Germany Books

In this book, M. Owen Lee grapples with the issue of whether we can (and should) enjoy Wagner's art, in the knowledge of Wagner's notorious flaws (such as his fiery anti-semitism, etc.) Drawing from classical Greek mythology, Mr. Lee discusses how it is common for great artists to have flawed personal lives, and that the value of the artwork should therefore be judged independently of its creator. Indeed, the artist creates his art as an act of self-healing. He therefore encourages the enjoyment of the music of Richard Wagner. (Yep, the Wagnerholics of the world can now listen without guilt. :-)

A lot of the material is taken from the book, "Aspects of Wagner", which M. Owen Lee acknowledges as a source. Since I had read these books back-to-back, the repetition of material was easy to see.

There is also a discussion of the opera "Tannhauser", which is discussed in about the same level of detail as his commentaries on the Ring.

Although this book consists of merely three lectures, and can be finished off in about 2 or 3 hours without difficulty, it has as much fresh insight as many other titles that take much longer to study. The first lecture exploring the influence of classic Greek mythology and cultural recognition through artistic expression - ie roughly how the Greek society established itself through artistic endeavour - gives the reader a pretty clear idea what Wagner was trying to accomplish for Germany through his music dramas, and also confirms a pretty outlandish level of self-confidence to even make such an attempt. The second lecture has some material which has already been covered in other books - notably Aspects of Wagner by Magee - but is still interesting. The final lecture with a detailed study of Tannhauser is excellent, the most interesting commentary on this opera I have read to date. The choice of Wassily Kandinsky's Die Nacht, inspired by Act II of Tristan und Isolde, for the front cover was very appropriate. Strongly recommended.

Father M. Owen Lee, who is known for his erudite commentaries on Metropolitan Opera broadcasts has recently published another book about the Wagner's Ring Cycle, called "Athena Sings. Wagner and the Greeks." Father Lee is a Classics scholar, so it should be no surprise that the Greeks also inhabit "Wagner: The Terrible Man and His Truthful Art." One of the chief characters that Wagner is compared to in this slender book is Philoctetes, who was given a great gift by the god Apollo, but was also maimed with an incurable wound.

The three essays that make up this book were written to be given during the 1998 Larkin-Stuart lectures at the University of Toronto. These lectures are devoted to religious and ethical concerns, and Father Lee took the opportunity to examine the relationship of the artist, Wagner to his art.

The first lecture, "Wagner and the Wound That Would Not Heal" tells the story of Philoctetes, who was shunned by his fellow soldiers because of his unhealing wound. Finally, they exiled him on an island on their way to conquer Troy. In their tenth year of war, after the death of Achilles, the Greeks heard a prophecy "that the city would never be taken unless the wounded Philoctetes was brought to Troy with his bow (the gift from Apollo)." The Greeks sailed back to the island where they had abandoned Philoctetes and persuade the wounded, bitter man to use his gift to help them.

Father Owen is not a Wagner apologist, but he asks us to recognize our debt to the "hateful, wounded man [we] are in need of"---he whose music can penetrate deeply into our psyche and bring us, if not peace, then at least self-knowledge.

The second lecture, "Wagner's Influence: The First Hundred Years" discusses the effect that Wagner exercised, for good and ill, on music, art, literature, politics, and psychology. The author quotes philosopher Bryan Magee as being able to say: "Wagner has had a greater influence than any other single artist on the culture of our age."

Of course, the worm at the core of this lecture is Wagner's "unquestioned influence on Adolf Hitler." There are still people who won't listen to Wagner's music, and Father Lee acknowledges this artist's blatant anti-Semitism: "He probably wreaked more havoc on himself with his essay 'Judaism in Music' than with anything else he wrote." A hundred years later, Goebbels was able to use it as vicious propaganda.

Can we acknowledge this hateful, wounded man and still be pierced by the beauty of his music? The author goes on to quote Leonard Bernstein's article in the 'New York Times,' entitled "Wagner's Music isn't Racist:"

"...And if Wagner wrote great music, as I think he did, why should we not embrace it fully and be nourished by it?"

The third and last lecture that completes this book is entitled, "You Use Works of Art to See Your Soul." Father Owen Lee concentrates on Wagner's early opera, "Tannhäuser" to prove his point, with help from authors such as Baudelaire and Goethe. He is even tempted to wonder if Wagner had Martin Luther in mind when he created his tormented young hero, "who was gifted in song, clashed with the Pope, sought refuge in the Wartburg, defied the society he knew, and profoundly changed it."

Or perhaps, Wagner was thinking of Wagner.

These essays have convinced this reviewer at least, that a seriously flawed human being can produce indispensable, undying, truthful art.

