Europe Books

This book is the journal of Rosemary Langheldt who left her job and home in San Francisco to serve with the Red Cross in London and then Germany. The story is told through letters home and journal entries, and both are highly informative and well written missives. Mrs. Norwalk recreates what it was like to live in England during the last year of the war. She is an empathetic observer of the many tens of thousands of men (boys) who stop briefly at her Clubmobile for a donut and a cup of coffee after disembarking in England and re-embarking for the fight on the Continent. Once Rosemary is transferred to Germany, she sees firsthand the near destruction of many German cities. Her writings are true to the time: these people were our enemies a short time ago and they tried to kill the boys who I helped serve. It also offers an honest appraisal of the Occupation where the black market made many Americans rich. This book will be of interest to anyone who wants to know about life in England after the Allied landings in June 1944 and the early days of the occupation in Germany.

Rosemary Norwalk left ardent swains and professional position to become a "doughnut dolly" with the American Red Cross. This University of California graduate and San Francisco native brings a disciplined eye to the social climate and
the broad spectrum of Americans thrown together by World War II. Following training in Washington, D.C. where she had to be restrained from sitting in the back of the bus, to commentary on the bravery of the ordinary Londoner under the buzz bombs, to experiences managing the large operation at a major port, she is insightful and forthright. Her many letters home are tied together with good historical notes on military operations and progress of the war. Mistitled a love story, it is instead a story of women who dared to step up and take on great responsibility for providing troop support both departing and returning through Britain. An example: A new"girl" arrives and one of the current Red Cross "girls" rushes to Rosemary with misgivings over her attitude and different looks. " The new girl announces: I'm Lil...I'm a Jew and I'm from Brooklyn and I don't like to take orders.' It was a challenge, not a greeting. I took a deep breath in the silence, then stuck out my hand and smiled. I hoped cordially. 'Welcome, Lil. I'm a gentile, I'm from San Francisco, and,' I groped for the right words, 'I don't like to give orders, so we ought to get along fine.' "

This is a wonderful book that I enjoyed the entire time I was reading it. It is one of those treasures of American history that should be read by anyone interested in WWII history. It is valuable look at the war from the perspective of an American Red Cross volunteer stationed in England. Not a nurse, as the author points out as the usual assumption, but one of those moral boosting "doughnut dollies" that sometimes were the last friendly female face a soldier would see before embarking for the battlefields of Europe.
Mrs. Norwalk was a wonderfully skilled writer at the time she wrote the letters and journal entries that make up the book. And the book is equally well crafted and edited, giving a detailed look at the work of the Red Cross workers on the docks of Southampton, England, their everyday lives and yes romances as the subtitle implies. It also includes personal photographs taken at the time.
An interesting item on page 99 is a list that explains the code used by the Red Cross to communicate the number of ships arriving or leaving, their sailing dates, and the number of soldiers to expect so they would be prepared and have enough volunteers, coffee, and doughnuts for them.
My sincerest thanks to Mrs. Norwalk (now deceased)for sharing this personal history with us, it reminds me very much of the letters my father wrote my mother during WWII that I have published into a book entitled: All My Love, Forever: Letters Home From A WWII Citizen Soldier. - Dale Lane

I picked up "Dearest Ones" in a discount store and didn't expect much. There's a certain sameness to the World War II diaries of young women: young woman from small town bucks convention, kisses parents good-bye, and runs off to get liberated. She has some very mild adventures, makes a lot of friends, says "gee golly whiz" a lot, and swans on home at the end of the book. A postscript informs us that she settled down with a man named Bob or Hank or Earl, of whom we heard absolutely nothing in the course of the book except for a few mentions of "letters from So-and-So in the South Pacific," and is living somewhere in the midwest near her three grown children.

Boy, was I surprised, and pleasantly so. Perhaps it helps that Rosemary Langheldt was older, in her mid-twenties, and already a career woman when she applied to join the Red Cross overseas. It also helps that she seems to have been a very curious and thoughtful person. As other reviews have mentioned, she takes notice not only of the glitz and fun of work abroad, but of Britain's sometimes stifling class distinctions, American racial prejudice, and the difficult moral compromises involved in the occupation of Germany. There is also plenty of romance, fun, and gee-golly-whiz adventure, but one never gets the sense that Rosemary lost track of her primary reasons for being in the Red Cross or saw her job as a mere means of adventure. Rather, she was there to work and the adventure happened along the way.

