activists and how much the consciousness of the general public is raised. As Peter Singer observes in his introduction to the 2006 edition of "In Defense of Animals," in 1970, when the modern animal movement was just gaining currency, the number of writings on the ethical status of animals was tiny; yet today, he estimates, it must be in the thousands. Consider how far the movement has come in the last three and a half decades, and how much the writing of advocates has inspired us. Let's hope Karen Davis' new book will raise more awareness than it does anger.

Mark Hawthorne, author of Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism

I first discovered Dr. Davis' organization, United Poultry Concerns, while doing an internet search for animal rights superstar Pamelyn Ferdin (and she would HATE to be called that!). I have been a fan of UPC and Davis' pioneering work ever since.

I was already a Vegetarian, but Davis' book "Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs" helped me make the decision to go Vegan, which has been an amazing force for personal change.

Earlier this year, I finally got around to Davis' "More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual and Reality", and found its compelling arguments to be all the more reason to celebrate UN-Turkey Day as an antidote to the wholly noxious Xtian holiday "Thanksgiving".

With "The Holocaust & the Henmaid's Tale", Davis has emerged as a leader in articulating the philosophy of the animal rights movement. Davis delves deeply into man's history of cruelty to animals under the guise of scapegoating and ritual sacrifice, and the reader may conclude that today's meat industry is little more than an ongoing mass slaughter-ritual updated to the age of the machine.

As for relative sufferings and their hierarchy of importance, Davis tackles the penultimate emblem of mass suffering, the Holocaust, and compares it successfully with the daily slaughter of millions of sentient beings in the name of human gluttony and imperialistic perfidy. Just as the claim that the 9/11 attacks in the US were more "tragic" than the slaughters in Columbia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Iraq, etc. is laughable, so too is the notion that non-human suffering cannot be compared to human suffering. Suffering is suffering, and seeking an end to same should be the goal of all reasoning beings.

Health and political motivations notwithstanding, the only really good reason to become a Vegetarian and/or Vegan is if you believe that kindness is a virtue worth practicing. As Davis herself concludes, "Who but the Nazi in us disagrees?"

An intensely engaging, disturbing and ultimately uplifting experience, Davis' "The Holocaust & the Henmaid's Tale" takes its place alongside classics such as Pete Singer's "Animal Liberation" and John Robbin's "Diet for a New America" as essential animal rights texts.

In her bold and insightful book, which she dedicated to "all the soft and innocent lives who are at our mercy," Karen Davis, a longtime animal activist and president of United Poultry Concerns, examines the parallels between the Holocaust and the current abuse of billions of animals on factory farms that culminates in their cruel murder in slaughterhouses.

She passionately makes a strong case for comparing the two atrocities--different with respect to the identity of the victims and the purpose of the killings but chillingly similar in so many other ways--the designation of the victims as expendable, inferior, and unworthy of life; the herding and confinement; the industrialized slaughter; the complicity of the bystanders; and the pervasive arrogance and indifference that allows it to happen.

This compelling book argues convincingly that we have a mandate to think about, protest against, and learn from these twin atrocities--one completed in the middle of the last century, the other continuing every day. Not to do so is to condone and support the fascist mentality that produced them.

Davis is also the author of "Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry" and "More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality."

Her years of hands-on experience rescuing and providing shelter to the feathered "soft and innocent lives" victimized by the poultry industry gives her latest book its special urgency and poignancy. Highly recommended.

--Charles Patterson, author of "Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust"

[...].

Karen Davis' short, intellectually rigorous, historical, sociocultural, and imminently readable book is a **must** read. Davis is an excellent writer with years of personal experience working for all sorts of animals who find themselves in factory farms and feedlots, and her message is clear and convincing - there are striking parallels between the interminable and inexcusable suffering we bring to billions of food animal beings each year and the treatment of human beings during the holocaust. While it may move some - perhaps most - readers outside of their comfort zones, this is good and necessary for stimulating us all to act more strongly on behalf of all animals who suffer innumerable disturbing and unspeakable atrocities at out hands. And, nowhere are these atrocities more apparent and "in our face" than in slaughterhouses and factory farms which are truly prisons of torture where animals interminably suffer and die and also see, hear, and smell the senseless and ruthless pain, suffering, and death of others, often family members and other friends. One doesn't have to be sentimental to "feel" for food animals, for there are plenty of scientific data that support that claim that they are sentient beings who have preferences and a point of view on what is happening to them and to their friends. Their emotional lives aren't secret, private, or hidden, they're public. Animals tell us clearly what they're feeling and we must not deny what is so very obvious.

