Europe Books

This book has frequently been thought of as a juvenile or children's book, but as an adult, it is still one of my favorites. Professor Davis had a way of discussing the day-to-day life in historic times in a way that was both comprehensible and interesting.
There are many books that purport to discuss the daily life of other civilizations, but they are often so dry and academic that they are not even a trifle entertaining. Davis has shown that it is possible to write amusingly while pouring a great deal of information into the reader's mind.
The book is about the fictional Barony of St. Aliquis--Latin for "Saint Anybody"--in the Duchy of Quelqueparte--French for "Anywhere"--and the politics, wars, religion, marriages, and other aspects of life in what is arguably the cultural flower of Medieval France.
I highly recommend this book for readers of all ages.

I want to leave positive feedback for Keith at chaplinkt, the seller for my book. He was friendly and courteous. The book is in great condition; and it is hardback, which I wasn't sure of when I ordered, and which I much prefer. thanks

That's definitely an excellent book about medieval life. If you like medieval history, buy it.

This book is written in a conversational style and tells the story of a year in the life of a family in France. The information is detailed and written very clearly. The chronological ordering of the events makes it easy to select the information most applicable to your research. The book covers deaths, weddings, harvest, travelling to visit other nobles, Christmas and other holidays and daily life of all levels of society on the barony. I have done a lot of research in this area and this is my favourite resource and the one I keep rereading.

Life on a Mediaeval Barony: A Picture of a Typical Feudal Community in the Thirteenth Century by William Stearns Davis; Harper & Brothers, 1923

Dr. Davis first had his work published in 1923 while still a Professor of History at the University of Minnesota. The book presents a very interesting and insightful view into the life of a northern French medieval community (certain seigneury of St. Aliquis). This work is 418 pages in length and consists of twenty-four chapters. The book is centered around the time of A. D. 1220. Although depicting French customs, one could assume that many were also indicative of England and Germany.

Topics such as hospitality, women's lives, clothing, cooking, falconry and hunting, literature, education and much more are covered in great detail. This is one of the first texts I used when teaching an introductory course to medieval history. I have found the work clearly written and one of the best books ever written on medieval daily life.

The Preface states, "Northern France was par excellence the homeland of Feudalism and hardly less so of Chivalry, while by general consent the years around 1220 mark one of the great turning epochs of the Middle Ages. We are at the time of the development of French kingship under Philip Augustus, of the climax and the beginning of the waning of the crusading spirit, of the highest development of Gothic architecture, of the full blossoming of the popular Romance literature, and of the beginning of the entirely dissimilar, but even more important, Friar movement."

The work was re-printed in 1990 by Biblo & Tannen Booksellers & Publishers. However, the new edition remains true to the excellent quality of the Harper & Brothers text. The text is a much needed reference work for any medieval historian.

Dr. Carl Edwin Lindgren
Professor of Medieval and Military History

Sensitive and expertly photographed..a new way to look at children's feet....a global perspective.

MArina inf you read this will you call me...Pam Lechtman

I love this book from beginning to end. Each photo brought me back to my childhood memories and now I can't go to a park without looking down at those precious little feet. I reccomend this charming, little book for all my friends and family.

Simple and understated - Marina's perspective is amazing and is only surpassed by her many other talents. Whether it is with a brush, camera or a handful of flowers, look for great things from this wonderfully talented artist.

I saw this book in the store and fell in love, anyone who has children or is planning on having children will adore this book. The pictures brings you back to your childhood and you get that feeling of carelesness, which doesnt happen very often anymore. It is amazing how she has captured the sweet and innocence of children in her pictures. Thank You for this wonderful book.

Little feet

by

Marina Drasnin Gilboa

If ever a book of photographs can be called charming, this is the book. Measuring only 6 1/4 X 6 1/4" with 72 pages, this book holds images of tiny feet in sweet, scuffed, muddy and precious baby shoes of all kinds. Above the shoes are chubby knees, drooping socks and rolled up cuffs of baggy pants or appealing hems of pretty little dresses. Some shoe laces are untied. Some feet are moving--running jumping, swinging and more, and some are still.

Some images are black and white, some are brown-toned and others are color. All are captivating. What a wonderful idea photographer Marina Drasnin Gilboa had when she thought of producing this book. This book would be a precious gift for a new parent or grandparent. Totally delightful. Published by Chronicle Books and copyrighted 2000, it is beautifully done.

This biography is both well written and leaves you with a clear sense of the subject's personality. Almost the only comment on Louis XI I had read about before this biography was that he was clever and known as "the universal spider" for the webs he wove around people who opposed him.

What I hadn't known was that he'd lead a life of such extremes of good and bad fortune and that he effectivley broke the fedual nobles and bought France into a stabilised central monarchy within in his reign. In some respects Louis was the most unkingly of Kings and its a shame his common touch was lost with subsequent monarchs.

This is one of the best biographies I have read of a medieval monarch and it's well worth seeking out if you have any interest in the birth of the Renaissance and the end of Burgundy and the birth of France as we know it even today.