She was keenly interested in other people, making this book a pleasure to read-- it can be incredibly frustrating to read a diary when the only "character" the diarist is able to make three-dimensional is the diarist herself. She had a skill for interacting with people (I get the sense that I would never in a million years have been able to handle her job) and trying to understand them, and that curiosity and interest in humanity permeates the whole book. (I also feel compelled to mention, as a reader, that I really appreciated the narrative cohesiveness of this book. If someone is introduced, then they will be around until a reason for their departure is given. A lot of diaries suffer from people and events appearing, disappearing, reappearing, necessitating either a lot of head-scratching or awkward footnotes. This book doesn't have that problem. Rosemary was a really excellent correspondent.) This is really a stellar example of the genre, probably one of the best I've read.

I came across this book at a local bookstore and thought it was a very touching and well-written account of love during wartime. As the author lived in my area, I was able to meet her and have her sign my copy. I'm so glad I did as she passed away August 22, 2002. What a great keepsake for her family and a wonderful book for the rest of us. So if you've been meaning to write your memoirs, don't put it off! It may not ever be listed on Amazon but it would probably mean a lot to your loved ones.

My 10 year old daughter loves all four of the Melanie Martin books. She cannot put them down. Not only is she entertained, but also has learned a few things about other countries. As a teacher, I highly recommend the Melanie Martin books. I sure hope Mrs. Weston keeps adding more to this series.
Melissa Lombardo

The Diary Of Melanie Martin is a book about a young girl called Melanie. She flies to Italy with her family on an airplane when she had never been out of the U.S.A. She loved the thought going to a foreign country, but things didn't turn out how she expected... I liked this book and all the characters in it. My favorite part of the book was when Melanie just went back home to the U.S.A. She had realized a lot about her family and learned some important values. Melanie inspired me to be nicer to my sibling, as she did in the book. I definitely recommend this book to anybody who has a sibling, or who has never been out of his or her country. In this book, she gives the lesson about trying new things and taking risks. I am sure that anybody who reads this book will learn some useful information about life! Enjoy!

Having traveled to Italy with my family when I was twelve, The Diary of Melanie Martin called back dozens of similar memories of all the museums which were endured with the promise of gelato and of the delicious food which Weston describes to mouth-watering perfection. Reading this book, I kept on wishing it had been around for my family vacation so that my brother and I could have played "Point out the Naked People" during our museum tours; now I can only wholeheartedly recommend it to every member of a family planning a trip to Italy or just looking for a funny and truthfully-written book too perfetto to be missed.

I read melanie martin, and it was sensational!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I wanted to learn about Italy, and she helped me learn about it. Read this book, and you'll wanna read the other three book too.

A must read with the monalisa, sistin chapel, and boots the cat. Also it has ton of poetry. The book makes your mouth water for more.

When Hitler was asked about the possible negative consequences of the "final solution" in gassing all the remaining Jews in the world, he is reported to have responded by asking the question of "Who remembers the Armenians" who were killed by the "young Turks" at the end of the Ottoman Empire. While the numbers are in dispute, the reality is that over a million were killed outright or died of hunger during the campaign to exterminate the Armenians. But the real hidden holocaust took place over a decade later, when the Communist jackals running the "Evil Empire" in Moscow set about to eliminate the Ukrainians by systematic starvation, in far greater numbers than Hitler was able to accomplish with his ovens in concentration camps all over Europe.
Whoever Miron Dolot is, since he wrote this under a pseudonym for some reason, he lived a horror for many years that is incomprehensible for normal human beings. His description of the day-to-day struggle to exist under a system so evil that it boggles the imagination was very eloquent. Dolot talks about the neighbors who starved to death, families who engaged in cannibalism in order to survive, mothers committing suicide after the last of their children had died from malnutrition, frozen bodies stacked like firewood, roads littered with the remains of those who died trying to find a kernel of corn to ingest, and many other horrors that bring tears to your eyes. The Soviets did everything they could do to kill their opposition, including killing dogs and cats to keep them from becoming the last remaining food source for farmers who had no other option to stay alive. Even birds were shot from the trees to keep them from the starving peasants. But it was not limited to the Ukrainians; just ask the relatives of the millions of Chechens, Ingushetian's, and others who wanted independence and were rewarded with death in Soviet concentration camps called Gulags. Most of this story deals with a small Ukrainian village, but it is a microcosm of what happened in the Communist utopia under Stalin. Some of the stories from those who returned to the village after the horrors of being transported in cattle cars and escaped from the gulags are no different than the pictures of the same form of transport shown in many Holocaust movies.
But this story is far better than many of the holocaust films we have seen from Hollywood that concentrated on the one committed by Hitler. And why have we not seen this book on film to put all of the holocausts committed in the last century in context? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that McCarthyism still exists in its original form, when the communists controlled Hollywood in the 30's and apologists like Walter Duranty of the New York Times, who carries the label of "Stalin's Apologist" won a Pulitzer prize for his misreporting from Moscow about how great Stalin was. Ken Billingsley and his masterful book "Hollywood Party" shows that the real "blacklist" existed when loyal Americans veered from Moscow's party line, and explains Ronald Reagan's contempt for the communists who controlled his union until he won election to rid the union of these lice.
This is a great book. Hopefully someone like Mel Gibson will convert this to film for those who do not read, but are mislead by the Hollywood elite who condemn the USA and would have lasted two minutes under the Stalinist regime they glorify.

