Switzerland Books

Nine teenagers from wealthy families attend a rather fly-by-night finishing school in Switzerland run by Rowland Mahler and his wife Nina. Roland teaches creative writing, Nina teaches etiquette. Both of them are somewhat fraudulent. Rowland is trying to write a novel, but can't get on with it. He has read the enviably brilliant opening pages of a novel written by one of his students, the self-confident 17 year old Chris Wiley, who, after that, will not show him work in progress. Rowland's envy of Chris begins to obsess his entire life, driving him into mental illness. Chris notices this; it becomes a stimulus for his own work, and he seems to enjoy torturing Rowland.

That is the gist of this slight novella of 156 pages. I can't quite believe in Rowland. Nina is more credible. The other teenagers are merely sketched in. I don't think much of the ending: it seems forced and rushed, as if Muriel Spark were herself in a hurry to end the book somehow. But she writes so easily and entertainingly that it's a pleasant enough read.

Witty and memorable... that was my impression from the first chapter. The story itself is about a (nomadic) finishing school, Sunrise College. I laughed at what they were actually learning there and the obsession war going on between Chris and Rowland. It's like watching a British soap opera with style. Very entertaining.

Muriel Spark continued to produce excellent stuff to the end of her life. Her first novel appeared some 50 years ago. Her last (assuming there is no posthumous work awaiting publication) was The Finishing School. Like most of her novels, it is very short (in the neighborhood of 30,000 words), and sardonic in tone. It invites comparison with her most famous novel, _The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie_, in being about a school and about the relationship of a teacher to the students.

The Finishing School is set at College Sunrise, a school run by Rowland Mahler, a 29 year old who had a long ago success with a play and is now frustratedly trying to write a novel, and his wife Nina Parker. The school moves each term -- in part, it is suggested, to escape bill collectors. It is in Switzerland this term. There are nine students, apparently all around 17 years old, presumably having finished high school or the European equivalent, and now being "finished" -- either to head on to University or to other pursuits. One of the students, Chris, is writing an historical novel about Mary Queen of Scots.

The fulcrum of the novel is Rowland's jealousy of Chris. It becomes clear that this jealousy, ostensibly of the likely smashing success of his novel, has a homoerotic component. (Even though both parties are apparently heterosexual -- Rowland is married, though his wife is having an affair and plans to leave him, while Chris seduces several women during the course of the book.) Rowland spends much of his time fantasizing about killing Chris. Chris, meanwhile, ignores his classes, writes his novel in secret, and entertains visits from publishers and film producers.

Flitting around this central conflict are the problems of the other students and staff. One girl plans to become a minister (shades of the nun-to-be in Prime), another's father is suspected of smuggling, a couple are trying to arrange to get married to one or another of the boy students. The staff are involved as well, sleeping with the students on occasion, and planning their own futures. And the neighbors, a young woman and her somewhat older nephew, are also drawn into the intrigue.

It is told, as ever with Spark, in a very spare fashion. Several months pass quickly, odd people are described doing odd things in the most deadpan of fashions, and by the end we know them fairly well and we know their fates. It is dryly funny, enjoyable to read and archly believable despite all the unusual characters. It is not, I think, nearly as good as Spark's best work -- in part it is not really about as much, I don't think -- but it is a fine piece of fiction.

Very disappointed to get this book which has no bar code and clearly appears to be "home project" of copyright violation: Poorly bound with delayed delivery. As a collector of books, any one would be disappointed to get this wreck of disjointedly bound, unauthentic appearing copy of a book. I have contacted the publisher to investigate a possible copyright violation. It is a shame that Amazon.com is the cybervehicle of such books!

Sparks reviews are excellent so perhaps I'm missing something but the lack of effort angered me. A husband and wife teaching well-to-do highschool students and managing secrets and demons (including their own) - what's not to like? Unfortunately this book was almost like a screenplay. I could see the actors going through the motions but the book provided no insights or motivations. This is another British minimalist novel that shirks in-depth analysis. It feels like a cop-out; like the author is saying, "I'm going to present all this information as if its very insightful but really there's nothing here." Very disappointing.

This is a great high-level roadmap of Germany, but it lacks the detail needed to really explore the countryside. If you are driving through Germany like we did, buy an atlas that provides more route detail. There are so many country lanes in Germany that even a detail book sometimes misses the many villages you'll encounter along the way. If you're taking the train, this map works fine. If you're driving, look at something else.

I got this thinking it would get me started on planning my trip to Europe. I had a list of things I wanted to see. When I got the map I was so happy to see that all the tourist attractions were ALREADY MARKED on the map! They were clearly labeled and easy to locate and read. Great product...well worth the money!

