Germany Books

I read this book with intensity, and believe me I don't read very much. I never understood the complexity or the intensity of WWII until I read this book.
I am a navy sailor and I have spent most of my time not realizing what that ment. I read this book after 9/11 and it helped me understand the sevarity of war and how tragic it is.
And even though it might be thought that I have a biased opinion towards my father's book, this is one that you will not put down!

Some books of this type are tedious and rehash the same stories of an awful time in our recent history. I began this reading with reservations, but immediately found it not only an easy read but a page turner. Being written in the first person gives life and excitement to what could have been just another story. This book puts you there. You feel their anxiety. You experience their near hopelessness and rejoice in their triumph. This is a must read for anyone.

David's story starts on the day the German army attacked Poland at the beginning of World War II. It chronicles one man's struggle to save his family from the Nazis and the heroic efforts he made to save hundreds of other people in the process. David never stopped believing in life and he never stopped believing in God. Through every twist and turn first, while hiding from the Nazis then in the Warsaw Ghetto and finally in Bergen Belsen his quick thinking kept his family safe.

You will not put this book down until David's final liberation. This book is a tribute to his zest for life. Through all the death and destruction David never lost his faith.

David Gilbert is a true hero. His story makes personal what now seems so far removed. It should be read by all those who want to learn from the inhumanity of the Nazi era. This book should be required high school reading. David's story is about life and one man's triumph over incredible odds.

The glorious work of Leni Riefenstahl (admit it: love her or hate her, she is incredibly gifted as a photographic artist!!) is shown off on the printed pages of this impressive edition. Fans of her films will love it...sports fans will love it...anyone impressed by the beauty of the human form will love it. You must fall into at least one of those categories, eh? A treasure for your library!

I read "Olympia", so to speak, with greatest pleasure--for this is really a picture-book of the most exquisite kind and, like the best of them, one that can be enjoyed by adults as well as children. It is made of stills from the film "Olympia" directed by the German woman Helene (Leni) Riefenstahl, which is of course about the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. As well as being a filmaker, Leni was a dancer, mountaineer, skier, and actress, all of which gave her a great understanding of the primary subject-matter shown in "Olympia"--the art of the moving human body. Though this artist has been much slandered by many a critic, her film is a festival of beauty and nations, lauding the aesthetics, athletics, and daring of mankind no matter the race, religion, or creed. I have seen the film, and can attest that this book gives a fine and thorough overview thereof, doing justice not only to one of the finest films ever made, but also to art, life, and humanity

In the 1937 preface to the first edition of this book, Leni Riefenstahl remarked 'it is the timeless document of a great idea -- a hymn to beauty and competetive endeavour.' Sixty-five years later, the graceful images of athletes competing in the 1936 Berlin games has more than withstood the test of time and validated Riefenstahl's original estimation of this work's ground-breaking importance, not only as a document, but as an exercise in the aesthetics of the idealised beauty of the human body in movement.

Leni Riefenstahl was something of a Renaissance woman: Photographer, motion picture director, editor, dancer, skier, and all-around athlete, no one could have been a better match for documenting the 1936 Olympics on film, from which stills were culled to create this volume. True to the spirit of Ancient Greece, it is fitting that it was captured on silver nitrate by this gifted cinematographer christened Helene (her birth name, for which 'Leni' is a German nickname).

Actually, the term 'stills' does injustice to the photographs contained with -- so alive are they, capturing the essence of athleticism and motive power.

The beginning of the book is devoted to Ancient Greece, and documenting the ruins which monumentalise her greatness: The Parthenon, Myron's discus thrower, the gods, such as Apollo and Achilles. Riefenstahl has brought many of the famous statues of athletes alive, as she photographs naked men and women engaged in the ancient sports, such as the javelin throw, the shot put, eurythmics, dance and the discus throw. Her athletes epitomise the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of the male and female bodies.

Another striking sequence is of the young Greek torch bearer, who ignites the torch at Athens and delivers it on his long route through Thermopaylae, the Grecian shore, Delphi and Corinth. The poise and determination in the runner's body and eyes convey the Olympic spirit with the same glowing certitude as the eternal flame, which the runner holds aloft like a beacon in the night.