In 1929, Joseph Stalin ordered the collectivization of all Ukrainian farms. During the resulting upheaval, some seven million Ukrainians died of starvation. But, while it ended with mass starvation, the Soviet program of oppression started with property confiscation, arbitrary arrests, judicial and extrajudicial murder, and a whole constellation of unspeakable mistreatment.

One of the survivors of this holocaust was a young Ukrainian boy, who survived the conflagration and World War II, and succeeded in escaping to the United States. Written under the pseudonym of Miron Dolot, this heart-rending book tells the story of what he saw throughout the holocaust, and what he felt and thought.

I originally picked up this book because my own family, who were Russian Mennonites, left Ukraine before this time, but all of the relatives that stayed were annihilated to the last man, woman and child. Even so, I dare anyone to read this book and not be moved. The author does an excellent job of bringing the heartless insanity of this holocaust home to right where you live.

So, if you are interested in Russian or Ukrainian history, then I highly recommend this moving book to you.

This book is a record of what some daily life was like in the Ukrainian villages during the Great Famine.
It is his memoirs, so it cant really be judged for facts and such, but it seems very intresting to read, and accurate.
The numbers couldt be a tiny bit too high, but it might actually have been that, but we will never know due to the destruction of any documents concerning mass death in The Famine.
I say its a good book, but would only recommend it too people intrested in Russian History specifically, because its such a specific and narrow read on a subject, from a first hand account, which usually dont know everything. There are better academic books out there documenting the famine well, but this is nontheless a good read and history.

Excellent first hand account of the attempts of collectivization under Stalin; attempts that met with little or no success. I earned and received a Bachelor of Arts in History and this subject was never covered as well as it should have been. The "less hidden" Holocaust always seems to take center stage in this society. I became interested in the subject due to the flight of my paternal grandparents from the affected area prior to the full onslaught being felt.

It seems impossible that, in a place comparable to the American Midwest for rich soil, that the people who live there, millions of them, starve to death in spite of the bounty of their land. But their Ukrainian farms are collectivized by orders from faraway Moscow. The food is shipped to wherever the authorities decide it will go. This is not a dry history of bushels shipped and numbers of private farms collectivized, but a compelling depiction of lives progressively ruined as an ideology takes over. Families who resist collectivation are demonized as dirty, selfish kulaks, and are punished. The promises to the communities sound good, early on, but the resulting devastation of the Ukrainianian people that results ultimately reveals that there was not much in it for the people who worked the land.

Compact, great pictures, well indexed. It won't scream "TOURIST" when you pull it out of your bag. I got this one and the Paris book. Used them exclusively. Barely opened the other ones I got.

This books gives you the 10 top sites to see and itineraries. I like the itineraries (10), because it's very simple. It reminds you that your on vacation and you don't need to be running around town to enjoy London.

This is one of the best guides out there, very detailed & full of photos of things worth seeing & comes in a neat, small size so you can easily throw it inside your back-pack.

This book is compact and easy to carry around and has all pertinent information for daily use. Maps are good and the top 10 seemed to agree with my assessment.

My wife and I love the Top 10 series. We always buy a Frommers or Rick Steves book for the trip's planning, but the Top 10 is a must for the trip itself. It'll fit in a pocket (a long one), and will provide quick and easy references to the most important sights, as well as maps and public transportation routes.

I read a lot of books in my life but no jokes, this the funniest book i ever read. wow. this petit nicola is awesome. I recomend that u have a little french background so u can easily understand it. I love it. Every body that speaks french should get one

book arrived 5 days earlier than expected. book is very cute and simple. good for children who speak french or french students.

This is one of a series that I have found helpful in bettering my spelling, sentence structure, and overall confidence in the French language. Reading French goes a very long way to establishing and maintaining grammatic skills, and reinforces the many diverse ways that a new language differs from one's native tongue. I have no real teacher, and am grateful for resources like this that are keeping me moving forward.

It would be hard to overstate the charm of these wonderful stories. Like many others, I picked up this book to help with my project of trying to teach myself French. Not only does it serve that purpose, but it is so engaging that it has held me on course when the inherent difficulty of the language and some cross-cultural exasperation has tempted me to chuck the whole project. No way could I ever write this little dude and his copains out of my life.