This was the very first travel book - my mother in law bought it for me right after we were stationed in Germany 6 years ago. I'm still using the 2001 version (yes, I know that's bad!) but it's gotten me all over! The simplified maps and the hotel recommendations have kept my trips easy and fun.
--Vicki Landes, author of "Europe For The Senses - A Photographic Journal"

First and foremost, to clarify, this product that you are supposedly reading reviews for is Rick Steves' MAP of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It appears that the other reviews are of Rick Steves' guidebooks! Again, this product is NOT one of Rick Steves' famous guidebooks (which I would always rate as 5 stars, incidentally!). This map is very basic; don't count on using it to find your way around a country or city. Only the major cities and towns are marked. Likewise, in the city maps of Berlin, Munich, Salzburg and Vienna, only the major thoroughfares are mapped. You should use this map only as a reference to his guidebook of the region to plan your trip. You will want to get a 'real' map that's much more detailed, e.g. Michelin, when you arrive. Best part of this map? The cool water resistant paper on which it is printed. Especially if you have small children who are apt to spill liquid, as mine did on Day One upon receiving it from Amazon!

Before I moved to Germany from the States I received this book from a friend of my mother's who had spent a few years attending university in Spain and said that Rick Steve's books were what everyone at the university used. Since moving to Germany this book has been great. I carry it around with me whenever we travel because it has so much valuable information.

Some of the other reviews have been extremely negative, but as someone who uses the book on a regular basis and actually lives in the country, I know that this book is great. It is less expensive than others and it gives great suggestions for places to stay. He does spend more time with Berlin and Munich, but considering these are two of the largest cities that have long histories, it only makes sense. The hotel suggestions are great, the last time we were in Berlin we opted to choose our own place that was less expensive. It was neat with all the Bears around (it was called the Bearliner), but it smelled. So, if you plan on travelling to Germany I really suggest getting this book.

Switzerland was a neutral nation surrounded by the Axis during World War II. With the fall of France, this country was literally surrounded. However, Germany chose not to invade. The reason--the Swiss population was mobilized and ready for an invasion. They were also deadly marksmen, who would have taken many German soldiers done with them. At the beginning of WWII, Switzerland had 10% of its population under arms. At the end of the war, it had 20% mobilized and ready for invasion. The Germans thought about an invasion, but they realized it would be very costly. What they sought to control was Swiss politics and they couldn't even do that. Switzerland was a democratic republic that respected fair journalism.

This is a revealing book about an unknown aspect of World War II. Although the author paints a positive portrait of Switzerland, it does not show how the Swiss kept some Jewish refugees out and turned them away at the border to their certain death. It does show how a ready posture of its armed forces certainly deterred the Axis from invading. It also shows how Switzerland helped the Allies in certain ways, even though she was a neutral. An interesting book about an unknown theater of WWII.

I am a history buff and have always been interested in World War II, especially in Europe. In TARGET SWITZERLAND, Stephen P. Halbrook gives a fascinating explanation of Switzerland's role in that epic conflict.

I had never given much thought to the Swiss experience in the Second World War. About the only current material I had seen on Switzerland tended to be critical of it for staying neutral and maintaining a certain level of commercial cooperation with Hitler and his allies. Jean Ziegler's THE SWISS, THE GOLD AND THE DEAD, is an example of contemporary Swiss bashing.

Halbrook's book provides a well-written, thorougly researched antidote. He describes how a polyglot republic with a population of only 4 million could defend its territory while surrounded by 120 million Nazis and Fascists devoted to Hitler's and Mussolini's dreams of conquest.

Switzerland placed an unprecedented one-fifth of its population under arms in the process. That didn't leave enough people for agriculture so the Swiss were hungry throughout most of the war, and cold. German coal heated most of their homes.

Yet, when Luftwaffe aircraft invaded Swiss airspace they came under attack and several were shot down. It is interesting to compare the Swiss response to that of the Great Powers and their policy of Appeasement.

I enjoyed this book and came away with a new found respect for the Swiss and their determination to keep the Holocaust off of their soil.

It is nice to hear or better, read, something positive about Switzerland and its role during WWII after so many discussions and a rather bad impression we made during the discussions about returning money of dormant accounts of Jewish people... Only pressure from the outside really pushed the Swiss to think about ALL aspects of this tragic years...

Unfortunately the myth of a armed and well motivated Swiss army as a major deterrent for the German forces to invade Switzerland is still holding up and this book does not really contribute to give a more balances account on the reasons why Switzerland wasnt invaded.

New information made available in the last months from the archives of the German secret service during WWII shows that the Germans had very precise and detailed knowlege about the organization of the Swiss army, it's units, orders and fortifications. Unfortunately a large number of Swiss did in fact spy for the Germans during WWII which resulted also in more than a dozen executions during this period.

All in all are we still waiting for a book that really puts Switzerland in its place... Between exagerated criticism accusing Switzerland of collaboration with Germany and the exagerated glorification of the role of the Swiss army.