Philip the Good: The Apogee of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)

Charles the Bold: The Last Valois Duke of Burgundy (History of Valois Burgundy)

Joan of Arc: Her Story

Louis XI is to be considered among the greatest kings of France, if not the greatest at all, because he set up the national French monarchy which was to last until Louis XVI. He created a powerful kingdom by subduing step by step the once unrulable feudal lords. And this he did mainly by the use of his cunning sagacious diplomacy rather than by the use of weapons. The "Universal Spider" actually employed the strategy of the spider, patience, diplomacy, cold blood, shrewdness and a calculating mind to win the realm from the clutches of the nobles and bound it forever to the Crown. When he succeeded to the throne in 1461 after the death of his father Charles VII, he found France in a state of turmoil. The proud and petulant lords of the Houses of Bourbon, Anjou, Armagnac, Brittany and, above all, the mighty Duke of Burgundy (whose posessions gathered not only the County and Duchy of Burgundy, but also Picardy, Artois, Flanders, Holland, Zealand, Brabant and Luxembourg) had joined in a so-called "League of the Public Weal" to overthrow him and regain their declining privileges. Before his dead, in 1483, he had crushed the nobility, their lands reverted to the Crown; he had got rid of the always threatening Charles the Rash, duke of Burgundy, and swallowed the whole Burgundian territories of France, and had avoided cunningly a second English invasion of France. By 1483 the king of France was the most powerful monarch in Europe and the richest. It was all possible due to the genius of Louis de Valois. The statesmanship of the "Universal Spider" made it possible. This books shows how, and it provides not only an accurate and very amusing lesson of the History of France, but also a valuable lesson in politics. Looks like very often the pen is mightier than the sword.

In LOUIS XI THE UNIVERSAL SPIDER, biographer-historian Paul Murray Kendall says the Burgundian chronicler Molinet called Louis "the universal spider" and the sobriquet unfortunately stuck. He says Louis was further demonized by 19th Century historians and writers who failed to do their homework. Louis XI was not so much spider as he was diplomat and peace-maker in an age when men looked suspiciously on such behaviour, and combat was viewed as the honorable and noble approach to settling disputes. Louis used his head and the end result was to bring the feudal era in France to a close and help usher in the modern world.

Louis reckoned the ceaseless bickering and fighting of the nobles was destructive to the health of the countryside and the people of France. The common people of the towns and villages agreed with Louis as did the merchants and tradesmen. Louis is not remembered for winning any great battles. The major reason Louis was so successful in defeating his enemies was owing to his understanding of finance. He understood that those who fight must finance their wars and without funds, their access to armaments and mercenaries evaporates. The clever king also understood that when the countryside is destroyed an army that crawls on its belly cannot fight.

Charles VII was the father of Louis XI, that same Dauphin whom Joan the Maid of Orleans managed to have crowned. The ungrateful Charles VII did nothing to save Joan once she had been captured by the English and the Duke of Burgundy, but the six-year old boy who became Louis XI never forgot the saint and he held a lifelong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary after his encounter with her. When Louis was most pressed he prayed to the Virgin, and his monument to her at Clery still exists.

The Duke of Burgundy during Charles VII's reign was Phillip the Good, and when Louis XI ran afoul of his father, he sought shelter with Duke Phillip who sheltered him. Thus Louis spent a good part of his young manhood in the company of his dour cousin Charles the Bold who became the Duke of Burgundy on his father's death. Charles also became Louis' life-long enemy and it was Charles' man who slandered Louis by referring to him as "the universal spider."

Louis had one aspiration--to unite France in peace, and promote commerce and the general welfare of the people. Charles the Bold fancied himself another Julius Caesar--a warrior-king. Charles set about expanding his Duchy until Burgundy reached from the county of Burgundy near the Jura mountains to Flanders and Holland on the North Sea.

Louis was no warrior-king. While other lords ran around in ermine and velvet and jousted at tournaments, Louis donned the hunter's clothes and spent most days in the rural areas chasing animals with his hunting dogs and comingling with the common folk. When he wasn't hunting animals Louis collected them for his vast menagerie.

On most occasions Louis tried to make peace not war. He used his head, outwitted his enemies including the English king Edward IV, and at the end of his life left his heir Charles VIII a united France. Kendall obviously admired Louis and remarks that he was one of the most formidable human beings who ever lived.

I have been reading the series Alison Weir has been writing on the English nobility, and enjoyed reading LOUIS XI not only because I want to know more about the history of France, but because in reading about Louis XI, I was able to understand why certain exchanges, conflicts, etc. regarding Edward IV were important. If you found Alison Weir's book on the WAR OF THE ROSES intriguing, you will appreciate this book. Kendall's writing is comparable to Weir's and he has based his writing on his original research--though he is quite dependent on Commynes as are most of Louis' biographers.

I bought this book from Alibris, and I recommend you find a copy if you're interested in this period of history. I am puzzled as to why this book is out of print.

The nickname "Universal Spider" was not meant as a compliment to the French King Louis XI, whose supple mind and diplomatic skills allowed him consistently to outmanouever his enemies both foreign and domestic. Kendall puts an extremely entertaining writing style to good use in relating Louis' various showdowns with the French nobility, battles with Brittany, double-dealing with the rival English Yorkists and Lancasters, and blood-feud with the Burgundian Dukes - who so spectacularly reached the end-of-the-line during Louis' reign. Those parts dealing with Anglo-French diplomacy are particuarly interesting, given the author's other works on Richard III, Edward IV and Warwick the Kingmaker.