Although hilarious, the Nicolas stories also touch you in a much deeper place. He is a little boy full of life and good humor, but he and his friends are also filled with every possible anxiety about growing up and finding their manly places in the world. They are charmingly obsessed with their status and their dignity.

One of my favorite stories is "Louisette," which recounts the visit of a young girl who comes with her mother for tea. Nicolas is pouty from the beginning as his mother dresses him up, in his view, like a clown. And maman assures him that if he doesn't show that he is well raised, he will have an affair with her!

Although Nicolas is always filled with explanations that burst forth in run-on sentences, this traumatic visit brings him close to tears more than once. In Nicolas's world, not crying is one of the main imperatives. Another is assuming a male's naturally dominant [irony] and superior role over young girls, who, after all, cry all the time.

Louisette starts off telling Nicolas that he looks like a monkey and things go downhill from there. She is so much more quick-witted, not to mention athletic, that she repeatedly leaps ahead and distracts him just when he is deciding whether to give her a punch in the nose or to pull her hair. And it is Louisette who is landing all the successful coups on Nicolas. Meanwhile, Louisette is always batting her eyelashes at the mamans and impressing them with what an adorable innocent she is!

As with the "Louisette" story of a young boy having to deal with a very formidable young girl who does not fit into his template defining his superior place in the world, all these stories are filled with such very real anxieties of male childhood. Let me say again, though, they are very, very funny! You love this kid.

How easy/difficult is this book for a student of French. My feeling is that previous reviews have made it seem a little easier than it is. There are definitely difficult bits such as when Nicolas is playing cowboys and describes all the various cowboy accoutrements that he and his friends have hung on themselves. Often, too, sentences are very run-on, mimicking Nicolas's overflowing emotions and self-justifications. And the mannerisms of his speech are realistic and more difficult than the dry dialogue of textbooks. But this is worth a little difficulty - I just want to caution against expecting a child's book to be extremely easy. It is manageable, but not in the first few weeks of studying French.

I also have a two-CD set of these stories read in French which I ordered from Amazon.fr. The CD set is a dramatic reading and it is an absolute delight. But it is considerably more difficult than the book. Those run-on sentences are read in rapid bursts, as intended. The reading wonderfully captures the charm of the book but definitely does not make it any easier.

My only exasperation with the Nicolas books is that I can not share them with my English-only friends. They touched me so much and made me laugh so hard. I hope I have inspired someone here.

I use Le petit Nicolas in my French classes. The book is divided into short chapters that students enjoy. The syntax can be challenging, but it also prepares them for more authentic literature in French 4. I highly recommend this book (and others in the Nicolas collection) to students, teachers, and French-lovers looking for a funny read.

This, the second volume of an awesome collective work, catalogues in rich detail the events and achievements of ancient Greece. But more than that, it tells the story about how the events unfold and gives insight into how science and philosophy came into being for the first time in civilization. For a long time, I had only a very scattered understanding of the ancient Greek world. This work gives me a much clearer view of the whole picture. There were a few sections where I did get stuck on the details - in the enumeration of people, places, and events - but it wasn't very often and it was probably due more to a lack of imagination on my part.

In trying to make a overly short synopsis, the book can be viewed as divided into three parts covering three different eras in Greek civilization. The first part delves into indefinite origins that can be traced back to the culture of ancient Crete, then the Mycenaean civilization, the Achaeans and the Homeric epic of Troy - which the archeologist Schliemann found actually existed in Asia Minor - and then the Dorian invasion. The second part concerns the Persian War and the coming of age of the city-states including Athens, it's friends and foes; and also the great advances in art, literature, science, philosophy and law as well as the decline that results mainly from the Peloponnesian War. The third part concerns the decay of mainland Greece but the diffusion of it's great culture to most of the known world through especially the conquests of Alexander the Great.

Vital to the development of Greek culture was the city-state, which grew in mainland Greece after the Dorian invasion (1100-950BC), and spread across the Aegean to the many islands and far-off shores of the Mediterranean. The city-states were separated and protected by mountainous terrain, which made it difficult to assert centralized control. They were linked principally by the waterways of the Aegean, and this linkage stimulated trade and preserved a common heritage, despite the many squabbles and wars. It was the burgeoning of trade and the opportunity for people to interact with others of different cultures that helped shake some of the ingrained beliefs and traditions and stimulate the inquiring mind. The Greeks were also freed to question supernatural explanations of the universe - and therefore develop science and philosophy - because they did not have a powerful priestly class, and thus were not so readily subject to persecution for the shattering of old myths. They were really quite ingenious in an age that had a very narrow view of the world. For example, Eratrosthenes made calculations concerning the curvature of the earth and computed the circumference of the earth to be very close to what we know it today.

