Services Books

"Up Your Service" is really a wonderful book from a true "guru" of customer service. The book is beautifully set up to be easy to use, and a pleasure to work with. Ron Kaufmans excitement and passion for excellence comes through so clearly in the thought behind the production of this book. (This guy is thinking about the reader (customer) very clearly in the book design. All books should be this easy and fun to deal with. Anyone dealing with customer service, (and we all are!) should have this one in their library.

"Up Your Service" is really a wonderful book from a true "guru" of customer service. The book is beautifully set up to be easy to use, and a pleasure to work with. Ron Kaufmans excitement and passion for excellence comes through so clearly in the thought behind the production of this book. (This guy is thinking about the reader (customer) very clearly in the book design. All books should be this easy and fun to deal with. Anyone dealing with customer service, (and we all are!) should have this one in their library.

Ron Kaufman has produced a book according to his highest standards of service: producing not just customer satisfaction but delight. This book is fast-paced with humor and solid business sense. If you want to know how you can produce delighted customers and all the benefits from those relatioships, read this.

This book will change the way you approach clients, help you get your point across and make people like you. It will help you sell your idea, your product or yourself. Ron Kaufman describes how to be generous, add value and demonstrate concern-how to be in "service". He reminds us that delighted customers are more loyal, come more often, spend more money and tell their friends about you.

Ron Kaufman is a legendary marketer, a celebrated keynote speaker and an enthusiastic service pioneer. He has attacked book writing with the same passion as his business consulting.

As the author of 113 books (including revisions and foreign-language editions) and over 500 magazine articles, I highly recommend this book to anyone who has something to sell. DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com.

Up your service will provide a rock solid foundation for virtually any customer service initiative. If you want to know how it should be done within your organisation, read it.

If you want to know the truth about the medical system and the enormous number of errors and cover-ups within that system, read this book. Well-researched with many shocking and heart-breaking case studies, the book provides answers as well as showing the problems. Thank goodness someone had the courage to buck the system and break down the Wall of Silence for all of us.

This is a better book by far than the unfortunately better known INTERNAL BLEEDING. It is certainly more honest. It has the clear advantage of being written by people who know and understand the subject ,and unlike Internal Bleeding, it does not suffer the disadvantage of having been written by physicians who, purposfully or otherwise, seem very intent in obscuring the responsibility for medical mistakes.

The authors of Wall of Silence have written an honest and valuable book deciding (to the public's advantage) to let the chips fall where they may. A MUST READ!!

This book is a well researched, well written must read for all Americans. The authors share their personal story as well as the stories of others who have suffered at the hands of a careless physician. While the stories will break your heart, they may also save your life, or the life of someone you love. While none of us want to believe that those we trust with our bodies and our lives would neglect a sacred trust, the fact is it is happening all too often. This book delivers the message without hype, fear or hysteria. Read it, share it and take it with you.

What separates Wall of Silence by Gibson and Singh from other books on this topic is the refreshing and bold truth telling contained within it's human stories of pain, injustice and frustration. Not only did the authors shoulder the risks and courage requisite for listening to and then writing about the human face, consequences and devastation of needless medical error tragedies, but they also ferreted out and exposed the ugly truths, told by medical providers themselves, about how the pervasive greed, secrecy and code of silence in the healthcare industry works to bury medical mistakes through a host of means; including blackballing and burying the careers of the competent and ethical medical providers who dare to tell the truth and who place patients above profits. As a medical provider, I can find no better way to encapsulate the meaning and hope of this treatise than through those words offered by the Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter. This book is, as she states, 'A call to arms for families who have had loved ones disabled or die in the pursuit of medical treatment.' And, I can only hope that it could also catalyze a 'Call to Arms' for medical providers who wish to return medicine and healthcare to the patient oriented, compassionate, ethical and hippocratic way of practice.

