Europe Books

Want to do a little time traveling with dinner? This book will take you back two thousand years. Ms. Giacosa starts with a few chapters of historical background, followed by the meat of the book - essentially Apicius for modern cooks.

The recipes are presented in a three-part form - first, the original Latin, then a literal translation of the original, then her adaptation and modernization. In some cases, she also describes a modern dish, usually from Italy, that may be related to the Roman version.

The originals normally don't give amounts or cooking instructions, so the modernized version is only one possible interpretation. (So, feel free to adjust them to your taste - the Romans probably would have.) As another reviewer pointed out, readers who are nervous about anything more exotic than cheeseburgers should stay away, but my family liked a lot of these reconstructions. Pork with apples, tuna with dates, asparagus patina (a patina is like a frittata, basically, though some of the patinas are more like quiche), carrots in cumin sauce... Some are complicated, but many are very simple - the best one I've tried so far is the sauce for tuna: Pepper, oregano, mint, onion, a bit of vinegar, and oil. This is DELICIOUS over cold broiled tuna steak.

Fun and fascinating!

I checked a copy of "A Taste of Ancient Rome" out from my university library to prepare a menu for a "real" toga party in 2003. The food was a huge hit with my friends - we had the stewed apricots, the roasted meat, the green beans with cumin and I can't even remember what all else.

It took me five years, but I liked the cookbook so much that I've finally purchased my own copy. I'm not a cookbook buyer in general, but I liked that this one had a balance of interesting history and recipes I could make.

I am in a historical re-creation group, but I don't generally do food/cooking research. I found it perfectly suitable to my needs, but can't speak to it from a serious researcher's point of view. It feels more like the result of a serious researcher's work. Which is to say: this isn't a primary source, and if you're used to working at that level, there may be details missing that you'd like to see.

But as someone who just wanted to cook a tasty Roman meal, I found this well worth the price.

From eggs to fruit, this book on Roman cooking gives us the recipes, in both Latin and English, updated to fit modern tastes and modern ingredients. Some spices and herbs, frankly, no longer exist, but the author does her best to select the best replacements. But she does not end there? No, she also gives us the history of dining in Rome. Her book gives us a lot about dining, trade and preparation. She really fills out the background behind the food.

This book seems to be a great way to gain an understanding of the cuisine of Old Rome. The first section is an introduction in which the reader has a lot of the peripheral detail explained as a preparation for getting into the recipes. I've just stayed with one or two of the simpler items for now but perhaps I shall present a feast fit for Lucullus in the not too distant future.

I bought "A Taste of Ancient Rome" more out of historical interest than out of any real desire to prepare foods in the Roman style. One day, though, I ended up being given six frozen mallard ducks, and one of the recipes in this book, Duck with Turnips, caught my eye. I tried it, and it was absolutely amazing. Since that day I've prepared over half of the recipes in this book, and I've found most of them to be delicious, easy to prepare, and economical.

One of the more enjoyable facets of international cooking is seeing how cooks from different cultures meld flavours in a way most of us in North America would never think of. The recipes in this book contain many combinations that would seem to us to be insane. Duck with turnips? Cream of wheat or spelt with a ham bone? Cantaloupe with garlic and pepper? Tuna steak with dates? These blends sounds very bizarre, but they all work, and work well.

The writer has included a few recipes which couldn't be prepared in our time (such as the recipe calling for parrot!) simply to show the decadence of first-century Rome. But what surprised me the most about the other recipes is how many of them are absolutely accessible to the modern chef. One reason for this is the fact that the ingredients unfamiliar to us can for the most part be easily substituted with ingredients we have on hand. Apparently, even some Romans (Pliny the Elder, for instance) hated garum and substituted salt, so it's not inauthentic for us to do so. Another reason is simply that we still eat many of the foods the Romans did. Although they didn't have pasta, tomatoes, potatoes, soy, corn, or any of the other foods borrowed from the Far East or the New World, they did have most of the meats, fruits, nuts, and vegetables we eat on a daily basis.

That said, this book is not for everybody. There seems to be a subset of North Americans who eat nothing but conventional, middle-of-the-road food and who have no interest in anything the least bit unusual or new. If you shop for all your groceries at Wal-Mart, if you turn down any food that isn't aggressively conservative as being weird, foreign, or disgusting, and if TGIFridays or Appleby's is your idea of a really good restaurant, you probably won't enjoy this book. However, if you are able to go beyond your food comfort level and especially if you're interested in how people ate 2,000 years ago, A Taste of Ancient Rome might be for you.

When Rose and Lila's parents go to Africa for a year, for their work as doctors, Rose(age 10) and Lila(age 8) must stay with their maternal grandmother, whom they hardly know. As they snoop through her house (Book 1), they soon discover that "Far Nana" has a few secrets worth knowing. "Far Nana" runs a doll hospital from her home and has the intuitive skill of listening to the stories of the dolls she repairs. She tells these stories to the girls in the first person, from the point of view of the doll. In these books, the reader is reading the ongoing story of Rose and Lila adjustments to living with their grandmother and the historical story of a doll, in a story-within-a-story format.

In "Tatiana Comes to America" the girls listen to a story about a doll who escaped Russia in 1907 during a time of violence against the Jewish people. Her family came to America to escape the persecution. Tatiana boards a ship for America with her girl, Anya. I enjoyed Tatiana's story because it was lively and and had some unexpected surprises by the end.

