Europe Books

An excellant book that should be required reading. The only criticizm is the final chapter which deals in the current time period was too long and its too early to judge this action.

There is a large, complicated and (as every small ad flogging a tenure application says) 'important' book to be written on the shift in the relationship between military and civil society in Europe in the last 100 years, both at the policy and the human level; its context, its causes and its consequences.

This isn't it. This is the sort of book that someone like Sheehan can knock off in the summer holidays, without breaking a sweat (the bibliography is larger than the endnotes). Sheehan tells us how attitudes changed, but precious little about why, beyond the obvious point that after having tried it a couple of times, it has gradually dawned on the european in the street that continental scale industrial-technological total war is a _bad thing_, and it peters out a bit even from that in the post-second world war period.

Maybe having documented the phenomenon, he can now analyse it (or get one of his students to do so). In the meantime, this was a disappointment.

James J. Sheehan's "Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?" is an excellent 230-page history of 20th Century Europe, when it miraculously changed from its ignominious history of murder and genocide to perhaps the most peaceful multi-national place on the planet.

It appears that Europeans are so tired of war, so exhausted from the effects of killing each other for centuries and so enamored with the prospect of economic superiority that as a group of nations and disparate peoples, they have become the conscience of earth.

That this has all happened in 50 short years is beyond miraculous; it is a mind-bogglingly stupendous achievement. Perhaps a true "United States of Europe" is but a few years away. The complete unification would result in a unified foreign policy as well as economic policy.

The first half of the book was easier for Sheehan to write, because the effects of Europe's bloody past are well-documented. Thus, we learn the truth about the cost of war in the statistics of millions killed or displaced, of cities and economies in ruin and of people utterly despondent.

The second half of the book is harder for Sheehan, because the verdict is not yet in on the success of Europe's valiant efforts toward peace and prosperity. Enough time has not passed to see if it will really last, and if it is really true.

The major failure in his astonishingly insightful and brief summary of this amazing phenomenon is his omission that the USA is largely responsible for it. Why do I say this? Not only did the USA pay for the rebuilding of Western Europe after WWII, but the occupation of Europe by the USA military from 1945 to 1991 gave Europe TIME to recover, TIME to re-think their purposes, and TIME to declare to the world that war was no longer an option - for anything. And who paid for those 50 years of recovery/rethinking? You did. I did. The taxpayer of the USA. Sheehan never really acknowledges that fact. I wish he had.

Nonetheless, his book is superb. Everyone over 60 and under 40 should read it. For the over 60 folks, it reminds us what we went through and what we paid for. For the under 40 folks, it teaches you what you should know and remember.

Finally, "Where Have All the Soldiers Gone" reminds us all of the absolute idiocy and shame of the Iraq war that seems to have no end. Now the Americans must stop, rest, and re-consider whether or not war is a suitable answer to anything. Europe, it seems, has learned this lesson. Have we?

James Sheehan first reminds his audience that at the beginning of the 21st century C.E., Americans are far more likely than Europeans to acknowledge that violence has a role to play in solving international conflicts. The approach to the "war on terrorism" reflects that chasm. Europeans consider terrorism a continuous challenge to their domestic order, not an existential threat. Europeans bet on policing, stricter laws, and better surveillance to contain that challenge based on the experience they have gained for decades.

Sheehan clearly shows that the European institutions have been the result of peace, not of war, since the second half of the 20th century C.E. European states are dominated by civilian institutions, focused on civilian goals. Europe derives its power from its economy and culture as well as from its values and institutions. Nonetheless, that evolution has required peace and order, which was highly dependent on the deterrent role that NATO, with the U.S. as its primary bankroller, played during the Cold War.

Despite the rhetoric of many European politicians, the European Union has not been able and willing to effectively deal with threats that come from its periphery since the end of the Cold War. Sheehan points out for example that the disintegration of former Yugoslavia since the early 1990s C.E. and the inability and unwillingness of the European Union to forcefully deal with that issue reinforce the impression that Europeans are freeloaders in matters of defense. Without the military shield of the American superpower, the European Union cannot safely continue its evolution as a super civilian state.

In contrast, European states were made by and for war during the first half of the 20th century C.E. Europe was not shy about using violence outside its borders to deal with "recalcitrant" local populations. European empires were acquired and maintained with violence. Europe itself was largely at peace between 1815 and 1914 C.E., despite a few wars limited in both time and space.

Sheehan demonstrates with conviction why pacifism lost to militarism in the two decades leading to WWI on the European continent. The first wave of globalization that seemed to make war impractical and unnecessary paradoxically made it possible for European states to spend enormous sums of money on modernizing their respective armed forces. Furthermore, Europeans were taught to consider their armed forces the school for citizenship by excellence. Japan was the only non-Western state which managed to emulate Europe in that area at that time.

The arms race that intensified after the second Moroccan crisis of 1911 - 12 C.E. reflected the deteriorating international situation. None of the players who were looking for war to solve their problems got the war they were looking for between 1914 and 1918 C.E. WWI showed with much clarity the destructive capacity of modern weaponry and the catastrophic social consequences of modern warfare.

Despite the heavy price paid during WWI, Europe continued to be shaped by violence during the 1920s and 1930s C.E. An active and militant minority strongly believed in the regenerating value of violence at that time. Sheehan clearly shows that it took the devastations of WWII to discredit militarism thoroughly in the eyes of Europeans. At least in the period between 1914 and 1945 C.E., the militarists and their followers managed to mobilize powerful institutions and enormous resources at the service of their ambitions while obtaining discipline and sacrifices from their societies.