Once in Berlin, the bulk of this volume is dedicated to the athletes themselves. Leni's cameramen captured all the events, and some of the images are just astounding for their sense of motion and eloquent simplicity of composition. Among my favourites are: p. 60, the Flame from Greece, which shows a German youth standing before the crowd of athletes, holding the flame erect before lighting the stadium torch; p.62, Start of the 80 meter hurdles, as seen from the timekeeper's point-of-view, the lines demarcating the oval track's lanes sweep into a bird's eye view of the pensive hurdlers as they await the starter's gun; p. 68, Jesse Owens in the starting blocks, the great athlete is the very embodiment of concentration; pp. 98, 99, German Gisela Mauermayer, discus thrower, shows the female athlete in motion, and in joyous release on her way to the gold medal; p. 137, shadows of marathon runners, which convey the fleeting rush of the events; p. 247, finale, which shows the Berlin Olympicstadion encircled by pillars of searchlights just before the flame is extinguished.

'Olympia' is, to me, the greatest expression of graceful motion ever captured by a photographer. A tone poem for camera, these images better convey the concept of motion than 99% of the movies today, which are motion pictures in name only.

This is a very inspirational book of faith in action. Maria the mother is so concerned for her 4 children and husband as WWII breaks out in Germany. The family are Christian and they are against the NAZI party views. They continue to resisit joining even though it would make like easier as in more food etc.

This is a family who pray together each day and believe that God indeed hears and answers their prayers. Her worst fears start to come true as her husband is called to duty to serve the "Fatherland". With much prayer he is thankfully assigned to the Red Cross Hospital in their own town and he drives an ambulance. Much safer than a front line assignment.

Their oldest son Reinhold is drafted at the age of 17 and sent to training. He is then immediately sent to the infantry. He had at times during his life adopted some NAZI views as he and his brother Kurt were required to attend Hitler Youth. Things change along the way which I will not tell you all the details.

This family lives thru almost total destruction of the town. There are injuries along the way but God was faithful to protect them during the entire war.

The story is told by Helmut the youngest boy. His sister Ruth brother Kurt helped fill in the places and events before his birth.

I highly recommend this book. Although it takes place at one of the worst times in history it leaves you with a deeper faith and trust in God.

This vivid story of life in Germany during the worst part of its history is told by one who lived through it. Memories of that awful period in human history are fading fast as those who experienced it are dying. This page in human history should not be forgotten. The book is especially timely in the light of the war in Iraq. This is not a story of battles but of the day-to-day life of a Christian family during the time when Hitler and his minions ruled Germany. The Ziefle family held fast to their Christian faith in the face of danger and ridicule. The book recounts their walk of faith day by day. They suffered both physically and emotionally, especially during the five years Reinhold, the eldest son, was a prisoner of war despised for being part of Hitler's army. It is a reminder of how to live one's faith in the midst of opposition and threats. Sharing this family's experience is helpful in thinking about what is going on and will go on in Iraq as the people there learn to live with the effects of war.
Georg and Maria Ziefle had four children, Reinhold. Kurt, Ruth, and Helmut.
Both Reinhold and Kurt served in the German army. Ruth under took many daring adventures to care for the family and its needs. Georg was not forced into the army because of his work for the Red Cross and the fact that he was disabled from World War I. Maria and she narrowly escaped being forced into service of the German war machine. Their faith was tested many times but they all survived the war and lived productive lives after the war. Helmut, who wrote the account from his memories and with the help of his siblings, spent many years as a professor at Wheaton College.

This is a timely book for today. Maria Ziefle was a strong Christian woman, and was very concerned about the Nazi influence on her family. As they dealt with the Hitler Youth, Nazi neighbors, the draft, horrors of war, pressures from "the Party", the heartache of seeing so much wickedness, and so much more, Maria prayed that their family would remain alive and faithful to God.

Today in America we do not live with the horrors the Ziefle family faced. But as our culture becomes more Godless, our children can innocently be drawn into it, just as Kurt was attracted to the Hitler Youth. Parents must be vigilant in prayer and in teaching their children what is good and right and honoring to God. This woman's story will be an encouragement for many parents. Especially as the book was written by her son.

Everything was not ideal in the Ziefle family. Georg was not the family's spiritual leader; his wife was. Everyone may not agree with certain stands they chose to make, but ideal families exist only in fiction, and to agree with everything in a book, we must write it ourselves.