M. Owen Lee is perhaps best known to opera lovers through his appearances on the Texaco Opera broadcasts, some of which have formed the core of two of his previous books. In his latest book, Father Lee demonstrates the personally committed criticism which is characteristic of his radio lectures. This is no mere apologia for Wagner. The author is painfully aware of Wagner's human failings, not merely the oft-discussed anti-Semitism, and he is troubled by the fact that the music of such a monster could move him so deeply. This book gives us a wonderful insight into the author's soul as he grapples with this question. I especially enjoyed the discussion of "Tannheuser" in the final chapter. (A few years ago I wrote to him about his love of Wagner, and he cared enough to write me a detailed letter in response--another sign of his genuine commitment to the subject). This book tells us not only about Wagner but also about the author himself, who has a unique capability of engaging the reader in a genuine dialogue.

I am a novice when it comes to what went on in Germany around WWII - reading Walls, gave me a bit of understanding, it was not detailed, but enough to see how one man thought he could dominate the world and infiltrate his wicked thoughts in other humans. Great book of how one woman conquered Germany!

This is one of those amazing books that is excruiciatingly hard to put down. Written in an extremely easy to read style, this autobiogrophy pulls the reader into Nazi Germany to show a take on World War 2 that you don't often read about.

Growing up in Germany, Hiltgunt grew and matured at the same time as the Nazi party. Raised in a family with no love for the Nazis, she was constantly aware of their danger.

After getting her degree in scandanavian languages, she was eventually picked (being the only one in the new Germany with one) to be the interpreter for scandanavian political prisoners. With this unique post, Hiltgunt could basically do things the way she wanted, bringing hope and health to these uncared for people.

She describes a country racked with fear of their leader, doing Hitler's will just to stay alive and avoid the Gestopo. In more than one instance, she had a run-in with the Gestapo herself. Amazingly enough, she was allowed to continue what she was doing, as long as she "reported" on Nazi resisters, not knowing that she herself was one. After questioning her again, they miraculously released her once more!

One of the best things about Hiltgunt, is her ability to look back and not praise herself, but humble herself and recognize how selfish she was in trying to survive. Nominated for the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize, I'm only now wanting to learn who could have won it after a story like this.

I would unquestionably reccomend this book to anyone wanting to understand more of World War 2.

Hiltgunt's parent taught her to think for herself and were liberals. Her father lost his job as a teacher for among other things praising Albert Schweizer and his "reverence for life" ideology. Apparently the Nazis didn't buy into that. One morning they awoke to find their house plastered with yellow paper covered with Swastikas.

Her first act of resistance was to refuse to give the Nazi salute every morning in school.

She graduated from Hamburg University with a degree in Scandinavian languages. This was a very rare degree and she was drafted to be a postal censor reading the mail between the Ghettos and Scandinavia. Rather than destroy letters with forbidden content, she found another way to send them on to Scandinavia. In particular whe was supposed to censor any requests for food. In fact shed did the opposite and added requests for food to many letters.

Later, Norwegian and Danish prisoners convicted of resisting the Third Reich were imprisoned in Hamburg. Hiltgunt was assigned to monitor the prison visits of a minister to the prisoners. structions were to prevent spiritual guidance and prayer (a rule she broke on the very first visit.) She ended up smuggling food and vitamins to the prisoners on every visit.

How could a young woman risk her life constantly in order to perform these acts of kindness in the midst of the insanity of WW2 and the destruction of her home town? Ultimately, she was responsible for saving the lives of hundreds of Norwegian and Danish prisoners.

I am a Lutheran church librarian who was given this book as a donation to our library from a parishioner's teenage daughter who was assigned to read it in school. This is an excellent book about resisting Naziism by a German woman who risked her life to help others. The interesting thing about this woman's story is that she treaded such a fine line. She was not a member of the Nazi party. She expected to be found out and killed at any moment. Time and again she underwent Gestapo questioning for no reason other than to scare her. Even so, her degree in Scandinavian languages gave her a certain amount of power and prestige within the Nazi system that allowed her to give food, medicine and religious support to Scandinavian political prisoners imprisoned all over Germany. Her descriptions of the bombings of Hamburg and Dresden are especially interesting. So often we focus on the horrible things done to the Jews and gypsies in the Holocaust, as we well should. But we must also rmember that the German people were also victims of this terrible regime. Some helped the regime and others fought it. I very much enjoyed this book and recommend it. I read it in a day. Not difficult, but hard to put down.