Overall, this book is an excellent introduction to the series and I would recommend reading it first if you are interested in this series. We see Rose and Lila say good-bye to their parents and watch them discover their grandmother's secret. The girls begin to find that there will be some good things about staying with "Far Nana", including the wonderful stories of the dolls!

The reading level on this book is for grade 3. I would not recommend it for readers under 6 years of age because the intertwining stories may be confusing. A paper doll is included with each book, which may be of interest to some readers.

At first, it didn't look that good, but after I started to read it, it got really, really good. I think my Mom would like this book too. (By Katrina, age 8.)

Rose and Lila are mad at their parents for making them stay with Far Nana. But Far Nana has a doll hospital...and a secret! She can hear doll's thoughts and stories!

Anya got Tatiana for her birthday. But when she and the Lolov family have to leave, she makes friends with Katia, a girl who's steerage. Anya is warned never to go down to the steerage place...or she could have her eye turned inside out with a buttonhook! Will Anya ever get to Uncle Elias's house now?

This book is exciting because it tells what really happened when the Jews were persecuted in Russia. I especially liked the part where the children snuck up to their grandmother's attic when they weren't allowed to.

My daughter and I loved these books. I thought it was right up there with American Doll books. Great story and great historical/educational infomation.

This is a collection of stories that make the days leading to the Normandy invasion come back to life. It is a good companion volume for the movies "Yanks" and "The Longest Day."

General Eisenhower relieved stress by hitting an imaginary golf ball in his office; General Montgomery named his two dogs Rommel and Hitler; Churchill's wife Clementine often sent him notes signed "Love from Clemmie" with a small drawing of a cat.

Several days before the troops sailed for France, security was intense. A British soldier who knew about the invasion sneaked out of his camp and hitchhiked to see his parents and girlfriend. Along the way he bought drinks and told several American soldiers details of the coming invasion.

When he was discovered missing, a quiet but intense manhunt covered the area. He was finally found and interrogated. The American base where he had stopped was cordoned off, and the people who gave him rides were found and volunteered to stay inside their homes for several days. Later the British soldier was sentenced to ten years in prison.

A British newspaper published daily crossword puzzles, and one contained the words "Utah," "mulberry," and "Omaha," all key words describing D-Day operations. Frantic British intelligence agents interrogated the author of the puzzle, a school teacher. Years after the war it was found that his students gave him suggestions for his crossword puzzles. Utah, mulberry, and Omaha were terms that they had heard by spending time with soldiers.

In spite of extraordinary security measures, there were other leaks. Three days before the invasion, a Teletype operator practiced typing the invasion news. By mistake the news went out worldwide and was read on hundreds of radio stations.

The British people knew when the invasion was at hand. They had become accustomed to seeing lines of jeeps, trucks, and trailers laden with backpacks and equipment along the roads. The olive drab uniforms and vehicles became as ubiquitous as the green of the spring countryside. Then overnight, the crowds of GIs that had milled through the towns disappeared. After months of hearing vehicles roaring through streets and voices of soldiers that filled the shops, the towns were strangely quiet.

On the night before the invasion, General Eisenhower and his driver, Kay Summersby, watched rows of C-47 transport planes roar into the sky from an airfield outside Newbury. The planes were heading for Normandy carrying airborne troops. As Eisenhower and Summersby walked back to the car to leave, she noticed tears in his eyes.

General Rommel was celebrating his wife's birthday in Germany when he heard news that the Allies had landed at Normandy. During the drive back to France, Rommel sat impatiently in the back of his speeding car punching a gloved fist into the open palm of the other gloved hand.

this is one fascinating book which I recommend to anyone interested in WWII. Its uniqueness resides in the way the author approaches D-Day, allowing the reader to get to know how those pre D Day days were lived by civilians, soldiers, secret agents and leaders of the great assault. Now I know what Churchill did , what was on Eisenhower's mind when he decided what he decided, what de Gaulle thought and how he acted, how the germans were fooled time and time again by allied intelligence, how important secret agents work was for the success of the invasion and it also accounts for the work of many unknown heroes. A great book, a great approach of D Day.

No doubt one of my favorite books of all time.
I got this book as a birthday present a year or two again, and kept on putting it off. I don't know why, I'm interested in the war, I just didn't start it for a while. But when I got into it I knew that I'd love it. It was researched down to... well, let's just say that if it's a minute detail that happened back then, it's in the book. And you can prove it by looking at the bibliography! But the book is so emotional and intense that once you get into it there's no putting it down. I loved this book and would recommend to anyone.

David Stafford is an unusual historian. He writes analytical books that study the Second World War, mostly from the perspective of the intelligence war and the partisans. He writes clearly and intelligently, and spends most of his time analyzing the various parts of the war, and their meaning. This book, by contrast, is something that is for Stafford completely different: instead of the intelligence war, and instead of analysis, Stafford instead focuses on showing us the world or a large part of it during the ten days leading up to the D-Day invasion.

The book focuses on various people in various walks of life who did various things during the war. The book is divided into chapters, one for each of the 10 days, the last being D-Day itself. Each of those chapters is divided into sections, each of which highlights the daily life and experiences of someone involved, directly or indirectly, in the war. They range from a Canadian infantry lieutenant and an American paratrooper to a British female code clerk, an SOE operative in France, all the way around to a Jew hiding in someone's house in France and a Norwegian resister in prison for assisting in the publication of an underground newspaper. Each of these individuals is followed through their daily lives, the soldiers preparing for the invasion, the rest wondering when it would happen.