If even one person dies, that is one too many. But it is not just one, not even 10 or 100 patients who are maimed and dying from health care mistakes. As Gibson and Singh reveal, the numbers are much much higher than that. And anyone of them could be you or your loved ones. Medical errors do not discriminate. Everyone is vulnerable even doctors themselves as patients.

Yes, to error is human but that really doesn't appear to be the problem here. A great deal of the problem appears to be that a percentage of health care providers make multiple errors because no one stops them. According to Grayson and Singh many nurses do not recommend their place of employment to their family and friends.

When people are not held accountable for their actions and the consequences of those actions everyone is endangered. Taking or being forced to take personal responsiblity for your actions and their consequences plays a large part in how many mistakes you make.

I would think it would be every irresponsible health care provider's nightmare to literally have to personally experience everything that they inflict on their patients.

Since health care providers are safe from the magic wishing wand, the next best thing is to guard against such mistakes and be public with the information. It is a matter of ethics. When you are ten and don't want to "rat out" a buddy it is rarely life or death. But health care providers are not ten anymore and it is their ethical obligation to put the safety their patients or potential patients first. Please read this book and tell others about it. All of our lives depend on it.

thanks for a book like this i have a therapy dog myself i trained for me and then i followed his lead when he showed he wanted and needed and was so good at helping others
i have only read excepts of the book but will buy it my dad is dying of parkinson disease 1000 miles away i am a daddy girl so this time is hard anyway since i have no way to see him
your book helps so much
turns out my dads dog-has saved my dad a few times himself by going to get mom everytime dad falls or needs things
i know if i could get up to dad i could train the dog to do more
the dog is a cocker spaniel raised from 2 weeks old by my mom,but seems to glue itself to dad as dad got sicker
as i always said dogs know more then we think they do and do so much for people
what a gift god gave with allowing us a small time with his critters
[...]

I am grateful to Lynne Hugo for her heartwarming and insightful book. She encouraged me to continue to visit nursing homes and Alzheimer patients with my toy poodle, Lucy, even though she is not trained to perfection. Lucy brings joy to residents and care providers. God has presented me with the opportunity to share my dog and I am proud to serve Him in this way.

I can see why this book won a national writing prize. What a sheer pleasure to read. It's thoughtful, deeply considered and the language sparkles as the author deals with terribly difficult issues but helps us through them by injecting literally hilarious episodes at just the right moments. Marley and Me has nothing funnier than sections of this book. My dog and I are Delta Society volunteers, and I, too, have aging parents. Much of this helped me think about my own life as well as my parents' situations, and I'm really grateful that a friend recommended this book. Now I'm passing the favor on and giving this my most enthusiastic endorsement.

An enjoyable book! I was moved emotionally by the connections of the dog therapy team, the residents they visited, and the nature around them. Nice symbolism showing how human life events parallel changes in nature.

I throughly enjoyed reading "Where the Trail Grows Faint: A Year in the Life of a Therapy Dog Team" by Lynne Hugo. Lynne Hugo is masterful at blending the story of Hannah, her beautiful chocolate lab therapy dog, with the lives of the people who are in the nursing home, along with the lives of her own aging parents. Ms. Hugo has a beautiful way with words; her prose creates atmosphere and feeling....so much so that at the conclusion of the book, I immediately went to visit my own aging mother-in-law, who is in an assisted living facility. This book was clearly written from the heart!

A great book with much of interest to anyone interested in outdoor skills and woodsman ship in an age that has mostly vanished. The illustrations are great and some are humorous as well.

All outdoorsmen should own a copy of this book. Highly entertaining and a wealth of knowledge.

THE BEST OUTDOOR/SURVIVAL BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. LOADED WITH INFORMATION, AND AT A GIVE AWAY PRICE OF ABOUT 10 BUCKS. ITS A NO BRAINER, BUY THIS BOOK.

I first read this book in my High School Library in 1955.
The best outdoor survival book ever.
Buy it at least a month before you go camping.
Must read for campers.

This book was my introduction to outdoor skills. I thought I'd order myself a copy after all these years for sentimental reasons, for some reason I remembered it being kinda hokey.