Sleeping Beauty was, of course a good movie for those Disney fans who love the great artist's works. The three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather offered a single gift to the newborn princess. But the evil Maleficent crashed the party and cursed Aurora by pricking her finger to the venomous spindle of a spinning wheel and die at her 16th birthday. As a Disney fan, I'm considering that this beautiful young princess will be saved at last by the third of the fairy trio, Merryweather, who had given to her this almost tiny gift: When Aurora pricks her finger into evil witch Maleficent's spinning wheel, she cannot die. Instead of death, the princess will sleeping into a deep slumber until a charming prince wake her with the true love's kiss. So Maleficent turns herself into an evil black fire-breathing dragon to stop Prince Phillip to rescue sleeping Aurora. But the good fairies combine their magic to the mighty Sword of Truth, chanting "Now, Sword of Truth, fly swift and sure. That evil die and good endure!", and the prince throw his magic sword straight as an arrow into the dragon's heart. I'm sure that's a nice movie and I strongly recommend it to all the children beginning from 5 to 12 years old.

This book is a real treasure. Based on Walt Disney's widescreen animated fairytale epic "Sleeping Beauty," this is a nostalgic exact reprint of the storybook created for the film in 1959. It is illustrated with original artwork created especially for storybooks. It is a shame that more people have not discovered this wonderful book. It's one of those books that you can read to your children at bedtime and they can be captivated by the illustrations. It is one of those books that you keep in your bookcase after the children have gown up and you can pull it out from time to time and just reminisce.

This is a beautiful book. It is reminiscent of the images and style of children's books published at the time when Disney originally released SLEEPING BEAUTY. This is a real tribute and a cherished edition to have from one of Disney's best and often overlooked fairy tale classics. It has a real place in my heart.

This is a beautiful book. With Amazon not carrying a picture of it, I was a little afraid to order it, fearing what I might get. I am so pleased with it. The illustrations are very stylized, very 1950's era. The colors are brilliant, even to the endpaper. I love the angles of the characters' faces and shoulders. To get a general idea what the book looks like, check out "Walt Disney's Classic Storybook" and imagine a ten times more beautiful version. Enjoy!

I was honored to be able to buy this book directly from the author when she attended our women's Spring Luncheon as our Guest Speaker. She was so kind as to sign it for me with a German dedication. Although I was born an American, my children both carry German passports. I am glad for this opportunity to share with them the story of their country through the eyes of someone who was there to experience it all first hand.

We are already planning to buy her next book, War Bride, and read more about her experiences with immigration.

We are grateful to have learned of this book when it was first published in spring 2003. It gives an unusual and unfortunately rarely noted perspective about German life from 1933-45 as experienced by an ordinary person and family in a small town. Annelee tells her own story in a very open and honest way, from the early days when she wanted to wear the uniform of the Hitler Youth, to the terrifying end days of the war when urban Germany was virtually destroyed. This is not an academic study of war theories; it is about what really happens to a people when their government chooses a tragic course.

What a book! What a storyteller! I remember a few snippets from freshman English class that you shared with us, but the opportunity to glimpse the whole picture was a rare treat I've been looking forward to.

I once read an account by an "undercover" war correspondent- who attended a speech by Hitler, and found himself so moved and overwhelmed by his speaking prowess that he suddenly found himself cheering and shouting with the rest of the crowd. You communicated that same spirit, that same awesome power of the prevailing tide. I feel one lesson that Nazi Germany teaches us is how dangerous unchecked government can be: how it can creep into and start to control our daily lives -with the best of intentions- and soon compromise our freedoms and even our right to independent thought. I very much appreciate and value your perspective as one who has lived through such a strict (and successful!) propaganda machine. I strongly feel if we just trust in our elected leaders and let them satisfy our wants and desires in exchange for ever-increasing tax rates the United States will soon cease to exist as we know and love it.

On the other hand, I'm forced to be impressed by what the Third Reich was able to accomplish; how a broken and defeated nation at the end of WWI was able to come within a stone's throw of conquering the world. It's been said that if Hitler hadn't imprisoned all of the (Jewish) scientists... Germany would have developed the A-bomb before the United States and ended the war on their terms. Germany already had a more reliable rocket (V-2) than we did! What also strikes me is the wealth of development that Germany saw before and early in the war - the autobahn, fine, new schools (for loyal party members of course), the housing and works programs and impressive social motivations to join the Nazi party always reflected Hitler's genius side (not the other side of his personality that wrought great suffering and evil). How insightful he was regarding human nature though - how else could he have enticed so many to join his crusade.

In one part of your book I actually stopped reading and contemplated how beautiful the writing is - how descriptive and wonderful the wording; when you described the morning of your departure and the breathtaking surroundings you were so familiar with that I truly felt the natural wonder - and the love you had for your home.

Thank you again for letting me share in your story. I will be recommending this book to my friends!!

Ms. Woodstrom's first publication will help you understand the reason so many Germans viewed Hitler and his promises the way they did before and during WWII. This book is a first hand account from the author, presented in her voice at the various stages of her life during this time. She tells of the day-to-day life of her family and community and captures the perceptions that people had about Hitler, the economy, the reasons for this war and the drastic changes in their lives. It's a real insight into the struggles and the challenges and yes, even the joyful times. "War Child" not only kept me reading far into the night, it also left me feeling like I want to know more...what happened to her family, her neighbors and her town after she left? I have a new appreciation for the freedom and abundance here in America. This book is suitable for all ages.