One really unusual and interesting wrinkle that Stafford manages to incorporate is that the characters he chose to follow weren't all survivors of the events covered in the book. This involves a little harmless invention of presumed emotions and thoughts, but frankly that's overshadowed by the uniqueness of what he writes. For instance, one of the pictures in the picture section shows Sherman tanks lined up in an English village, with housewives hanging washing out to dry right next to them.

It's rather surprising that at this late date someone could write something unique on D-Day and the campaign in France. The fact remains, however, that this is a very unique book, and a very interesting one.

Most books published about D-Day give scant mention to the background of the invasion, and concentrate on the invasion itself, and its aftermath. This extremely well-written book covers the 10 days that preceeded the invasion, through the lives not only of the important political and military folks involved, but also the common people. We share the lives of paratroopers, ground troops, signal interceptors, spies, prisoners, and others, and learn about their contributions, however small, to the ultimate success of the invasion. It is writing of personal history at its best, and we do get to be informed as to what happened to these people we grew to care about after the invasion. Several of them are still alive, and they, and the multitude of others who have gone to their rest deserve our eternal gratitude for what they all did for us that glorious 6th of June, 1944.

This review pertains to the 2004 hardcover "Phoenix Edition" reprint. I must also confess that at this moment I have only made my way through half of volume 1. I feel it necessary to give potential buyers a "heads up" about this set: it is, as described, a massive work of mid-1800s scholarship. It was assumed at that time that anyone who would be reading such a work would be able to read Latin as well as Old High German, Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, and a smattering of other medeival languages.
The author spends most of his time NOT telling mythical stories as the curious dabbler might expect, but instead chasing down obscure linguistic clues imbedded in medeival texts, place names, and quaint figures of speech in an attempt to reconstruct some sort of Germanic mythology (for which documentation is lacking) from its hypothetical parallels in Norse mythology (for which documentation is abundant) and the mythologies / religious beliefs / superstitions of surrounding races such as the Saxons, the Gauls, even the Greeks and Romans. This process is dull, dry, tedious, and to someone not fluent in Classical and Germanic languages, incomprehensible. If you love philology you will love these books, but if you want to be thrilled by tales of the Old Gods, stay away!! Herr Grimm does not tell many stories; all the cool stuff is quoted from his sources, and whatever of that isn't in Old High German is in Latin. _Untranslated_ Latin. BEWARE!!
Don't get me wrong; I do not regret owning this set, and I have every intention of finishing it - I'm just saying it's going to be unexpectedly difficult for me, and I can only recommend it for those with a Serious Interest in the subject. The information Grimm presents here is dense and staggeringly thorough - and it is, in a way, a very enjoyable read: the book has its own soporific charm which provides an almost physical pleasure from reading it. An entire mysterious world of unknown language and dimly-comprehended episodes from Latin chroniclers yawns before me. Should be a fun trip.
Nevertheless, my review must bear a mere 3 stars as a warning to those who only want to be thrilled by the mighty adventures of Thor: look elsewhere. This is not the right book for you to start.

This is thoroughful and extremely good edition of the phenomenal book. Naturally, several scolars later made some corrections on some subjects. Nevertheless Jacob Grimm's work inspired H.Heine, R.Wagner and many other men of genius. One cannot overestimate the 'Teutonic Mythology' even now. In a way it's a monument of human imagination, of both oral and written creations made during the centuries by the individuals as well as by the folks. And it still be and will be an inexhaustible source for our both knowledge and imagination as well.
Only one thing I would dare to suggest. Many fragments J.Grimm quotes in Latin, Greek etc... For the future editions I would translate all of them even it could take much space - up to an additional small volume. So, this unique book would be understood by much wider circle of the readers.

Yes, a few years ago I plunked down the over a $100 cost for this recently put back in print four volume set. I don't regret spending the money. Criticisms I have you have to wade through a lot of linguistics/philology stuff and for whatever reason, even though this is supposed to be the English translation, there is still a fair amount of material in German and Latin. But there is all kinds of great stuff in this. Not for the beginner or someone with just a casual interest in the subject matter but this is a must have for any serious student of northern European culture, folklore or Odinsim. What is it about so many books written in the 1800's being superior to 99% of whats been published in the past 50 years?

This is required reading for the true student! Can be a difficult read at times, but the knowledge and world view contained therein make it a treasure!

So Dover Publications has now (2004) reprinted "Teutonic Mythology" under the "Phoenix" imprint, apparently in two formats (bindings). I look at my copies of the previous (1966) Dover paperback edition of James Stallybrass's 1883-1888 translation of Jakob Grimm's "Deutsche Mythologie," with the four volumes bound in different colors, and I feel terribly old.

They were purchased at less than a tenth of the publisher's current asking price (well, one volume was a gift, but I'm looking at the cover prices), and I feel grateful that I bought (three of) them in the early 1970s. At the time, that still seemed a lot of money for paperbacks, even trade paperbacks, but I have had decades of use out of the set, which is still holding up well. (Dover then still used signature-stitched bindings and high-quality paper; their claim that their paperback books would last as well as hardcover editions was well founded. If Dover does reissue them in paperback, they will probably be less durable and, inevitably, more expensive.)