The way the author insists in the fact that Swiss men keep their weapon at home makes me wonder if this isnt a semi-hidden attempt to justify the legal right to own guns in the USA. He seems to forget that the reason why Swiss soldiers keep their weapons at home is that we do not have any professional army... We have a milita system and therefore need the soldiers to be mobilized within hours and days. Therefore his personal equipment must be available at home. Its nothing more than that.

At one point in his narrative, Stephen Halbrook quotes Philipp Etter, a Swiss federal counselor from the 1930s through the 50s. In 1937, Etter wrote, 'The armed defense of the country is a primary and substantial task of the state. The mental defense of the country falls primarily not on the state but on the person, the citizen. No government and no battalions are able to protect right and freedom where the citizen himself is not capable of stepping to the front door and seeing what is outside.' No one familiar with Halbrook's other works should be surprised that this seems to be one of the key lessons Halbrook wants us to learn from his history of Switzerland in World War II.

Halbrook makes it clear that Switzerland walked a tightrope during the War. Fierce and well trained as the Swiss citizen-army was, it was not eager to tangle with Hitler's Wehrmacht. Though unquestionably sympathetic to the allies, the Swiss were determined to maintain their neutrality. If that meant making some economic concessions to Germany in order to keep the Nazis from overrunning the country, the Swiss were willing, reluctantly, to do that. It's easier to second-guess that decision from half a century's distance than it must have been at the time, when national-socialist armies dominated the continent and liberation was still a distant dream.

As other reviewers have noted, Halbrook is clearly sympathetic, not only to the Swiss nation generally, but specifically to its armed-citizenry approach to national defense. With Switzerland being so greatly maligned in recent years, it's not surprising that voices have been raised in its defense as well. While not perhaps perfect, 'Target Switzerland' is a fascinating and enlightening explanation of the dilemma in which Switzerland found itself in the 1930s and 40s, and why and how that nation chose to do the things it did.

It's unfortunate if people are dumb enough to be pursuaded by the type of crap that Dave Kopel writes. 5 minutes of research exposes his cause, and yet years of research probably wouldn't determine how and why it is his cause. Nevertheless what he writes here is insulting to most Swiss and to most Jewish people. Any idiot who's seen a war movie with even a hint of military strategy would know why the Nazis didn't bother to steamroll the Swiss whenever they wanted. And any idiot who knows anything about WWII would know why the Nazis were less than hostile towards the Swiss. One figure which Dave neglects is that the Jewish population in Switzerland in 1933 was 18000, versus its comparably sized neighbors Austria which had 250000 and Hungary which had 445000. When it secretly holds your money, poses no threat, is aryan, is completely surrounded, has no strategic resources or ports, and can be taken at any time, why on Earth would you waste time taking it when your military is literally racing towards Moscow? That is, Swiss neutrality has nothing to do with farmers having muskets in their barns. And Sweden maintained neutrality for exactly the same reasons as Switzerland.

This book and the map was all we needed for our trip to Switzerland. The book has all sources of information - places to see, restaurants, transportation tips, etc. In Geneva and Bern, we followed the walking tours suggested in the book, and we were able to see all major attractions in 2 hrs. For some interesting places to see, the book just provides a brief description, but also gives a website link (when available) for more information, which is very helpful. I would definitely buy another book from Lonely Planet for my future trips.

I had used Lonely Planet for other locations trips, the guide to Switzerland is not detailed at all, least helpful, not so "guiding"...and seems to want to cover the many parts of the country leaving out the important details of any/each city or countryside attraction

This book was the first item to land in my backpack whenever I left my apartment during the year I spent living in Bern, Switzerland. Like most Lonely Planet guides, this one is well-written, entertaining, and generally accurate and up-to-date.
Things I found helpful:
- The suggested walking tours of cities are great for a quick orientation of the place.
- Brief context and history about locations gives you about the same information as your average tourist brochure, but more concise and convenient.
- Hiking routes are briefly mentioned with sufficient detail, but for any extended hiking, I would highly recommend Lonely Planet Walking in Switzerland.
- Information on the best value in train passes and train routes makes eco-friendly travel easy.
- The section on Liechtenstein is a nice addition since many treat it as a day trip from Switzerland.
Considering that Lonely Planet typically caters to budget travelers, I was surprised to see how many upscale hotels it includes for some locations. Overall, the book provides something for everyone and is useful for both short trips and extended exploration of the country.
Mary Ann Miller, author of CH is for Chocolate: Individually Wrapped Tastes of Switzerland

I recently found myself contemplating a trip to Basel and, never having been there before and, knowing I would be alone without even a gendarme to ask questions of, nor another human being, I thought I should find a Basel guidebook. Amazingly enough it seems there is no such thing available on Amazon so I went with this larger book, which deals with all of Switzerland--in fact, nearly all of Western culture in one fell swoop.