This book can change your life. It certainly changed mine. It is a journey into the clarity and perfectness of the purity of faith, the purity of Being - THAT which is beyond all faith and culture, yet captured in simple terms in a Christian context. If you are a true seeker after truth or a true finder of the truth you will treasure this book. Well done Tony D'Souza - please give us another one as good as this.

I come to recognize publishers that publish books interesting to me, specifically with titles of spiritual and religious topics. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company of Michigan, USA and Cambridge, United Kingdom is one such publisher. A friend loaned me the book titled, "The Way of Jesus," I am happy to recommend this anonymous work after reading it. I admit I may have found myself overlooking the title if it had not been brought to my attention. This is a book helpful in knowing Christ and living the Christian life.

The book was originally discovered in Germany in 1516 under the title "Theologia Germanica," published by Martin Luther. A contemporary style helps with understanding the work, it was translated into the contemporary English by Tony D'Souza, who lives in London, England. The writing contains a certain charm without being difficult to the 21st Century American reader; hence the editing is successful if only containing a whiff of plainness and kind of simplicity. This may be to its credit, after reading the entire book and looking back on it.

You guess this is a mystical work, probably, and you guess right. Written in short segments, one may read it on a daily basis finding time to reflect on each chapter. I read it straight through, so to speak, not reading it as a devotional, but as an instructive and illuminating work on Christ and my relationship and understanding of him in my life. Fortunately, I found this satisfying and illuminating.

The work is an illuminating book, 140 pages and introduces itself on the cover as, "a contemporary edition of a spiritual classic." Tony D'Souza is noted as "editor," by the way. Just to be clear on the matter and give proper credit to him.

From the start, the book offers evidence and instruction: "...[O]ur knowledge of God should become so perfect that we see that none of our gifts or will, love or good works come from ourselves but that they all come from God, from whom all good proceeds." Perhaps you as reader of this review say, "How obvious." But I recall a situation where I confused my own sense of smallness before God instead of his largeness; instead my posture required an attitude of humility that accepts and acknowledges His goodness and greatness. This is not so large an error, or far from a way to humility, yet to get on a better path to the Way of Jesus this book is helpful in sorting out relationship and truths. There is discernment on its pages.

Again, in the same line, as the author says early in the book, "...[I]t is better that God should be loved, praised, and honored even if we vainly imagine that we love or praise God. This is preferable to God being left unloved, unpraised, and unhonored, because when the vain imagination turns into understanding of truth, then claiming anything for our own will fall away naturally...'Poor fool that I was, I imagined it was me, but all the time it was God.'" Simple, yes, but clarifying and also helpful in bringing the reader to an insight to Christ's significant and special relationship with mankind (womankind, too, of course.)

It is by degrees and example, by various dictums the writer lets us know something of perspective: "Four Things Are Necessary Before a Person Can Receive Divine Truth and Become Possessed by the Spirit of God."

Possessed by the spirit of God? I ask, and I wonder. This statement about divine truth is novel to my ears, as are discussions of evil personified by the Devil. Yet as a reviewer I urge you to buy the book to read on and persevere; the reader will find this endeavor of a book both entertaining and also written so that its certain realities are recognizable in our century. Reading a classic work does take some leaps and jumps, especially when written almost 500 years ago.

Christ says blessed are the poor. He means material poverty, and that is common knowledge. But he also says, blessed are the poor in spirit, and the author who is imparting "knowledge," or a way of knowing, ends a chapter with the promise of his teachings: "Out of this grows that poverty of spirit of which Christ said..." One gets the firm intention of learning something about spiritual poverty by this work, and thereby a humility. To this end, the chapter headings are like aphorisms, such as the chapter just noted: "There is a Deep and True Humility and Poverty of Spirit in a Person Who Shares in the Divinity of God." I thought these a kind of Zen Koan. But slightly so. More a puzzle made statement than an exercise in special construction. Yet the book is that, too, in its own way.

There you have a sense of the way mystery is constructed by the modern edition, I guess the modern language is true to the original since a noteworthy publisher publishes the book. Here is another "aphorism", clearer and less puzzling, but a puzzle: "What Sin Is, and How We Must Not Claim Any Good thing for Ourselves, because All Good Belongs to the True Good Alone."

I was glad to find this book title available through Amazon.com, for I tried searching on it (the title), but could not find the book. I tried a search on the editor, Tony D'Souza, and found the book on Amazon.com. This particular copy, which was loaned to me, was purchased at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, California (USA) where my friend said she found it by browsing.

