Germany Books

This book may be a little out dated here and there (thats why only 4 star) but it still serves the purpose nonetheless. I studied abroad in Germany for 6 months and this gave me an amazing insight into the culture of Germany. Put it on as your #1 on your reading list while in Germany or before going. It will help you cope very well. My other study abroad friends also found it very insightful.

It is also a nice quick well thought out book.

The author achieved his purpose of providing an objective and unbiased account of the cultural differences between Germans and Americans. This is a definite must read, and a real page-turner. The only critique point I have concerns a couple of paragraphs on the European Union. The majority of the German people did not want the EU, period. They were not allowed to vote on it like France, for example. Germans still would much prefer their German Mark over the Euro. In fact, there are still vast sums of German Marks still in circulation. Many Germans are keeping them as they are not convinced the EU will hold together.

As an American living in Germany, I've become accustomed to asking "why?", this book has given me many of the answers. Now I understand the German social market economy, German communication styles, the importance of formality and work/non-work divisions, the importance that Germans give to "doing something right the first time", etc.

I couldn't stop reading this book. It is done in an academic style much like a college text but I was still captivated over the detailed explanations of the cultural and behavioral differences. Keep an open mind when reading how others might perceive American culture. Enjoyable and informative!

The book overall is quite good. Also, as a German, I can speak to its incredible accuracy in terms of our custums/traditions and how they differ from those in America. I enjoyed chapter 4 the most and as I was reading it only for enjoyment purposes did not really benefit from the discussion of the differing business practices. However, if you are an American unfamiliar with us and will be doing business in Germany or with Germans it is a definite must read. It is well worth the price of the book.

If you're looking for the nuts and bolts of what made the WW2 German army, this is the book. A very nice overview of the entire military machine. As a historian and WW2 German reenactor I liked the coverage of military tactics from army to platoon, as well as the coverage from tanks and airplanes to individual field gear. Weapons, boots, bread bags, radios and all the field gear are covered along with lesser known machines like field kitchens and bread makers! Highly recommended.

Totally comprehensive review of everything about the Wehrmacht from their biggest guns down to their canteens. Massive review of the organizational structure of all elements from the leadership down to breakdowns of divisions, tactics, etc...The claim on the back that Marshall might have known more about the Wehrmacht than Hitler seems plausible. This is a real gem.

An absolute must have for anyone interested in the German military of World War II. A very technical guide that does not waste time with flowery documentation.

This is the ultimate guide to German forces in the Second World War. Although produced late in the war, it covers the old type of infantry division. I thought that was a nice touch. This book teaches us not only about Germans, but what their contemporary counterparts were thinking. Want to crawl around indide the heads of American Intelligence Officers from another era? This is the book.

This an outstanding book of facts and data whose main scope is the German Army. Although the name of the book refers to the whole German armed forces in reality the coverage is wide for the Army, light for the Air Force and almost non-existent for the Navy. The information it contains is extremely detailed (in particular in tables of organization and equipment of many divisions) and on the whole very accurate (although not without the ocassional flaw: a schwärme is referred as a tactical unit of 5 airplanes but in reality was a 4 airplane unit).
Although it provides information from 1939 to 1945 the information relating to the tables of organization, tactics, equipment and uniforms refers mainly to the period 1944-45.
For example, you can find the TO&E of an army and SS panzerdivision in 1944 but not in 1939 or 1940.
Also, it is important to note that due to the nature of the book it is mainly a WHAT and HOW book (provides data and factual information )but is not a WHY book. That is, you will notice that a motorized infantry battalion differs organizationaly from a regular infantry battalion but it is not explained WHY. Other books give the explanation. This is not a problem with the book, it is just its scope. Overall it is a highly recommended book for anyone interested in the details that are not covered in most WW2 books.

Another of a line in study of out of control power that changed the world. A study of Hitler that contributes to the greater picture of governmental agents of change.. Study with opinions.

...this book captivated my attention. Very clearly and well written, Flood takes you almost step by step from Hitler's early years as a floundering nobody to the flourishing of what became the Nazi party under his rule. Be advised that this is as far as the timeline goes. The historical context is thoroughly discussed, a necessity considering that the rise of a man such as Hitler happened as a reaction to the political and cultural and social stagnation that occured in Germany after WWI.

Here we have a terrifically lucid, readable, and even entertaining account that truly does answer the question, how such a seeming loser from nowhere could rise to become the undisputed leader of the German Nazi party. The tragic and horrible conditions in Germany between 1918-1924 are described in haunting detail, the economy a wreck with inflation reaching 1 billion% by the time of the Novemeber, 1923 Putsch. The cast of characters includes the mesmorizing speaker Hitler, plus the weird general Ludendorrf, Rohm, Hess, the Strassers, Drexler, Goring, and many others, including the WC Fields-like Putzi Hafstaengel, who kept contact with foreign journalists. And the actual events of the BeerHall Putsch have their horrid moments plus some Keystone Kops moments too! In short, about the best early Nazi history out there!

This well-researched journal of Hitler's early days will really get you thinking. You cannot understand World War 2 or the Holocaust without learning about what went on with this man before the age of 40. I recommend this to anyone and everyone who loves history or is doing a report. It is out of print so you can either get it used or get it at your local library. Whatever you do, you will enjoy this great book.