Well I got it and it isn't hokey at all. I love this book. Taught me many things back when, taught me more things just now.

Thius cookbook has so many great recipes even my boyfriend has started enjoying cooking!!!

This collection of cookbooks from Williams-Sonoma rocks! With over 40 recipes in this one book alone you're set for the casual backyard BBQ with friends or a more intimate dinner with the one you love! The pictures alone are reason enough to buy this book. From grilling vegetables to pears with raspberry-Grand Marnier sauce this book covers a wide spectrum of mouth-watering recipes. **The baby back ribs with honey-jalapeno marinade are to die for***.

Be sure to add this to your cookbook collection -- and don't stop here... there's nine more on this website and even more at Williams-Sonoma stores to make your collection complete!

Happy Grilling!!!!

This is a truely wonderful addition to any cookbook collection. Unlike most cookbooks that require you to spend a lot of money buying ingredients you most probably will only use once, these recipes mostly require olive oil, garlic, onions, peppers, the basic seasonings (e.g., oregano, salt, black or lemon pepper, etc.), and occasionally one more fancy addition (making the dishes MUCH less expensive, and allowing the true delicious taste of the meats and vegetables to come through). The book also offers a nice variety of dishes. It includes recipes for grilling chicken, fish, meat, mushrooms, AND deserts! (Did you know you can make a desert on the grill?) As a last point, these simple dishes can look fancy enough to impress anyone. I made a whole dinner for my husband on our two year wedding anniversary. I served the Shrimp with Lemon-Garlic Butter and Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Basil Oil over rice, the Grilled Red Pepper, Sweet Onion, and Tomato Salad on the side, and the Grilled Pears with Rasberry-Grand Manier Sauce for desert. It took me about 45 minutes to prepare all the rubs and sauces (just because it was my first time putting it all together), but about 10 minutes to cook everything at the same time, and 3 minutes to serve. The meal was such a hit that my husband wants to make a new grilling dish every Wednesday night! By the way, for the novice grillers, the book also offers a glossary and an instructional section discussing types of grills, preparing the grill, checking for doneness, etc. I hope you enjoy the book as much as we do!

This book makes me pumped for summer! The recipes for the marinades and sauces look and sound really good. They are also explained very easily. One thing that I really liked about this cookbook, among others, is that the variety of meats, vegetables and all that good stuff is pretty big. It's not your 'regular old down home grillin' guide'. It's got pizazz, and I like that. I would recommend this cook book to anyone who likes grilling. Or, if you don't like grilling, get it for someone who does.

Wow. what a find. I was hesitant to buy the Williams and Sonoma book because I thought that the recipes would be too complicated and require expensive ingredients and be too fancy for the way I like to cook, but the dishes are easy to prepare and extremely elegant - without being too time consuming. I love this book. Got this book in the mail two weeks ago and have used it half a dozen times so far.

This is an excellent book, plenty of information and very well written, covering every aspect of a FreeBSD system.

I am a big fan of open source software. I've been a GNU/Linux user for years but I must admit I had never played with BSD before. I bought this book because I wanted to set up a network server at home and I thought it was the perfect occasion to try FreeBSD. I expected one of those thick and boring reference books but, hey! I am very glad I chose "Absolute FreeBSD" because it is the perfect example of how write a clear, informative, nice and accurate technical book. The book is not for the absolute beginner but, in general, it's very easy to read. It should be self-explanatory to anyone with a little experience in networking, UNIX-like systems or, in general, computer science.

The author is a FreeBSD developer himself, so he talks about the inner workings of the FreeBSD community, providing an interesting point of view of the operating system, not only as a regular user but also as one of its "insiders".

The book covers everything a BSD system administrator should know. It covers basic things like how to install the system, how to make backups and recover from data loss, how to configure the network, disk management, etc. It also includes detailed explanations and sysadmin tricks of the usual network services: DNS, SSH, DHCP, FTP, printing server, web Server, mail Server... The author also gets into more advanced topics like, kernel tunning, security, performance analysis and tunning or RAID management. I was particularly interested in using hard disk encryption. I thought getting it was going to be a pain in the neck but the book explains how to do it with 6 simple commands. Nice!