I am happy she thought it suited my interests and tastes, and also that I would appreciate something that takes a desire for a special religious flavor of instruction. My Deacon friend practices contemplation in the morning, and knowing my own interest in contemplative prayer is correct in her recognition that contemplatives will find the book, "The Way of Jesus," helpful in living a Christian life. That is a lot to say about a book, but I am sure if you've gotten this far in this review, you have an interest that will make this a work beneficial to your own life, contemplative in leaning or not. This is also a book for the active life in Christ, for it clarifies and instructs on understanding this historic person and God. A helpful book in living a Christian life.

--Peter Menkin, Pentecost 2007

Compiled and edited by London-based writer and special teacher Tony D'Souza, The Way Of Jesus is a modernized rendition of an anonymous, mystical masterpiece that has been a cherished devotional text for nearly five centuries, since its discovery in 1516 in a monastic library in Germany. First published under the title of "Theologia Germanica" by Martin Luther, the text has been rendered into plain terms for the lay reader, and flows with a clear message that transcends eras. A highly recommended classic of worship, whether for stand-alone reading or as a companion volume to more archaically literal transcriptions of Theologia Germanica.

Martin Luther discovered and published this 14th century handbook in 1518, naming it "Theologia Germanica," and calling it the third most influential written work in his life, after the Bible and the writings of St. Augustine. Mr. D'Souza's contribution is to render it in up-to-date, accessible English, for which the modern reader on the contemplative path will be grateful. This is an important work. Clearly the anonymous German priest/author was aware of the teachings of Meister Eckhardt, the Dominican friar whose compelling writings were condemned after his death in around 1328; he knew the work of other 13th and 14th century mystics, and was familiar with the tensions between Church authorities and practitioners of Christian mysticism and contemplation. He frequently warns the reader that it is easy to fall into error on the contemplative journey, and identifies errors, showing how they may be corrected.

Why is The Way of Jesus important to us 650 years after it was written? It seems to be an original, authentic voice from the apophatic (via negativa) tradition, of which we have far too few. It explains clearly and concisely in simple language and imagery what the contemplative journey is and what its purpose, and invites the reader to consider the deepest of life's questions and answers in the company of an articulate, accomplished master.

The American desire for roots compels thousands of families to travel to the lands of their ancestors-poring through records, paying homage at cemeteries, visiting birth sites and churches, finding their history.

In "The Wayfarers," Californian Nathan Friedman travels to Romania culminating two years of extensive genealogical research, wanting to know more about his deceased father Sholem's life before he immigrated to America. After devoting countless hours to tracing his father's path, Nathan journeys with his son and grandson to Romania to visit his father's village, Birlad. He desires to see the synagogue and learn all that he can about Sholem and his ensuing march across Europe with the Birlad Fusgeyers.

In Romania, Nathan connects with Rabbi Nachman who tells the compelling story about the young Jews who left Birlad in 1904 seeking a better life. Tired of boycotts, poverty, pogroms and other persecution, Sholem joined one of the Fusgeyer contingents that marched across Europe. The recounting of their experiences reveals the prejudice against the Jews and other "undesirables" during the years leading up to World War I.

Readers will be transported to another era as the wayfarers prepare for and depart on their four-month trek. The Fusgeyers travel over Prislop Pass enduring the climatic and physical challenges. They absorb the history and sights of Budapest, Vienna and Prague. They encounter the dangers of conscription into forced labor, hostility of soldiers, and the foreboding atmosphere of Berlin. Once they reach Bremerhaven and complete their quarantine, the Fusgeyer band boards their ship and sail for America.

Although the book features an intimidating cast of characters and many Yiddish words to decipher, "The Wayfarers" should evoke an emotional response. Nathan and his family are deeply moved by what they learn about Sholem and the Fusgeyers. Their courage in the face of hardships, their sense of adventure and joy, evoke awe in Sholem's descendants. These same things should stir a similar response in most readers. Jew or Gentile, many of us descend from ancestors who came to America seeking a better life for themselves and their progeny.

Between 1881 and 1914, about 50, 000 Jews left Eastern Europe and the Settlement of the Pale in Russia for America. Most emigrants from Russia or Poland traveled by train to their embarking sea ports; however, in eastern Romania trains were either unaffordable or less accessible. As a result, there arose groups of individuals known as Fusgeyers (Yiddish for "they who go by foot") who literally walked across hundreds of miles through Europe to catch ships to America.

In his book The Wayfarers, Stuart F. Tower has written a compelling fictional tale based on this significant event of one such group that marched out of Birlad Romania in April 1904. Their journey led them across Hungary, Austria, Moravia, and Bohemia ending four months later at the German sea port of Bremerhaven where they sailed on the Cincinnatus to New York.