To summarize, Sheehan succeeds in demonstrating that the civilian character of the European Union is the outcome of what happened after militarism completely lost its appeal in Europe at the end of the first half of the 20th century C.E. No other continent has had both the luck and luxury to consider war an obsolescent mechanism in settling conflicts on its territory.

This is a well-written, balanced and penetrating summary of the last 100 years of European history -- and its implications for the future. The creation of what Professor Sheehan calls the "Civilian State" accurately describes why EU members are so unprepared and disinclined to defend themselves from the real threat of international terrorism and potential militaristic regimes from other parts of the world. His analysis of how Europe's view of terrorism differs from the US is spot on.

Attributing France's collapse in WWII to social and cultural malaise in addition to military incompetence was especially chilling. 21st Century America is as soft, self-indulgent and divided as France was in the 1940s, and the spirit of enjoyment prevails over the spirit of sacrifice here as it did there. This does not bode well for our ability to confront and defeat any deadly and determined enemies.

My only quibble with the book was the author's contention that appeasement, in itself, is not a bad thing. While it is true that diplomats must often appease their opponents, it is a dangerously failed policy when dealing with militaristic, totalitarian dictatorships ranging from Assyria in 750 BC to Nazi Germany in 1938.

This is a fascinating perspective from the tri-lingual-daughter of a well-known poet. Lucia is caught between two identities-Britain and Spain. She tells tales of growing up-island style-off of the coast of Spain-with her Roman Catholic upbringings. All this set after the Spanish civil war where people's identities marred, hopes dashed, and properties confiscated under the Fascist Franco regime (1939-1975) which was characterized by the tight grip of church and state. Her viewpoints on women rights, religious rights, the Catalan identity and the translation profession are particularly illuminating.

Concha Alborg's review of "A Woman Unknown" is riddled with errors.
She leaves an erroneous impression when she writes "Lucia Graves is the daughter of Robert Graves, the English poet who lived in Majorca with his Spanish wife and children for several years." Lucia is the daughter of Robert Graves and his second wife, which "A Woman Unknown" clearly states on page 6. it's also clear from the text that Lucia's mother is English. There's a great deal of information about her in this autobiography,even her maiden name, Pritchard.
Alborg also writes "The reader is left wondering what led to her divorce from her Catalan husband ... "
Not so. The author explains at length that she and her husband, who married quite young, simply grew apart in their interests and activities.
"we know little more than her oldest daughter's name and not even that of her other two daughters" Alborg says. Again, not so. The third daughter's naming is discussed at some length (it's Natalia) in a quite comical scene in the labor room, when the attending nurses urge Lucia to name her daughter Purificacion, in honor of that day in the Roman Catholic calendar.
Emy Louie also errs in referring to Lucia "Roman Catholic upbringings". Her parents were firmly agnostic, a major source of conflict during her girlhood time in a convent school, and of shaping her thought.

I loved this book and, as a writer, I found it very inspiring! Graves writes beautifully of growing up on Majorca and her descriptions of the place and the people there, and other parts of Catalonia, are very evocative. The book caught my eye because I am studying Spanish and this book gave me a great feel for life in Spain, particularly under Franco but also, as described to her by people she knew, during the Spanish Civil War. It also offers interesting thoughts on language and identity, because she grew up speaking English at home, Majorcan/Catalan with neighbors (at least until Franco tried to crush the language), and Castilian Spanish at school. It's no wonder she became a translator.

By the way, if you're interested in Robert Graves (I didn't know anything about him - I guess I missed the whole PBS "I Claudius" series), you won't find out all that much about him here - this is Lucia's story. At least he passed on to his daughter his talent for writing.