This is a terrific and highly readable biography of a fascinating and enigmatic ruler, set in a period of great political upheaval. Anyone interested in the details of "why" and "how" things happened - not merely "what" happened - will find this book immensely interesting.

Kendall's style is gripping, but he tends to be a partisan for his subject. At times, his bias becomes a little annoying, particularly where more than one "spin" could be put on a certain course of action. The reader must be careful to make his own judgements in many places.

That said, Kendall provides a wealth of quotes from contemporary sources, and his scholarship is unquestionable. This is a great book, covering a time and place that is too little addressed in most popular histories.

I read this book prior to going on a recent trip to Madrid. While not a tourist's guide specifically, I loved the mix of history, art, literature, and local color of Madrid. An excellent read before your trip and equally fascinating to re-read after your trip to Madrid.

The author's knowledge and understanding of Madrileno culture, history, literature, art and psyche are impressive. She brings all these elements together to form the big picture, and the result is a potrayal of Madrid that goes deep beyond the surface. A fascinating account.

Part way into a year in Madrid, I found this book in a bookshop near the Puerto del Sol. Having read -- mostly with disappointment -- guidebooks of the "eat here, sleep there" variety, as well as of the "observe famous site on the left" variety, I have been absolutely entranced with this book.

What it does is bring alive the stories of Madrid. It's not a guidebook, per se, although I think it would be an invaluable book to have on any visit to Spain. It's more a collection of stories, of anecdotes, that pull you into the actual life of the city as it is and as it was.

A typical example: almost all guidebooks mention the Cafe Gijon, and cite it as a good place to eat where generations of Madrid literati have dined. You are left wondering, which Madrid literati, what was the appeal, and what did they do there? Rather than leave you hanging so, Elizabeth Nash guides through the society of "tertullias" (informal but somewhat stable idle discussion groups) that once flourished in these cafes, quoting from some of the novels written about this literary life, pulling up diverse quotes and recollections. By the time you are done you even know the name and the politics of the man who sells cigarettes at the stand just inside the Cafe Gijon's door.

That's the sort of thing the book does throughout. Rather than just identify sites and give you a summary description, it takes you into tales of selected important areas of Madrid. Some are on everyone's tour itinerary, such as the Plaza Mayor and the Puerta del Sol, while others, such as the college residence hall where Dali, Bunuel and Garcia Lorca discovered each other, art and life, do not figure in the packaged tours.

While drawing on marvellously deep and diverse sources, it's also a very good read. It moves quickly.

I recommend it highly.

This is a well-written book about the history and culture of Madrid. I gained a better understanding of the culture of Madrid and how the Madrilenos live and think. For example, the lifestyle described centering around the cafes and the tertulias ("the gathering of people who meet regularly to converse or amuse themselves") enables you to visualize life in Madrid during the 1880's. The book is worth reading and instills a desire to learn about Spain's history and culture.

This little book is a delightful read: informative, well-written, and entertaining. I can't imagine a better book for anyone planning a trip to Spain.

Teaching history should never just be about memorizing names, events and dates. It is about something so much more ?" it is about, among other things, the lives of people past, present and future. Unfortunately, many educators are stuck using texts that concentrate on the didactic and rarely ever stimulate students in an affective manner. Recently I introduced excerpts from Mr. Lipiner?s book, Magyar, Stars & Stripes, to my Western Civilization class to supplement our current text?s generalized and very formal account of World War II. In discussing the excerpts ("The Russians are Coming") in class I found that students became more engaged in our unit on World War II then previous classes that used only our text. In addition to this, and something I had not anticipated originally, was the different historical perspective provided from the excerpts of Magyar, Stars & Stripes from our class text. Our text provides a viewpoint of World War II that is very American as opposed to Mr. Lipiner?s perspective that is uniquely European.

Let me be clear - one need not be a history teacher or history student to enjoy this book. I enjoyed this book for its profound implicit statement - our American culture is a conglomeration of many personal stories. Magyar, Stars & Stripes happens to be just one of those stories that is very well told and documented. Perhaps what I enjoyed most about this book is the undeniable passion and conviction in which it is written which is a deserving tribute to a truly remarkable man - Alexander Taub.

As I read Lipiner's recount of his grandfather's journey and struggles, it occured to me that this should be on every student's required reading list. It depicts a holocaust survivor's odyssey from his Hungarian homeland through Nazi Europe, back to his home, and eventually to the land of opportunity, America.

As a Greek-American daughter, whose parents lived through the Greek Civil War, I could relate to this book on many levels. Sandor's stories were heartbreaking and compelling, as many war stories are. I couldn't put this book down. I wanted to know, what happened next. Who would live? Who would die? My heart broke with each chapter, but then again, I also laughed at how Sandor sometimes viewed the world around him. Michael Lipiner took us through the Holocaust and into the present with the ease of a master story-teller. This book is a wonderful tribute to his grandfather and his heritage!

This is a touching, sad, happy, amazing story. The ability to hear the story through the survivor, Alex Taub's, own words (his often charming broken English) is one of the many reasons this book is unique. The pictures and vivid details make it easy to care about the other survivors portrayed in this book. More than simply the story of a Holocaust survivor, Magyar, Stars & Stripes is an emotionally touching story about hope, family, love and survival. It's a remarkable story with great meaning and I recommend it to people of all ages and backgrounds.