Let me emphasize that Karen Davis' book isn't just another Holocaust book. There are many new ideas and some of the major themes that distinguish this book from others include Davis' account of the life of a battery hen from the hen's point of view, her characterizations of internalized forced labor, chapter 5 on "Procrustean Solutions," a rich discussion of ritual sacrifice and genocide as identify destruction, not just physical extinction, Davis' distinctions between pain and suffering, and her chapter on her 9/11 controversy with Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation.

I'm sure that this book will make you shake your head from side to side in disbelief, wondering how things ever got to be so horribly messy and how any human being can ignore what we do to innocent nonconsenting animals every second of everyday. How do we live with the moral boundaries we draw almost solely for our convenience? How did this mentality arise?

Our relationship with nonhuman animals is a complex, ambiguous and challenging affair, and we must continually reassess how we should interact with animal kin. This book will make you do just that. Let's not forget that animal emotions are the gifts of our ancestors. We have them, and so do they. We aren't alone in the emotional arena. It's "bad biology" to argue against the existence of animal emotions. Scientific research in evolutionary biology, cognitive ethology and social neuroscience, along with our own personal observations, support the view that many animals have rich and deep emotional lives and that they are sentient beings.

I strongly suggest that you read this book, think deeply about the numerous issues that Karen Davis raises, share it with your friends and family, and thank Karen for writing such a moving and bold book. I continually go back to it because it is so rich, deep, clear, disturbing, and novel.

Speaking of the Unspeakable

Founder and president of United Poultry Concerns, Karen Davis has played the major role in taking domestic fowl - the most abused and violated animals in America - from the neglected margins of the animal protection movement to their present status as a central focus of campaigns against factory farming. Her books, Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs and More than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality are the standard animal rights works on domestic fowl.

Her newest book, The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale, is an invaluable contribution to one of the most contentious debates plaguing the animal rights community. But to understand why, we have to make a quick trip back in time.

A Holocaust: It's What's for Dinner
Isaac Bashevis Singer was a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Europe whose haunting novels and stories form an extended meditation on the Holocaust. In one of those stories, "The Letter Writer," the protagonist observes that "In relation to [animals], all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka."

In 2002, holocaust historian Charles Patterson picked up on Singer's theme. Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust argued that morally, psychologically, and logistically our imprisonment and murder of animals is equivalent to the Nazis' treatment of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, and other victims of their blandly efficient murder machine.

In 2003, PETA launched a traveling display inspired by Patterson's book. Juxtaposing photographs of human prisoners in Nazi concentration camps with eerily similar pictures of animal prisoners in factory farm concentration camps, The Holocaust on Your Plate was a vivid and moving indictment of animal enslavement and murder.

A firestorm of criticism quickly ensued, summarized in an Anti-Defamation League press release calling the display "abhorrent," and asserting that "Abusive treatment of animals should be opposed, but cannot and must not be compared to the Holocaust. The uniqueness of human life is the moral underpinning for those who resisted the hatred of Nazis and others ready to commit genocide even today." The issue split the animal rights community. Some activists defended the PETA display; others worried that the animals' cause would suffer from the backlash.

Into these whitewater rapids, Roberta Kalechofsky, founder and president of Jews for Animal Rights, launched Animal Suffering and the Holocaust: The Problem with Comparisons, a small book (59 pages) in which she argued that while our enslavement and murder of animals is a horrific crime that must be stopped, comparisons to the Jewish holocaust are illegitimate. (Kalechofsky's bona fides as an animal rights advocate are unassailable. For more than two decades, she has been a powerful and pioneering voice for animals.)

First, Kalechofsky argues that the Jewish holocaust was the end product of centuries of historical and cultural evolution that make it a unique event that cannot be meaningfully compared to anything else. And second, if the Jewish holocaust is allowed to become a "generalized metaphor" (pg. 34) for every kind of atrocity, it becomes devalued and loses its meaning.