The authors of LONELY PLANET SWITZERLAND have convinced me for the present at any rate that Switzerland (Helvetia) is the most important country on planet earth, not that they suggest we rank countries by importance or anything. It is a handy guide in the sense that physically, the book is constructed so that you could rip out, as I did, the section on Basel and Aargau, and throw the rest of the book away, and the pages you need form a complete little fascicle, due to an amazing new wonder glue that holds different little chapbooksized sections together until you don't need them together any more. Thus armed with my guide, I went to Basel. The authors share not only hotels, restaurants, and train stations, they go all out to make you feel like you can do it too. I learned how to use the phone, where to shop for lampshades, how to buy a single stamp, where the best (and worst) Swiss-Indian cafes are, and what famous medieval scholar is buried in the tombs inside Munster cathedral. Why Erasmus of course!

They have cute sidebars like Basel's most famous guy, Albert Hoffman, still alive at age 102 or something like that--the man who invented LSD.

Later, I met a pair of Basellienne poets, one American born, one educated in the USA, who showed me their Basel, a charming tour of tombs, elevators, shops and bridges, culminating in a magical ferry boat ride across the Rhine from Big Basel to small. The afternoon was clear, like a glass of vodka, and I felt positively drunk with knowledge as I looked across the water and seemed to see my own back, walking away, mever to return.

Lonely Planet's guide to Switzerland was extremely helpful while travelling to the country. Great detail and updated information on items such as hours of operations and costs were extremely helpful. Additionally, information on excursions such as to Vaduz, Liechtenstein was very up-to-date and an easy read.

This is the most interesting guide book as is all of Rick Steve's books. A friend planned their trip to Switzerland using this book and their trip was everything they hoped for. I have used the same book to plan my upcoming trip to Switzerland.

Rick Steves continues to provide great travel books. The Switzerland 2007 book, like all his other books, tell you everything you need to know to help you plan a trip to Switzerland. He tells you all about the typical tourist sites but he goes farther than that. Rick tells you how to find the "backdoor" locations. These are usually small towns or lesser known attractions that the average tourist would probably not be aware of if it wasn't for Rick's books. One backdoor that he mentions in this book is the small quaint town of Gimmelwald which is close to Interlaken. Visiting towns like Gimmelwald gets you out of the big cities and shows you what life in Switzerland is really like. He also recommends hotels and restaurants that are affordable and full of charm. I travel as often as I can and always read Rick Steves books before I go. You can trust what he says and what he recommends. He has not lead me wrong yet! Buy this book and you will not regret it.

I like Rick Steves's approach to travel, and much of this book is helpful. BUT: He purposely, and dismissively, leaves out the entire city of Geneva, calling it "boring." Well, when you're basing your trip in Geneva, that's not really news you can use. I think Steves's success has gone to his head -- this level of opinionated advice is useless at best, irresponsible at worst. If you want a comprehensive guide to Switzerland, try Fodor's.

I bought this book because I am planning a trip to Geneva--but Geneva is completely omitted from the book! It is not even listed in the index. Buying this book was a waste of time and money for me.

I'm a Rick Steves fan. In our yearly vacations to Europe, his books were always the most accurate, detailed and useful.
But this one is really different, as if there is some (political? commercial?) agenda behind it - for example -
- Gimmelwald as the center of the Bernese Oberland alps? Are you insane? A vilage with two BB and no restaurants... Is someone reviewing these books?
- And Grindelwald (there) is only mentioned as a side comment while it is the largest resort in that area.
Not even mentioning that Geneva is poorly covered (not interesting...). And these are only the items I've seen until now.
If you are going to Switzerland, specially if focusing on the Bernese Oberland, do yourself a favor and don't buy this book. Don't even read it because you will only get confused, specially if you used to believe Rick Steves.

Are you considering a job offer in Switzerland? This work provides fair warning about the obstacles that you and your spouse will face as an immigrant: a chauvinistic, closed society of incomprehensible, dialect-speaking burghers obsessed with money and reluctant to trust foreigners even after years of acquaintanceship; high rents and prices for inferior food -- especially beef and chicken -- clothing, and automobiles; undisguised resentment that you are denying a job opportunity to a Swiss citizen; discrimination in career advancement and promotion. Most expatriates leave after a year in order to preserve their marriages. Take these caveats to heart before succumbing to the temptations of Alpine skiing and clean, fresh-water swimming. And read this book before deciding whether to accept the job offer.

This work touches a sensitive nerve for Swiss readers like myself, because it captures the natives' xenophobia, chauvinism, insularity, fear of assimilation by their German neighbors to the north, and general feelings of inferiority and prejudice. The Swiss are not known for great works of art or music or for educational accomplishments outside the fields of medicine and biochemistry/pharmacology or for feminism or even sensitivity to women, and so a book by an American author that pokes fun at these deficiencies serves only to aggravate its subjects' phobias. This is reflected in the negative, often imperfectly literate comments below, which should therefore be not only discounted but also taken as testimonies to this volume's trenchant effectiveness.