"Hate is no good because [from] the hate comes out trouble. More trouble. Someone hates someone, more trouble come. Nothing come out good: never."

This is one of the many quotes from Alexander "Sandor" Taub as transcribed by his grandson in this very poignant book. It is amazing how much suffering the human spirit can handle while still being open to love and hope. So many times I have whined and complained about the inconsequential annoyances of daily life. In reality, I have never known true suffering.

This is just one man's story. One story that is similar to so many others. We are lucky we have Alexander Taub to speak for many of the other 6 million victims whose stories will never be heard. This book should not be missed.

What amazes me most is that this book is probably not even known about in most modern educational circles, yet it should be required reading in every 101 history class in academia. In fact everything Chistopher Dawson writes should be on that list. This book is brilliant on so many levels I couldn't address them all in this space. Christopher himself was one of those extreamly rare individuals who had the ability to truely see the 'forest through the trees' and even better he could write about it for the rest of us to understand. Its one thing to know about a giantic and complex topic and a whole different thing to be able to put it into understandable sentences. The amount of books he read, understood and then tied the thoughts together is itself a staggering feat. The bibliography iteslf list the 100's and 100's of books that when into forming Dawson's mind and then the concepts in this book. As Tiger is to golf Dawson is to history, particularly western cultural history. The other reviewers have done a good job of telling you what the contents of this book are about so read them to get the idea, I second all their thoughts and reviews. What I can add for you is about the author himself. He is from England and grew up in a wealthly and privilaged family of book worms. It is important to understand that he came from wealth for one reason only. He didn't have to waste time like the rest of us toiling away to make ends meet. He understood this yet didn't live the life of a rich playboy. He felt an obligation to his fellow man and dedicated his free time to learning history and then teaching it to the rest of us. He read an wrote for 5 to 10 hours each day. Married young and never divored. His uncle gave him a library full of books where he spent most of his time growing up. He went to all the finest schools and was a professor at Harvard later in his life. All I can say is that this book is well worth the effort of working your way though it. It will give you a deep down spiritual-like experience to know so much more about your roots and where you came from. Enjoy!

A rare book. It is profound, prophetic, insightful, level-headed. Christopher Dawson is one of the few authors whose books are still mandatory reading in university history circles because of the vastness of his knowldege exhibited in his books. Few writers have the ability to say as much so succinctly: reading one chapter gives you almost as much as a book on the same topic written by someone else.

We need to remember that if the West saw far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants. The giants of our past who, step by step, brought disparate tribes, from many races, speaking many languages and coming from different parts of the world, into one cohesive whole known as Europe. We had better find out how our ancestors did it, before we lose it all.

Catholic University Press of America is coming out with the Works of Christopher Dawson. To my mind, this is one of the most important publishing events in recent memory. In addition, these works are reset and contain solid introductions by experts in the field. This is third in the series (following Progress and Religion; and Medieval Essays).

The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity is an important book, which came out in 1932. Dawson highlights the central factors and contributions in the formation of European unity - the Roman Empire, Classical Culture, Christianity, the Barbarians, the Byzantines and Islam. Although Dawson was a Catholic, the book is balanced and can be enjoyed by just about anyone. I liked in particular the fair overview of Islam. It's fashionable to say that history books of the past ignored the contributions of other culture and only contemporary (and leftist) historians rescued us from the evils of "eurocentrism" and "ethnocentrism." This is silly, as anyone who has read history books from the past knows. (In addition, take for example the success of books in the nineteenth century such as Salambo by Flaubert, or the exaggerated claims of Masons of the contributions of Egyptians, which rival the "Black Athena" crowd).

In particular, I enjoyed Alexander Murray's introductory essay, which updates some of Dawson's arguments in light of current scholarship and also places this work within his oeuvre.

This concise little work attempts to cover the rise of nations from the crumbling Roman and Byzantine empires and the progress of Christianity all in less than 250 pages. Amazingly, the feat is accomplished with entertaining text. There is one shortfall in that there are no maps but the political characters and the events that brought about the European nations are given life. Very well done and a wonderful overview in its brevity and clarrity without paying the expense of literary color.

This book has to be the best survey of the beginnings of European, i.e. Western, civilization in the English language.

It reveals that European culture has its origins in the confluence of four vital elements: (1) the Roman Empire; (2) the classical, or Hellenistic, tradition; (3) Christianity (more specifically, the Catholic Church); (4) and the barbarians who infiltrated the collapsing Western Roman Empire. Each is treated in detail, and the combination of Dawson's encyclopedic knowledge and eloquent diction has the singular merit of making a vast and complex subject accessible and appealing to the educated reader.

To me what makes this book so special is the author's unique capacity to project the reader into the period under discussion without filtering it through the distorted lens of modern mores and attitudes that seem typically to color texts dealing with medieval history. He seems to have an intuitive understanding of what was important to the people of the period, and conveys this to the reader while at the same time he refrains from disparaging the so-called "dark ages" with remarks that emphasize its "primitiveness" by constantly comparing it to contemporary culture. (Aside from technological superiority, I see little basis for superciliousness on our part) Such parochialism of viewpoint is entirely absent from The Making of Europe, and for this, and other compelling reasons, I am sure that the interested and discriminating reader will find that it is, indeed, indispensible.