Many photographs are included throughout the book of the people and places described. The story unfolds in an easy way, although the events make for less than easy thoughts as we comfortably read about the Ziefle's struggles. The war is not the focus, but rather the experiences of a Christian German family who did not support the Nazis. Readers of all ages will enjoy this biography, but parents in particular will be blessed by the account of a woman who fought for her family.

Luigi Albertini's magnificent history of the origins of World War I ought to be required reading for anyone wishing to debate this fascinating subject intelligently. Enigma (whoever they are) has performed a stellar service in publishing a paperback edition this year. Used copies were going for over $1000.

The three volumes are each over 700 pages, but make for riveting reading. The question of the responsibility for the outbreak of this disastrous war is probably the greatest whodunit in European history. I don't think I'm giving anything away to say that two and a half decades before Fritz Fischer, Albertini fingered the Germans. His evidence, in the end, is overwhelming. (Different responses by England and Russia could have altered the course of events in July, naturally.)

Albertini was an influential Italian newspaper editor and senator until ousted by Mussolini. He observed events in 1914 as a political insider, knew many of the protagonists, and was able to interview a number of them after the war. He had another advantage: by the time he completed the book, the diplomatic papers of each of the combatants had been published in their entirety, the memoirs had been written, the charges and counter-charges issued and disputed, etc. There is naturally more coverage of the Italian role in the crisis than in other studies, but the book is so well written (in Isabella Massey's splendid translation) that even readers not interested in Italy's response to its allies' machinations are likely to find these chapters engrossing.

The re-publication of this book is especially valuable because of the curious persistence of revisionist myths from the 1920s. The idea of collective guilt--that the nations of Europe "slithered into war," in Lloyd George's phrase--is not only attractive to ideologues on both the Left and Right, for various reasons, but continues to appeal to people wishing to think of themselves as compassionate and non-judgmental. Unfortunately, it was not abstractions like imperialism, militarism, nationalism, capitalism, or "secret diplomacy" that were responsible for the conflict, but the decisions of a few individuals in Germany who either wished to wage a preventative war or were willing to risk war to achieve a diplomatic coup.

Albertini does not spare the other parties to the conflict, however. He exposes the incompetence, myopia, and malfeasance in all the European capitals deftly and pitilessly.

Grey, the British Foreign Secretary, and Bethmann Hollweg, the German Chancellor, are sometimes depicted as the tragic figures of the crisis. Albertini will have none of this; he is quite critical of each. Some of the more sympathetic characters are actually the German ambassadors to the Entente countries, particularly Lichnowski in London-humane and civilized men appalled at the instructions they were receiving from Berlin. One of the things the book does so well is to expose the rivalries and animosities within the governments of the countries involved in the crisis.

Though I've not yet had a chance to look at this edition, I'm sure Samuel Williamson's introduction is illuminating.

Like other WW I history buffs, I had long searched for Albertini's legendary work. Used copies of the three volume set I found on the net were both incomplete and too expensive. It was with great pleasure that I saw the Enigma Press reissuance of this work offered through the History Book Club for only $45.00. To my great disappointment, the newly released work was riddled with typographical errors of the most disconcerting kind: sentences running together for lack of periods; numbers inserted into words; incorrect spacing withing words and between words in sentences; incomprehensible symbols for times and dates. Every page of this work is riddled with incomprehensible errors. This new and updated version is also an example of false advertising since there is no new information or interpretation of Albertini's research or his own role during the war. Because my search for any usable copy of this book was so extensive and frustrating, I have decided to hold on to this wretched reissuance rather than use it to wrap dead fish.

This work has been out-of-print too long. It is THE work on the origins of WWI, and a must for the serious bookshelf. I first read this some years ago from the library, and have been searching for it since at reasonable cost -- and here it is.

It's long, it's detailed. But I know of no other book, and there are a number of admirable ones, that provides as complete a picture of this subject. Some examples. Frequently overlooked is the factor of Italy, it's drive for territory in N. Africa, and it's conflict w. Turkey over Greek islands immediately preceding WWI. From this we can see that much of this policy carried over into the inter-war era and was not entirely a creation of Mussolini. Albertini's long-running discussion of Austria's possible drive to the Black Sea, and it's attempts to block Serbia from the Adriatic through Montenegro are enlightening as a backdrop for conditions in the Balkans today. And the recent, and continuing, conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Serb relations with Montenegro and Albania are all pre-figured here beginning in the 19th century. And then there's the Sanjak of Novibazar -- too much to detail here.