One of the remarkable facts of the Golden Age of Periclean Athens (but not uncommon in those days) is that of the total population of Attica, some 315,000 peope, something like 115,000 were slaves. Of that difference consider, too, the number of woman, who were not participants in the political process. With that kind of distribution - more than half were not eligible - democracy had to be tenuous and fragile at best. For much of the history of the Greek city-states, there was this back-and-forth struggle between an obligarchy, the very richest and the aristocratic, and free citizens, who managed from time to time to rise above menial labor and assert themselves. During the time of Pericles, somehow a significant number of free citizens became active participants in government, signifying the dawning of a democratic process. But it did not last for long.

This is the second of the multi-volume work by the Durant's. It is as good as the first (and not wanting to give anything away, chuckle), they only get better and better. The author's prose is almost as wonderful as the actual historical work. The author apparently spent fifty years in writing these books and it certainly was worth the effort. He, and his wife, make history come alive. Now granted, I am a history buff and simply cannot get enough of it. I realize that not all share my love for the subject, but I truely feel that the entire work should be required reading in our schools. Not only are they superior to any and all text I am familiar with, they are truely a joy to read. This particular volume gave me much more insight to the ancient Greeks, their culture, art and philosophy than any work I have read, thereby giving me a much better understanding to our own culture, etc. It's just me, I know, but an added joy to this work was prowling used book stores and finding these things one by one to add to my collection. Highly recommend these books.

My set of Durants The Story of Civilization was purchased at a garage sale. Poor fools, they did not know what they were selling. Their loss is my gain. Volume Two, however, was missing, a situation that was remedied when I wandered into a used bookstore and there, on a shelf was Volume Two- The Life of Greece calling my name. I immediately forked out eight bucks and headed down to the local coffee house and began a fascinating and enjoyable read.

Having read through Volume 5, The Age of Faith, this has to be the best volume thus far- I could hardly put it down. To be sure there are areas that one has to plow through, that is to be expected of a work of this scope; but Durant has filled my world with the genius, history and drama of ancient Greece.

What made this book so fascinating is that, over and over again, Durant brought us into the lives of these men. We are not merely dealing with historical figures, but real people who lived, made love, made war, wrote masterpieces and who could act with courage, fall to cowardice or just make stupid mistakes. By far my favorite chapter was The Suicide of Greece. It told how a great civilization could fall. The story of Alcibiades was absolutely riveting. Both a brilliant leader and a scoundrel, he pushed Athens towards destruction by his fraternity style pranks that doomed his invasion of Sicily contributing significantly to the downfall of Athens as a power.

Consistent with all his volumes, Durant again shows us the cycle of civilization. He shows us again that the life of thought endangers every civilization that it adores. He writes:

As civilization develops, as customs, institutions, laws, and morals more and more restrict the operation of natural impulses, action gives way to thought, achievement to imagination, directness to subtlety, expression to concealment, cruelty to sympathy, belief to doubt the unity of character common to animal and primitive men passes away; behavior becomes fragmentary and hesitant, conscious and calculating; the willingness to fight subsides into a disposition to infinite argument. Few nations have been able to reach intellectual refinement and esthetic sensitivity without sacrificing so much in virility and unity that their wealth presents an irresitble temptation to impecunious barbarians. Around every Rome hover the Gauls; around ever Athens some Macedon.

I hope that Durant has not just written our epitaph as a great nation.

Durant paints a fascinating portrait of Greek life and culture as well as the history of a country that provided a foundation for modern thought and politics in the modern world. Highly recommend for history buffs as well as serious students.

Authors Dr. Will & Ariel Durant have compiled the history of ancient Greece in this, the second volume of The Story of Civilization.

At over >700 pages in length, the Durants launch into great detail about: The mysterious lost civilization of the island of Crete, land of the Minotaur and the labyrinth. The violent society of Homer's Iliad. The rise of classical Greece; a society of traders and navigators, explorers and colonists, soliders, sailors, and settlers. The origins of democracy and the political legacy to the Western world. The heroic battles against the Persians. The golden age of Athens. Backgrounds of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the birth of the Academy, and of course....Alexander the Great! Plus much more including plates and maps.

As with all of the volumes of The Story of Civilization, these books were written to stand alone and most likely will be read by the more serious students of history, however, they are composed and written to be understood by the layperson as well. In short, these books are for everyone! I rate it at five stars as the Durant's Magnum Opus!

This is no rehash of other books. Yes, there are new sources and insights in this book. And what some of the other reviewers do not note is that Bungay draws upon the research of what might be called the "buff" community, those interesting and obsessed individuals who have devoted years to amassing information and understanding the men, decisions, organizations and technologies that all interacted to play out the Battle of Britain. It takes skill, patience and organization to write a book like this. I wish I could create a history book this beautifully written -- too bad more books are not up to the standards of this one.