While somewhat interesting, in my opinion the subject matter was lacking. A bit more about banking than I care to read about.

I am going to make this short and sweet. I found 50% of Mr. Michael Glueck's experiences to be very different from my own in my 10 years in the country. About 20% of the information was just out right incorrect.

Ideal for anyone who is planning an extended, low profile trip to Switzerland.

The book is somewhat informative in documenting the differnce forms of war-time gold and cash "management" by the Swiss government and banks. But the narrative is quite dry and often repetitive. Read it if you don't know much about the subject or can't find a more highly recommended book.

this a very complete book about the Swiss's" neutrality", they were Hitler's allied. if the were not, the war would finish in 1943!!!
but the Swiss are slack and Hitler gave them money...
I've lived 2 years in Switzerland, and there the people often criticise the Americans, they would have to read this book.

read Ziegler's others book.

I've had the shame of living 10 years in Switzerland and what do swiss people think of the period 1939-1945? Hitler didn't attack them because he was afraid of their powerfull army ready to sacrifice itself(don't laugh too hard), they saved a lot of jews at the border and they aren't hypocrits nor dishonest (as Americans are) to the point of stealing the Jews money! This is apealing!!And these poor people really think this is the truth!!
I really apreciate this book. It tells the hole truth, chapter by chapter, about how the Swiss helped Hitler. They got the idea of the yellow star on Jews' passports, they surrenderd the Jews who tried to pass the border to the Germans and they did know about the camps!!!!
As other countries resisted with courage and the few neutral countries refused nazi gold from Jews, the Swiss took it promptly. If they hadn't, the war would have stopped in 1943 at least, because how could Hitler have won the war without money? Add to this fact that nearly all swiss industries were working to give more weapons and material to the Germans.
The few courageous Swisses who resisted were killed or put into prison!
When Jews tried to take their money back, the Swiss refused simply!! This money is still in swiss banks. When they were put on trial by Americans, the swiss reacted as usual: everybody became anti-american and they still are!
I really want to thank Jean Ziegler, the courageous Swiss who wrote this book.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SUBJECT, BUY THIS BOOK!!!

This is a good book on this subject it covers many areas of the Swiss partnership with the Nazis. I would highly recomend this book to anybody that is realativly new to the subject matter.

Now for my small rant.

It seams that every book on this subject has some reviewers that are in complete denial of what has been proven time and time again as fact. Why some people cannot accept that the Swiss sold their souls to the Nazis to avoid being invaded is beyond me. This book even thow it goes into many areas of the Nazi / Swiss connection, the sad unfourtunate truth is that there is even more ties that this book does not cover. A example being the fact that Swizerland was producing arms for Germany during WWII. The factorys were untouchable to the Allied bombers due to the so called neuteral status of the Swiss. If allied aircraft ventured into Swiss territory the Swiss would shoot them down, in the meantime Germany enjoyed free crossing across Switzerland by any mode of transportaion throughout WWII.

I did not write this to bash the swiss. I have no anomositys towards them. My only agenda for these statements is to maybe shake people out of the denial they so blindly post in book reviews on the subject of Switzerlands connection and profiterring off the Nazis rise to power. Every country in the world has somthing dark in its past. Denial of mistakes your culture has made really just contributes right back into the evil that was done so long ago. I have to accept my ancetors wrong doing every bit as much as anybody, I am german, and proud to be German. Quit contributing to the lies told for so many years, accept that your ancestors were not perfect. only when you accept your herritage for better or worse can you truley move on and hold your head high again.

This is another Swiss-bashing book (not the first one from Ziegler) to be edited. Like Hitler said "if you keep on lying about a subject, in the end people will believe you". The proof is to be found in other posts here that say the Swiss stole money from Holocaust vicitims. Well after four years of an independent investigation, it was found that less than 200 accounts worth no more than $12 million belonged to Holocaust victims. The Times of London correctly called previous claims that Swiss Banks had stolen billions from Jews, a "MYTH".

This is an admirable biography of an important figure. Cottret opens up a world to readers and takes them for a tour of Calvin's life. Reading this was pleasurable because it opened up 16th c. Geneva and, as far as is possible, portrayed a very human John Calvin. My only negative issue with this book is the prose. Perhaps it's because of French styles of narrative. It read as though one were having a conversation. So, given the book's good qualities that such a style lends--warmth combined with good scholarship--, it was not tightly conveyed, thereby dropping the prose into a style of loosely strung thoughts at times. However, the book's good qualities outweigh such criticism. The scholarship is excellent and the subject is examined with care, presenting truly a portrait.