Read with care, and with frequent reference to modern text editions, translations, and studies, the "Teutonic Mythology" is still a mine of information on the religious ideas, customs, and common metaphors and figures of speech (supposed to be fossilized beliefs) of the ancient and early medieval Germanic peoples (the continental Germans, the Dutch and Flemings, the Scandinavians, and the Anglo-Saxons), and much else in medieval literature. Everyone knows the Grimms from the fairy-tale collection, but individually and together they wrote and edited much more. (For some reason, Jakob Grimm [1785-1863] almost always appears in English as Jacob, but his brother Wilhelm [1786-1859] never seems to become William.)

The "Mythology" in particular is constantly cited in the older secondary literature, so it is nice to be able to find such references. On many occasion it has clarified for me an obscure argument carried out by long-dead scholars with page-references to Grimm's then-definitive treatment of the issue (although sometimes I have had to work out the relation of the pagination of an unseen German edition to the English text -- not fun).

More important, for my purposes, it was a handy reference for what would have been readily available knowledge in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and the early twentieth. They are very useful indeed, if you are interested in Richard Wagner's versions of Germanic myth and legend, or those of William Morris. Or, particularly since this is a translation, if you want to see what was available to the young E.R. Eddison, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, among many others.

(For that specific purpose, the only thing really comparable in scope they might have read was Benjamin Thorpe's three-volume "Northern Mythology" of 1851, which was briefly available in a one-volume omnibus paperback from Wordsworth a few years ago. In terms of information available to its learned author, Thorpe's book, which I have reviewed, was largely a less systematic English Grimm, with more extensive summaries of Norse sources, and some excellent additional evidence from folktales. It is not quite so dated, but mainly because it was not so ambitious; whole topics aren't even mentioned, so Thorpe couldn't have made any mistakes about them. For the intellectual and cultural background, Andew Wawn's recent (2000) "The Vikings and the Victorians: Inventing the Old North in 19th-Century Britain" may become the standard reference.)

Thomas Shippey in particular has pointed out several places where Tolkien invented Middle-earth "solutions" to passages where Grimm expressed confusion over contradictory data. Tolkien would eventually have gone directly to the German text; Lewis mentions reading Grimm in German, but seems to mean the Fairy Tales ("Kinder- und Hausmaerchen").

In addition, Grimm's appendices (in the fourth volume of the translation) assemble an extraordinary number of important non-literary medieval (and later) texts in one place; genealogies, spells, penitential guides, lists of superstitions, dialect terms. Although as editions they are antiquated, having them in one place proved convenient on a great many occasions. (For example, Valerie Flint's 1991 "The Rise of Magic in Early Medieval Europe" cites later editions of several of them, none readily accessible to me.)

Given the present price, although I'm delighted that Dover has brought the whole set back into print simultaneously for the first time in years, I'm not urging everyone interested in Germanic myth and folklore to rush to buy it. (Even with the current -- November 2004 -- Amazon discount.)

And not just because of the price. This is a monument of scholarship from the first half of the nineteenth century (1835; second edition 1844); almost everything in it has to be viewed with at least a little suspicion. Grimm already recognized that there were problems. A good part of volume four consists of additions and corrections to the text, which he had hoped to incorporate in a third, and fully revised, edition. (His publisher instead reprinted the three-volume second edition text in 1854, and called it the "Third Edition." A posthumous editor arranged the notes in order, to be printed as a supplement in a "Fourth Ediiton," and Stallybrass followed this practice, instead of tampering with the original.)

Throw in the expense, and there is reason for suggesting other places to start. I mention this age factor because the amount of antique misinformation I have seen gleaned from it, and presented as current, sometimes explicitly dated 1966, is a little frightening. And I expect to see more examples, with the 2004 date of the Dover Phoenix edition in the citation.

Stallybrass called his translation "Teutonic Mythology" to reflect that Grimm was using "Deutsche" in the widest possible sense, instead of a nationalistic one; the more recent term would be "Germanic." But for almost a century, beginning not long after after Jacob Grimm completed his work treating *all* the Germanic-speaking peoples as a continuum, the best surveys and handbooks, and almost all serious scholarship, carefully distinguished Northern (Scandinavian) from Southern (continental German) evidence. Surveys in particular were generally restricted to one or the other; usually "Norse Mythology," with a few citations from the continent. While some of Grimm's comparisons -- or the conclusions drawn from them -- were of dubious legitimacy, denying the validity of such comparisons *in advance* pre-determined the nature of the argument. Apparent exceptions generally quickly reveal themselves as second-hand Grimm. Those scholars who did survey the whole field were often concerned to prove that the medieval Scandinavian texts were late and unreliable compared to nineteenth-century German folklore. (If it looks "primitive" [crude], it must *be* primitive [early].)

The closest thing to a scholarly modern successor, the two-volume "Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte" by Jan de Vries, was severely criticized when it appeared in the mid-twentieth-century for returning to Grimm's comprehensive approach. (The author was under the influence of Dumezil's then-recent work on the original unity of Indo-European mythic and religious concepts, and the controversy has moderated with time and familiarity.) Unhappily, de Vries's "History of Old-Germanic Religion" is still not available in English. But there are substitutes in English which, taken together, are almost as comprehensive, as well as much more reliable than Grimm alone.

For the serious-minded beginner, John Lindow's "Norse Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, Rituals, and Beliefs" or Andy Orchard's "Cassell's Dictionary of Norse Myth & Legend" (and variant titles) are far better and more reliable guides to the Scandinavian evidence, with Rudolf Simek's "Dictionary of Northern Mythology" filling in some of the continental material, along with copious linguistic information reflecting an additional century and a half of research. I would strongly urge anyone new to the field to have at least one or two of these at hand whenever Grimm is being consulted; definitely Simek on matters linguistic, if possible (the book is currently out of print, although a reprinting of the paperback is scheduled for Spring 2006). All three (which I have reviewed separately; I call attention to some of Simek's shortcomings, but his book is mostly first-rate) have extensive bibliographies. Some of Lindow's extended articles come closest to Grimm's chapter-length treatises.