In general the book is well structured. Concepts are explained clearly and with a lot of examples. Some chapters cover so many concepts that my brain couldn't keep up with so much information and I had to take a break for a nice beer ;-) The book is worth it's price: 37 dollars for 700 pages.

Only one advice: Although it has a graphical interface, FreeBSD is normally configured trough the good old command-line. Don't expect this book to tell you how to configure your web server double-clicking on an icon, FreeBSD is not Ubuntu or Win2003. The book may not be suitable for Happy Windows Users, used too the click-next click-next click-next way. This book is for computer geeks, system administrators, people that enjoy using different operating systems, people that need to have a robust system to use as a network server, people that like to tune every detail of their machines, or people that need to learn freeBSD and have no time to google every single configuration detail. For any of those people, I highly recommend this book.

Thank you, Janet!
This is the first time ever using nearlymintcollectibles and I was so pleased with the condition of the video. It was in perfect condition. And, I received it within days of ordering it.

This book is worth every dollar.

Easy to read, you don't need to be already an experienced administrator or user to read this book

'Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD' is another hit in the No Starch collection of books which have their own unique layout and style of writing associated with the authors publishing with them. With around 700 pages of content you will learn the ins and outs of this Unix-like operating system and see how powerful it is and what it can do for you. If you use FREEBSD on the job or are just a tinkerer that plays with non Windows/Mac systems this will enable you do do administration, learn to programmatically script, and get behind the curtain to do more than you thought possible! If you need a FREEBSD book, No Starch makes learning FUN and it's a great addition to your library!

***** RECOMMENDED

I really liked this book. Bill Brooks is a very credible author and I like the fact that there are only 7 concepts to learn/read about. It allows us to focus in on specific items you can address with yourself and/or your sales team. If you are interested in improving your sales outcomes, read, study and practice the ideas discussed in this book. They will have very positive impacts on your results!

Amazon.com lists nearly half a million books about sales. You get the impression that everyone who ever made a cold call or a sales presentation has written a book about his or her experience. Sales books are often anecdotal, with little or no relevance to the difficult challenges that salespeople actually face. Some present a grab bag of supposedly "can't-lose" sales techniques that sound great on paper but always seem to fall flat during sales calls. Others present compilations of moldy maxims, such as "work smarter, not harder," and "never take `no' for an answer," that make experienced salespeople want to jump off the nearest cliff. This thoughtful and intelligent book by Howard Stevens and Theodore Kinni is a welcome exception. Instead of irrelevant anecdotes or inane aphorisms, it features the results of in-depth surveys of 80,000 business-to-business customers concerning their attitudes about salespeople. It offers an insightful analysis of this singularly informative data, along with recommendations on what salespeople can do to improve their status with customers - and thus increase their own sales. When it comes to the business-to-business salesperson, we cannot recommend this book more highly. Read it to learn precisely what business-to-business customers expect from you, and how you can use this invaluable insider knowledge to close more sales. You'll become the consummate sales professional in both your customers' eyes and your own.

Although I read everything published regarding sales, it is rare that I can heap the kind of praise I am about to heap on Howard Stevens and the HR Chally Group's Achieve Sales Excellence: The 7 Customer Rules for Becoming the New Sales Professional.

Not since Neil Rackham wrote SPIN Selling (in 1987) and Major Account Sales Strategy (in 1988), has anyone used sophisticated research methodology to explain what makes some salespeople much more successful than others (in this case, Chally used 210,000 salespeople and 80,000 customers). Most important, Stevens and the Chally Group actually correlated what a customer said on a survey with their actual buying decisions, therefore, making the information much, much more valid and useful in determining what customer want and expect from salespeople.