I cannot recommend this book enough for anyone interested in reading about the causes and origins of German fascism. Any book on Hitler can always veer off into the cartoonish, reinforcing the idea that the man was a monster. That approach devalues the very serious underpinnings of Hitler's ascent that Bracelen Flood describes: The Versaille Treaty and the short-sighted behavior of the victors of World War I; the intense racialism of Bavaria; the sheer incompetence of Germany's leaders; and the brilliance of Hitler's campaign to rule the country. Telling details are on every page of the book, but Bracelen Flood is very careful to qualify his observations when the evidence is conflicted. He sees the interaction between the anecdote and the big picture, using several devices to ground the reader in the reality of what happened. Best of all, Bracelen Flood's extensive research allows us to understand what people involved in the events were thinking. At several points, I was struck by how, above all else, Hitler was abetted by luck and the fact that he was consistently underestimated by people who should have known better. The end result is both a study of a pivotal portion of the last century and a valuable tool to ensuring that nothing like it ever happens again.

....there is something wrong with you. But, it WILL inspire you. {I shall say at the outset that I will leave out a lot of the names I can't pronounce}. This is the story of a family of three Lithuanian Jews, and, secondarily, of ten others, saved from the Holocaust by the courage and sacrifice of one Catholic family. They survived, and made it to America....

The tale is told from the viewpoint of Etta Ipp, who became Edna Ipson here in Richmond, VA. "Izzy's Fire" was a pet name her husband's family had for her. Some of the scenes, and stories, will make you sick. {DON'T let little kids read it}. Some will make you cry. There is great evil in the world; if you doubt that, read this book. There is also great good...never doubt that, either, for you shall meet it here.

The Ipsons lost almost all of their family to the Nazis, but they survived, and even prospered. Izzy died in 1997. Edna was still alive at the publication of the book in 2005. Jay, their young son, is now in his mid 70s, and helps run the Virginia Holocaust Museum, in Richmond. He is living history. I shall do something I never do, and recommend you not buy this from your favorite bookstore...if you purchase it from the Holocaust Museum, Jay will sign and personalize your copy; that virtually makes it a sacred relic. I assure you I treasure mine.

Izzy's Fire: Finding Humanity In The Holocaust is the triumphant true story of a holocaust survivor and members of her family escaped the Kovno Ghetto in Lithuania, survived trials and successfully hid until the war's end in a hiding places granted them by a Catholic farmer. She, her husband, and other refugees dug a hole between two potato cellars, and with the unselfish aid of that selfless, risk taking Catholic family, miraculously survived the Holocaust. Afterward she and her husband emigrated to America and encountered a joyful reunion decades later. Izzy's Fire gives voice to those who survived the Holocaust in hiding, and is a welcome addition to Holocaust studies shelves.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends IZZY'S FIRE as a compelling account of how a Lithuanian Jewish couple & their son survived the Nazi occupation, & hide for 3 years in a Catholic farmer's root cellar. & then surviving the Communist "liberation" of their homeland.

Beasley draws from personal interviews, research & numerous memoirs, including those from Israel "Izzy" Ipson, who helped his family escape from Kovno Ghetto, one of the most notorious killing fields for Jews in Lithuania. The Ipps, as they were known then, relocated to Richmond following their liberation and later changed their name to Ipson. Their story has been re-created at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Virginia.

IZZY'S FIRE is Eta's answer to those who say the Holocaust never happened, & is a tribute to personal bravery & the unquenchable resources of compassion, quick-wittedness & sheer determination to live, with a lot of luck thrown in.

Complete with maps & photos, IZZY'S FIRE is a story for all time.

There are many people today that feel "entitled" due to race, relegion or the condition of the home in which they were born. This is a story about a family who's life was turned upside down by war; who lived in barns, potato holes and lived in fear of being murdered as was the fate of many of their family members. Through perserverance and a strong faith in God, they were able to get to America and lived the "american story" of pulling themselves up from poverty to owning a successful business. All young people need to read this story.

Izzy's Fire is by far one of the best books I've ever read. I cannot imagine the pain and suffering of this family in the ghetto in Lithuania. The book was extremely well written and was very hard to put down once I started it. Kudos to Ms. Beasley on a job well done! I can't wait until her next book. This is a must read.

At times the stories collected in The Last Eyewitnesses just get to you -- the insanity and cruelty of it all. This book should be required reading for everyone. Those interested in Jewish history, Polish history and Holocaust accounts will find this book indispensible. Beyond that, however, this collection appeals to anyone interested in the human condition and the absolute will to survive. An amazing, amazing book.

A touching portrait of many Holocaust survivors. Expertly translated by the husband and wife team, the Bussgangs.

The 65 personal histories chronicled here represent the scope and variety of experiences Polish child survivors of the Holocaust underwent. They tell of kindness and cruelty, of good luck and bad, of the survival of a complete nuclear family and the survival of one who knows only that he is, by origin, a Jew. Because this these people originally came from all over Poland, they faced persecution by not only the Nazis and their Belarussian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Ukrainian collaborators, but also from the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and various other anti-Semitic, anti-Polish groups.

Most of these chronicles convey the sense of absolute aloneness and isolation their tellers must have felt. However, a number reveal connections among the group of contributors, connections that hint at the scope of the Jewish community that existed in Poland before the Nazis invaded.

