Belgium Books

Brussels is a great getaway for US Eastcoasters, but you do not need this book to steer you in the right direction unless all you plan to do is SHOP! I believe that this little pocket-size tome is a glorified advertisement for several small select restaurants and stores in the historic centre. The maps are too general, not specific enough for a real walking tour. I left this little book in the hotel room. One would do better to go to a website on Brussels, then visit the tourist centre in the Grand Place for a map that is helpful. Once again, if all you want to do is shop, then this little book would be a minor help.

This book while extremely well written and true to historical fact, would probably only interest someone who is either interested in the history of the Catholic Church or leprosy. I am sure extensive research went into the book. I guess Father Damien, to me, was not a very exciting or interesting subject because he never left the leper colony except once and there really wasn't anything interesting going on there that was written about. I'm sure there could have been if the author had used her imagination and created conversations and incidents that weren't documented historically. But she stuck to historical fact and real life isn't recorded in letters and documents. The book needs to be fleshed out with what might have been said under the circumstances or what might have happened.

The problem is that this book tries to cover a period which was extremely turbulent for the Netherlands: the Napoleonic period had great influence on Dutch history, since the Netherlands saw 1 revolution, 3 changes in government and 1 annexation (and 1 war of Liberation)in just 20 years. This means that the uniforms for the armies of the United Provinces, Batavian Republic, Kingdom Holland, the French Empire, the Netherlands in the War of Liberation and the Kingdom of the Netherlands are a vast subject to discuss, and it simply doesn't fit into one Osprey volume. The book by R. Pawly and P. Courcelle, "Wellingtons' Dutch Allies", covers one period and is a lot better. To do justice to this period would be the addition of a volume on the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom Holland. This book simply is too minimal, and it has too many mistakes, since all clich?'s are summed up (again).

This book has mistakes. It means to describe the uniforms during the Napoleontic Wars, i.e. in the Dutch-Belgian case Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. But in fact its uniforms are based on the ones described in a 1823 Dutch book by Teupken. Therefore the information is about 8 years too late. Between 1815 and 1823 there were over 200 uniform changes for the Dutch soldiers and officers. The book might be OK for some uniforms but keep this in mind. I have studied the engineers uniform and it WRONG in this book.

This book has mistakes. It means to describe the uniforms from the Dutch-Belgian troops during the Napoleontic Wars. In the Dutch case that is Quatre-Bras and Waterloo (1815). But the uniforms described in this book are the ones depicted in Teupkens 1823 book on Dutch uniforms. Therefore the descriptions are about 8 years too late. Between 1815 and 1823 there were over 200 changes in Dutch uniforms and the authors don't take these changes into account. There might be some correct uniforms described in the book, but I researched the engineers uniform and that is wrong.

Essentially a regurgitation of offical sources and regimental histories with some slick graphics. Poorly written, choppy and in places incoherent. Do not waste your money.

Not really the best book about WW1 in Flanders. Sometimes boring. Too much information about locations (too specific for a non-flemish) and regiments and batallions. The author should have focused more on tactical warfare and possible different strategies and their implications. This is just a too detailed chronological report of the facts, nothing more. The few comments he published from soldiers that survived the battles are too short and do not fit in the structure of his book. The author should have worked out this book much better. I was disappointed!

Whatever I read in this book I could have found it on Wikipedia. This book is a waste of money, it isn't even funny as other guides in the the same collection. The book doesn't reflect rality. It doesn't say, for instance, that French-speaking Belgians are Anglophobes even though the radio is loaded with American pop music, stores have English names and some of the government websites have names in English. The book doesn't explain or mention the fact that the Bruxellois always seem to be on the verge of suicide, or at least constipated, or why they are so unfriendly and rude. The book doesn't mention the subtle racism against anything that looks Middle Eastern or doesn't look White European.It doesn't mention that in spite of the wide web of laws for everything, Belgians will always find a way to get around them and ignore them...should I say more?

Worth the time for a quick start; I knew nothing about Belgium when I started reading. The strength of the Xenophobe guides is their short coverage, rather than the insights of the Culture Shock! series. I read this one in about 40 minutes, and it helped me understand some of the key issues among the Belgians. It covered current issues, with very little history, and provided enough background to appreciate some basic aspects of Belgian culture. Although a little light-hearted in its discussion, I feel comfortable passing it on to a Belgian friend.

Beware, this is not a recent book. This book was written in 1907. For some reason, the publisher decided to reissue it by basically photocopying the original book and binding them into a new paperback cover. Nowhere on this Amazon site will you learn that this book is a century old and obviously won't include material on more than half of Belgian history: World War I, World War II, the European Union, NATO, etc. The publisher apparently decided to save money by choosing not to reset the book's type, but rather to simply copy the pages. As a result, you get this antiquated, nearly illegible typeface with lots of blurs and marks that make it a headache for a modern reader.

If you're looking for a reissue of an obsolete history of Belgian, this should appeal to you. If you want something useful to learn about modern Belgium, keep surfing Amazon, because this isn't the one.

This book was a great disappointment. The book only covers the most generic tourist spots, and on the subject of the Red Light district unacceptably refuses to even review or mention anything dealing with coffeeshops or prostitution. If you want a bland and intentionally incomplete guide, this would be the book for you. If you want an unbiased and complete guide, try the Time Out Guide to Amsterdam instead.

This book is 137 pages and over $35 dollars...with no indication of how many colored images there are, how big the pictures are, etc.'

It is packed with lectures so buyer beware since there is so little information all you might get is a bunch of talking heads for a skimpy 137 page $35 dollar book...so a caution...I did not buy until more details are provided.

A little boy disappears. Four years later, his mother gets a call she swears comes from her son, saying he's fine. Henri Castang, former French police officer, agrees to investigate. So far, so good. But then it turns out that the grandfather of the little boy was a former SS agent who had a illegitimate child with a Czechoslovakian woman, and of course, that explains the kidnapping.

This plot was really far-fetched. The characters were unbelievable and flat. But the really awful part was the writing. I can accept a thin plot if the characters are interesting and the writing is good. But it was very frustrating trying to read this. I gave up after 6 chapters and just skimmed through the rest. The writer puts in whole conversations without identifying the speakers. He treats thoughts and words the same way. The characters, especially Castang, will carry on two conversations, one real and one imagined, at the same time. I had no idea what was going on. I will not read another one of these books.