There are few books I could as highly recommend.

One of the best Spielberger from the 'Motorbuchverlag'.
Many different vehicles with marvelous pictures!

One of the best buys for a very good source of data on the PzIV series.

Very detailed information. Very accurate information.

spielberger gives lots of specifications and technical information which includes pictures and details of individual components before,during and after assembly. if you are looking for books on german tank tactics there are better books. but if you are interested in pure tank specifications and the proccess used to determine which specs are kept and/or modified this book is for you. its very well put together, organized and absolutly wonderful.

Mais um excelente livro do autor (que já publicou outros títulos também sobre uniformes alemães) e que praticamente não apresenta nenhum defeito.

Este tipo de livro tem em comum com os títulos publicados pela antiga editora (e acho que já não existe mais) Windrow&Greene e que por sua vez pode se traçar também um paralelo com as publicações da editora francesa Histoire&Collections (a mesma que edita a revista Militaria).

O livro tem 128 páginas repletas de informações e fotos (são 250) de modelos contemporâneos vestindo as roupas dos soldados pertencentes às divisões blindaddas alemãs (panzer)da 2ª Guerra Mundial. Se por um lado não cobre todos os uniformes, mostra de forma profunda os uniformes disponíveis, além de disponibilizar também fotos da época (em preto e branco).

Imperdível para os colecionadores de equipamentos da 2ª Guerra Mundial além de modelistas, historiadores e entusiastas. E por falar em modelistas, a parte final do livro, onde são apresentados réplicas de blindados feitos na época é imperdível! Tais réplicas eram fabricadas na escala 1:20 e serviam (provavelmente) para o treinamento nos cursos de tanques e canhões anti-tanques.

Ecellent book on this subject - great photos and a great help for collectors. Another great book from this author.

Another fine effort from the author, following up upon his earlier works on Army uniforms, and Waffen SS uniforms & insignia. Large, clear photos, with knowledgable text. A valuable addition to anyone's library on Wehrmacht uniforms, a subject that seems to draw from an unexhaustable well. Personally , I hope the author turns his attention to the Luftwaffe, a personal favorite of mine.

This is the true story of America's first espionage service the OSS. This book contains story of adenture and heroism. For anybody that likes adventure and spies this book is for you. ONe of the truely great spy books of the century

This is the amazing story the the O.S.S america's first true intelligence service. This is the dazaling story of the 200 O.S.S agents that risked their life and pierced the German 3rd reich. it will compell you with it's stories of heroism and danger. This is truly one of the greatest spy books ever written and if you don't read you miss a part of America's classic spy history.