The individual stories are compelling. Their cumulative effect is powerful. They bear witness to the spectrum of human capacity for good and for evil, and, above all, to the twists of fate that meant the difference between death and survival. Accounts of the lingering, ever-present effects of suffering resulting from the events of over 50 years ago serve as reminders that the past is, indeed, never really over.

In The Last Eyewitnesses, the editor, Wiktoria Sliwowska, has presented her own testimony of the destruction of Polish Jewry as well as those of her contemporaries. These have been assembled by the Association of the Children of the Holocaust in Poland. The special character of this anthology lies in the fact that these Jews, mostly in their sixties and seventies now, have come together to relate their childhood memories of the Holocaust, when childhood was denied to them. The reader becomes a witness to a unique cathartic experience. The translation of Julian and Fay Bussgang has given the English reader the opportunity to encounter these testimonies, full of the stark details which contradict everything expected from childhood. Primarily, these survivors learned that in their circumstances, it was dangerous to be a Jew. These children spent at least six years of their lives trying to divest themselves of their Jewish identity. They had to change their names, sometimes several times, change their language, in many cases, and learn Catholic prayers and rituals. As one sees by the names listed in the table of contents, many have never really recovered their identities as Jews. The histories provided demonstrate that there can be life after the Holocaust, but there can never be an elimination of its legacy. And this legacy will extend beyond the lives of even these and other last witnesses.

In The Last Eyewitnesses, the editor, Wiktoria Sliwowska, has presented her own testimony of the destruction of Polish Jewry as well as those of her contemporaries.These have been assembled by the Association of the Children of the Holocaust in Poland. The special character of this anthology lies in the fact that these Jews, mostly in their sixties and seventies now, have come together to relate their childhood memories of the Holocaust, when childhood was denied to them. The reader becomes a witness to a unique cathartic experience. The translation of Julian and Fay Bussgang has given the English reader the opportunity to encounter these testimonies, full of the stark details which contradict everything expected from childhood. It is chilling to hear of the young who, besides being faced with constant want and privation and witness to violence and brutalization, also have to deal with an immediate and mature realization that their own lives are tenuous and threatened day by day. One individual describes his fear and panic, as he and his sister fled from their pursuers into the woods, as well as the subsequent pain and guilt for having separated from her during their attempted escape. His path led to life, while hers led to death. It is painful to read of children who are clearly aware that in their circumstances, it is dangerous to be a Jew. A new word has entered their Jewish vocabulary, "Action", a raid by Germans and their cohorts to seize Jews for death, either to be killed on the spot or taken to the death camps. One can scarcely imagine living with the ever-present fear of being discovered - afraid of one's dark Jewish appearance, living in cellars or closets, forbidden to approach a window, hiding in the woods. The sad fate of Polish Jewry is revealed in the statement of one teenage girl upon returning home after liberation: "...In my one and only little dress, without a cent to my name, I traveled to where Mama, Dorota, and the rest of the family were sent to the ghetto. Here, after arriving at my destination, I lived through the worst moment of my life. I did not anybody, not a single blessed soul." Not only did they not find many of their loved-ones or any vibrant Jewish community after the War, but they found anti-Semitism still alive, though their families were dead. These children spent at least six years trying to divest themselves of their Jewish identity. They had to change their names, sometimes several times, change their language, in many cases, and learn Catholic prayers and rituals. Many survivors have never returned to their original, Jewish names. As one sees by the names listed in the table of contents, many have never really recovered their identities as Jews. One individual expresses his confusion about whether he is a Jewish-Pole or a Polish-Jew. The histories presented here cover the entire gamut from total alienation from Jewish contacts to strenuous effort to learn about their background and Israel. As one reads the various depositions, one is amazed that any children could have lived through such inimical circumstances. One is amazed at the efforts of courage and sacrifice, love and desperation on the part of these parents to give up their children to strangers in the hope that they might live through the horrible German regime. One is also amazed at the stories of great courage on the part of many Poles in the rescue efforts described. "Antek" Cukierman, hero of the Warsaw Ghetto, has commented that one Pole could betray a hundred hiding Jews, but it took a hundred Poles to save a single Jew. These accounts verify that reality, as does Yad Vashem's recognition of many of them to be included in the ranks of the Righteous Among the Nations. The people who have come forth in the aftermath of the Holocaust to give these accounts of their personal lives and tragedies, as they struggle to define their identities, have gone on to demonstrate that there can be life after the Holocaust, but there can never be an elimination of its legacy.And this legacy will extend beyond the lives of even these and other last witnesses. Abraham Rzepkowicz, Reviewer

Erich Heller, a Germanist at Northwestern who left very readable and witty essays on Nietzsche, Kafka, Rilke, Wittgenstein and others, commented on the difficulty of understanding Wittgenstein in these words: ""Do you understand Kant?" is like asking "Have you been to the summit of Mont Blanc?" The answer is *yes* or *no*. "Do you understand Nietzsche?" is like asking "Do you know Rome?" The answer is simple only if you have never been there. The trouble with Wittgenstein's thinking is that it sometimes looks like Descartes's: you believe you can learn it as you learn logic or mathematics; but it almost always is more like Pascal's: you may be quite sure you cannot."

When it comes to the thought of Nietzsche, Pascal, Kierkegaard or Wittgenstein, he notes, its "temperature is of its essence, in its passion lies its seriousness, the rhythm of the sentences that express it is as telling as is that which they tell, and sometimes a semicolon marks the frontier between a thought and a triviality." If what we see in their philsophies are indeed the "destinies of souls," then an intimate understanding of the people they were should be essential for an understanding of their thought. And, in Wittgenstein's case, this memoir will be of not a small help.