However, when all is said and done, there is something to be said for these four antiquated volumes. Like Aristotle, Jakob Grimm produced a "premature synthesis" of knowledge, and, as with Aristotle, even the errors of a first-class mind are worth pondering. And a lot of it *is* dead on right.

At some point "Teutonic Mythology" should be consulted by anyone interested in Germanic studies, or medieval literature, or folklore studies, or comparative mythology -- if only as an act of piety. Having hardcover and library-bound editions available may make this effort more likely than it has been in recent years. And maybe it will, sooner or later, be back in paperback form.

I have had the pleasure of talking to the Author and he is indeed a great guy. The book is very interesting and covers areas that US History buffs that watch US history media would no know about. A born US Citizens service in the German army, .... what what is not interesting about that ? Give it a read, good stuff.

Critically acclaimed navelist Anne Tyler (The Accidental Tourist, Breathing Lesssons) has red Thinking of Germany at Night by Rainulf Stelzmann. She comments: "What a time you have lived through. A dark and difficult storuy. I am grateful to you for sharing it."

The British historian and medieval mystery writer (Athelstan, Corbett, Canterbury Tales) has read "Thinking of Germany at Night" and calls it a "most fascinating book" in a letter to the author.

The eminent British historian and medieval mystery writer Dr. Paul C. Doherty has read "Thinking of Germany at Night" and calls it a "most fascinating book."

German-American Cultural Center Newsletter, Vol 4 #2 March/April 2002

Reading this book, I got to share a fascinating life with people who lived adventures I never dreamed of. I wouldn't have considered going to Moscow State in my early 20s! I have followed international news over the past 40 years, sometimes more closely than other times as "life" allowed. And I was aware of Russia, but my images were formed by tne nightly broadcasts from Moscow....only to learn, duh, what a huge and diverse country Russia is and was.

Naomi's rich descriptions of sparse student lives, charming (who knew?) villages, life as an expat, and the bravery of the U.S. diplomats is captivating. Regardless of one's interest in Russia, this is a fascinating story told by a keen observer and skilled writer.

Her book and story is too important (now I know that) to call an "airplane" or "beach book" but it is that engrossing of a read.

The book makes the whole experience come alive. The best part was the parallels between the changes in Russia and the changes in the author. And I liked the way Ambassador Collins' chapters provide a context for the work at the beginning and end.

This review was just sent to me in a letter by another American in Moscow who does not use Internet.
"I have just finished the book and am in awe of the writing. The book masterfully conveys the multi-textured Soviet experience over changing decades as well as evoking the challenges "wife of" has to surmount. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading. It transported me to living in the days of the Soviet Union."

Naomi Collins helps the reader walk the tightrope between the private and personal life of the individual and the massive presence of the Soviet/Russian state. It is both a personal diary and a political essay that takes the reader through the recent past as perceived by a talented and sensitive observer of her world. The personal narrative creates the focus through which to take hold and grasp major events of our time. The author's willingness to share with us thoughts and emotions originally intended for personal journals and close friends and family is a gift to her wider audience. It is beautifully written. Her poetry, written during periods in Russia, is truly evocative of time and place.

Invite Naomi Collins to your home. Ask her to relate her experiences as the wife of a Foreign Service employee who eventually becomes the Ambassador to Russia. The night before her arrival prepare some bifstek and kvas so that she will feel at home. Be sure to listen intently to her every word as she shares the last 40 years of her life in and out of Russia. If she is either too busy to visit or you cannot make or purchase kvas, do the next best thing and pick up a copy of her book "Through Dark Days and White Nights". I assure you that her story will captivate and fascinate you as if she were sitting in your living room. Her style of writing is as natural as her speech. Her observational skills and her careful documentation of events help to paint her story with passion and realism that could only be matched by someone traveling along with Naomi. I shivered as she described the winters in Russia and cringed at the description of the putrefying matter found in the unkempt bathrooms. You need not be interested in Russian history or politics to enjoy this book. The 4-decade memoir transitions from life as a student at Moscow State University, to wife of the American Ambassador to Russia at the Spaso House. It is a quick read and disappointing that it ends so soon. I await the writing of another book by Naomi Collins.

My Father (a WWII veteran) and I made an extraordinary trip with Cavanagh through the Ardennes in 2005 and we both have re-lived our trip with the aid of this book many times since then.

No one knows the Ardennes battlefields like Will Cavanagh ... No one. "A Tour of the Bulge Battlefield" makes that very evident.

If you have any interest at all in the Battle of the Bulge, I would highly recommend allowing Will Cavanagh to guide you, either in person or by way of this book.

I was a battlefield tour guide in Europe for over three years. One of our most popular tours was the Ardennes Offensive aka "The Battle of the Bulge". Since we only had a day, we would drive up from Luxembourg City, paralleling the 3rd Army's relief route, and tour the Bastogne perimeter. If I had this book, I would've recommended this to my customers who wished to visit other sites of the battle. "A Tour of the Bulge Battlefield" is designed for the tourist who wishes to tour the battlefield(s) for himself/herself. Well researched and written, one could almost use this book as a secondary source in itself. The six chapters cover the entire battle, from the north around Stavelot, to the south in the Ettlebruch/Diekirch area. Each chapter is in itself an excellent capsulation of the battle and movements, both German and American. However, this is not a guidebook in the traditional sense, there is nothing about lodging, and very little regarding food, and other questions most tourists have. Also, what few maps there are inadequate, surprising considering this book is designed for auto-touring.