FOUND IN TRANSLATION

It's hard to review a book when one feels that she could have written it herself and worse yet when in fact that book has been published already. In some ways it's reassuring to read the same thoughts, opinions, even the same literary references and mythological symbols. In other ways it is almost eerie to share with it a similar structure of titled chapters which can be read independently. It all started with the cover of Lucia Graves' A Woman Unknown. Voices from a Spanish Life (Washington D. C.: Counterpoint, 2000) where I saw the familiar picture of Mercedes Formica, a writer I interviewed some years ago, but more about her later.
Lucia Graves is the daughter of Robert Graves, the English poet who lived in Majorca with his Spanish wife and children for several years. Her book is labeled as her autobiography, but it's more like a history of Spain during the almost forty years of Franco's Dictatorship and the ensuing some twenty years of Democracy. Her role is more that of a well-versed witness, a woman who has lived among three different cultures: the English of her birth, the Spanish of her adopted country and the Catalan into which she married. Hers is a well documented account of everyday life, political repression, historical events and a study of the richness of languages.
The author moved to Majorca, where a version of Catalan is spoken, when she was three years old. Despite her father's prominence, she lived a rather modest life on the island before it became a popular tourist destination. A few years of her childhood were spent in Palma, the island's capital, where she studied in a repressive nun school like any other Spanish girl, until she was almost convinced to be baptized in the Catholic Church ( to keep her from "going to hell"), at which time her parents had her first tutored at home and then send to England to receive a "proper" education.
At Oxford, although she missed Spain terribly, she became familiar with the language of her birth, her own father's work and - interestingly enough- Spanish literature which she could then study uncensored. It was her appreciation of the complexity of languages and in particular her translation class, that gave her the tools to become the accomplished translator she is now. Her reflections on language are in themselves worth the reading of A Woman Unknown. Her dilemma should be familiar to anyone fluent in more than one language: "I began to see that being trilingual meant I had never been able to focus fully on any one of my languages, that each one covered only particular areas of experience, and as result I could not express myself fully in any of them" (115).
Lucia Graves' book is full of expressions in Catalan which she carefully explains and translates into English. In fact, if anything, her careful attention to detail is superfluous to the initiated reader of Spanish culture. Her knowledge of the subtleties of the Spanish and Catalan character is commendable as is the varied tidbits of information about popular customs. Her appraisal of the repressive years of Franco's regime is equally on target as is her appreciation - only now becoming official in Spain- of the liberal Republican government.
However, for all her political openness, Lucia Graves is very coy about much of her personal information. For instance, she mentions in passing the sudden death of her half-sister Jenny (149), but doesn't bother to explain it, or we know little more than her oldest daughter's name and not even that of her other two daughters. Her Spanish mother, despite the fact that her illness opens and closes the book, remains a mystery as well. The reader is left wondering what led to her divorce from her Catalan husband and even to whom is she married now since she alludes to a second marriage, while she analyzes in depth the effects of the new Spanish divorce law of 1981. It could be argued that this lack of detail is a good thing since the reader's curiosity is peaked due to her talent as a writer and her, indeed, fascinating life.
The title, "A Woman Unknown" refers to the legal terminology given a woman in divorce proceedings. In fact Lucia Graves gives special attention to the situation of Spanish women: from the liberties of the Second Republic before Franco to the repression of the years after the Civil War, up to the new freedom we are presently enjoying. Her representation of postwar courtship rituals is as poignant as that of Carmen Martín Gaite's, one of the best Spanish writers who have written on the same topic. Her sympathetic portrait of Margarida de Prades, in the chapter titled "The Queen Who Never Was," a fifteen century Catalan noblewoman, for example, makes for captivating reading.
Lucia Graves is equally sympathetic in her depiction of the Sephardic Jews who inhabited Majorca and Catalonia. Their exile, in many ways, parallels her own quest for a homeland. But she is overly simplistic when she states that Franco was anti-Semitic. Despite all his other abuses, Franco saved over thirty thousand Ukranian Jews as it is documented in Chaim Lipschitz's book, Franco, Spain, the Jews, and the Holacaust (KTVA Publishing House, 1984). In fact Franco's own mother was of Jewish descent; her maiden name, Bahamonde, being typically Jewish.
There is no mention in the text of Mercedes Formica, the writer who graces the book's cover. This is a surprising choice given her right wing ideology - she was a sympathizer of the Falangist leader, José Antonio Primo de Rivera. My guess is that it was chosen by the editor in an otherwise beautiful, careful edition. These minor issues aside, Lucia Graves' book is a well written, compelling history of contemporary Spain from the point of view of a not so foreign woman, even when her own story is still not completely told.
CONCHA ALBORG

Concha Alborg is a Spanish writer who lives in Philadelphia and teaches Spanish literature at Saint Joseph's University. She has recently published Beyond Jet-Lag (New Jersey: Ediciones Nuevo Espacio, 2000), her second work of fiction, about the immigrant experience. Beyond Jet-Lag is available on Amazon.com ...

It was a whim that brought me to Lucia Graves' memoir "A Woman Unknown: Voices from a Spanish Life." I had just finished reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's "The Shadow of the Wind," and was thoroughly entranced by its soaring lyrical prose. I noticed that the book was translated into English from Spanish and wondered whether the high quality of the prose might owe a great deal to the translator. So, I started investigating Lucia Graves' writings and discovered this exquisite memoir.

I rarely read autobiographies, but once I stared this work, I couldn't put it down--within a few pages, I felt like a spell had been cast. Soon, I was deep into a serene meditation on life--uncommon and fascinating for its vibrant Spanish twist, and subtle feminist slant. Finding this book was like suddenly discovering a refreshing mountain spring after a long summer hike: I had no idea how thirsty I was for a lush literary work dealing with the inner lives of women.

Naturally, most of the work deals with the life of the author, Lucia Graves. She is the daughter of Robert Graves, the famous English poet, novelist, biographer, essayist, scholar, and translator. She was raised on the island of Majorca, a place with a distinct cultural subset from the mainland Catalonian culture of northeastern Spain. She spoke English at home, Majorcan to the village people, and Castilian Spanish in school. Her father taught her a deep abiding love for words and language. There were dictionaries in every room of her childhood home so that the precise word might be found and discussed at any time. Later, as an adult raising her own family in a sterile modern Barcelona suburb, translation became the author's tranquil refuge from the everyday vicissitudes of life.

The book has four distinct themes. First and most importantly, we learn about the interior life and thoughts of Lucia Graves. It is important to note that there is little in this book about the life of her famous father, or the lives of her mother, siblings, children, and husband. The focus of this memoir is personal and inward at all times. Second, we learn about the lives of women who have played important roles in the author's life. She tells us about their strengths--the characteristics that allowed them to make the most of whatever adversity that befell them. Like her own life, she takes the lives of these everyday women and celebrates them. Third, we learn about the author's passion for words and for the painstaking art of translation. Finally, through the stories of the many women that make up the bulk of this book, we learn about the history of modern Spain, from the Civil War to the present day. In particular, we learn about the dynamic culture and people of Majorca and Catalonia.