This is a superb book on a little-told aspect of World War II espionage -- the infiltration of OSS spies into Nazi Germany, and their tales of survival (or capture) while trying to collect intelligence, and send it to the Allies, from inside one of the most repressive police states during wartime. This book is FULL of fascinating tales and insights, providing enough detail to be rich, but not enough to be stilted. The book reads like a good spy novel, except fiction is bounded by realm of the possible, and these are real people.
This book goes well beyond "this happened, and then that happened." The author explains the relevant history and structure of Nazi Germany, and examines the political and psychological pressures on the various countries, spy organizations, and on the agents themselves. Worker activists and communists were helpful to the Allies as spies during the war, but dumped soon afterward.
One tale is of "Cicero," the Albanian valet to the British ambassador to Ankara, who stole volumes of critical information from the ambassador's safe and sold it to the Germans, including the "Overlord" code name of the Normandy invasion. Even after being warned, the British allowed Cicero to stay in his position for months. Yet another twist happens as conflicts and jealousies within German intelligence led the Germans to discount the actual intelligence Cicero provided. And as the final twist, the £300,000 paid by the Germans to Cicero was all counterfeit money.
One of the most fascinating stories is how the Germans came to build their "last stand" National Redoubt in Austria. It started as a wholly mistaken OSS intelligence rumor -- the Germans had no such plan. But when the Germans intercepted the American radio report of such "German plans," the National Redoubt idea was sent to Hitler and implemented. A lot of our scarce espionage capabilities were misdirected to examining enemy plans in the "National Redoubt" area during the war. American troops at the end of the European war left Berlin to the Russians, and turned to Austria to vanquish the very same almost-empty "National Redoubt" chimera we'd created.
One helpful insight of the book was on the issue of whether the majority of ordinary Germans knew the purpose of the concentration camps. One capable spy, doing his best to make observations, with an anti-Nazi bias (both characteristics unlike most Germans), reported that the only information most Germans had of the purpose of the concentration camps came from what they may have heard from American propaganda, which they dismissed, because Allied anti-German propaganda in World War I had been so exaggerated. The majority of Germans, if they knew of the camps, assumed they were places of confinement and not extermination. This did not apply, of course, to the minority of Germans involved with the camps, and perhaps those living near the camps.
The author goes into the psychology of what makes a good spy, in a very paranoid "papers, please" regime, who is always pushing the envelope, always at the the risk of capture and torture and perhaps execution, but yet must survive in order to pass his/her information back to the Allies. What was the right type of man or woman to send into Nazi Germany with an important and delicate mission? (One description: "The ideal candidate was honest and devious, inconspicuous and audacious, quick and prudent, zealous and cool.") Should the OSS recruit ordinary captured German soldiers? Was it ethical to make promises to potential spies which couldn't be kept? How could the OSS tell who was telling the truth, and who had contrary motives -- or determine who had the character to perform well in extreme circumstances?
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in politics, history, or espionage.

I happen to be a kind of guy whose greatest turn-on is a nude portrait of a beautiful woman who is in a sensitive period, who is expecting, in a family way, in her pregnancy in late stages. When I first opened this volume and saw the cover of smiling preggy lady I just knew that I had finally come up with the photo book of my dream! And in color! Sensual, but with a lot of "class"! This is a photo anthology created by a cameraman Ralf Mohr who himself is a fanatic lover of pregnant figures. Absolutely a great job my dear Ralf, I really admire your works. Next time perhaps, please do include shots of their most intimate female anatomy and with some ropeworks added to spice up the scenes even more!

An absolutely beautiful piece of work. These women, and Mohr, have provided a wonderful gift in this book. Few things compare to the images of these women full of life. My only recommendation, more. More photos, more women from a broader spectrum of ethnic backgrounds.

So says one of the models, describing her own state.

This is a very different vision of a woman's beauty. Mohr has captured about twenty models in the later months of their pregnancies. It's a beautiful, joyous collection - these women all want to be photographed, want to be seen at their fullest. They want to be celebrated in that part of their life that is uniquely womanly. Most of them talk about how their curves are loved within their families, and are generous enough to let the viewer love them too, just a little.

These are very strong people, as Martina and especially Katrin show. They have friends or lovers, as Andrea shows. Their figures are elegant, as Andrea, Anke, Cara, and Sarah show. They are more than just bellies, as Kolja shows, they people first with other lives. But they are women, too, sometimes more womanly because of their grand figures and because of all the other changes in their bodies.

There are many collections dedicated to women's beauty. Very few of them describe the whole woman, in all the ways that she can be. The may skip early life, or later life, or giving life. Pregnancy may be the most important time of life, because every living person, even you, came from a pregnancy.

//wiredweird

"Prisoners Of Nazis" by Harry Spiller. Subtitled: "Accounts Bt American POWs In World War II". McFarland & company, Publishers, Jefferson, N.C. 1998.

This book has nineteen (19) different stories, told by individuals who had been captured and who served as Prisoners Of War (POWs) in the European Theater of Operations (ETO). The Editor, Harry Spiller, who has also written about American POWs in Viet Nam, has taken the 19 stories and grouped them according to time and place: the invasion of Italy, then the invasion of France, followed by the Battle of the Bulge. He has a section on the bombing raids over Germany and finally, the invasion of Germany, itself. There are only two officers among the 19 stories, with the other 17 POW ranks ranging from Private to Technical Sergeant. The stories are told in their own words, typically with a section devoted to how they were captured, how they were initially treated and then the German POW camp. Some of the narrators had to evacuate from the east: eastern Germany or from Poland, as the Red Army advanced towards Berlin. These individuals recount the tragedy of winter travel as they fled into Greater Germany.