From Treblinka to Tyson's
The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale is Karen Davis' rebuttal. Her "henmaid" is a battery chicken on a factory farm, whose life of deprivation, devaluation, depersonalization, and early uncomforted death reminds Davis of the eponymous "Handmaid" in Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel - and of the victims of fascism in Hitler's camps. When she is talking about her beloved chickens, Davis' compassion for the plight of our animal victims makes any merely intellectual argument against comparing their suffering to ours seem facile and self-serving.

It is on this foundation of bone deep compassion that Davis constructs her defense of comparing atrocities. First, she argues that while every atrocity is a unique event in terms of the historical, social, economic, and cultural conditions that led to it, they are all alike in the suffering that they cause, and from a moral standpoint, it is the suffering that matters. Thus, Davis argues that "An atrocity can be both unique and general." And since one sentient individual can never truly feel the pain of another, comparisons of pain - metaphors of pain, if you will - are the only way that we can feel empathy and compassion for others, and the only way that we can learn to become moral beings. Thus, comparisons of atrocities are an essential part of the process by which we become ethical individuals who create an ethical society.

It is not the Jewish holocaust that is unique - from ancient times, genocide has been a commonplace of human history - it is our sensitivity to it that is unique, and if this unique sensitivity can be used to awaken a heightened moral awareness of other atrocities, including the atrocities we commit against animals, that is a valid and valuable use of the holocaust metaphor.

The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale is not a diatibe. It is, in fact, solidly within the tradition of the best kind of academic writing, judicious, carefully reasoned, free of jargon, and accessible to the general reader.

Quoting Isaac Bashevis Singer, Davis reminds us that, "[T]here is no evidence that people are more important than chickens." Then she adds, "There is no evidence, either, that human suffering, or Jewish suffering, is separate from all other suffering, or that it needs to be kept separate in order to maintain its identity. But where, it may be asked, is the evidence that we humans have had enough of inflicting massive, preventable suffering on one another and on the individuals of other species, given that we know suffering so well and claim to abhor it?"

Norm Phelps is the author of The Dominion of Love: Animal Rights According to the Bible and The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights.

Almost every tourist who has ever climbed to the top of the North Tower of Notre-Dame de Paris has taken a photo of his or her companion leaning over the balustrade between two gargoyles (technically 'chimeras'), and surveying the streets below. It's the ultimate gargoyle photo-op. I'm surprised this author was able to photograph the gargoyles without a tourist leaning between them. I was only slightly disappointed to learn from this book that much of the stonework on this tower is nineteenth-century restoration by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, "started in 1845 to repair damage done to the cathedral during the Revolution." However, he did attempt to use molds of the originals.

Basically gargoyles are waterspouts, but to me they are proof that medieval stonemasons had a lively sense of humor--which they might have inherited from the Etruscans or the Egyptians, who also used animal-shaped stone waterspouts. Strictly speaking, gargoyles that do not spout water are known as 'grotesques' or 'chimeras.'

It surprised me to learn that gargoyles used to be brightly colored--oranges, reds, and greens were favored--and sometimes gilded. The author believes that "gargoyles may be survivals of pagan beliefs...incorporated into church decorations for superstitious reasons." I've read many a horror story based on this assumption, most notably "The Cambridge Beast" and "The Sheelagh-na-gig" by Mary Ann Allen.

Encounters between gargoyles and people are unique to the Cathedral of Saint John in Den Bosch, the Netherlands: "As a monstrous creature leaps out from the top of the buttress, the people cringe in terror, each one leaning back in an attempt to escape the attack of their horrible assailant." Americans tend to make pets of gargoyles, but that was not their original purpose. After all, midair is the reputed realm of demons (Ephesians 2:2).

Some of the gargoyles pictured in this book are laughing at us. A carved gargoyle-monk of the Old Cathedral of Saint-Etienne in Toul, France appears to be emptying the contents of a barrel onto his unsuspecting colleagues below. "Some [gargoyles] are so appealing that it is hard to imagine they were intended to be regarded as anything other than good creatures. Indeed, the gargoyles of Notre-Dame in Paris are even said to keep watch for drowning victims in the Seine."

This book is an enchanting collection of photographs, legends, and travelogue. If you ever intend to go gargoyle-hunting in Europe, make certain a copy of "Holy Terrors" is stored in your carry-on.