There is the story of Jimena, Graves' cleaning women when she was a child growing up on Majorca; the story of Blanca, the island's midwife; and Juanita, her cleaning woman a dozen years later when she was a mother raising a family in Barcelona. Graves tells us about Olga, her childhood ballet instructor--a woman who had once achieved prima ballerina status in a major Russian ballet company, but eventually had to settle for a life of ballet instruction in a small Majorcan village. There's the story of Sister Valentina, one of the Catholic nuns who was Graves' teacher and mentor. Graves also delights us with the stories of courageous women from history: Marie Powell, long-suffering wife of John Milton and heroine of a book by her father that she translates into Spanish; and Margarida de Prades, the little-known and nearly forgotten 16th-century Queen of Catalonia. Graves also manages magically to weave into her contemporary life's story, the tale of the Greek goddess Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.

Like bookends holding the work together at the beginning and end, Graves gives us the story of her aging mother as she undergoes a minor operation in Barcelona. Once again, Graves takes this event as an opportunity to celebrate the many lives of the everyday women who were a part of this congenial, gracious, and loving hospital experience.

The Spanish legal term for a divorced woman translates as a "woman unknown." In the early 1990s, Graves became the "Woman Unknown" of the book's title when she and her husband of 26 years agreed to end their marriage. The subtitle, "Voices from a Spanish Life," aptly describe the many stories the author relates about vital Spanish women--unknown women whose lives she honors and memorializes.

This is a remarkable and richly nuanced work of literary prose. I recommend it highly, particularly to women, feminists, and others who may enjoy connecting with the inner dialogue of an astonishing, articulate, and uncommon woman of uncelebrated wisdom.

December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, occurred as George Loving,Jr. and I were hitch-hiking to see our lady friends at Farmville State Teacher's College. We were students at E.C.Glass High School in Lynchburg. That was the first day of the war for us.

As I read his book of experiences in the air over Italy, I felt as though I was right at his side reliving the events and feeling the goose bumps as things became sticky from time to time. I cleaned my plate by reading this saga from cover to cover in a short time, wanting it to go on and on.

I'm a very big WWII buff. I can't seem to get enough information on the history of the war. The individual accounts of ground and aerial combat are very riveting. This book is no exception. Awesome! I couldn't put it down.

The thing that intrigued me most in reading this book was the mindset of these brave men. From their days as cadets till their discharge, the pilots who succeeded had a lust for victory. The matter of fact style of writing conveys this mindset, this "failure is not an option" mentality that made pilots pray nothing would keep them from participating in the next mission. It would be incorrect to say that fear is not addressed here, but it would be totally accurate to say that, in their pursuit of victory, these men were fearless. I could not help thinking, while reading the day-to-day story of becoming a pilot, that I would have wanted to be a cadet too. Mr. Loving doesn't make it sound easy, but he does show that it was an age of heroes, where the workingman could have the chance of becoming a fighter ace. In the end though, it is evident that, just like today, it takes a special breed of men to rise to this level, and many, then as now, washed out. On the lighter side, it was also very refreshing to hear tales of quick pleasure trips to exotic cities and nights out on the town to take the edge off the pressures of combat. All in all, the book gave me a much more realistic impression of what America's fighter pilots went through, alone but together, one plane, but a member of an indomitable force. The drive and adherence to honor and truth are values that stick with you long after the book has been read. A patriotic Thumbs Up!

December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, occurred as George Loving,Jr. and I were hitch-hiking to see our lady friends at Farmville State Teacher's College. We were students at E.C.Glass High School in Lynchburg. That was the first day of the war for us.

As I read his book of experiences in the air over Italy, I felt as though I was right at his side reliving the events and feeling the goose bumps as things became sticky from time to time. I cleaned my plate by reading this saga from cover to cover in a short time, wanting it to go on and on.

George Loving's memoir of his time as a fighter pilot in the Mediterranean Theater, first in Spitfires and then in the famed P-51 Mustang, ring true. He seems to have kept a meticulous diary during his time in Italy and one gets a good feel for the long periods of dull routine broken up by occasional hot combat. You see how long it could take for a pilot to achieve the status of ace, i.e., the weeks or months needed to shoot down five enemy planes. And you also see how many pilots fell to mechanical problems and bad weather, rather than enemy fire. Unfortunately, while that probably makes for good history, it's not the most compelling reading. Still, one can't help but be amazed at the courage of these pilots, and especially of the bomber pilots they escorted.

I was pleasantly surprised - while beeing shocked and horrified - that this book was NOT just a "coffee table book" of pictures from the US Holocaust Museum and Memorial - not that one would want a coffee-table book on that topic anyway. That it was published by/with the museum may give the impression it's "just" a bunch of pictures - a printed tour through the museum. That is definitely not the case.

The book tells more through the well-written text than it does through the pictures. The book would be excellent with no pictures at all - it's that well-written & edited. The pictures alone would give an "eh, so what?" reaction. Together, they are a riveting and frightening story of this terrible period in our history.

I thought I knew something about the Holocaust - and I suppose I did know as much as some people know - possibly more than most. This book opened my eyes even further.

Though I know antisemitism is unfortunately, still alive and well today - even in the United States - I had no idea how powerful it was in the years leading to World War II. This played a terrible role in the systematic destruction of the Jewish people - not only by the Nazis - but also through the cold-hearted or apathetic at best response by the rest of the world. Though most of us can show clean hands when it comes to the hands-on role of actual killing, an awful lot of us still tolerate - or even worse, practice the very kind of antisemitism that fueled the premeditated killing of so many.

This book could easily be an entire course on the Holocaust - from the earliest beginnings and history of anti-jewish action in the world, through the actual event, and up until today.

If I could afford it, I'd buy copies of this book for a couple of holocaust rejectors. If the evidence it presents does not cause them to renounce their denial of this event, then perhaps a coupl of well-placed whacks to the head will do. Either way, this book is weighty enough to accomplish the task.

Kidding aside, this is a great book - on a terrible subject.