An anecdote from this memoir seems to have become almost a legend, often quoted as exemplary Wittgensteinian integrity. One day on a walk with Wittgenstein in 1939, Malcolm mentions something about how what he believes to be the British "national character" would make it unlikely that they invade Germany. Wittgenstein remembers this and reproaches Malcolm 5 years later in a letter. To Wittgenstein, using a phrase like "national character" betrays a primitiveness and inability to be honest in thinking. And the very reason one studies philosophy is to improve thinking about important questions of everyday life. To quote him from the letter: "thinking about these things is not thrilling, but often downright nasty. And when it's nasty then it's most important ... You can't think decently if you don't want to hurt yourself."

A good life to Wittgenstein was living for the thing for which one has a talent with all the energy all life long. That way, the idea of immortality may assume a meaning. As Malcolm tells us, such was what Wittgenstein thought of one's "duty": "Wittgenstein once suggested that a way in which the notion of immortality can acquire a meaning is through one's feeling that one has duties from which one cannot be released, even by death. Wittgenstein himself possessed a stern sense of duty."

Early in Ray Monk's biography, we read about a discussion about "soul" between Russell and Wittgenstein. As to Wittgenstein's question of why it is so hard not to lose one's soul sometime in life, Russell's answer was perhaps the best way not to lose it is to have a purpose to devote oneself to. Wittgenstein disagrees and says it is a matter of suffering, how to endure suffering. Here we see an incompatible difference in the characters of these two thinkers. This also reminded me what he said upon his death, "tell them I've had a wonderful life." I think he really thought he had a wonderful life and it had to do with his talent for suffering.

Norman Malcolm's memoir of his friend and colleague, Wittgenstein, is a very personal account of the man that gives the reader a human side to this enigmatic and austere philosopher. Malcolm's descriptions of Wittgenstein delivering his unorthodox lectures in the philosopher's minimalist rooms at Cambridge - students crammed sitting and standing shoulder to shoulder, the philosopher glaring at any late comer, gesticulating in silence like a suffering mime to achieve a crystalline synthesis of thought, has now become legend. Wittgenstein was an extemporaneous lecturer, never using notes, uncannily picking up the thread of his thoughts from the previous weeks lecture. Malcolm admits that he didn't really begin to understand Wittgenstein until years after attending these "conversations". However this memoir is not about Wittgenstein's philosophy, but about Wittgenstein the man, by way of personal anecdotes and an eleven-year correspondence up until only thirteen days before Wittgenstein's death from prostate cancer.

There are many moving and humorous anecdotes in this memoir, however two in particular really stand out: While visiting Cambridge, Malcolm and his wife would occasionally have Wittgenstein over for dinner. More often than not, he would insist on doing the dishes, but preferred to do them in the bathtub with extremely hot water and a fair amount of soap. This way, he insisted, was the only method to wash dishes to ensure their utter cleanliness. He would often scold Malcolm for not drying the plates properly. This incident may seem minor, but it really exemplifies Wittgenstein's intense character, and what ever he put his attention on, it would be done to the best of his ability.

On one spring evening, after washing up, Wittgenstein, Malcolm and his wife set off on one of their many walks around campus. Wittgenstein began talking about the planets in the solar system and their relationships. He told Malcolm's wife that she was the sun and to continue walking; Malcolm was told he was the earth and to run around her, orbit, counter clockwise; Wittgenstein took the role of the moon, the most difficult, and ran around Malcolm at top speed. Anyone observing this spectacle from afar must have thought they were crazy, but Malcolm said it was extremely difficult and exhilarating experience.

Overall the text is divided into three sections: a well-written biographical sketch by Wittgenstein's colleague at Cambridge, G.H. von Wright. The second section is Malcolm's moving and humorous memoir, ending in the third section with a collection of correspondence from Wittgenstein to Malcolm spanning over eleven years. It is these letters that show the human side of Wittgenstein, his tireless work ethic and his concern for the well being of his friends.

If you have any interest in the character of this interesting philosopher, Malcolm's memoir is an excellent text.

I read the Monk biography first, then the McGuinness. They are both extremely valuable. But, O my, the Malcolm! Do get this one too. It is wonderful.

PEEPS

This volume contains two independant pieces of writing about the giant of 20th Century philosophy, Ludwig Wittgenstein. The first, shorter Biographical Sketch by Cambridge colleague, Georg Henrick Von Wright covers the broad outlines of Wittgenstein's life and work in the first 22 pages of this slim volume. The remaining 78 pages are occupied by one of Wittgenstein's more influential and dedicated American students, Norman Malcolm, and it deals only with Malcolm's personal experiences with Wittgenstein from mid-1938 at Cambridge to Wittgenstein's death on April 27, 1951.

While Von Wright's piece is an essential introduction, it is Malcolm's memoir which had me reading this slim volume over and over as I began my studies of modern Philosophy in 1963. This was before any of the several long biographies now available, and long before the notority of the little book 'Wittgenstein's Poker'. At this time, we only had Wittgenstein's two major works, the 'Philosphical Investigations' and the earlier 'Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus' plus the 'Blue and Brown Books' and, I believe, another slim volume of aphorisms, 'Zettel' (German for 'notes').