If you get several maps, the excellent Michelin series comes to mind, plus a traditional guidebook, and some `net research regarding transport, renting a car in Belgium/Luxembourg/Germany, this book would make for an outstanding historical vacation.

In 1985, I journeyed from Aachen to Namur, Liege, Dinant, and Libramont on the way to Bastogne. I made the journey without a guide book and so spent considerable time just wandering around Bastogne and sort of stumbling upon things in that area. What a boon it would have been to have had Cavanagh's outstanding book for reference.

This little gem is full of outstanding text and some really great photographs not found in other books on the subject. This book deftly combines period photos with contemporary ones to bring the reader in. Appropriate and detailed unit maps accompany the text and make this book a bit more than just a tour book.

In fact, this book is really one of the better overall texts on the Battle of the Bulge. It is truly one of those books that you enjoy poring over again and again, as you learn something new each time.

Really, can't sing it's praises enough. Sure wish I had had it back in '85.

I recently followed the trail of the well-known 'Kampfgruppe Peiper', with the help of this amply illustrated guide, from the then frontline in December 1944 at the German border to La Gleize/Stoumont in the Belgian Ardennes, about 60 kilometers from its point of departure. With the help of this guide it turned out to be a fascinating experience. The reader gets a very good picture, by surveying the terrain and reading this text, of the heavy fighting which took place in this area in this fateful period that took its toll on civilians and military alike. This guide provides not only an excellent description of the route Peiper and his men took but also contains much interesting background information. It also provides descriptions of the routes taken by the main German formations in other sectors of the front during their failed push to the west. A plus of the book is definitely that it pays lots of attention to the German perspective on what happened. This aspect is often neglected in other English language literature on the subject, e.g. in the Toland volume on the Battle of the Bulge. A minor point of criticism on this book in my view concerns the maps. The book contains maps, but as the author himself says in the introduction, the reader needs the relevant Michelin maps of the area as well to complete this otherwise very useful battlefield guide.

This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the Battle of The Bulge. Will Cavanagh's latest book is a fascinating account of the battle. Take a ride in the Tiger Tanks of Kampfgruppe Pieper, feel the enthusiasm as they go on the counter offensive. Stand with the exhausted Americans, feel their terror and dread as they defend against the onslaught. All this is accomplished through numerous first hand accounts, told by the participants. The book is complete with many maps and numerous photographs of the participants. Most of the photos are from the authors personal collection.

I have traveled with Will Cavanagh and listened to his lectures. No one knows this history better.

A heavy book packed with information. More a refererence book rather than a read in its own right. jam-packed with lots of good information including many stand-alone information sections detailing all aspects of life at sea - for the men as well as the ships. If you have an interest in naval warfare in the age of sail this book is a great investment

It's one of the best books of that type I've ever read, too much details, but not boring, explains everything and gives you a full idea about how the seamnship of that period, strategy life at seas and of course of the battle of Trafalgar. I would reccomend it without any hesitation.
Probably the title of the book isn't so attractive as it's the book itself.

The Trafalgar Companion by Mark Adkin looked very much like his Waterloo Companion that he wrote earlier. The book covers three subject matters. First is the Trafalgar campaign and battle. Second is the biographical overview of Horatio Lord Nelson and finally the third coverage deals with anatomy of navies and ships of this period although the Royal Navy get most of the coverage. Each three subjects are spread apart into sections and interlocked with the overall coverage of the topic. There are also many side bars notes that inserts interesting trivial if not important information regarding the subject matter at hand.

The book proves to be well written, well researched and easy to read. There are over 200 illustrations that covers everything from battle scenes, diagrams, tactical maps, drawings, ship equipments and so on. There are several pages of a great cross section from the top down on HMS Victory (deck by deck) which showed the ship in battle readiness and show the positions of each crew member by position and officers. There's also a full page coverage on each British, French and Spanish ships involved in the battle as well as history of some of its officers. I can write considerably more on all the great stuff that this book contains.

It pretty obvious that the author went all out to provide one of the most complete coverage of Trafalgar campaign and battle within a single volume. Each of the subject matter appears to be well written and researched. Nelson's biography may not be as detail or indepth as some of the full scale biographies but the coverage proves to be impressive and insightful. All of Nelson's previous battles are in the this book and well covered. While not as detail as Brian Lavery's book, Nelson's Navy, the study of the Royal Navy in this book should satisfied almost anyone. The coverage of the campaign and battle of Trafalgar proves to be complete and highly detailed, helped by charts and maps that gives a clear understanding of the subject at hand.

There is also a short but detail coverage of post-Trafalgar period, fate of the ships, officers and burial of Nelson. Interesting tidbits that can only enchance the reading experience.

In conclusion, while there are books out there who may do a better job covering just the battle or just Nelson or just the details of wooden navy, I believed no book does a superior job in putting all three together and making it work. The 555 pages of this book is crammed with information that can only benefit the reader to the utmost. Its well worth the price you pay.

What a book! This book is huge and contains just about everything you would want to know about the people, the ships and the battles. I was really impressed to see the hour by hour description of the battle and the detailed descriptions of the ships appearance as well as its statistics.
I have no hesitation in recommending this book.