For inquiring minds who wish to know more: Derek Robinson's "Invasion, 1940" perfectly complements this book; John Terraine's "The Right of the Line: The Royal Air Force in the European War, 1939-1945" provides a thorough and detailed "official" history with many more delightful details.

A truely great history of the Battle of Britain. The best I've ever read

Having read most everything about the Battle of Britain while I was growning up, I came across this book by Stephen Bungay a couple of months ago and decided to read it. It is an outstanding book, well researched and well written. It doesn't so much dispell myths as to accurately explain how they came into being. His treatise on war, on fighter pilots, on battle conditions, tactics and planning simply expands one's awareness of what it takes to emerge victorious in battle. The myths are not myths after all. They were earned the hard way. This is a compelling read and I recommend it without hesitation.

This book details the organization of Fighter Command prior to the Battle of Britain and then documents how it functioned in action during the battle. The real heroes here are Dowding who created Fighter Command and Keith Park who commanded 11 Group which was responsible for the crucial airspace over southern England where the bulk of the battle was fought. There are plenty of personal stories of pilots and a good amount of the book is devoted to the aircraft of both sides. The Luftwaffe command structure is also detailed and the strategies of the German commanders analyzed. I found the book riveting and could not put it down even though before reading it I already knew (or thought I knew) a lot about the Battle of Britain. After the critical period was over Dowding was removed as chief of Fighter Command and Park was transferred out of 11 Group - poor rewards for their efforts. This book attempts to set the record straight and give appropriate credit to them.

Having read David Fisher's "Summer Bright and Terrible" and its even better predecessor "A Race on the Edge of Time," both of which deal with the singular importance of radar in saving Britain and, thus, Western Civilization from the wretched Nazis, I was hoping to recapture the excitement of those times in this work. Unfortunately, while "The Most Dangerous Enemy" had all of Fisher's facts--and lots more--it never managed to convey either Fisher's sense of immediacy or the fullness of the players in that civilization-defining epoch. If you're writing a paper on the era, Dangerous Enemy is your better source book. But if you want a story that excites your mind and engages your emotions, be sure to get one of Fisher's books, preferably "A Race..."

To read Dr. Baiev's story is to once again, but on a uniquely disturbing level, understand the cruelty that war imposes upon those who's only mission is to help the injured. I am a surgeon myself, and I have had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Baiev. His story and his actions are the stuff of heroism. But he remains an outcast by his former Soviet countrymen. How ironic today's papers tell of yet another Russian Crisis (Georgia). How many other Dr. Baiev's are out there as I write. Many, I'm sure he himself would say. Many.

This book is far more than a memoir -- it is a page-turning narrative of the wonderful and terrible drama of life and war in a region about which we think little and know even less, written by a man of exceptional bravery and humanity. I met Dr. Baiev shortly after his arrival in Washington, DC, where my girlfriend (working for Physicians for Human Rights at the time) coordinated PHR's assistance to Dr. Baiev in Washington. At the time I had little appreciation for just what this man had been through, although it was obvious he had survived a harrowing ordeal. To read now the full story behind the brief weeks in which his life intersected ours has been both fascinating and deeply moving. His account of living as a Caucasus youth in the Soviet Union, his struggle to become a doctor, and his extraordinary dedication to his profession, his people and and his faith through two protracted and brutal wars is by turns fascinating, inspiring and heartwrenching. You will not find a more intimate account of the conflict in Chechnya, nor a better illustration of the way that such conflicts have become simultaneously global and local. If you care about peace, if you care about the prospects for a free and prosperous world, you cannot afford not to care about the gross violations of human rights that accompany conflicts increasingly economic, sectarian and cultural all at once. Dr. Baiev's gripping account puts a profoundly human face on the complexity and the urgency of coming to grips with the destructive conflicts that need not and should not continue into the twenty-first century.

If you plan on investing your time in reading one book this year make it this one. It is a remarkable tale of an honourable man trying to survive in barbaric times under the tyranny of Putin's Russia. Hassan Biev states that one in every five chechens has been killed as a result of the conflict. However after all this carnage the war stills continues and the state still exits in the hearts of men like Dr. Biev. Perhaps the actions of people like him will ultimately lead to peace in that most violent of places.

Let me begin by saying that if everything in this book is true Dr. Baiev has my total respect and admiration. It's inspiring to realize that people of his caliber do exist.