Michael Berenbaum is a renowned scholar and author of several books and professional articles about the Holocaust that took place during the Second World War. In 1993 Berenbaum, together with The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., published the first edition of The World Must Know, and twelve years later an updated second edition came out.

Filled to the brim with pictures taken before, during, and after the Holocaust, this book is most definitely a very frightening piece of evidence; detailing the nasty ability of the human race of demonstrating a total lack of sympathy towards dissidents, and in many different ways this book offers both a relentless and necessary insight into the unfathomable mass murder, during which millions of Jews perished; young, old, men, women, and children. But not only Jews; gypsies, the handicapped, homosexuals, political prisoners, and many more were systematically killed as well.

So in other words, an important book about one of the darkest chapters in the history of the human race.

But it's also a book that, unfortunately, turned out to be a huge disappointment.

More than anything else, The World Must Know is one-sided beyond belief. Of course the main focus of a book such as this one should be, and is, the unbelievable suffering of the victims together with the origins and consequences of Nazi politics. But, no matter how despicable these crimes were, one must always keep in mind that the ones doing these crimes were other people, not machines nor wild animals, more often than not simple ordinary people who before the war had been your everyday German citizen.

However, throughout the book these perpetrators are depicted as otherworldly monsters, and even though no one can blame the victims and the rest of the world for thinking this way, it's still important to remember that to the perpetrators themselves, what they did was completely justified, of utmost importance, and not necessarily evil at all.

So why does this bother me? Well, no crime or injustice, no matter how extreme or massive, can be fully understood - and thus prevented from ever happening again - as long as only one side of the grisly story is told, and since The World Must Know focuses the way it does, the reader never gets a complete, or at least more extensive, understanding of what it was that actually happened. One of the reasons why this book was even written in the first place was, after all, to ensure that a Holocaust II never takes place. It's a noble quest indeed, but how is a crime ever to be prevented from happening again unless you have sufficient information about the ones who actually were willing to carry out the crime in question?

With this in mind, it's equally surprising why only a few lines of text, at the very end of the book, mention those who choose to deny or downplay the Holocaust. For a book as crucially important as The World Must Know, neglects like the ones just mentioned are, well, unacceptable.

And to make matters worse, the book doesn't have any kind of map and/or direction useful to anyone who'd want to visit the few concentration camps from the Second World War that still exist today. And that sucks, because I honestly believe that one must actually visit the sites if one wants to get some sort of genuine understanding of what happened there. Not only that, the book is quite heavy and cumbersome and from time to time written in an annoyingly repetitive way.

So in the end, what could have been an incredible - and mentally demanding - experience turns out to be mediocre and full of shortcomings.

With the ranks of survivors getting smaller for each year that passes, this book, shows us that we must never forget the atrocities that were commited towards humanity (Jews, Gypsies, Russian POW's and many others). The pictures that portray the holocaust are difficult to watch and the pictures of the shoes is a horrific reminder that these were once worn by people that hopes,dreams and aspirations for the future. The picture of the gypsy children is horrendous and it shows that the world must never ever forget the horrific acts that happened.

Why the need for a second edition of a classic Jewish studies survey of images from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC? Because with each decade that passes it becomes more important to preserve the images and realities of World War II events for future generations - and because THE WORLD MUST KNOW is an outstandingly well organized gathering of hard-hitting images from the German Holocaust. The Museum is a living memorial to the events and those who died - and THE WORLD MUST KNOW: THE HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST AS TOLD IN THE U.S. HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL MUSEUM is an outstanding memorial propelling its images beyond museum walls.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

This book, published by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC, is the museum in book form. Filled with hundreds of photos and illustrations, some of them quite graphic, along with short but descriptive and informative written pieces on everything one would need to know about the holocaust from beginning to end, the book does a quality job of introducing the subject to the reader.

This is not a scholarly text that those looking for historical detail would find useful. It is rather, a "coffee table" type book, and a very moving overview of the holocaust.

Riveting, moving, emotional, and gripping are all apt descriptives of the book. Well recommended for anyone needing the necessary information and knowledge of one of the ugliest times in history. At the quoted price, a great deal!

In Aces Against Japan, military historian Eric Hammel provides the reader with riveting first-person accounts from thirty-nine American fighter aces who fought their way across the bloody skies of the Pacific and East Asia from December 7, 1941 through the final air battles over Japan in August 1945. An effective interviewer, Hammel presents fascinating and informative air-combat tales and anecdotes from the men who were their. Vivid, superbly presented, Aces Against Japan is enthusiastically recommended reading for all military buffs and a very welcome addition to any World War II history collection or reading list.

Reading about the Pacific airwar in the recent novel, The Triumph and the Glory, sparked an eager interest in me in the topic and prompted me to order this book. I found "Aces Against Japan" great reading, filled with gripping accounts of action from the men who fought the air war against Imperial Japan. If you are interested in WWII aerial combat this book is for you!

A truly great book. I recommend it for anyone, not just history enthusiasts. The first hand accounts are well written and bring the stories to life. Equally as good is Hammel's other book, ACES AGAINST GERMANY.

The war in the Pacific was a bloody confrontation for the resolution of opponents and the straining combat environment. Flying under such pressure was undeniably a great feat and sustaining a proper level of operational capability was a superb example of airmanship. In this book all aspects of air combat come alive with the intriguing personal tales of the pilots who served in this theater. Each account reveals the insight of lifestyle, tactics and training that led to amazing results in aerial battles. From their personal experience, it is possible to catch the feelings the pilots had about their machinery, climate and combat methods before actually flying the missions in their harsh frontline.