Malcolm was one of a core group of students who seemed to see be apostles to Wittgenstein's philosophical Messiah. I especially recall meeting another of Wittgenstein's students, Stephen Toulmin, who spoke of Wittgenstein with a particular reverence reserved for only two or three of the century's greatest thinkers such as Einstein, Stravinsky, and Picasso.

Wittgenstein's life seemed to be a great contradiction, as he seemed to suffer great bouts of depression and anxiety, and working on philosophy seemed to give him all the pain of childbirth. And yet, when he was told he had but a few days to live, he said 'Great! Tell them I've had a wonderful life.'

After all these years, I still find lessons from Wittgenstein's life in this little book. That may be because I practically memorized it 40 years ago, but one can find much worse exemplars for life than the memorable Ludwig Wittgenstein.

I'm surprised to see how pricy this little book has become. Fortunately it is durably bound, as my 40 year old copy is still in good shape, so don't be too reluctant to acquire a used copy, as long as it is not marked up.

Norman Malcolm was a close friend of Ludwig Wittgenstein's. They exchanged many letters and the reader can discover the 56 letters that Wittgenstein sent to Malcolm between March 26 1940 to April 16 1951 in this book.
Norman Malcolm does not discuss Wittgenstein's philosophical works - although he attended a respectable number of his lectures - but describes the philosopher in his daily life, his tastes, his talks with his fellows in Cambridge. It is interesting to learn that Wittgenstein was an emphatic talker both while lecturing and conversing privately, that he dressed as simply as possible although he had rigorous standards of cleanliness and that his room at Trinity College was austerely furnished.
His lectures were quite original. He didn't address his audience in a formal way but the meetings - in his room where the members of the class had to bring chairs - were rather a conversation during which Wittgenstein carried on original research. He was usually impatient and easily angered and his students often feared him. Making friendship with Wittgenstein was very exacting since his extreme harshness could rebuke a friend. Malcolm often experienced that Wittgenstein had a tendency to be suspicious of motives and character. It was always a strain to be with Wittgenstein because of the intellectual demands of his conversation and his ruthless severity. This was due to his passionate love of truth and that is the reason why his philosophical thoughts tortured and exhausted him. He detested academic life, he could not stand the society of his academic colleagues and could not suffer all forms of affectation and insincerity. His mood was often sombre because of the difficulty of achieving understanding in philosophy. As he struggled to work through a problem, his listeners felt that they were in the presence of real suffering. That may explain his strong inclination to pessimism, a feeling that was often close to despair. Another source of torment was that he felt himself to be a failure as a teacher, a profession he abandoned after a few years to devote himself exclusively to philosophy.
Towards the end of his life, Wittgenstein spent long months with Malcolm and his wife in America where Malcolm could witness Wittgenstein's increasing difficulty to concentrate and think, mainly because of his fragile health. A moving memory of one of the greatest philosophers of the 20th century.

To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?(Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.), Roman orator, philosopher, statesman. Orator, 120.)

As humans we not only should look into the future, but into the past. Without considering our past history-how can make appropriate observations, conclusions and judgments? And this is why I find this book of value.

About the Book:
Crow, a student of spiritual healing, left his acupuncture practice in San Francisco to travel to Kathmandu to pursue the path of the healers in Buddhist and Hindu culture. He discusses his experiences with Nepalese traditional doctors and Tibetan healing practices. Crow believes Ayurveda is the medicine of the future and the antidote to disease caused by our increasingly toxic world.

David Crows book is a must read for anyone interested in herbal medicine, Eastern philosophy, and their relevance in todays hectic world--especially for those interested in the ancient yet highly topical teachings of Ayurveda.

This book is urging us to create a new renaissance in healing, but it is not another superficial New Age book. This book is written with care and depth of heart by someone who is not interested in simple answers to complicated questions. I was struck by the authors integrity and ability to make sense out of such diverse yet interrelated topics as herbs, healing, culture, sustainable economics, and ecology. The authors central theme is that we need to both revive and advance herbal medicine and our own sense of sacred environmentalism in order to live in harmony on this troubled earth.

In Search of the Medicine Buddha is not only a book about herbal medicine but also about the need to renew our ageold spiritual connection to plants. Moreover, the book is refreshingly honest, rich, and poetic in its descriptions of Nepali and Indian culture. Highly recommended for anyone interested in creating a richer, more fulfilling and balanced life for themselves and all other living beings!

David delves into the subject of miraculous medicinal plants around the world and explains why botanical medicine is so crucial for the long term health and care of our planet, our healthcare system and our economy. David writes about how you can get involved in creating a grassroots healthcare system in your community by growing your own living pharmacy among many other natural wonders.

The perspective and insight that this books contains is overwhelming. The content was great, but what struck me most was the nature of the author. He has such an incredible respect and love for the Earth, other cultures, and human beings. If the world was full of David Crows, we'd be in good shape. I recommend this book for the fascinating look at Tibetan medicine, but even more for the spiritual development that Mr. Crow inspires.

The text itself is medicinal. The story speaks often of the ancient and rare, but is something everyone struck by the unrelenting madness of the modern world should read. The author's sincerity comes through clearly, and I would be pleased to see more from him. It is difficult to do justice to this book in a short time; it is very rich, even poetic. Do yourself a favor: just trust me on this one.