Tower frames his tale around a Californian, Nathan Friedman, who travels to Birlad with his son Herb and grandson Rico in search of his roots. It is in Birlad where he meets with Rabbi Yossi Nachman, who is the son of a rabbi who lived in the village in 1904, where Nathan Friedman's father last lived before emigrating to America. Friedman hopes and prays that the elder Birlader Rabbi passed onto his son Yossi information, oral or written, pertaining to the legacy of the Fusgeyers.

Tower's narrative performs a feat deserving top applause in remembering these courageous poor souls who encountered relentless anti-Semitism as they crossed hostile countries while flying the unpopular Star of David flag. Tower vividly captures the group's instinct for resistance and defiance, as well as taking on risks without concern for the odds or consequences. Their survival no doubt can be attributed to their instinct of self-preservation; however, as the story of the Fusgeyers unfolds we notice that it was their innate zeal to test their limits that led to their survival. It was also their organizational skills and self-discipline that kept their spirits in high gear most of the time, notwithstanding the many unpleasant encounters they endured along the way.

Committees were set up to take care of food, entertainment, health matters, fund raising, and there were individuals in charge of map reading, defense, English education, keeping time and recording of events. It should be pointed out that although the group did carry firearms, they generally chose to fight oppression by employing more restrained means and diplomacy.

Tower cleverly creates a matrix of meaning-connecting the facts that he uncovered in his five years researching the topic of the Fusgeyers with the history of the era.

Much of the material that Tower weaves into his tale is intriguing, particularly the hostility and xenophobia that was very prevalent at the time. Tower also supplies, when necessary, historical background and introductions to important figures as Theodore Herzl, Franz Kafka, William Frederick Cody (Buffalo Bill), Max Nordau and others.

The Wayfarers is not a collection of pieces cobbled together or an almanac of loosely related information. It is rather a sequence of carefully arranged chapters each completing the last and leading the reader to the next that are connected by smooth transitions. Tower crafts his narrative with an admirable fluidity with dialogue that is realistically shaped. He even throws in a fair number of Yiddish words and for those who are not conversant in the language, there is a brief glossary at the end of the book.

I have been informed that there is a movie in the works and I look forward to seeing the movie as well as reading more from Stuart F. Tower.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

The Wayfarers is a captivating tale of the 'Fusgeyers'' remarkable trek from their native Romania to America. The story combines historical fact with fiction to bring the reader a vivid description of what the journey must have been like for the courageous individuals who were brave enough to seek a better life. I strongly recommend this book.

This heart-wrenching story is event-filled, exciting, historically accurate. From an attention-grabbing opening, through page after page, it holds you to the final paragraph. Author Stu Tower has taken it up a level with this, his third title: It's his best to date, is highly recommended! [Robert Stein, with six editions in print, including VENGEANCE EQUATION, and BLACK SAMARITAN.]

This was a good deal at the time, and by shipping it with more priority, was able to obtain it in the amount of time I needed.

Until I read this book I never realized there were British (and American) women who had married Germans prior to the outbreak of WWII and actually lived in that "enemy" country while we were at war with them. The author suffered along with the German cicil population as the allies methodically bombarded Nazi Germany into submission. The constant fear of daily aerial bombings,hunger, and the fear of the Gestapo make this an epic story of survival.Better than fiction!

Victor Klemperer's "I Will Bear Witness". Christabel informs and entertains us, her writing is engaging and a world beyond the simple "diary entry" accounts. She is very perceptive, and her impressions from inside Nazi Germany, as a non-German, help us to better understand the people who brought Nazism to the world. Her writing style puts you right there in the minds and hearts of simple villagers, Nazi officials and those opposed to them. It also brings us a fresh perspective, one perhaps not encountered in other books on the subject. I have read numerous books, diaries and accounts of life in Nazi Germany (and Europe in general) and can highly recommend this one.

Fascinating account of life in Nazi Germany as told by an Englishwoman who had married a German aristocrat in 1934. Not as profound as Victor Klemperer's "I Will Bear Witness" but still one of the best of its genre. I liked it even more than Iris Origo's "War in Val D'Orcia" which I also highly recommend.

Bielenberg writes beautifully, and although the narrative can be a little confusing at times, certain passages of "When I was a German" read to me like bits of "found poetry." Unfortunately a few typographical errors mar this edition; an historical document this important deserves better.

There was a British television series produced in 1988 based on this book, called "Christabel" and shown in the United States on Masterpiece Theater. Bielenberg also testifies in various episodes of the "World at War" television series, which I am now looking forward to seeing again.

A true account of Vitus Bering's voyage from Russia to discover what is now Alaska. Anyone interested in the history of Alaska should start by reading this book, or someone looking for an actual true life adventure story that makes one appreciate the dangers encounted in the 1700's by these amazing explorers. This book is written from the journals of Georg Stellar, the naturalist on-board the boat that discovered Alaska. The first written account and identification of many species that Stellar discovered and writes about in his journals. One of which is extinct today and his writings are the only account of the massive Stellar Sea Cow. A fabulous account of these adventurors and their interaction with the beautiful, but deadly, Alaska coast and it's native people.