Beatifully written, this volume is really easy to read, even if some accounts disclose a predilection to be stylish or glorifying from time to time.

This book is about the many pilots that fought for the US navy in the pacific Theatre.Many of which were very young but would die for their country!It talkes about their experiences of there first kills and becoming aces, shootings down zeros,and betty bombers and imperial japenses crusiers of all sorts in the pacific. Pilots talk about their experiencs in the battles of Pearl harbor,Midway,Port Moresby,Guadalcanal,Rabaul,Lyete Gulf,and Okinawa. Fly with 1st Lt. Jim Swett as he nails 7 bandits out of the sky with his F4F wildcat. Fly with pilots in their warhawks,wildcats,lightnings,Thunderbolts,mustangs,and corsairs agaist the 1 of the best navys in the world.Another book i want is Aces against germany but they dont print it anymore!Buy ACES AGAINST GERMANY and listen to the stories told by are heroes of ww2.The men that kept us free,the men that kept the axis from taking over the world,the men that died for us! Now id like to salute all the men that died for us in ww2 thanx guys! -HEAVEN BELONGED TO GOD.THE SKY BELONGED TO AMERICA'S ACES.

This large, high quality book is an exhaustive reference of maps and related commentary regarding the various stages of Armenian history. It is a must have companion for any aspiring Armenologist and a nice coffee table book for all Armenian families.

This is an amazing atlas presenting in-depth covering of the long and turbulent history of Armenia. There are numerous publications on Armenian history, but they either contain plain maps, or plan text. This one not only presents an enormous number of extremely valuable and rare historical maps covering about three thousand years' history, but also presents in a very reader-friendly style unbiased historical facts associated with every single map. More than that, it presents invaluable statistical information, such as the population by regions. It also presents very intriguing architectural data. One of invaluable features of the book is the coverage of the Armenian genocide and the first republic.
This is more than a book - it is a great treasure that anyone interested in history in general and Armenian history in particular MUST have.

A comprehensive collection of cartographic information related to Armenian History and Geography. The acompaning text is also very informative.

Although it is published as an atlas, through both historical and contemporary maps, diagrams and text, Robert Hewsen manages to trace all the important cultural, military, geopolitical and geographic influences and changes within Anatolia and the Caucasian region. For those interested in Armenian, Roman, Persian and Ottoman/Trukish history, it serves as a comprehesive, yet easy source, for both scholar and non-scholar alike.

Robert Hewsen's "Armenia A Historical Atlas" is a true masterpiece. This atlas contains 278 detailed color maps that chronicle Armenian history from antiquity to the present day. The maps are meticulously accurate, very detailed and visually appealing. They also show precise topographic, political, religious, onomastic and historical details. There is a mixture of many regional maps, detailed local maps, city maps and even building plans.

Each map is accompanied by a very detailed overview of the time period and theme covered in the map. The work is a remarkable feat of research, drawing on countless primary and secondary sources in numerous languages.

The real strength of this work is that it chronicles, in both visual and written form, Armenian history from generation to generation over millennia. As such, this book is an invaluable resource for all histories that coincide with Armenian history, especially the regions of regions of Eastern Anatolia, Western Iran and the Caucasus. You will find numerous historical details about Byzantine, Persian, Eastern Christian, Seljuk, Georgian, Ottoman, Russian and Soviet histories not easily found in other historical atlases.

I highly recommend this atlas to anyone interested in Armenian history or in the history of this region.

This is the perfect book for whoever wants to learn about what falconry was like a long time ago. However, I would not reccommend it to anyone who wants to learn about present day falconry. After you get your license, I would reccommend it. The reason I say this is because it can confuse the apprentice. It confused me. It does teach a lot though, and can give insight to diff. ways of training hawks. Belongs in every falconers library!

Frederick II was one of the very few brilliant minds of the Middle Ages who opossed the Pope and the teachings of the Church, even, it is said, declaring Jesus, Moses and Muhammad [...]. Patron of arts and Science, warrior and writer, it is also said that he spoke nine toungues (in an era when most members of the highest nobility were unable even to read). He was known as Stupor Mundi (Astonishment of the World), a Pope declared him the Antichrist, was twice excommunicated, and Dante sent him to the fires of Hell in the Divine Comedy. This book, about one of his passions, hunting, should therefore be in the shelves of every learned reader of the world. It is a fantastic source of information for falconers, historians (both of the Middle Ages and of Science) and for everyone interested in the history or the life of this great King, who, when crowned, wore a robe with this inscription wrote in Arabic: "May the Emperor be received well, may he enjoy vast prosperity, great generosity and high splendor, fame and magnificent endowments, and the fulfillment of his wishes and hopes. May his days and nights go in pleasure without end or change". So be it.

Beisdes being an incredible tract on falconry (modern ornithology has yet to surpass it, really. Doubly impressive, considering Frederick was writing some three centuries before the scientific revolution). This book is a cross-section of one of the most profound minds in all of Western history. Frederick the Second was the most magnificient of all the latter day emperors. From nothing he raised the throne of the Roman Empire to transcendant limits, defied both God and the Church, and brought in the fabled "third age" for the superstitious people of medieval Europe, who believed that he was either the bringer of Peace before the apocalypse or the Anti-Christ himself. His memorable utterance "...I am tired of being the anvil. Now I shall be the hammer!" was the inspiration behind Nietszche's work 600 years later. The Empire died with the next brilliant generation of the Hohenstaufen.