This book does an excellent job of outlining the current historiography of the Nazi regime. It is really only meant for scholars and it is fairly dense even for them. Kershaw does a masterful job of capturing each of the debates and this is really a great book if you want to write about Nazi Germany but don't know what to focus on. It is still relevant even today and does a great job of outlining the current debates that need to be addressed by historians.

If you have read more than a few books about the history of our world from 1930 to 1945 you may begin to have questions about the National Socialist Movement and the course and effects of its government of Germany. These are questions like:
- Was the National Socialist movement in Germany a unique event or was it a part of a larger historical process in the terrible 20th century?
- What was the relationship between the Nazi led government and the governance of the German economy?
- Was Hitler the author of all that happened in the Third Riech or was he an enabler of many things that were potentially present in Germany?
- What, exactly, was Hitler's role in the destruction of the European Jews?
- Was German(read Nazi?) foreign policy driven by a master plan for world conquest (or domination?) or improvised and opportunistic?
- Was the Third Reich a socially liberating event to the lower middle class or was it a reaffirmation of traditional hierarchy and power structure in another guise?
- What did German resistance to the National Socialist movement and government actually amount to?
- How is it possible to consider National Socialist genocide as part of a normal historical account?
- How is is possible to do objective and empathetic history in the face of the moral values of the Nazi movement and government?

If you find these questions significant and interesting, there is no better single book to read. Each of these questions is covered by Mr Kershaw more or less in two phases. First there is review of the schools of interpretation promulgated by various historians, most of them professional, and then the author makes his own judgement and evaluation of the contentions at hand. Of particular interest to me is the very thorough coverage of the views and controversies among German historians of the last sixty years as these are rarely reported in the US media. Mr Kershaw does not completely ignore the work of popular historians but it is clear that all the points of view they may have are in fact covered by the range of views among the academic community. The author's personal insights and judgements seem well considered and generally appropriate to me.

I think the only area these professional historians have trouble with is the area of the emotional and psychological appeal of the National Socialist movement to so many Germans. I think to really confront that confronts all of us to acknowledge that there may be a darker side within us that could be touched by the myth structure of racial homogeneity and purfication. Consideration of that question of good and evil is just
beyond the job description of a professional historian and belongs to the philosopher or theologian.

Of particular value, and only to be expected, is the extensive bibliography and the sometimes illuminating foot notes. The concerns of some reviewers about the dense terminology should be noted. Part of that seems to be the result of translating terms from German that come out as rather involved hyphenated words in English. On the other hand the issue is that some of the problems studied here are complex and the answers are not simple and ways of talking about them strech our vocabulary. Ultimately my view is that real knowledge and understanding sometimes involves hard work and digging through this text is work. So be ready to do that or don't bother.

If you have read a number of popular histories of the Nazi period, I recommend this book and The Art of the Third Reich (seperately reviewed) to grasp the tangible and intangible aspects of the terrible and instructive time.

This book is a collection of short and dense summaries of other prominent works written on Nazism. Thoroughly researched and contanining a wealth of information, Kershaw's work is a valuable introduction for any researcher or college student. However, I think the esoteric rhetoric and scholarly details makes it kind of hard to digest for the casual reader not familiar with German history.

Kershaw is God. This book is the bible for any scholar of the Third Reich.

I first read Kershaw's Adolf Hitler: Hubris and Nemesis. I couldn't put it down. I then picked up Kershaw's The Hitler Myth. Also an excellent read. I then moved on to The Nazi Dictatorship and within the first 5 minutes I realized I was in over my head. I am a 38 year old lifelong student of WWII. I have been reading about WWII since I was a kid. And I have a Masters degree. Yet this book was way over my head. This book is a HEAVY read and in my opinion is probably meant for history scholars, not amateurs like me. I'm giving it 5 stars based on the aforementioned works by Kershaw and the assumption that this book is of the same quality. But I didn't read it.

"The Nuremberg Raid" is another of Martin Middlebrook's excellent, objective, and dispassionate documentaries on the airwar over Europe. Again, Middlebrook has spared no effort in identifying places, dates, and times, linking documents and personal accounts together in his mastery way. No glorification, no condemnation, just pure facts, given a personal face by eyewitness accounts. This, as well as great writing, are the key to Middlebrook's success.

Together with "The Battle of Hamburg," "The Schweinfurt-Regensburg Mission," "The Berlin Raids," and "The Peenemuende Mission" (some of which are out-of-print but worth every penny if you can get them), this book becomes another must in any serious library on the aerial bombing campaigns of World War II.

The Nuremberg Raid by Martin Middlebrook is an outstanding description of a British bombing raid against the city of Nuremberg. In telling this story, there are two major sections, the lead-up to the raid and the raid itself.

The section leading up to the raid tells the general history of British bombing in WWII, what drove the British to bombing at night, their track record bombing at night, and there recent targets. In addition, Mr. Middlebrook gives us a description of Bomber Command, it's men and their aircraft along with a similar description of the German forces.

The heart of the book deals with the actual raid itself. In these chapters, Mr. Middlebrook goes thru painstaking details about the bomber-stream and the events that occur to the bomber-streamer. In here, we learn about how this is the deepest penetration by the British, how the German night fighters responded to the raid, and how the raid was not compromised before hand. Mr. Middlebrook gives excellent details on the shoot down of most of the 96 bombers lost. Of particular interest was how British bomber pilots thought that the German had a gun that fired scarecrow shells (they exploded so as to look like a bomber being hit, in actuality, it was British bombers being hit by Schrage Musik). Also of interest was the British use of Serrate Mosquitoes to intercept the Germans.