The seven rules are:

1. You Must Be Personally Accountable for Our Desired Results
2. You Must Understand Our Business
3. You Must Be on Our Side
4. You Must Bring Us Applications
5. You Must be Easily Accessible
6. You Must Solve Our Problems
7. You Must Be Innovative in Responding to Our Needs

This is a book I wish I had written. It is--bar none--the most important work published in the field of sales in the last 20 years. If you choose not to buy and read this book, I promise you will quickly fall behind those of your competitors who do--it is that important! This book will reshape how you think of yourself as a salesperson, and, if Steven's advice is followed, to greatly improve how we are viewed by our customers.

This is one book I wholeheartedly recommend to sales leaders and sales professionals who truly want to understand and value the customer perspective. Insightful, emboldened by superb research, Howard Stevens continues to contribute to the art and science of sales expertise.
I have already purchased copies for my team and I consider it THE sales book of 2007!

Sandi Edwards
Regional Vice President of Sales
American Management Association
NYC,NY

Howard has it all in an easy to read guide for any sales manager who wants to select, train and coach their sales force to world class levels. What more could you want - its research based, concise, actionable and driven from the customer's point of view. The best maxim I know about top sales pros is that if you want to understand selling get insight into buying. Achieve Sales Excellence is a must read for any sales manager or sales professional that wants to exceed their quota, delight customers and crush competitors.

This book was a gift for my husband who works for Delta. He really enjoyed the book.

The book is an easy read. It is well organized and flows logically. In addition, it has slightly larger type with plenty of white space for improved readability.

The author writes in a style similar to Peter Drucker, one of my favorite business writers. He expresses valuable key management points in a succinct, easy to understand way.

The author brings his vast consulting experience together to very effectively relate to the issues that Delta faced. His perspective is how Delta's leaders - 7 CEOs and their Board - dealt with those issues and the leadership lessons we can all learn from the decisions of those leaders.

From this leadership perspective, he chronicles the company history, starting with C.E. Woolman, founder of Delta and a great leader during the company's early decades. Nolan then graphically shows how the roots and a culture that caused a growing company to flourish and thrive were damaged or abandoned by later leaders, ultimately leading Delta into bankruptcy.

The points made regarding the agenda of some management consultants are right on target. They deserve serious consideration by any CEO, Board or executive.

The book is a valuable, textbook case study in how a great company can go awry when the leaders lose focus and depart from the values and culture that made it great.

Once nationally recognized as one of the finest major corporations in the United States to work for, this book provides an insight into how a great company was led astray by an unfortunate string of incompetent leaders. This book should be required reading for anyone asked to serve on a company's Board of Directors or as a CEO/President. Lessons learned should be the ability to recognize a pattern of poor decisions and take decisive action before it is too late.

With a sharp eye and a keen analytical pen, Harry Nolan holds up a chronological mirror for the reader so we can see the step-by-step erosion of this once-fine company. It's a shame that Delta didn't hire advisors with his insight when the cracks in the company's armor started to appear. Acknowledging current CEO Gerald Grinstein's efforts now to 'row the boat ashore', Nolan does not cut him any slack for his past omissions/commissions as a member of this infamous Board of Directors. WHERE WAS THE BOARD? is a question asked often throughout the book. This book should be required reading for every Director, present and future, of every company, to witness what can occur when the Board relinquishes its responsibilities as Delta's Board did. A gripping story...and it's non-fiction too!

What an awesome book. I am a Delta employee with 18+ years and this is the best book I have read regarding my company. Although the Leadership would have us "little people" believe Delta is in bankruptcy because of us, this book places the Responsibility right where it belongs, with the CEO and Board of Directors. Thank you Mr. Nolan for disclosing the real facts! Those of us on the inside can relate to your book. It should be required reading, but instead, management at Delta has a prepared script to refute the truth disclosed in the book.

Sorry, meant to mark four stars.

I like that it has so much information all in one place, however much of the information in this book can be found on the internet (although with A LOT more work). This book gave me a much appreciated focus to my cancer research.