In light of all this, his book of falconry is indespensible. It shows us Frederick the Renaissance man, engaging in Scientific method in an era of revealed truths, and it shows us Frederick the hunter: shrewd, catching every detail, and always for the love of the chase. This book will amaze you to no ends!

As a practical guide to modern falconry, I don't believe this book would be as helpful as some on the market, but as a primary source from the middle ages it is first rate. The intricacies and details of the hunt, the housing, the care given to the birds, hounds, etc. . . . for this, the book is priceless. If you are looking for summaries of the hunting practices in the middle ages, Marcelle Thiebeaux and Anne Rooney are among the best authors to seek. If you want the actual details of the way it was by someone living at the time it was practiced, there is no better source than Frederick II's book (and few even close).

An absolute must for anyone interested in the lore and history of falconry. Also a good primary source for historical research involving the middle ages. Here is truly an opportunity for an apprentice falconer to learn the basics, terminology, and philosophy of the sport. Frederick II practiced the art of falconry out of a profound love for the sport and for his birds. The modern falconer who reads this volume is inspired to do the same. I highly recommend that anyone who is at all interested in birds of prey obtain this book. It will quickly become one of your most treasured possessions.

Great book, i've read most of the bio/autobio's about the old guys, Bob Capa, HCB ect and this is a whole new game. These guys were in my opinion, better than their older counterparts, the risks seem higher and with less payoff.

Much more than simply a book about photojournalists, The Bang Bang Club tells a haunting tale about several young men growing up in a rapidly changing and often hostile world. The friendships that form and are later ripped apart by bullets and suicide comprise the bulk of this well-told history. That South Africa's most important history is taking place as a background only mkaes it that much more of an interesting and enjoyable read. Yes, there is some violence, but that violence defines the world these photographers live and work in.

Not for the weak, The Bang Bang Club takes readers directly to the violence and brutality depicted in the four prize-winning photographs scattered throughout the pages. The writing is down and dirty, like the photographers themselves. But it works because of the subject. Get in click the photo and try not to throw up while you're doing it. Like most Yanks living a cozy life, I didn't know many details about the famous struggles in SA in the early 1990s. And I wouldn't have chosen to read a straight history. But the combination of first-person accounts of tragedy together with terrifically vivid and horrible photos and a gripping tale of danger lurking around every corner makes for an ideal way to learn something about that fascinating and difficult time in world history.

This is a disturbing book. After the first three chapters I put it down and only picked it up again two months later. Perhaps I was just emotionally at low ebb the first time, but the brutal honesty of the descriptions in those first chapters got to me. Even though I am a South African and lived through that eventful period, I was unprepared for the honesty of the authors. At the second attempt I finished the book and am glad that I did as it is really well worth the read.

The book describes the experiences of four well-known South African press photographers, at the peak of the political transition period of the country. Of the four, only two survived. Most South Africans as well as international readers interested in photojournalism, will remember the killing of Ken Oosterbroek by a stray bullet while covering an unrest situation in the townships. And the whole world was shocked by the brilliant photograph of a starving Sudanese child with a vulture patiently waiting in the background. Kevin Carter committed suicide not long after winning a Pulitzer Prize for that image. Although the book deals mainly with their work experiences, it also provides insight in the personal lives of photojournalists. It focuses mainly on events in South Africa, especially during those eventful years in the early nineties. However, there are also references to other African countries. A few months before I read this book, I also read Out of America: A Black Man Confronts Africa by Keith Richburg. This was another excellent and very honest book by a black American journalist who was assigned to the African Desk of the Washington Post. The combination of these two books gives an excellent perspective on the Dark Continent and scares the hell out of you.

I can strongly recommend both these books. It is a must-read for anyone interested in photojournalism and for people interested in the political transition period of SA. People who enjoy biographies will also appreciate the book.

This is an exciting account of South Africa, as observed through the lenses of four "conflict photojournalists", roughly between the time of Mandela's release to South Africa's first non-racial elections. There is a gripping, raw and ultimately, compassionate, quality about the writing, and the photos powerfully convey the horrors that this country went through. Equally enlightening are the insights into conflict photography, and the moral issues that arise by being a witness (and recorder) of human suffering. This book would interest anyone who's ever wondered how conflict photographers get into those crazy situations, the risks they took (sometimes fatal), and the adrenaline-laced thoughts that rush through their minds.

This book ranks amongst the very best military history I have ever read. It incorporates a detailed account of Charles XII's campaign that led his army deep into Ukraine, the action at Poltava, clear portraits of the main actors and moving accounts of what happened to so many of the ordinary Swedish soldiers (the wealth of information that the writer has for such an old battle is really astonishing). As it says on the cover, it pulls no punches about fighting. It makes an excellent starting point for delving into warfare of the era. I was especially impressed by the descriptions of the artillery fire and its consequences, the terrible fate of the wounded, the sacrifices made by the Swedish soldiers in order to save their king and the paradox ethics of warfare at that time. The book is mainly focused on the Swedish side with the Russians mentioned in a general and not so analytical way. Thus the subtitle on the cover should rather be "Potlava and the Demise of the Swedish Empire".

Firstly it must be said that this narrative is told from a distinctly Swedish perspective. The Russian forces are largely faceless and there nowhere near the same degree of detail about the Russian forces of Peter the Great as there is those of Charles the XII.

Englund starts with detailed analysis of force organisation. How did such a small country with a combined population of a little over a Million become the major power in Northern Europe? Some clues are found in the revolutionary way of raising the Swedish Army and the skilful leadership of Charles XII. The Swedes were also not the lovable pastey-faced ideoluges of peace and understanding as we know them today; they were ruthless in their suppression of enemy popultions and their rapacious behaviour in cowing almost all of central Europe. Moreover they highly motivated by territorial incentives. Peter the Great's Russia was unfortunate enough to be the nearest and most logical enemy to attack with Sweden traditionally controlling almost all of the modern-day Baltic states as an advanced glacis to both protect and launch offensives against Russia.