This is an outstanding book. Once more, Mr. Middlebrook has hit a homerun. I'll give this one 5 out of 5!

On the night of March 30/31, 1944, Bomber Command sent every available bomber to Nuremberg in an effort to destroy it once and for all. So determined was Arthur "Butch" Harris to have one less target to worry about, that he sent his bombers out in less than ideal conditions. The night sky was largely devoid of clouds--that is, until the target was reached--and the moon was bright. The conditions were therefore very much to the German's advantage, and the defending night fighters took a grievous toll on the bomber force. In the end, the raid was a complete failure: Nuremberg was hardly touched and Bomber Command ended up losing over one hundred bombers. As Middlebrook points out, the choice of Nuremberg has been somewhat controversial, so much so, that some have contended that the raid was conducted with the Germans having known full well what the night's target was. I have little hesitation in saying that the Nuremberg Raid is a superb book. Meticulously researched and loaded with detail, it draws upon numerous sources, including many personal narratives, to construct aa complete an account of one of Bomber Command's raids as one can expect.

Mr Middlebrook has done more with this book than chronicle what was arguably the costliest raid the RAF staged during WW2. More importantly, it's a look at the daily operations of RAF and German aircrews late in the war. The RAF had standardized their tactics, and the Luftwaffe switched from a rigid to a fluid system of control for its nightfighters. Excellent first-person accounts illustrate the points the author makes throughout the work.

The original edition was published in the early '80s with a short update concerning rumors that Ultra revealed the raid was compromised; to protect this intelligence source the raid was allowed to proceed. This "conspiracy theory" is as untrue as the persistent myth that Coventry was destroyed for the same reason. In actuality there are a myriad of reasons why a mission might be cancelled; it's extremely unlikely that the Germans would have connected a cancellation of the Nuremberg Raid with intelligence concerning their defenses.

The only area where the book is wanting is the chapter(s) concerning "Butcher" Harris. Research since the book was written has shown that he was obsessively committed to bombing cities-to the point of insubordination on several occasions. Anyone else would have, and should have, been fired. The book doesn't address any of these issues. Contrary to what other reviewers have said, the Bombing Offensive was not "propaganda driven". Bomber advocates such as Harris, as an extreme example, felt that the sacrifice their crews were making would definitely shorten the war-maybe even end it without the need of invasion. Sadly, they held to these views even when events were showing that the offensive was not causing the damage expected, and a re-think of the entire bombing strategy was in order. Highly Recommended.

This is probably Martin Middlebrook's best-written account of an RAF Bomber Command Operation in the Second World War. Middlebrook wants the reader to believe that Air Marshal Harris, the commander of Bomber Command, was correcting in pursuing his night-time area bombing philosophy instead of trying to hit military or industrial targets with precision daylight strikes. Throughout, Middlebrook's sympathies and admiration for the brave RAF bomber crewmen that he knew from his youth are clear. Yet this book pushes a point of view that borders on religious or zealous faith, rather than a level-headed assessment of the facts. What pushes Middlebrook over the edge of reason here is the nature of his subject. While Middlebrook's other bomber books on Hamburg, Berlin and Peenemunde covered costly but successful operations (more or less), the raid on Nuremberg in March 1944 was an unmitigated disaster. RAF bomber command suffered its heaviest losses in one night of the war and inflicted negligible damage on the enemy.

Middlebrook begins with several very informative chapters that detail the bombing campaigns in Germany during 1939-1943, the composition of the bomber units that would take part in the raid and the German defenses. As usual, Middlebrook is very thorough and the order of battle is very detailed. However, shows a very profound bias toward area bombing throughout and it starts in assessing the three major raids just prior to the Nuremberg raid. Middlebrook makes a very important point when he states that, "even in non-cloud conditions the bombing results on Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Berlin had been poor ...bombing photographs indicated that not one aircraft released its load within the city's limits!" The point is that RAF Bomber Command did not have the capability to destroy cities because they couldn't hit them and that Air Marshal Harris knew this but continued on with an area bombing campaign that had degenerated into random killing. Wars are won by killing the right people at the right moment, not by killing randomly.

The pre-mission briefs to are covered in great detail and it appears that the intent was to deceive the crews about the nature of the mission, the strength of the enemy defenses and even the weather. The night chosen for the attack was poorly suited for infiltrating a 700+ stream of bombers across Germany due to the illumination from the moon and lack of cloud cover, but Harris ignored these facts and the crews were filled with overly-optimistic estimates. It is also significant that Harris chose an aim point in Nuremberg well away from the MAN tank plant (Middlebrook fails to mention that it was producing 100 Panther tanks per month at that time) and the SS barracks in the city and instead placed it in a residential area that he expected would burn well. The crews were told that the target was the tank plant and SS barracks.