There are breakthoughs that the book does not cover (for example fungal infection) and it was written when the understanding of prions (the cause of mad cow disease for example)and their role in health risk was only beginning.

Would like to see a more updated version, almost 10 years old, a more recent version could only be better.

With a working diagnosis of advanced ovarian cancer, this book gave me HOPE and DIRECTION. Statistics say: One in two men and one in three women will face cancer. IF POSSIBLE, be prepared in advance to know what course you would take. BUT, if you or a loved one are diagnosed with cancer, have courage! There are MANY choices BESIDES surgery, radiation and chemo. Better choices! This enormous book will educate you.

Don't miss the AMAS test on pages 702-705: an accurate blood test that can detect ANY cancer up to 19 months BEFORE conventional medical tests for cancer can find it! This test gave me GREAT PEACE of MIND as it ruled OUT cancer for me before my surgery to remove a grapefruit-sized endometrioma (NON-malignant). Praise the LORD!

Im a 33 year old young woman, who was diagnosed with advance local breast cancer 5 months ago today (24 May 2001, date of diagnosis). I was fortunate enough to have a close friend in the US who know of this book, due to working with one of the doctors who are published.

This book has become my Bible and has literaly saved my life. Im sitting here tonight in the wee hours of the night to let you know that today I have no turmors and am living cancer free. Five months ago I have 4 tumors all at approx 4cm each, today they are all gone, by the grace of God and his direction led me to this book which in turn gave me the information, the wisdom and guaidence to get through this tragic disease that so many people, possibly thousands world wide die from.

God Bless the all those who contributed to the truth about cancer. I thank you.

"Enza"

A large part of beginning to win the battle with cancer is reasearch and information, so that one can make informed decisions about ones own health care. This book provides a wealth of easy-to-understand information about the options to conventional treatments. Whether or not one chooses to prescribe to any treatment offered in this "encyclopedia" of different modalities, one is almost certain to come away from reading with one of the greatest cancer fighters of all - hope!

This massive (1116 pages) book is published by the editor of the magazine 'Alternative Medicine.' The first section consists of richly detailed accounts of the successful cancer treatment plans of 23 respected alternative physicians from Robert C Atkins to Charles B Simone. Part 2 is a fundamental explanation of the nature, causes, politics and prevention of cancer. I have never read a better 225 pages on the subject. When you come closer to understanding the conditions that precede cancer you are empowered to change those conditions and assume control over your own body. The final section presents alternative therapies one by one from nutrition, botanicals, and metabolic factors to physical and energy support therapies ranging from ozone and thermal (infrared heat) to acupunture and magnetic. In all, a finely-written explanation of a life-and-death topic meant for those who have cancer, their friends and families who refuse to give up and, who knows?, maybe even your doctor! This is a book I run to every time an acquaintance is diagnosed. I learn about the specifics of their condition and the hope that exists beyond the conventional.

This is one of many Remarque's books, I have read. A friend of mine recommended him as a writer years ago, and I have been hooked. Oddly enough in High school in the US, only recently have I heard of his books as required reading and then only "All Quiet on the Western Front". I consider his work superior to Hemingway. To me his books are a genuine recreation of that time. (No, I don't really know, but he makes you feel like you are there).

DRINKING AND SMOKING ARE MAJOR SYMBOLS IN THIS AND IN MOST OF REMARQUE'S BOOK
One thing that struck me in this book and many others of Remarque's is how much drinking and smoking plays a part of the symbolism. They are props for the characters, in much as they were in real life at the time; drinking and the requisite cigarette to think with. To most American's, born in the last 50 years, this is the major anachronism in the book, the incredible role drinking and smoking play in people's lives. To people I know from Europe, this would not be as much of a surprise. The US non-smoking and drinking in moderation have not yet reached Europe yet. The drinking and smoking by any means, do not detract from the main story. This is a mature romance that captures your imagination none-the-less. I wonder what the props for this century will be; Maybe our cell phones and laptops?