The Trafalgar Companion is probably the best reference book on the Royal Navy in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. It has about 550 pages of small type and is jam packed with information. However, it is much more than its title suggests.

This book could probably be divided into three main parts: the life of Nelson, the Trafalgar campaign, and the background of the Royal Navy. There are nine sections, each with subsections and most with an epilogue. The epilogues comprise the first part, as they describe some aspect of Nelson's life or career. If one wanted to read only about Nelson, one could jump to the end of each chapter and read a very good biography of Nelson. The epilogues include his early life and career, the battles of St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen; his stay at Naples, Emma, and a few others. The reader really comes to know a great deal about Nelson. The second section, the background of the Royal Navy, gives the reader about 150 pages on topics such as ship construction and classification, seamanship, navigation, officers, seamen, marines, uniforms, gunnery, tactics, and many others. This section alone is invaluable to understanding the Royal Navy. The third section is about the Trafalgar campaign. The subsections include British and French naval strategy, the fleets, command, opening moves, the battle itself (about 60 pages), and the aftermath of the battle.


So, what makes this such a great book? The topics have all been discussed in tons of other books. Well, first, this book is like an encyclopedia--it brings everything together under one roof. If you want Nelson, you got 'im. If you're reading Hornblower, Ramage, Kydd, or Aubrey and you need some background info on some topic, it's here. However, this book is more than an encyclopedia. If you have several hours to spend on a great story--the battle itself--you've got a great read in front of you. Second, in addition to the text, this book is filled with hundreds of illustrations, diagrams, lists, quotes, maps, paintings, and drawings. For example, the section on fleet comparison devotes a page to each ship from both fleets. The pages include a drawing of a ship, its rating, number and type of guns, number and type of crew (i.e. naval, infantry, marine), a biography of its commander, what the ship did during and after the battle, and, for the British, a list of all its officer--all the way down to the purser! In the section on guns, gunnery, and tactics, there are eight fabulous color illustrations, each covering two pages. The first is a cross section of the Victory with all the rooms labeled. The ship looks like a mini city. Then there are top-view illustrations of each deck. Not only are the guns and other parts of the ship labeled, but also where crew members would have been assigned. I didn't know that a marine was assigned to each gun on the ship. In some cases even known personalities can be placed in certain areas on deck. There is even a page showing the number and arrangement of lanterns to indicate signals in the presence of the enemy! I particularly like the 19 maps in the battle section. The reader can follow the movements and firing of the ships throughout the battle. There are so many topics and all are treated exhaustively.

I could go on and on giving examples of the breadth and depth of this book. Besides the information, the color illustrations and quality of paper make this book visually pleasing. I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone interested in the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars. It's worth every penny you'll pay for it-you won't need anything else.

I had read a couple of biographies of Tycho Brahe years ago, but never anything on Johannes Kepler except the bare-bones discoveries that made him famous. This book was a well-conceived and well-written biography of both men. Starting with Tycho and his observations and ending with Kepler and his discoveries based on Tycho's data, the book interleaves their lives in the middle where they were contemporaries. What a shame that Tycho died only a year or so after taking Kepler on board. It's interesting to speculate what might have happened if Tycho had lived. But he didn't, and Kepler's brilliant use of Tycho's data made them both famous and greatly advanced the science of astronomy. Thruout, you can see astronomy splitting away from astrology and leaving it in the dust.

Kitty Ferguson tells the tail of the unique and often humorous relationship between Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe that led to some of the greatest astronomical discoveries of our time. Going against the common belief of the geocentric universe, Kepler changes the world forever with the essential help of Brahe's observation on the heavens. Although the result of their relationship is extraordinarily beneficial to astronomy, the relationship is not as peaceful as one would think. Ferguson makes this evident throughout the story and gives numerous examples of their feuding and bickering over their work together. It reminded me of a 17th century spin off of the odd couple. Both informative and entertaining, this book covers everything from Brahe's golden nose to Kepler robbery of Brahe's information and is definitely worth reading if you are interested in the subject.

Tycho and Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership That Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens, by Kitty Ferguson, is a 402-page dedication to two astronomical greats of the early seventeenth century, Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler. Beginning with an examination of the society into which Brahe was born, the book traces him throughout his childhood and adulthood, from the building of Uraniborg, Brahe's astronomical observatory on the island of Hven to his banishment from the kingdom of Denmark. Not until nearly the hundredth page is Kepler discussed, but from that point forward, tales from each man's life are alternated. It seems that more time is devoted to Brahe. The two stories come together when the men meet, and it follows them together from that point forward. When Brahe passes away, the focus immediately and entirely shifts to Kepler and follows him to the end of the book. The story comes to an abrupt finish with Kepler's death, though the volume also contains three appendices explaining and elaborating on complex astronomical terms discussed in the body of the book.
I think Ms. Ferguson decided to recount this story because she was interested in both astronomy and history. From reading the book, one can feel the interest the author has in the subject matter. While reading this book, I became interested in the topic as well, but sometimes felt a bit lost. Occasionally, it seemed that she went too much in depth on certain topics, such as the construction of Uraniborg, which she described in great detail. In general, however, Kitty Ferguson seems to like enjoy writing about this topic, and conveys her enthusiasm in her writing.
This is a good book. I read it for a school assignment, and was not especially interested in the topic at hand at first, though I rapidly became drawn into the story. I only grew bored of the book when it began to explain complex astronomical concepts. While all ideas were explained in full and in understandable language, accompanied by appropriate pictures and diagrams, it was still somewhat tedious for someone not especially knowledgeable about astronomy to wade through. The flow of the book is excellent. It never felt rushed, and the transitions between sections focusing on each scientist were smooth. The one thing that I really disliked about this book was its sudden ending. It ends at Kepler's death; it does not even mention the impacts of Brahe and Kepler's work on later scientists. Despite this inadequacy, I was left with a good impression of Ms. Ferguson's book, and with much more knowledge about astronomy, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler than I had when beginning to read this book.