"Holy Terrors" is that rarest of books, one that is of genuine value to adults curious about art and architecture, but also very much capable of holding the interest of children. My five-year-old son loves the pictures--especially the "Hairy human with animal head" that adorns the cathedral in Burgos, Spain. We also both appreciate the excellent selection of medieval illustrations, such as Schongauer's "Temptation of Saint Anthony." Skimming through "Holy Terrors" is a fun way to introduce kids to one of the cultural treasures of Europe.

This book is one of the best books I got from [amazon.com]. I got the two books Holy Terror's and American Gargolyes... it was a great deal. The book is loaded with pictures of gargoyles from across america and desrcibes what type of gargoyle and where it is located in america. The photographs are beautiful and descriptive through out the book. If you gargoyles get the two books for the price of one. Highly Recommended!!!!

After searching several times for a book that gives the true meaning behind what gargoyles are, and where to find them, it has been found. This book combines a great number of detailed pictures with excellent writing. Way to go Janetta Benton!!!!

...I got the two books Holy Terror's and American Gargolyes... it was a great deal. The book is loaded with pictures of gargoyles from across america and desrcibes what type of gargoyle and where it is located in america. The photographs are beautiful and descriptive through out the book. If you gargoyles get the two books for the price of one. Highly Recommended!!!!

Neil Perkins, a fifteen-year-old prankster from northern England, has few greater pleasures than harassing his eccentric Latin teacher, Miss Klitsa. But when an accident on his four-wheeler uncovers some ancient Latin tablets near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall, Neil is forced to cooperate with her in order to translate the tablets, which were written by a Roman centurion named Rusticus. Due to the mysterious illness of Legate Juius, Rusticus's commanding officer, the scheming Tribune Festus has taken charge of the Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian's Wall. Festus orders Rusticus to lead his men on a so-called training march into Celt-held territory, and as a result, the entire group, save Rusticus and his staff officer Linus, are wiped out. Rusticus's survival is due to the quick thinking of Calum, an auxiliary officer of Celtic blood. Unofrtunately for Rusticus and Calum, Festus is unhappy with Rusticus's survival and sends them on a mission to gather intelligence about the warring Celtic tribes, taking Calum's close friend Iona as a hostage to see that the job gets done. However, they realize that even if they give Festus the information he desires, Festus will probably kill them because they are both too aware of his underhanded plottings. Rusticus must eventually find a way to save Iona as well as Calum, who puts himself in harm's way to look after her.

The frame story works well with the main one, and, although the transition between the two is a bit awkward, Rusticus's action-packed story more than makes up for it. Ancient times are a rare subject for historical fiction among American writers, but Douglas Bond brings out the humanity of his subjects while keeping true to their historical background. Parents should be aware that "Hostage Lands" is best suited for teenage readers due to limited harsh violence and several extremely vague references to women being abused in a particular way that most children would not catch on to. Bond's writing, while not inappropriate for teenagers, is too deep for most ten-year-olds.

Perhaps most interesting to parents who want to use "Hostage Lands" as a teaching tool is Rusticus's inward struggle. He has been taught to believe firmly in "eternal Rome" as the bastion of civilization and order. However, his misguided patriotism begins to flag due to both Festus's scheming and the influence of Calum, who began following "Christus" after seeing Christians cruely martyred in the Roman Colloseum. About his experience there, Calum says, "For me, the glory of Rome faded that day." And so Rome's glory fades for Rusticus as Calum's questions about true endurance and higher loyalties seem more and more logical in light of Festus's unbridled ambition. Without sounding moralistic, "Hostage Lands" serves as a sound lesson about the dangers of state worship. To his credit, however, Bond never loses sight of his story, which is one of his most engrossing so far.

Hostage Lands is a great read! Its one of those books that once started, you don't want to put down. Full of intrigue and suspense, this is a book that young and young at heart will enjoy. I appreciated Douglas Bond's ability to weave so much history of post Roman Britain into the book. I've read other books that speak to Rome's conquering Brittania, but this was a new era for me and filled in gaps that I wondered about. A definite must for students of world history, the Roman empire, or just "ancient" civilizations.