Middlebrook follows the take-off of the massive bomber stream, all the supporting operations designed to help the raid and the massive German interception in great detail. Although the front of the stream made it past the German defenses, the Germans had perfected the "Tame Boar" method of intercepting streams before they reached their target and ripped apart the center of the stream. Visibility was excellent and the bombers were leaving contrails due to unusual conditions. About eighty British bombers were lost in a ninety minute period. The Germans had a very good night; Middlebrook notes that over thirty bombers were shot down by just eight night fighter crews. Two German lieutenants shot down seven and six bombers in one sortie! The flak gunners also had a good night - one battery shot down three bombers in five minutes with only twenty shells. All the while, the British crews watched in horror in the moonlight as bomber after bomber went down in flames. Nor were the British aware of the German "schrage musik" attacks from underneath with specially-modified cannon that fired into the bellies of the British bombers. It was one of the great aerial slaughters of all time. Nevertheless, the bravery of the British crews to press on to target in the mistaken belief that their actions would contribute to victory is sobering.

Compounding the heavy losses, the raid itself was a total failure. Nuremberg was heavily cloud-covered and most of the bombs fell well outside the city; only 60 German civilians were killed in the city, including 24 women and 8 children. Even worse however, was that 107 bombers missed the target by 55 miles and bombed Schweinfurt by mistake (and only succeeded in killing one woman and one child). A total of 110 German civilians and 19 Luftwaffe personnel were killed in the raid and about ten fighters were lost. Contrast this with British losses of 108 aircraft (96 bombers were shot down, the rest were crashed or damaged beyond repair) and of the aircrew, 545 of these brave men were killed and 152 captured. Middlebrook notes these cold-blooded facts but then concludes that the raid succeeded because it carried the war to the German people and "it was the German civilians who cowered for their lives in cellars and shelters while the English slept safely in their beds". Aside from this being an asinine "aim for the RAF", it ignores the German V-weapons campaign that was pounding England in 1944 without risking aircrews.

Finally, after all the excellent post-mortem analysis Middlebrook brings the reader to an emotionally biased watershed. Instead of realizing that the Nuremberg Raid clearly demonstrated that night area-bombing was not a cost-effective way to win a war, he launches into an impassioned defense of Harris' beloved area bombing. Middlebrook writes, "The morale of the German people never broke...but this does not mean that the theory was wrong: only that it had not been proved. What might have happened if Harris had been given the 4,000 heavy bombers [that he wanted]?" This completely ignores the fact that RAF Bomber Command could barely find major cities in the dark, except for the few targets in the Ruhr within range of OBOE. How would more bombers have changed this fact? More bombers missing the target still does not add up to victory. Even when RAF bombs hit cities, they tended to kill women, children and the elderly, not people likely to contribute much to Hitler's war effort. Middlebrook's assertion that the bomber raids caused the Germans to allocate thousands of anti-aircraft guns, searchlights and flak crews to home defense is also specious. First, anti-aircraft guns and searchlight cost a lot less to manufacture than four-engine bombers, and few of them were destroyed in battle unlike the 8,325 bombers the RAF lost. Second, the flak crews were often teenagers, women and Russian volunteers, all of whom required far less training than RAF bomber crews. Thirdly, Middlebrook ignores the huge investment that Britain had made into air defense of the UK and the fact that Britain did not have a free ride in this area even in 1944. Actually, it is apparent that RAF Bomber Command diverted far more resources from Britain's war effort than it did from Germany's.

This is a well-written and detailed account of one of the fiercer air battles of the Second World War. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone seriously interested in the air war in 1939-1945. However, the emotional bias of the author colors his assessment of the raid and serves to offer up a false conclusion. It is no disservice to the brave RAF crewmen who died on the raid, they did their best and they were heroes, but the raid was idiotic in intent and execution. Commanders like Air Marshall Harris would send brave men to their deaths for no reasonable purpose should not be excused for "having a bad day" or making a mistake. Unfortunately, the author cannot bring himself to this condemnation and it is up to the reader to make a less biased conclusion.

Good reference book! Lots of detail about locations, conflicts and generals on either side.

Brings back lots of memories, Reminded me of our crossings, and a few days later coming back across on the pontoon bridge in an Ambulance for Air Evacuation to England. A must for all that was there or is interested in accurate history.

I bought this book for my father, who was at Remagen. He was one of the last to cross this bridge. He has really enjoyed reading it and has learned some new things about it as a result. He recently went back to Europe to retrace his footsteps from when he fought there and visited the Remagen sight. The book has given him some new insights, confirmed things that he knew and has been good reading for him.

Many WW2 history buffs are familiar with how the US 9th Armored Division found an undestroyed bridge over the Rhine River, staged a daring attack and how the last physical barrier into the heart of Hitler's Germany was crossed. Mr. Zaloga looks not only at the actions around the small town of Remagen itself, but how this event changed Allied strategy in the final weeks of the war. For the history trivia fan there is good information presented about the terrain around Remagen, about the various units from both sides that were involved in the fighting and about the efforts to protect the bridgehead. By grabbing a foothold on the far side and steadily building up and widening it, the Americans were able to coordinate with the large British crossing operation later and create a huge encirclement of the major German forces protecting their industrial heart. To quote a tag line from a 1969 movie "the Germans lost a bridge, thirty days later they lost a war". Very readable and organized text with good illustrations. An excellent addition to your collection.

Remagen was always of interest to me, even as a child, as my father had crossed near there. Many years later I the opportunity to correspond with fellow Tennessean Hugh Mott, a hero of Remagen, who disarmed the German charges and earned a place into the U.S. Army Engineer Hall of Fame. Despite reading a number of other books on Remagen, this one remains my favorite. Super informative, accurate, easy reading and well illustrated. Like the other reviewers, I give this one the top rating. Lots of information in a small book!