This is the fourth book I have read on the subject of "The Refomation" (two books by that title), then Luther, now Calvin. Since Calvin did not write much about himself and not a lot is know this book concentrates on the folks around him that incluenced his style. The most interesting revelation in reading all these books is that the three primary "influencers of opinion" during the Reformation, Erasmus, Luther and Calvin were not priests but primarily humanist academics. Some speculate it was the printing press that was the most important factor with ELC providing content.

Cottret does give an abundance of interesting historical and biographical detail, his description of the early years of reform in France (e.g., the affair of the Placards, 1534) is wonderful, and his portrait of Geneva is fascinating (Parts I and II of the book). But when it comes to Calvin's theology (Part III), he does a shockingly poor job.

In treating Calvin's theology, Cottret deals first, and at rather greater length, with Calvin's polemical works and sermons (chapters 12-13), and only then does he turn to a brief analysis of the Institutes (chapter 14). Cottret thus gives to an apparently random sampling of Calvin's occasional pieces (especially the treatise On Scandals, 1550) greater interpretive weight for Calvin as a theologian than to Calvin's life-work of systematic theology. This is absurd. What's worse, we get no real consideration of Calvin's theology as expressed in his commentaries. Does Cottret think that, because he is portraying `a historian's Calvin' (p. x), and not a theologian's, he can simply ignore this source? What's still worse, when Cottret does finally get to the Institutes, he totally arbitrarily, without explanation, and against the entire consensus of Calvin scholarship, selects as his basis of exposition the 1541 French edition as `the most significant version during the Reformer's lifetime' (p. 311)! Never mind that Calvin himself continued to refine this work through 1559-60, and that these final editions of the Institutes (not that of 1541) were the standards that fed subsequent Reformed theology.

When Cottret does speak of Calvin's theology from the Institutes (and elsewhere), he is surprisingly clumsy and extremely condescending. According to Cottret's Calvin, the Old Testament patriarchs have `a right to salvation' (p. 317). A right to it? Can anyone so grossly misunderstand Calvin's soteriology as to speak of human `rights' before God? (But perhaps this is just a very poor translation.) In Cottret's estimation, `"election," "faith," "vocation," and "conversion" are practically equivalent' in Calvin's theology (p. 322). Well, that just simplifies everything, doesn't it? Calvin, we are assured, was never fully convinced that the doctrine of the Trinity is exegetically warranted (308), and his disagreement with other Protestants over the nature of the Lord's Supper `was linguistic before it was theological' (340). Eh? Calvin's commentaries (look no further than that on the Prologue to John's Gospel) are by no means lacking in trinitarian confidence (or did Cottret check these?), and simply because Calvin debates the meaning of words does not make the debate a matter of linguistics. We learn that, in his entire teaching about predestination, Calvin was `not wise', but was `carried away by polemics and his authorial vanity'; moreover, he took a `malign pleasure' in this `system of death' (p. 322). `Poor Calvin, a victim of his system' (p. 323)! One may certainly disagree with Calvin's doctrine of predestination, but so to caricature both the doctrine itself and Calvin's intention in teaching it hardly counts as good history.

As a final example of Cottret's carelessness and doctrinal confusion, take his statement on p. 337: `Calvin's Christ is "at the same time the God who elected and the man who was elected."' Cottret footnotes here Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics II/2, p. 1 (in the French edition-no thanks to the translator). Apparently, Cottret thinks that, because Barth is classed as a Reformed theologian, what Barth says must be what Calvin said. In fact, Barth chastises Calvin on precisely this point, that Calvin saw Christ as the prototype of elected man, but did not see the implications of the fact that Christ is also the electing God (see, for example, pp. 110-11 in the English edition of Barth's Church Dogmatics II/2). If Cottret had perhaps read Barth's preface, he might have caught the following hint: "I would have preferred to follow Calvin's doctrine of predestination much more closely, instead of departing from it so radically" (p. x). So not only does Cottret think he can make statements about Calvin's theology with no reference whatsoever to Calvin himself. He also thinks he can glance over a few pages of a recent work of `Reformed' theology and assume he's getting pure Calvin. This is inexcusable negligence.

Yes, Cottret does give an abundance of interesting historical and biographical detail, his description of the early years of reform in France (e.g., the affair of the Placards, 1534) is wonderful, and his portrait of Geneva is fascinating (Parts I and II of the book). But when it comes to Calvin's theology (Part III), he does a shockingly poor job.

In treating Calvin's theology, Cottret deals first, and at rather greater length, with Calvin's polemical works and sermons (chapters 12-13), and only then does he turn to a brief analysis of the Institutes (chapter 14). Cottret thus gives to an apparently random sampling of Calvin's occasional pieces (especially the treatise On Scandals, 1550) greater interpretive weight for Calvin as a theologian than to Calvin's life-work of systematic theology. This is absurd. What's worse, we get no real consideration of Calvin's theology as expressed in his commentaries. Does Cottret think that, because he is portraying 'a historian's Calvin' (p. x), and not a theologian's, he can simply ignore this source? What's still worse, when Cottret does finally get to the Institutes, he totally arbitrarily, without explanation, and against the entire consensus of Calvin scholarship, selects as his basis of exposition the 1541 French edition as 'the most significant version during the Reformer's lifetime' (p. 311)! Never mind that Calvin himself continued to refine this work through 1559-60, and that these final editions of the Institutes (not that of 1541) were the standards that fed subsequent Reformed theology.