There are, however, one or two disquieting features of this book that I feel compelled to mention. After having read the initial reviews I had expected not only a compelling story of human strength amidst tragedy, but a book of high literary accomplishment. That has not come to pass. Whatever Dr. Baiev's own writing style, it has been submerged in the journalistic style of Nicholas and Ruth Daniloff. Nick Daniloff is he of the famous Soviet espionage sting of the 1980's when he was arrested in Moscow in an apparent KGB set-up. Ronald Reagan himself is reported to have been involved in getting Daniloff released. I just wish Dr. Baiev had been able to choose a more literary writer to assist him in developing this book.

Another point I'm almost embarrassed to make is that Dr. Baiev comes across in this book as almost too good to be true. Not only is he an heroic doctor, brave humanitarian, and loyal son, brother, and friend, he is also described a medical entrepreneur, a doctor who not only moonlights as a cosmetic surgereon, but who is also a national martial arts champion! If this book is made into a film I can only imagine Harrison Ford playing the part of Dr. Baiev. It almost seems as if some of Dr. Baiev's financial and sports successes were included in the book just to appeal to the certain segment of the community that might find those aspects of his life as compelling as the humanitarian work of saving lives and limbs amidst war and destruction.

Nevertheless, the book is full of unique tid-bits. While many people reading it will be aware of Russia's halting attempts to convert its military forces from a large army of draftees to a smaller one of professional soldiers this is the first time I'd seen such a negative depiction of these new contract soldiers. I don't think I'd have gotten this insight anywhere but in this book. Likewise, it was also very interesting to read that in addition to the fight between the Russian military and the Chechen rebels there is a criminal, opportunistic element also actively engaged in exploiting the tragedy of Chechnya and which appears to be much more influential than I would have imagined. I think that this insight is very valuable, not only in the context of the Chechenya, but in understanding the influence of criminal opportunists in other conflicts. For me this insight itself was worth the price of the book.

I certainly recommend The Oath, worts and all.

If you are interested in war, modern politics, news, or human rights, you need to read this book. It shows what warfare is really like, what happens to people after governments make decisions. And it is heartbreaking, but you cannot put it down.

The conflict in Chechnya is mostly forgotten and then often miscontrued topic for most of the world. Dr. Khassan Baiev's memoir sheds a light on the horrors of life in Chechnya since 1994, what this ghastly, genocidal war means for the common people and Russian grunts. Baiev is a surgeon with a big heart, and never turned anyone away. He explains casualties from the rather disturbing anatomical perspective of a surgeon, illustrating how fragile bodies and how much pain people can suffer.

The book starts with his life before the war: of the ancient and beautiful Chechen traditions, of the extreme and often brutal Russian racism. As you read the book, the cultural differences between the ancient highlander Chechens and the rest of the Western world seem dwarfed by how lovely their life was, and how, as you read it, you can see yourself in their world. What stays with you is that once you empathize on this level, the eruption of war and desolation is utterly heartbreaking. Because Baiev lived it we see an intimate world being shattered, not a headline.

Baiev (narrowly) survives years of war until both the Russians and Chechen guerillas are out for his head because his clientele includes everyone (and mostly civilians) so he has to escape to America, and eventually moved to Boston. His observants description of coming to America, seeing how peaceful it is here, how people of many races coexist, and how a town in Vermont took care of his family, gives you a deeper appreciation for what we have in this country and that many take for granted.

I've never read anything that captures so vividly and personally the heartbreakingly human face of war. I think everyone should read it just to be educated on something that is going on at this moment, but that many people do not know about or simply don't understand. It speaks of overwhelming swaths of cruelty and evil, but also transcendent moments of grace and joy, humanity between enemies. Baiev treated anyone who needed help, so we see souls, not sides.

What steals the breath from you, what made me rather emotional, is how war is revealed here as so useless, so tragic, so profoundly evil because we are all people, and war destroys and perverts this sacred life that we all share in.

This was an interesting, well-written book; it's obvious that Mr. Crivellone and his family love Bavaria/Oberammergau, and it was fun to read about their adventures there. The book is also a helpful guide for anyone planning a trip to this region of Germany.

A great book that has prompted me to make Oberammergau a must stop on my next visit to Europe.

I loved reading this book so much that I didn't want to put it down! It was very exciting to learn about this family's experiences in this quaint German village. I really felt as though I was in Oberammergau with them because the experiences and descriptions of this charming town are so real and so honest. Oberammergau is definitely on my list of places to visit the next time I travel to Europe!

We were about to take our first foreign trip to Germany with our young children. We knew we wanted and needed a "home base" but had no idea where! Then we read this --- we ended up booking two weeks in an Apartment in Oberammergau from someone Don mentioned in the book. We found that reading this before we went gave us a different perspective on living, even temporarily, in a foreign country --- from the "Barvarian Pudding" produced by the town's cows to the friendly people of Oberammergau, this book helped make our vacation into an unforgettable adventure. It really helped to make us feel like Oberammergau was our home. We can't wait to return. Thank you for helping us discover this special place!