Officially listed as teen fiction, Hostage Lands has an appeal which reaches a larger audience, from approximately 10 years old through adult. Set in English farmlands near the remains of Hadrian's Wall, this historical adventure can be read for its entertainment value alone; but, the reader will also find out what it can cost to be a follower of our Lord, as well as gaining some fine Christian perspectives for living.

In contemporary England, eccentric, extremely laughable Miss Klitsa's Latin class alternates between soporific trance and wild hilarity at the teacher's expense. The protagonist of this story, Neil Perkins, gets to drive his ATV to school everyday, and it isn't only teenage readers who grow green with envy. He often leads in the hilarity aimed at the redoubtable Miss Klitsa. Then one fateful day, Neil and his ATV hair-raisingly gouge a ditch near Hadrian's Wall and he finds an ancient manuscript. The only one who can help him is Miss Klitsa.

As Neil translates the manuscript, the reader falls headlong into a spine-tingling Roman/Celtic adventure of sword-play, treachery, fearful undertakings, wild men vs. civilized people, undying friendship, and impossible decisions. It's hard to put this book down and just as hard not to assimilate the lessons: true friendship; patriotism gone awry; willingness to die for another; various battle styles and the war equipment for each; uncivilized Christians vs. civilized pagans; some intriguing English archaeological lessons; accepting people as worthwhile even when you think them ridiculous; and a great deal more.

High school history and English teacher as well as author, Douglas Bond knows how to portray people of all ages. He is a rising star in the historical fiction genre for both older and younger people. Not satisfied with his own history background, Bond draws on the research of other historians. With a wide but understandable vocabulary, a talent for keeping the plot under control, a penchant for characterization, and a wonderful imagination, Bond presents a tale sure to engross any reader. A glossary of terms and a Roman timeline help keep the audience on track. As well as being a good read for the individual, Hostage Lands makes a fine read-aloud book. - Donna Eggett, Christian Book Previews.com

I've been learning alot about Roman history, lately, and I must admit I was getting tired of hearing about it. But this book is amazing. When I finished Hostage Lands, I wished there was more of it to read. Great book, from cover to cover.

Fifteen-year-old Neil Perkins lived a reasonably good life. He lived on Hostage Heath, a farm near Hadrian's Wall in northern England, and his parents let him go where he please on his four-wheeler, as long as he accomplished his chores. Yes, he had a good life, except for his Latin classes with the ridiculous Miss Klitsa. Perhaps she would have been better off teaching a drama class.

After wrecking his four-wheeler near the wall, Neil finds a packet of tablets in the hole he made in landing. The tablets were all written upon, and in Latin, no less! He took them to Miss Klitsa and asked what they said, but she was too much of a teacher to tell him.

All of this merely serves as the introduction to the tale which Neil laboriously translated. The epic tale of Celts and Romans scheming, spying, fighting and dying around Hadrian's Wall is reminiscent of the tales spun by Rosemary Sutcliff. We follow the centurion Rusticus, who must decide where his loyalties lay. The story is well told, and readers will hold their breath, instead of easily guessing the way everything will resolve itself. To make this drama even better than Sutcliff's, one of these characters, Calum, is a Christian, although he does not proclaim it to everyone he meets. When the Celts sit around the fire at night, and call on him for a story, he tells them, "My tale is of a great King," and gives the whole gospel. Calum's service to the Prince of Peace does not however, make him any less valiant a soldier.

The book concludes with Rusticas telling a story of "a great King." Neil wonders if the whole story is true, and asks questions. Will Neil, will the reader believe the story? What about the tale of "a great King"?

I have always loved Sutcliff's books, but Hostage Lands ranks even higher on my list. I wish I could give it more stars, and highly recommend it to those 13 and up. Travel back to the misty, dangerous Britain of the Celts, when Romans built their wall, and flaunted their standards. You will learn to think like a Celt, and step quietly behind a tree when you hear footsteps. And maybe you finish this book, and read it again, and give it a place with your favorite Celtic books.

I am not particularly interested in either Russia, literature or Nabakov, however the intersection of all of these, along with autobiographical material from Khrushcheva, make for an engaging and poignant book. I felt like I learned a great deal about Russia, the United States and the 20th century. I read this in two sittings.