Robert D Kaplan's latest book, "Mediterranean Winter: The Pleasures of History and Landscape in Tunisia, Sicily, Dalmatia, and Greece," is written in the tradition of what was known in the 1930's as "landscape companions." The most well-known practitioners of this lost art were Robert Byron, David Talbot Rice, Lawrence Durrell, and Patrick Leigh Fermor.(They were all children of the British Empire.) This book recounts a journey Kaplan took shortly afer graduating from college in the mid 1970's. Kaplan writes: "With this journey, I acquired the habit of searching books linked to landscapes and seascapes through which I traveled. Reading became surgery; a way of dissecting the surrounding landscape and may own motivations for being there."

This is not the tourism of our present age, which is an escape from the drudgery of work; this is travel as work. Every landscape, every ruin suggests a book or an author. Every train trip or boat ride fills another notebook with observations and reflections. Travel teaches us about history - the rise and fall of civilizations, the ebb and flow of empires.

Kaplan's prose is on overdrive when travels through northern Tunisia. He recalls on a bus trip: "...the sculpted, liver-hued steppe of northern Tunisia and the pinks of the southern deserts, with their vast blotches of salt; interior tablelands racked by lonely, bone-chilling winds and the grave, museum light of late afternoons; the smoking and hacking coughs of the other passengers wrapped like ghosts in their caftans in the pre-dawn darkness, drooping woolen sleeves concealing their hands; the comforting smell of tea, fresh bread, sharp cheese, and harissa at half-empty cafes where the bus stopped after sunrise, with their loud music, scabby walls, and bitter espresso served in whiskey glasses only a third full; the just-boiled eggs that would keep my hands warm in the bus, bought at a cafe or given to me by a friendly passenger with whom I might share may sunflower seeds."

Kaplan has said elsewhere that waited until middle age to write this book in order to avoid the purple prose of youth; however, there are some delightful moments of recidivism.

In Tunisia, Kaplan uncovers the layers of history of this north African country, focusing mainly on the Carthaginian era and the subsequent conquest by Rome. Rome is still everywhere present in the landscape of Tunisia, from the roads and aqueducts to the Colosseum at El Djem, and Kaplan illustrates this vividly.

Also fascinating is his journey through Sicily. In Sicily, he sees the legacy of the Crusades. In the 1100's, two brothers from Normandy, Robert and Roger of Hauteville, conquered Moslem Sicily and created a modern multicultural state, in which Normans, Latins, Greeks, and Arabs could live together and prosper. The historian John Julius Norwich describes this era in depth in "The Kingdom in the Sun."

Kaplan then travels to Tivoli, east of Rome, where he explores Hadrian's Villa. "Hadrian's Villa was the Versailles of the ancient world." This was the subject of Eleanor Clark's 1950 book, "Rome and a Villa." To his villa, Hadrian brought thousands of books, statues, and reconstructed landscapes to remind him of all the cherished moments of his past. Kaplan compares him to Jefferson and his Monticello.

After leaving Tivoli, Kaplan sails to Split on the Dalmatian coast. Here he ponders the life and times of the emperor Diocletian, while walking through his palace: "If Hadrian was a romantic aesthete who encouraged the arts, Diocletian who ruled the Roman Empire 150 years after him, was a nuts-and-bolts pragmatist who spent most of his life in military camps." Diocletian was the first Roman emperor to rule the empire from the Balkans. It was not long until Rome was sacked in 476 and the Balkans were annexed by Justinian to the Byzantine Empire. After Byzantium, there were invasions by the Slavs and the Turks. Kaplan is very good when describing the mixture of people and civilizations that inhabit this part of the world; it was the subject of one of his previous books, "Balkan Ghosts."

The book ends with an entertaining visit to a spry 88-year-old Patrick Leigh Fermor, a fellow literary traveler and adventurer, living on the Peloponnesian Peninsula. "The last pascha of the Mediterranean" was working on the third volume of his memoirs of a journey on foot from the Hook of Holland to what is now Istanbul. We can only hope that Kaplan is still traveling and writing when he reaches this stage of life's journey.

This is travel writing the way it was meant to be - Informative, concise and illuminating.

Kaplan relives his journeys from many years ago as he first travelled through the Mediterranean struggling with being a free-lance writer. Most of the book is recollections from more than 20 years ago although there are comments from recent trips back to some of the locations and a wonderful recent interview with Patrick Leigh Fermor, author of A Time of Gifts, and other well-known travel books.

The down-side of reporting on these decades-old journeys is that some of the spontaneity and opinion is lost. I find that sometimes I learn more from disagreeing with a travel writers' hasty opinion than in boring, well-edited neutral reporting. However, in this case, I think that the elapsed time has given this account nuances and a filtered content that add to the writing. It's as if the ensuing decades have concentrated the meaning and subtleties of the journey.

The part on Tunisia was replete with history of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Berbers, and Carthaginians. Sicily was filled with the Greek influences on this place. Dalmatia, in previous Yugoslavia, and Greece were well-represented.

I confess I particularly enjoyed the recent encouter with Patrick Leigh Fermor who in his 80's is working on the last book of the trilogy about his travels in the 30's on foot from Holland to Constantinople. If you haven't read his first two, you need to.