A wonderful sharing of life in the Village of Oberammergau!

This is very much like a walk through a family's "secret garden", where their experiences and relationships have been grown and nurtured ...

By the last page, I feel that I had grown too!

As though I, also, had traveled the distance of time and places with the Crivellone family ... learning more about the many that have succeeded in keeping their rich history & culture vibrant and alive for all that live in or visit the Village of Oberammergau.

Thank You! ... for sharing a bit of your lives! In doing so, I have learned much, especially about those that shared their lives with you and your family!

I read this wonderful book as a young man back in the sixties and I have just ordered a new version to recapture its wonderful moments

But I also saw the film version many years ago.

No I would be wery exited if anyone could lead me to a DVD or VHS version of the film

How gratifying to read the other reviews, and to learn that others have also experienced and loved this book at different times in their lives. The remarkable thing about it is how Dr. Munthe speaks to us in different ways at different ages. As a teenager, I was impressed by the passions, even though a lot of the details were above my head. In my late twenties, the way he tried to balance career and his love for San Michele was very meaningful. As a 44-year-old, I was impressed (and saddened) with the loneliness of Dr. Munthe's struggle, with really only his animals for company. While he speaks of friends, he shares little about them. And nothing about a lasting romantic involvement.

We all have our San Micheles. They may not be homes, but they are ideals toward which we strive. But for me, it exists only in my mind. Dr. Munthe was in some ways very lucky, yet also cursed, to be able to bring it to life.

The only frustrating aspect of "San Michele" is that it is, as its author notes, a fragment. I am interested to learn more of this fascinating man. Does anyone know if any biographies are in print, or in English? Thank you.

I came to this strange and wonderful book without the slightest inkling of what it was about -- simply because it was in the recommended reading for many guidebooks about Italy. First and foremost, it is an autobiography of a great physician and animal lover who just happened to spend some years of his life on Capri.

Autobiographies can make for strange reading, especially when there are obvious omissions. Although Axel Munthe frequently accuses himself of being a ladies' man, there is no mention of any love interest by name or even generic description. (That reminds me of film director Josef von Sternberg's FUN IN A CHINESE LAUNDRY, where we learn in passing that the author was married because of a cryptic mention in a subordinate clause 300 pages into the book.) Also missing is any mention of Munthe's childhood, although I understand there is at least one other autobiography written by him (MEMORIES AND VAGARIES), which I have not read.

There is, however, one section that does not appear in any autobiography that I have ever seen: An anticipation of Munthe's Last Judgment in Heaven following his death, with St. Peter, Moses, Athanasius, and St. Francis joining in the discussion.

STORY OF SAN MICHELE ranges from Paris to Lapland, Rome, Naples, Calabria, and Capri. We see duels, medical cases of wealthy women with imaginary diseases, demonic housekeepers, quacks, midwives, prostitutes, victims of cholera and earthquakes, brigands, shamans, and even an alcoholic ape. Munthe is a magnificent raconteur, and his book is a joy to read and reread.

How can one write a review of The Story of San Michele that comes close to doing justice to the book? There are many humorous episodes, such as The Giant and Mamsell Agata, touches of the macabre in the description of the cholera epidemic in Naples, misadventures, like the journey to Sweden accompanying a young man (then his corpse). There are also angry moments, as when his dog Tom is brutally kicked by the slimy Vicomte Maurice. Who could not be moved by the story of the boy John, who was rescued by Munthe but never lived long enough to find a loving home. It is a book that includes many memorable events in a life that was very full indeed. Many of the chapters in this book could be made into marvelous films, given the right adaptation.

The Story of San Michele is very well written, to say the least, and the many people, events and personal feelings of the author combine to make this a special adventure. Perhaps most special of all is Axel Munthe's relationship to animals that allowed him to get close, even to "wild" animals and have a special relationship with them. He was a man who held nature and all life in special regard but was pragmatic in the face of illness and death.

I have had a copy since 1988 and I have given Axel Munthe's book as a gift and been thanked for the introduction. I could not recommend this book highly enough.

My father had mentioned this book to me as a teenager. I read portions of it then, but have always wanted to read it in full. Finally, I found a paperback edition and found an absorbing and thought stimulating book. Dr. Munthe's care of the sick, his love of animals and the characters he describes, all will stay in my memory. This is not a book that you read once. I plan to read it again and again. Hopefully I will be able to visit Villa St. Michele some day and see the beauty of the place that he saw. I hope to find a bound edition with the photographs.