Before each of the 19 stories, the Editor has included a short vignette, telling where the soldier came from, when he was inducted in the Army (or when he volunteered), the date he was captured and the date he was liberated. Where possible, the Editor has included a contemporary photo of the individual, or, perhaps, of the camp he was imprisoned in. It appears that the Editor did not change the writings of the POWs. So, for example, on page 67, you have an individual who was a POW from November 24, 1944 until March 27, 1945, stating that he returned to the Sates on June 1, 1945, spent sixty days at home, and was sent to Fort Riley, where he was discharged in March 1945. Clearly, he meant to write 1946. There are these minor little discrepancies here and there, which indicate that this book is truly a primary source: excellent for those studying the POW history of World War II.

Prisoners of Nazis. A very good book with interesting stories. Two valuable appendices are included, one listing the names and locations of the camps which contained Americans and the other describing the German Regulations Concerning Prisoners of War.

This well-crafted literary mosaic features 19 firsthand accounts by American soldiers and airmen. Author Spiller introduces each former POW's tale with a brief. italicized biographical sketch. When each ex-POW is brought front and center, the reader gets comprehensive glimpses of the war in both the European and Mediterranean theaters. The reader can purgatorial existence within 12 different stalags and two lazarets(hospitals) At this point each POW fights his toughest battle. Strangely enough, the more the Allies become victorious the worse conditions become in the camps. Eventually, the most-populated camps are hastily evacuated and the prisoners are herded across Europe in nonsensical forced marches during the worse winter in 20 years. Spiller has orchestrated 19 highly qualified voices into a symphony which celebrates the triumph of the human spirit.

I bought this book in the hopes that I would learn more about a significant, but rather unknown WW1 pilot, and I was not disappointed. Whiteside has left no stone unturned during his research, accessing military records, personal memoirs, and previously published material. I think it was nice that the author left a lot of the minute details for the endnotes, as this helped the story of the 'Black Knight' to flow more freely. It is amazing to read about some of the private matters concerning this ace, and from this we get a good idea about his character and self-determination. As the last reviewer stated, he may have been a Nazi member, but this association did little to harm his reputation as he is known today. In fact, Schleich's dealings with the Nazi party only enhances the intrigue of this book. One thing the reader gets from reading this book is that von Schleich was highly motivated, and he very much enjoyed a good challenge.

There is a rather large appendix, which concisely spells out his military assignments, aerial victories, awards, ect. I especially liked the photo section (over 40 pages!). I found the images to be very interesting, adding even more detail to this already comprehensive account. Probably the best part about the book was the way it was organized; the chapters are broken-down into easily digestible parts - complete with sub-headings to tell the reader what the section is about.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in WW1 aviation, or even to those who enjoy reading about people whose lives were full of intrigue and danger.

"Rampant Lion" is a fitting testament to an honorable man whose life, though little-known even to WW1 aviation enthusiasts, was filled with aerial victories, defeats, triumphs and tragedies. Known as the Black Knight, the career and personal life of Eduard Ritter von Schleich are vividly brought to life by Darren Whiteside in this entertaining book. A coveted "Blue Max" recipient, von Schleich epitomized the classic Flying Ace of the early days of combat aviation. A victor in 35 air battles and a Jasta leader, he was also a Lufthansa pioneer and key figure in the rise of the Luftwaffe -- his association with the Nazi Party may be distateful to some readers, but as Whiteside's narrative explains, the Black Knight's love of his country made him an obvious recruit for what he perceived as a chance to bring Germany out of the ashes and humiliation of the First World War. Great photos, most of which will be unfamiliar even to die-hard fans of WW1 aviation, add to the appeal of this excellent book.

The Rampant Lion, the life story and the adventures of Eduard Ritter von Schleich is an in depth look into one of Germany's top flying ace's of WWI and WW2. It is a well written biography and an easy read. This book tells the story of his humble beginnings as a child in a small town in Bavaria, and his love and dedication to country. He joined military as a young man. He developed a keen interest in flying, and soon his talents were recognized by his superiors. During the first world war, his talent's as a leader and a top gun fighter pilot were soon recognized. His trouble's and his determintation soon gained him the title of "The Black Knight". This book is a must read for all people who admire men of honor and determination.