When Cottret does speak of Calvin's theology from the Institutes (and elsewhere), he is surprisingly clumsy and extremely condescending. According to Cottret's Calvin, the Old Testament patriarchs have 'a right to salvation' (p. 317). A right to it? Can anyone so grossly misunderstand Calvin's soteriology as to speak of human 'rights' before God? (But perhaps this is just a very poor translation.) In Cottret's estimation, '"election," "faith," "vocation," and "conversion" are practically equivalent' in Calvin's theology (p. 322). Well, that just simplifies everything, doesn't it? Calvin, we are assured, was never fully convinced that the doctrine of the Trinity is exegetically warranted (308), and his disagreement with other Protestants over the nature of the Lord's Supper 'was linguistic before it was theological' (340). Eh? Calvin's commentaries (look no further than that on the Prologue to John's Gospel) are by no means lacking in trinitarian confidence (or did Cottret check these?), and simply because Calvin debates the meaning of words does not make the debate a matter of linguistics. We learn that, in his entire teaching about predestination, Calvin was 'not wise', but was 'carried away by polemics and his authorial vanity'; moreover, he took a 'malign pleasure' in this 'system of death' (p. 322). 'Poor Calvin, a victim of his system' (p. 323)! One may certainly disagree with Calvin's doctrine of predestination, but so to caricature both the doctrine itself and Calvin's intention in teaching it hardly counts as good history.

As a final example of Cottret's carelessness and doctrinal confusion, take his statement on p. 337: 'Calvin's Christ is "at the same time the God who elected and the man who was elected."' Cottret footnotes here Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics II/2, p. 1 (in the French edition -- no thanks to the translator). Apparently, Cottret thinks that, because Barth is classed as a Reformed theologian, what Barth says must be what Calvin said. In fact, Barth chastises Calvin on precisely this point, that Calvin saw Christ as the prototype of elected man, but did not see the implications of the fact that Christ is also the electing God (see, for example, pp. 110-11 in the English edition of Barth's Church Dogmatics II/2). If Cottret had perhaps read Barth's preface, he might have caught the following hint: "I would have preferred to follow Calvin's doctrine of predestination much more closely, instead of departing from it so radically" (p. x). So not only does Cottret think he can make statements about Calvin's theology with no reference whatsoever to Calvin himself. He also thinks he can glance over a few pages of a recent work of 'Reformed' theology and assume he's getting pure Calvin. This is inexcusable negligence.

Calvin has long been misunderstood and misrepresented! The author portrays the man as a mortal, and as a sincerely devoted Christian. His teachings are still as clear and wise as the day they were written. John Calvin was a genuine saint and this biography really does him justice. Thank goodness for biographers who care to objectively and accurately portray their subjects!

Norway's a deceptively large country with many, many small towns and interesting regions, all of which are separated by large distances. This book scratches the surface of all of them.

I found the guide fairly weak for southwestern Norway (Stavanger & Bergen areas). While it did direct me to the more obvious tourist areas, I felt as if I had no idea about 90% of the other things I could do.

In summary, because they try to cover the whole country in one book, the coverage of any one area tends to be superficial.

I've been recently travelling all around Norway, from South to North, including the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. I found this guide generally very useful, but weak when it comes to talk about the Nordland, the Far North (Troms and the Finnmark) and Svalbard. For example, Lofoten is surely a fascinating place especially for hikers - like I suppose the author is - but many description are exhagerated and you might be disappointed once there - like I was. The Nordland is not sufficiently covered and the information sometimes might be poor in contents. Same about the Finnmark. The Svalbard part of the guide could be more exhaustive, altought I agree is a surely less touristic place than Bergen as a matter of fact is. There is space for improvements, but you cannot find anything better packed.

After traveling in Norway for two weeks and staying at more than 5 cities, I have to say this is the worst Lonely Plannet I've ever had. Many unforgiveable mistakes. For instance, the opening date and hour of National Gallery, one of Oslo's major highlights, is wrong. It is close on Monday instead of Tuesday. I met a number of people holding this book standing outside National Gallery on Monday, and, unfortunatly, my wife and I were two of them. Other mistakes includes the business hour of some restaurants and background information of certain cities. For instance, the population of Voss is 13,000 instead of 5,500 (p.189)....

Deanna Swaney (along with and Mark Griffith's outstanding mapping and design) have produced the definitive travel guide on Norway.