Kaplan also includes a list of books that he considers essential to understanding these regions. It is excellent and is a good start to understanding these areas in depth.

Overall, excellent and gripping - which is hard in travel writing.

Impressions are akin to the distillates of grape rinds which when aged in the charred barrel of time yield the fine cognac of memories that become smoother and more satisfying with age. Mediterranean Winter is not an account of a recent journey or the nostalgic pining for youth but rather the mature reflections of a man whose impressions of a lifetime of world travel have been aged in the in the cask of the mind. Kaplan’s work is a delicate blend of autobiography, travel, philosophy, and above all, history. Like a fine cognac it is smooth, delicious, and relaxing.

The book commences with his very first journey, wanderings through Tunisia. My wife and I had the pleasure of traveling there in the mid 1990’s. His descriptions of Tebersouk rekindled my memories of that town in an early spring, a meal of runny eggs with fresh French bread, the quaintness of the village, and the heartfelt “Bon Jour” expressed by the school children. I still savor that crisp morning in the ancient Roman amphitheatre at Douga gazing in awe at the emerald green fields in the valley below and listening to the mellifluous exhaust tone of a moped as it serpentined the narrow road. I recollect gazing out our train window en route to El Djem and the sudden appearance of the Roman Colosseum replete with all its ancient glory. Sitting in the stands under the brazen Mediterranean sun it took but little imagination to hear the clanging of metal on metal and the roar of the crowds. But most of all, I shall never forget the warmth and kindness of the Tunisians themselves.

While Tunis brings back delicious memories his discussions of Sicily, Greece, and Dubrovnik elicit longings to visit these places so rich in history. I visited Athens, and like Kaplan who intended on staying but a few days remained eight years, I also, could have remained years. My wife too was seduced by Athens’ charm as an immigrant traveling from Eastern Europe to the United Stated. She remained captive to its charms for nine months. To this day she refers to Athens as ‘home’. Her final wish is that her ashes be scattered at Placa in Athens.

Kaplan imbues his travels with history. We are its products and what better ways can we understand ourselves than through history and what better way to understand history than to stand on its consecrated sacred soil. I found his historical discussions of such places as Sicily, Dubrovnik, and the southern Peloponnesus both intriguing and delightful. Perhaps most interesting of all was the reoccurring motif of the difference between the Byzantine and the Western ethos. Byzantine geography is so close and our history so intertwined but yet our consciousness is so divided. This is best exemplified by his encounter with the Russian seminary students in the Peloponnesus.

The best chapter is the last chapter entitled “The Last Pasha of the Mediterranean”. In it he chronicles a visit to a most amazing man, one who journeyed from his England to Istanbul on foot! Patrick Leigh Fermor is an erudite man in the twilight of his life. His villa in the remote southern outpost of Kardamyli in the Peloponnesus is a panoply of a lifetime of learning. Rooms are piled high with antique volumes of books, back issues of journals and magazines, artifacts, and maps. His most prized possession is the 1910 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica – “the last good one” which he keeps in the dinning room because as he puts it: “You should always have good reference works where you dine. The best sort of arguments start over dinner, and you must have the means available to settle them.” Here is a man who lived his life in conformity to David Hume’s dictum that the “two pleasures in life are study and society.” It is refreshing to know that there are men like Robert Kaplan who are heirs to the mantel of Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Kaplan made explicit what I knew implicitly that “divinity exists in beautiful memories” and the reason I travel is because “so much of commonplace existence is forgotten, while our journeys never are.”

As in "Balkan Ghosts," Kaplan writes with great clarity and intelligence, weaving a fine travel narrative founded on extensive historical research. He writes with a unique and creative eye, and tends to focus on important yet little-known locales. He philosophizes quite a bit, but it is an intriguing, pleasurable philosophy. The following quote from his section on Greece crystallizes for me the special appeal of this type of writing, "...travel writing, rather than a low-rent occupation for the Sunday supplements, could also be a means to explore art, history, literature, and statecraft..." Precisely! Bravo, Kaplan!

Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece

This historical essay by Kaplan which flows along a geographic journey from North Africa, to Sicily, Italy, Croatia, and Greece is a great read for anyone interested in the history of the Mediterranean. The book is part travelogue, part history, and part philosophy. The key test I have with this type of writing is whether the book leaves the reader with a nice roadmap for further in-depth exploration of the subject matter or some nice sideroads for further exploration...and this book gets five stars because it excels at just that. For example, I may be showing my ignorance but although I was aware of Lamb, and Byron, I had never heard of Fermor; although having read Norwich on Venice, I was ignorant of the Norman invasion of Sicily, etc. There is probably something like that for every reader who is not an expert in mediterranen history. It's easy to read, flows nicely, and worth one's time.

One of my favorite book recommendations for high school girls who think history is dull. No fiction writer could make up a story like this.

Not recommended for children younger than that, however-- Genevieve's descriptions, while factual, are very graphic.

This is the story of a young girl who ends up helping US soldiers during the D-Day invasion. It is a unique, remarkable and moving account of her interactions with both German and US forces. She was recently seen on TV interviewed in France during the 60th anniversary of the invasion. Highly recommended first person historical account.