Great historical read of the Russian Bering/Stellar voyage to Alaska. Corey Ford's writing is vivid, flowing, has first hand knowledge of the Bering Sea islands, gifted nature writer. I've given this book as a must read to several friends.

This was a terrific story about the quest to find what is now Alaska. It gives insight into just how courageous these early exployers were. I can't comprehend of enduring those sort of hardships. Ford is also a good biologist and gives interesting commentary on the animal life. He also describes what may have been the first observation of a diving reflex in a marine mammal, the now extinct Northern sea cow. If you read this, it would be hard to complain about our current quality of life.

Excellent story of the discovery of Alaska by the famous explorer,Vitus Bering and naturalist, Georg Steller. Combines text from Steller's extensive notes and observations of the author.

Quite simply one of the greatest historical biographies you can find, and a source of marvelous insights into the Wagner family, the Fuehrer, the great composer himself, and of course Winifred Wagner. I came away with a far deeper understanding of this woman who, unfortunately, was never able to comprehend that the charming man who brought toys for her children and made Bayreuth a national shrine was in truth a demon. And yet despite that, you cannot read this book without feeling a deep sense of sympathy and admiration for this woman, who courageously saved the lives of many Jews and Communists, whom she naively believed were being persecuted by local thugs without the knowledge of her dear friend Hitler. Naive, at times stupid perhaps, but a great woman with an amazingly big heart, a girl brought up in a cruel orphanage in England to become the dowager empress of Bayreuth - an amazing story told with grace, thoroughness and objectivity. Absolutely a must read.

The subtitle of this book is important - A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth - for Winifred Wagner's institutionalised childhood, her youth with the ageing hippie Klindworth couple and the early years of her marriage to Siegfried are all raced through in around 50 pages (out of 500). Another mere 50 cover the 30 odd years after her de-nazification hearings and the takeover of the Bayreuth Festival by her two sons. The main bulk of this book concerns itself with the 25 years of her relationship with Hitler (and his with the Wagner family and the Festival) and its immediate aftermath.

That said, Brigitte Hamann provides a fascinating and eminently readable account of that relationship. Her attitude towards her subject seems to change as the book progresses. Initially she presents Winifred as a fervently (German) Nationalist, anti-Semitic character, much influenced by the writing and the presence around Wahnfried of her brother-in-law, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, even before she met and fell under the spell of Onkel Wolfi, as the family referred to Hitler. (Incidentally, Chamberlain was also English by birth but, like Winifred, became more German than the Germans.) The older Winifred is a rather different person as portrayed here. Throughout the war, as evidenced by many of the testaments taken from her de-nazification hearings, Winifred became some kind of Schindleresque saint, saving everyone she could from the clutches of her top Nazi friends - friends, acquaintances, friends of friends, people she didn't know at all, jews, gentiles, the lot. One suspects that all this is coloured by Winifred's own practical need for self-justification at those hearings and should be taken with a slightly larger pinch of salt than Hamann seems prepared to. One can accept that there was a certain naivety to Winifred that wouldn't allow her to accept either what was happening to these people or that her beloved Fuhrer had any knowledge of what was being done in his name. But her continued and oft-expressed loyalty to both Hitler and the principles of National Socialism throughout her later life would suggest that her opinions had not changed gthat much since her youth.

What comes clearly out of Hamann's narrative is a Hitler who found in the Wagner family and its mistress a privacy, a domesticity and a family life he so obviously needed and lacked elsewhere. Hamann remains remarkably tacit on whether the Adolf/Winifred relationship was ever consummated. One suspects not. What does come as a surprise, though, is how early in the War the relationship between them broke down. After all those secret midnight trysts in the 30's, it comes as a shock to realise that they didn't meet at all during the last four years of the War and that correspondence between them became more and more infrequent and formal.

Most of the other members of the Wagner family and many around the periphery come out of this book pretty badly. It seems as though there's something in the genes that drives Wagners to the bloodiest and most internecine of family wars. What is currently going on around the succession to possession of the Green Hill and all that goes with it appears to be little more than a re-run of what occurred towards the end of the war with the previous generation. Wieland emerges particularly badly. A spoiled kid determined to get his way and inclined to smash things if he didn't, he played the most political of games in securing the Festival for himself, conducting vicious and potentially lethal campaigns against the likes of Tietjen, Preetorius and even his own mother. And he was certainly the most duplicitous of all of them about his relationship with AH and the party. It transpires that he was actually second-in-command of a local concentration camp in the latter days of the War - something he would never admit to in later life. Wolfgang remains a much shadowier figure - perhaps because he was necessary to the writer for allowing access to the family archives, albeit still severely restricted and censored. Even Furtwangler turns out not have been quite the Parsifalian simpleton, devoted only to his art, that he and his supporters made him out to be after the Fall of Berlin. In fact, both before and after the War he was a dedicated schemer, determined to get the better of Toscanini, Tietjen and later the one he called the `K man', von Karajan, by whatever means it took.