An amazing and inspirational account of one of the greatest stories in the history of science. Extremely well written and scholarly. I have average reading skills but at times found the book impossible to put down. In spots I had to stop reading it because emotions took over. The best book I ever read about the classical scientists.

Tycho & Kepler - The Unlikely Friendship that Forever Changed Our Understanding of the Heavens is, for the most part, an excellent novel and easy read. Although it is a little confusing and dry at the times when complex astronomical concepts are being explained, they are outweighed by the wealth of historical accounts and gratuitous, but juicy tidbits. For instance, besides explaining the extensive instruments that Tycho built, Ferguson offers that he was also the first Dane to write a poem in Latin, that he had a twin that died at birth, and his aunt and uncle kidnapped him from his parents who wanted a girl and didn't much care. As for Kepler, not only did he develop the Harmonic theory, but had a miserable marriage, a mother accused and tried for witchcraft, and was the first author of a science fiction novel. Kitty Ferguson thus tells the life stories of the astronomers Tycho and Kepler in an informative, educational, yet narrative and interesting way. She effectively spans the 20-year gap between Tycho and Kepler by beginning the book describing Tycho's childhood and indeed his life exclusively up until the advent of a comet on December 27, 1571. Ferguson explains that, when Tycho saw the comet, he was out at one of his 60 manmade fish ponds on his estate at the Danish Isle of Hven, catching fish for dinner that evening. Meanwhile Kepler saw the same comet, but he was only five, and it was during a rare warm moment that he shared with his mother on a hilltop in Leonberg. Thus Kepler enters the story. For the rest of the book, Ferguson fluidly integrates the two men's lives, switching back and forth in an understandable, connected way. She eventually merges the two stories in a dynamic, functional manner, and shows how they used each other, and that many of their final results were synthesized versions of their combined efforts. Basically, Tycho provided excruciatingly accurate data that Kepler confirmed mathematically and extrapolated on. Kepler could have never figured out all that he did with out Tycho's data; he had bad eyesight and could not observe the sky he so dearly slaved for. It was because Tycho initially mistrusted Kepler that Kepler received only slight amounts of data that Kepler discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical - Tycho gave him only data on Mars, which happens to have the most extreme elliptical orbit, otherwise Kepler never would have noticed. Tycho also used Kepler to advance his own work and complete (among other things) the Rudolfine Tables, which are not merely the positions of planets, but guides to figure out what positions they are in at any time, (now, 586 years ago, or one thousand years into the future). The aptly-named chapters are elegantly punctuated with helpful pictures, like paintings of people discussed, illustrations of instruments, maps of the places mentioned, explanatory diagrams, and more. There are also obliging appendixes in the back, explaining astronomical terms (even though they are well-explained in the reading), and an index.
Just as the accomplishments of these men were great, so were their lives, which is probably why Kitty Ferguson felt compelled to tell the story of them. I would highly recommend it, even if you do not much care for astronomy.

This book covers the history of "Ukraine" from time immemorial until the late 20th century, laying out all the important dates and leaders. It is without doubt the most extensive and lucid English-language account of the development of regions and peoples which constitute today's Ukraine.

Its crucial fault, however, is that it fails to overturn or even question the nationalist mythologizing of Ukrainian history. It assumes the permanent historical unity of the Ukrainian nation when in fact no such unity existed until at least the early 1900s. It marginalizes the role of Poles, Russians, and even Germans in laying rival claims to the territory and peoples now called Ukraine. It leads us to believe that Ukraine was destined to exist in its current form, when in fact the creation of Ukraine was highly contested and its current shape anything but pre-determined. This book presents the genealogy of regional figures and struggles which have been appropriated into Ukrainian nationalist mythology, but gives little sense how or when Ukraine actually came to exist, nor how its history fits into larger European narratives.

Mr. Subtelny's "Ukraine: A History" rates a notch above Mr. Magosci's. Well-written and very readable. This is the volume one reaches for when facts on the Ukrainian history are required.

First published in 1988, Orest Subtelny's Ukraine: A History has again been newly updated in a third edition. This 736 page volume spans from the earliest times to the modern day, covering everything from ancient Greek colonization to the recent Ukraine diaspora. Orest Subtelny (Professor of History and Political Science at York University) goes into extreme depth and detail with a text that is significantly enhanced with maps, tables, and the occasional black-and-white photograph. Highly recommended for its lucidity, meticulous attention to detail, and scholarly precision, Ukraine: A History is a "must" for anyone who wants to learn about this fascinating land and its people.

Its full of knowledge and many interesting rarely seen historical photos. I have learned much more information that I ever knew before about Ukraine. Excellent book that I would recommend to everyone.

Orest Subtelny's book on Ukrainian history is intelligently written and very readable, among the growing number of books on Ukraine. It's at the top of the list. A must for any Ukraine enthusiast!