Such an historic record of the paratroopers landing near Normandy! This beautiful, brave and abused girl tells a poignant and most memorable story. Her descriptive writing is enchanting. Her experiences completely unique. I loved the book and came to love her. Ms. Duboscq would you tell us more of your later life too?

A tremendous book about the experience of a young french girl during WWII. Incredible depth of human joy, pain and misery. It is tremendously sad and rich and points to God.

There are few books that you can tuck under the folded wing in your heart and hear it humming whenever you think of it. This book along with And There was Light by Jacques Lusseyran are the most powerful books I have found about the 2nd World War in France. Perhaps it was made especially poignant because my uncle was a paratrooper at Normandie. He, much like my father who was the radio operator on US subs during WW 2, refused to talk about his war experience. So I sought it out in this unlikely form; through the words of a young French girl. The utter stark honesty of her painful upbringing, told without judgement shows a soul who has learned to forgive and to see the dignity of even the most beastly. Genevieve, who received the highest civilian citation for her work is to congratulated, the book highly recommended.

Imagine my suprise to read this account from the very unit, cavalry group,squadron,troop and possibly platoon in which I served. What a revelation to think I may have driven the author's jeep and fought with the men he left behind. An erie feeling since I was a replacement who followed in his footsteps after he was wounded. This is the only account I have read of the special soldiers who were trained as replacements to be inserted into fighting on the line. He recounts the incredible lonliness and feelings of isolation as the teen age replacement moves through training camps, trains, ships, encampments, trains, more camps until making it up to the front. Each move means new strangers and parting with short term friends who are really only aquaintences. The final assignment means an entire new order of friends meeting under fierce combat conditions. The author accurately captures this atmosphere of isolation and dread. I highly recommend this book which balances the reality of the young soldier in war against the usual histories which suggest that the fighting units were fueled by glory and esprit de corps.

I've read many World War II memoirs, and this is one of the best. Few veterans express the terror, dread, and danger of combat as well as Prof. Pagliaro. He faced a difficult situation and handled himself admirably. I recommend this book to everyone. It is on a level with other great World War II classics such as "Those Devils in Baggy Pants", "If You Survive", and "The Other Side of Time." Very moving to read.

I had the opportunity to read a pre-publication draft of this engaging book. When it appeared in print I was delighted to see that the publisher had produced such a handsome volume--in both paperback and hardcover. I immediately placed "Naked Heart" on the reading list for my U.S. History class at Drake University, and in many years of teaching I have never had a book received and reviewed so favorably. It provoked interesting class discussions and prompted many students to visit with their grandparents about World War II experiences. A number of students purchased extra copies to give to members of their families. It is hard to imagine a book that matches this one in cross-generational appeal.

"Saving Private Ryan" will undoubtedly generate reader interest in books about WWII and the individual experiences of combat soldiers. The most dramatic lines in this movie came when actor Tom Hanks says in effect: "I don't know if I can ever tell my wife about today or what I've seen." This struck a chord with me because my father was a WWI combat veteran of the European Theater, but he would never talk about his combat experiences. So prior to the release of "Private Ryan" I had read many books about the individual experiences of combat veterans trying to understand why combat had affected them so.

I recommend Naked Heart above many other excellent books about WWII held in high esteem by professional historians, who prefer to use a broad brush to paint the picture of the stories they tell. Naked Heart is the story of the military service of Harold Pagliaro, retired Professor of English Literature at Swarthmore College, Pa. The story begins with his induction into the Army, ASTP and Infantry training and transfer to a Cavalry unit prior to shipping out. His service in combat takes place in France, and ends in Alsace when he is seriously wounded.

It is the story of only one man but the same reveals the shared experience of thousands like him who faced all the fear, misery, uncertainty,and horrors that combat has to offer. The language, details, and writing style are clear, vivid, and straight-forward. The reader will have little difficulty envisioning or understanding what he is reading.

A medium like any movie as well done as "Private Ryan" is very visually graphic as well as audibly compelling with all the theatrical flair of the actors, the script, the special effects, sound effects, and background music to fill the viewer's senses. A book lacks most of these, but a book as well written as Naked Heart tells a story in a very personal way, much like a father might relate his wartime experiences to his son. I recommend Naked Heart for anyone interested in trying to understand the psyche of our WWII combat veterans.

John R. Walker

While I served in the European Theater during World War II, Professor Pagliaro's experiences and mine were significantly different. He served as a replacement, while I joined my armored field artilelry battalion before the unit went overseas. Infantry and cavalry performed the most difficult and dangerous tasks in combat and replacements served even more difficult roles in these units.

I found this book to be an excellent description of Pagliaro's combat experiences and also an excellent espression of his feelings and reactions to some very difficult combat assignments as well as difficult miltiary leaders. Pagliaro suffered problems similar to many ASTP students, but many of these persons failed to survive their assignments in the infantry and cavalry and few have expressed their feelings so adequately.

I highly recommend this book not only for veterans of World War II, but for all who wish to learn more about the role fo the "little people" in that conflict.