MAIN CHARACTERS ARE ALL REFUGEES IN FRANCE
The main character is a refugee from Germany, a former well-known surgeon, forbidden to operate in France due to his questionable residency status. He moonlights by doing another surgeon's work. He is a haunted man, by both his past persecution in Germany and his unstable status in France. Hardly is this a good basis for a romantic situation that leads beyond living for the day.

RELATIONSHIP WAS NOT SO MUCH PURSUED BUT ONE OF OPPORTUNITY
He meets and helps the woman he is to fall in love with, under peculiar circumstances. He helps her with no intention to see her again. Time passes and he runs into her again. They fall into a peculiar relationship that uses "Calvados" an apple brandy as its symbol. For some reason this drink is frequently mentioned in books of the time. If it were now, I would say it was paid advertising.

ONE ODD TWIST
Only one twist and it is a major one in the story makes no sense to me, why it is included. I might be missing something, but the discovery and fate of the German officer, seems tacked on, added as an afterthought. If you read this story, let me know what you think. I don't see it is so much as part of the same thread, unless it is one of relationships concluded.

BASIC STORY
So as not to ruin the story, I will allude to the fact that the relationship develops and the hostilities of the times, intrude, both outside France and within. These events affect the relationship and the way it changes illustrates the characters of the people involved. The main character you follow with his observation of the things and people around him. You see his girl friend through his eyes and his Russian friend's eyes only. This is enough they are shrewd observers. It is apparent from this observation from day one that the events that eventually unfold were bound to happen.

As usual Remarque weaves a compelling and complete story.

An old favorite of mine.

A friend asked me to recommend a Remarque novel. We discussed 'All Quiet...'. My reply follows: 'Sure, in fact one of my favorites of Remarque's books is a thinly veiled portrait of Marlene Dietrich; or rather the intertwining of her life with his in Paris at the eve the period up to war in Europe, the year before the WW2 broke out.---
The English title is 'Arch of Triumph'. Like with all Remarque's books, the title is full of irony, and undercurrents of double meanings. Naturally, the book is not officially about Marlene, but she is hard to miss. Rather the book is personal,and has a good amount of autobiographical flavor. Yet, it is a captivating and suspenseful novel.

Like the two protagonists in the novel, Remarque and Dietrich were themselves at a desparate point in their lives in 1939.

Side comment: I am afraid that a lot is lost in the translation of Remarque's books. He only wrote in German, even when he lived in the US.

In any case, Remarque is a master of a suspenseful openings, in his novels. This one does not disapoint! Lots of his books are about refugee life of sorts. Another of Remarque's novels I often return to is 'Night in Lisbon', and it is again about escape from a Europe at high noon, just as Europe is going up in flames before WW2.' Review by Palle Jorgensen, September 2004.

I saw the movie with Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer, and found it incredibly dull. I thought maybe the book would be better. I was right, it was better, but it didn't thrill me or really move me the way All Quiet on the Western Front did. I am not sure if this is partly due to the fact that I read it when I was a bit tired.

I don't really have a lot to say. It's not a book that I can enthusiastically applaud, but I won't say it was horrible. I would advise you to just read it for yourself and decide whether you like it or not! : )

A piercing sorrow that momentary happiness drags on to an individual, an experience that would make everyday boredom look happy and idle, a passion that would never be quenched, someone's tears...

"I'd pretend that I'm a normal housewife... and that you are not in exile, you have a good passport and don't need to hide... and that I cry if you are not home, if only one night, and that we are always madly love in and jealous of each other even when we are old..."

It pounds your heart, and the charm that each individual shines like a precious gem, is never, never to be found by browsing through the superficial plot line. READ READ READ!!! The best book ever. (Perhaps surpassed only by Bronte sisters and Hesse.)

"Arch of Triumph" by Erich Maria Remarque is a wartime love story. This is the classic love story and anyone who reads it, will never forget it for the rest of her or his life. Snip: (...)