So this book provides a good sprinkling of gossip as well as a fair amount of new material and information about a crucial and shaming period in Bayreuth's history, all meticulously researched and referenced. It also does us the service, like the film Downfall, of showing Hitler as a human being with human foibles and human insecurities rather than just as a mythical ogre - and that is what is so much more frightening.

One of the most interesting books of the many that have been written about Nazi Germany. The book explains the motivation behind the seeming adoration of Hitler by the Wagner family. Having read Friedelind Wagner's book "Heritage of Fire" , it was very interesting to get a more objective account of those years in Bayreuth. The book can be read on several different perspectives and is carefully document. this is a "saver"

This biography is for those with a deep interest in classical music history, Hitler and the Third Reich. For those who have the particular interest, this book repays close reading. I must personally thank the author, Brigitte Hamann, for the enormous research project she undertook to bring Winifred Wagner to 21st century readers, and to history. Hamann has meticulously read correspondence, archives, newspapers and conducted personal interviews with those still living. And unlike so many researchers, she brought her story to life in readable language. This is a jam-packed history, brimming with event, and I read almost every word with intense interest. Winifred Wagner's purpose in life was the Richard Wagner festival in Bayreuth, and as head of the festival she maintained a close friendship with Hitler, who was her chief sponsor from 1933 to 1944. The source of this partnership was the so-called "spiritual" relationship between the German nationalist ethos of Wagnerism and the theoretical underpinnings of Nazi Germany. Winifred Wagner was a hyper-nationalist and ardent Hitler supporter since the Munich putsch of 1923, she was a strong anti-Semite as her many letters attest; and yet she extended herself for individuals, especially Jews, many of whom she personally helped and who survived Nazi Germany because of her intervention with Hitler on their behalf. This is fully documented in the book. After the war, unlike most Nazis who hastened to obliterate their past, Winifred Wagner was proud of her friendship with Hitler and made no apologies; never did she try to whitewash her history. She was a remarkable, deeply deluded woman, who ran the Bayreuth festival and headed the Wagner family for many years. Her logistical abilities could easily have been put to deadly use in World War II - luckily, she was buried in Bayreuth where she could do the Allies no military harm! There is no doubt that Bayreuth today is implicated and besmirched by its close Nazi ties. This biography is a brilliant accomplishment. Only toward the end does the story begin to flag as Winifred's life winds down in a series of futile family quarrels. But til then it is a fascinating history. Do read it!

Possum was General Haywood Hansell; Eagle, General Curtis LeMay.

Ralph Nutter was a student at Harvard Law when Pearl Harbour occurred. A few weeks later he was in the Army Air Corp headed to navigator school. (A few years later he was the only survivor of his 22 fellow graduates.) A few months later and he was in England as a navigator on a B-17. In an incident where he knew where they were and none of the others did, Eagle made him the lead navigator of the group.

As the European was was winding down, he was transferred to the Pacific and B-29's. Again he was made lead navigator. Eventually LeMay was sent to the Pacific and Nutter returned to work with him.

This book is both a story of the war, and a story of leadership in war time. His insights on LeMay are enlightening and impressed me. LeMay's general reputation is a lot lower than that held by Mr. Nutter.

Although we had to wait until after General LeMay's death, we finally find within "With the Possum and the Eagle" the real story of the leadership of General Curtis LeMay. If you're interested in the history of World War II and the significant role aviation had in both the European and Pacific campaigns, Ralph Nutter's account is difficult to put down. Nutter's close proximity to senior aviation leadership during the war gives the reader a rare glimpse into what those wartime leaders faced and the decisions they had to make vis-a-vis both logistical and environmental constraints to operations. A superb account.

Ralph Nutter writes with extraordinary candor and clarity about a period in our history when he and others of his generation faced terrible odds in the struggle to save the world from Fascism. His account is as compelling as it is straightforward and unvarnished. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the true meaning of courage under fire.

Reads like a good, fast paced novel. Exciting, building chronicle of the air war over Europe and the Pacific.

Explains with starteling clarity the cockpit horrors that left no alternatives to the area bombing of Dresden and Tokyo. Makes it very clear that the A-Bombs were redundant and unnecessary.

A terribly real sense of our "losing years" and the desperate process of a war of attrition. The author, being one of only two survivors of his navigator's class of 22, lets us glimpse the terror and the heroism of an air war where victory would finally go to the combatant who had more young men to "expend"...