Deanna Swaney's writing is both engaging and descriptive. In my "must have" list, to qualify a guide as "excellent", are easy to read maps. This book has the best maps found in any Norway travel guide. The superb information and recommendations are reliable and though the publication date is 1999 (thus the information is pre '99). Norway is a stable nation with very low inflation and the prices are close to the quotes.

"Lonely Planet Norway" has a solid introduction section that covers Norway's history, government, economy, ecology, climate etc. This guide has an informative, practical, travel section and, most important, a reliable and up to date listing of recommendations that Swaney has checked out (lodging, restaurants, entertainment, places to see and things to do). At the start of each section is a regional map, more maps, and a list of highlights or "must see" for that region. Great!

Deanna must not be a motorcycle afficionado for there is no mention in her book of motorcycle rental in Norway. I rented a Harley in Trondheim for a week of travel through the Western Fjords, Central Norway and the Trondelag region. Brilliant way to see this glorious country, but, beware the weather is more temperamental than a manic Chihuahua. It can and will go from warm to cold to wet back to sun in the space and distance of one hours travel. My motorcycle rental did include the all-purpose riding gear, I brought my own helmet.

A weak area is the intermittent use of email/web site addresses. These are very helpful, especially for hotel quotes and reservations. I am sure this will be addressed when the next edition comes out.

This is the best guide out on Norway, my second choice is Norway: The Rough Guide (see my review). If you are heading to Norway, get `Lonely Planet', you will be glad you did. Highly Recommended

I'm still patiently waiting for a good Norway Tour Guide to be written. The Eyewitness Book is terrible. But out of a bad lot, perhaps the only one worth mentioning as worthy of taking along in a backpack is the Lonely Planet Norway.

This book isn't great; maybe it isn't even very good, but at least it does spend some effort to describe many of the amazing sites Norway has to offer. It's still quite hard for me to imagine why this great country hasn't been covered by a good book.

I for one borrowed the following books for my latest trip: Kon Tiki, The Moon is Down, A Collection of Plays by Ibsen, a Munch book, and the Lonely Planet Guide. I left the Eyewitness at home.

We loved his witty commentaries and site recommendations. The attractions he advises are good to visit were excellent. We were glad to have recommendations because we knew so little about these countries. However, 2/3 the book focuses on Germany, 1/3 on Austria, and a few pages to Switzerland. Since we spent most of our trip in Austria and Germany, it was helpful, but be aware of this book's limitations before leaving on your trip.

If your doing these countries without touring agencies then this book is the best guide I have seen in a very long time. All the details of travel are contained within and Mr. Steves leaves nothing to chance in his in depth explaintations of your travel. We particularly enjoyed the insights of the different modes of transportation along with little tidbits of info on important yet not often thought of subjects such as how to get around once in country and advise on the different sites to see once arriving. We particularly liked his explaination of how to get to Murren, Switz and would use this as a good standard of which to judge the entire book. Thanks Rick for a very thorough and in depth guide to Germany, Switzerland and Austria of which we visited all three. You made our trip very enjoyable.

I ended up buying three of Steve's books. The first time I used one, the book just paid off by itself. That says a lot since his books are not [inexpensive] and even do not come with any pics.

It skipped many famous but over-rated sites or cities. If you are a person who wants to see 'everything' but do not care about how much quality time you would spend in places, join a tourist group, this book is surely not for you.

But if you are a novice but want to experience real local cultures and travel like a pro while not spending too much money , Steve's books are very difficult to beat.

I was looking for a book on Austria and this was recommended. It only had a few sections on Austria and did not give me the detailed information that I needed. There was a tremendous amount of information on Germany, which is fine, if you are traveling there. The book should read Germany, little bit of Austria and Switzerland...

Rick Steves' travel guides have a cult following and for good reason. They are practical, opinionated, fun to read, and filled chock full of good economical advice on how to enjoy the essence of the place instead of spending your money on sterile luxury rooms and tourist trap extravaganzas.

My wife and I lived in Germany for 3 and a half years and traveled extensively within Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and I'll have to say that this Rick Steves' guide tries to tackle too much. In including Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in one concise guide...sure it makes it easy to carry...but it also makes it easy to leave things out. I suppose if you only have two weeks to spend and a limited budget for these three countries this book would more than do justice to your trip planning...but you just might miss Baumburg's Rauchbier (beer that tastes like smoke bacon if you can imagine that), that cool antique store on the pass between Austria and Switzerland where you can buy a huge cow bell for little to nothing, and the wine store in Lucerne on the lake where you can buy the rarely exported Swiss vino. So maybe Rick Steves' discrimination is well and good especially in the case of liquid bacon beer but the rest of Baumburg is pretty phenomenal.

If you are going to live in Germany get a more expansive and complete book on each country. It's not economical, but you have time to wait until the dollar is good against the Euro. If you are going there with a Euro rail pass just graduating from College, by all means my dear Wanderlust, don't leave without this book.