Stunningly powerful, this tragedy and triumph of a non-practicing Jewish family portrays a happy and privileged family life dedicated to medicine and intellectual pursuits. All that changed in late May of 1941, when first German motorcycle with machine guns arrived practically in front of their home. Forced to run and hide, first from Germans and soon from Ustashe, Julius family with two sons barely survives attacks and joins resistance.
The parents, father a doctor and mother a nurse, worked day and night to save wounded communist partisans. Their youngest son Stevo, the author, at age 14 is appointed a military courier, given an outdated gun, and sent to roam alone through mountains, forests, and small rural villages of Croatia. Their older son, 18-year-old bravely defends the territory of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Severely wounded, caught by Germans, he talks his way out with fluent German.
"Neither Red Nor Dead" is an inside story, full of details and naming names among 481 pages, explaining why communism failed in Croatia and former Yugoslavia (now referred to as f-Y).
After the WWII, in 1953, the Julius family suffers a fatal blow, when dirty communist politics in Zagreb pins the father, a hard working and totally dedicated head of a hospital, against the wall with false accusations. Meddling into hospital administration in a typical communist style, Dr. Julius sees no way out and commits suicide.
The elder son dedicates his life to the communist ideals, but when he critizes Slobodan Milosevic (now a war criminal), he is considered a persona non grata in the country he loved so much. He dies from cancer.
The author, Stevo Julius, educated in Croatia is now internationally recognized as one of the leading scientists in the field of hypertension.

Submitted by Katarina Tepesh

As a reader with only a vague awareness, understanding, or even interest in Yugoslavia and the history of the south Slavs, Julius' book not only opened my eyes to that part of the world but also enhanced my strong feelings of empathy for persons ensnared in the horrors and anomalies of war. His reminiscences of how he handled his ordeal are lively, pointed, and get to the heart of how people react in times of great upheaval. In spite of the serious character of this autobiography, the author was able to see the humorous side of the human condition. Maps and a brief history primer help explain the geography and the times. Not only for history buffs, this book gives all readers a better perception of events in a part of the world that has moved from relative obscurity to major importance in present times.

Have you ever wondered what motivates those who make great contributions to society? Neither Red Nor Dead is the mesmerizing autobiographical account of a young teen-ager caught up in the horror of the Nazi invasion of Yugoslavia during World War II. Blessed with intelligence, incredible insight, perhaps an overabundance of courage and much luck, the author describes in great detail the activities of Yugoslavian partisans and a young boy, largely separated from his family during this horrible time. After the end of World War II the author and his family attempted to reconstruct some semblance of a normal life during the equally terrifying Communist takeover. We follow the trauma of life during the author's education in University and Medical School with amazement, laughter and sadness. It is difficult to put this captivating and fast-moving account down. What makes the epic so much more incredible is the recognition that despite the difficulties and personal loss sustained during this period, the author developed a keen sense of humor and used his brilliance and insight to make many major contributions to the benefit of mankind. This is the personal story of one of the great hypertension (high blood pressure) researchers of our age to whom hundreds, even thousands of people are indebted for his services as a physician, teacher, researcher and friend.

Reading this book has added greatly to my understanding of a significant set of social and political events in the Balkans. It is more important, though, in providing insight into the ways in which individuals cope and grow through being part of those events.

Prof. Julius is a wonderful scientist and clinician. This book addresses issues well beyond medicine and science.

For the American, Prof Julius' book provides a the history of the Balkan peoples and describes the maelstrom there during and after World War II. Often our histories overlook this region. Through his eyes, the very unique state of post-WWII Yugoslavia becomes plausible. Secondarily, more recent events in the area are more understandable.

However, it is the experience seen through the lives of his father, mother, and brother that capture the imagination in a unique manner. The struggle of the individual within large social and political movements is captivating. Late at night, when I wake from sleep, I often wonder about one or more of young Stevo's experiences described in the book. It is a life well-lived and aspects of his life will always remain with me.

Neither Red nor Dead, an autobiographical memoir by Dr. Stevo Julius (Medvista, Ann Arbor, MI, www.medvistaa.com, Amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com) is a great read! The author, who is an internationally known researcher in the field of hypertension, is now the Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of Hypertension at the University of Michigan. He describes his childhood growing up in a Yugoslavia that was occupied by the Nazis during World War II. He is separated from his family, becomes involved in the Partisan resistance, and then suffers excruciating hardship under the post-war Communist regime. Despite such difficulties, he survives and even thrives under these career-threatening circumstances.

His story is told in fine detail but with great charm, humor, and optimism. The descriptions of the Yugoslavian countryside, people, cities and politics are extremely informative and well written. The text maintained my intense interest throughout the 481 pages. Accompanying the text are maps showing specific areas of the country where the action takes place. One small concern here is that many of the towns are not depicted on the maps and so the most intricate details of his travels cannot be carefully examined.

While most of the account takes place in Yugoslavia, only the Epilogue deals with the authorýs leaving the country for Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. Unlike the rest of the book, the facts leading up to this emigration are less detailed. The last chapter, The South Slavs, is an historical primer, which describes the background of the establishment of the Yugoslavian country after World War I. The author clearly displays the reasons for the internal strife, which has so damaged this territory in the past decade. I might suggest that the interested reader read this chapter first to better prepare for the unfolding of this fascinating memoir.

Dr. Julius maintains his wonderful humor, humility and sense of family and country throughout the book. There are many interesting literary details (stories and poems) included in the text. Most importantly, the writing is not at all medically oriented, so that readers of any background can enjoy the book. After reading it, besides offering it to my friends, I found that I would very much like to meet the author and shake his hand...