Englund dwells very little on the political motives for war and plunges right in with the march of the Armies from Livonia and modern-day Poland into the heart of Russia. We follow this army as Russia eventually draws is deeper and deeper into Sweden trading land for time and letting the elements of Russia eat away at the invader. In the hot summer sun the Battle of Poltava is really the only military option that Charles had and although it may have been successful one is always amazed at the plan to battle through a line of heavily armed forts, reform on the other side and then wheel to attack the main Russian force, also heavily entrenched. But Englund gives us a breath of adventure and dash in the movements of the Swedes and we hope that they will somehow pull if off...

The fighting is as desperate and intense as in any war, but as with the Germans over 300 yrs later, there is a particularly frightening shadow of being isolated and cut off by the Russians with no hope of reuniting with your main force.... all the time being deep in the Russian hinterland.

We follow the army as it turns and tries its getaway. Compressed within the ends of the Dnieper it eventually gives way, but our redoubtable Charles XII escapes. Englund leaves us there, there is nothing more about the remarkable adventure of Charles from that point, or his further attempts to dominate Europe, all crushed eventually. Poltava ended a 100 year dominance of the Swedes as the greatest land army in Europe, unbeatable until Poltava, but never really challenging the heartland of Russia.

One word: excellent. Wish more books of that level of quality were written and published.

Englund has written a detailed history of a key battle fought between Sweden and Russia in 1709. Although an interesting book it often becomes bogged down in its detail, both in terms of statistics and in terms of its description of the battle. The book is also limited in that it's told exclusively from the Swedish standpoint. There is little, if any, information from the Russian perspective that may have given more insight into how and why the battle evolved as it did.

However, the book is not without merit. The description of the Swedish army preparing for battle and its later disintegration as attrition and the fog of war took over, is key in understanding why the Swedes lost and allows insight into the impact of the fog of war. It also allows insight into how quickly that factor becomes real once a battle has been joined. Englund does an excellent job of describing the events leading up to the battle especially as they apply to the condition of the Swedish army on the eve of Poltava and its impact on why the Swedish king chose to fight when and how he did.

Despite the book's subtitle, Englund does little to link Poltava to the rise of Russia. Although it appears this is a generally accepted truth, he does not put the battle in the context of the Great Northern War, which didn't end until 1721.

This book was originally published in 1988. Its success took everyone by surprise, including the author, then a freshly baked historian at Uppsala University, Sweden. It has retained its bestseller status in Sweden ever since. Now, this excellent book about an important, but comparatively unknown event in world history, has been reissued in the U.S.
Peter Englund follows in the footsteps of Edward Gibbon, who taught that good history should also be good literature. The direct inspiration for this book was John Prebble's 1963 classic book Culloden

A great book and great pictures. Berlin has deeply changed in the last 150 years and all this has been documented precisely by great photographers: this the easiest way to show how. Texts are exhaustive too into describing "typical" life of a city.
Maybe Berlin has changed more in the last two decades then ever before: the last chapter of this book could be more fascinating and explorative, including the fact that there are a lot of pictures about it but it'd had took another book, perhaps. Maybe Berlin has changed again yet and is changing again now... so I'm waiting for a second edition.

This is a beautiful book! The photos are not only outstanding but they have zero pixillation. You can discern details such as the company name on the back of a horse drawn cart in a crowd. The turn of the century through the 1930's I thought were the best. You can stare at one and with out much effort find yourself slipping away into the photo.

The National Socialist period is not covered in depth nor do I think it needs to be. There are far an away plenty of books for that on the market. This is a book that can not be digested in one sitting. Take your time and look at each photo. The small details are fascinating.

My only problem with the book is the blue page stock that some of the entries is written on. It made it difficult to read the text. That is a minor quibble, especially in a book like this. If you buy a used copy make sure you check the price of shipping as this book weighs as much as a small childs school backpack.

What a book! My mother as well as her sisters were born in Berlin during and after World War II, so I grew up hearing family stories of this amazing city. This book provided a tremendous visual aid to all these stories. Looking at the images I could picture my grandmother as a young woman, and my aunts and my mother in the postwar years.
If you have any connection to this amazing city, this book will bring tears to your eyes, for all the hardship and challenges it has faced, and with what fantastic grace it reemerged like phoenix from the ashes.

I purchased this as a gift for my little (20 yo) brother's birthday. He was born in Berlin. First of all this book is HUGE! I love that the explanations of the pictures are written not only in English, but in German. What a fantastic masterpiece.

I left Berlin, early in 1937, aged five and a half, not to return until 1983, as a visitor, but I have childhood memories of the city, some of which go back to before I was three. Reinforcing those memories were tales I heard from my parents and the occasional, non-war-related movie. To see pictures of the streets and the faces, the clothing and the shop displays going back to before the First World War has been a source of continuing fascination for me. As is only proper in a book of this sort, the horrors that beset Berlin under Hitler and during the Second World War are also given their proper place in this book, a reminder that even one of the world's most sophisticated cities can be all but destroyed in degeneration and nevertheless, with appropriate assistance, as, for instance, the air lift, be resurected and restored. The photos were excellent, and the commentary, in English, German and French, insightful and instructive. Priced in the mid-thirties, the book sold at a substantially lower price than it did at New York's Museum of Modern Art.