I am so grateful to Nikita's great-granddaughter Nina for providing me with an excuse to talk about my favorite writer. Of course I had read everything available from Nabokov's Russian period in German or English translations, and from the American period more than once in the original. He was one of the greatest prose writers (let us ignore his poetry and his stage writing) of the 20th century, and he was the only writer that I know who achieved the top plateau in two languages. (The only comparison that occurs to me, J. Conrad, was a transcultural writer, but did he do anything substantial in Polish before he became an English writer? And as an English writer he never quite lost the touch of looking like a translation.)
VN was poetic, funny, provocative, playful, political, a-political, esoteric, scientific, opinionated, vain, in summary great. He is the only writer who motivated me to make a pilgrimage: I travelled to St.Petersburg mainly in order to visit the Nabokov Museum there, in the appartment where he had grown up during pre-revolution times.
Nina feels close to him: though she was a voluntary expatriate compared to his double-refugeedom (first from the Bolshies, then from the Nazis), both had made this transition from Russian ruling class to American middle class.
She sees more in him than an outstanding Russian exile author with a second language. He is a role model for a modernised Russia. And this is where I want to step out quietly, I can't comment on that subject, but I find her observations fascinating.
And I keep learning Russian on my bucket list.

Imagining Nabokov is one of those history's witty jokes: the cold war is over, and the author proves her great-granddad kitchen debates wrong--she falls in love with the most anti-communist dissident writer of the 20th century, Vladimir Nabokov. Actually, it is his posthumous statue that stands in Montreux, Switzerland, she is in love with. The statue story is just a hook, though. This is a charming, and rather unusual book that however succeeds in explaining the Russians' obsession with their literature and their soul. Indeed the Economist review published in February praised the book for that very reason.

I stood in the school hallway, waiting for my son in the gym at the baseball clinic. It lasted two hours, too long for small talk with the other dads, so I was reading the final chapters of Nina Khrushcheva's "Imagining Nabokov". For me, it was a chance to learn more about a writer and another literature, about writing in a second language and culture, even as I stood surrounded by this very familiar sports culture.

When other dads passed by I covered the book a bit so I didn't seem so out of touch with the going concern of the day - baseball. If his dad seemed aloof or bookish, would his son be cut from the team? Would he be shunned by the other kids? Would I seem to be acting superior, even in a high school where you might expect reading to be encouraged, yet where I felt almost entirely out of place, as if living a segment of "The Diary of a Madman".

One dad passed by and saw the Khrushchev name on the dust cover. He started talking about the cold war and grimly praised the author's forebear as someone overly vilified by the U.S. I nodded to agree. That was a close call, but it made me feel more comfortable, so I read on.

In two hours, the clinic ended and I had finished the last chapters. I wanted to tell the dads in the hallway to read this book and to tell their sons about it. The author draws you easily into another world of ideas, one not even necessarily opposed to baseball! The world of great literature can exist with the world of sports and the ordinary - "mens sana in corpore sano". This book expands the imagination and neatly passes from culture to politics and back again. It should be read in serious high schools as well as anywhere else. And my son made the team.

An excellent book, and just in time when the Putin question is big in the news. It interconnects literature and politics, providing compelling reasons at to why Russia is so brilliant at art, but is its own worst enemy when it comes to democracy. This fascinating book addresses a problem of Russia's "lopsided" development, i.e. why Russia is a problem for Russians in a way that America isn't for Americans. Russia's problem is that "hypothetical and literary projects have a far greater hold on Russian people than practical ones." The idealistic and unrealistic character of Russian thinking makes Russians incapable of pursuing realistic goals. The American Utopia is realistic, in Russia it is dream-like. Russians have an ingrained sense of the country's uniqueness and special messianic status. First, it was the holy Russian soul, then Russia as the Third Rome, then Russian imperialism, then communism which united the imperial and spiritual missions. Now Putin tells Russians that natural resources offer them the key to regaining their former might. In Russian culture, communal values and a `great state' agenda take priority over individual and practical principles. As Dostoievsky put it : "We may be backward, but we have souls."
Nina Khrushcheva convincingly argues that Nabokov is a better guide to the future than Dostoyevsky, because his characters `take responsibility for their lives.' In America, Nabokov taught Khrushcheva how to be a single `I' rather than a member of the many `we' in that "vast undifferentiated traditional Russian collective of the peasant commune, the proletarian mass, the Soviet people, the post-communist Rossiyane."