Germany Books

This scholarly work, carefully footnoted and annotated, is a must for Berlin Wall mavens and all historians. I can't emphasize enough the irony of the timing of the publishing of this book...literally weeks before the Wall fell. Mr. Wyden apparently decided not to publish a second edition with an epilogue as the whole world found out on Nov 9-10,1989.

This book is a definite must-read. No one could have predicted the fall--Mr. Wyden simply said that it would eventually happen.

I read this book early in 1990. I recall it as a "can't put down book". But, I had experienced the WALL in July,1989, also visited East Berlin. I was in the Army NG in 1961 when the wall went up and worried about being federalized and all of us fighting yet, again, another War in Europe. We all know the outcome, but after visiting both Berlin's I finally understood what it meant to be FREE. Again from memory, Peter Wyden wrote the book before the wall came down, in it he stated that Wall would stand for a long time. Don't hire Peter Wyden as a prophet or seer. However, you should read the book.

Keep in mind that Disney's Wonderful World of Reading books are intended to help youngsters start reading on their own, because this book isn't meant for the advanced reader. The story is shortened and altered somewhat and the text is simplified using easy vocabulary words. The graphics are part of the story in these books, as well, making it easy for young readers to see what's happening as they learn to read.

The entire set is standard Disney - bright, beautiful graphics to catch kids' eyes and pull them into the wonderful world of reading!

This book, created by Disney, does not follow exactly the same plot line as Disney's movie does. In this version a princess is born, and the Queen decides to give a party. Many people are invited to the party, as well as three fairies. At the party, right after the first two fairies had given their gifts, an evil fairy that wasn't invited bursts in and says the princess will die in her 16th year. Then she disappears. The third fairy, the one who hasn't given her gift yet, changes it so that she will only sleep until a prince rescues her. Sure enough, she pricks her finger on a spindle, and falls asleep until a prince rescues her. No mention is made of her life between the day she was born and the day she pricks her finger, which annoys me, but is not necessary to the plot.

The illustrations are very like the animated movie, but slightly simpler. For the most part the illustrations are very expressive, and do a wonderful job of conveying the intended expression. There is one instance however, where it looks as if the prince's horse is trying to flirt with the dragon the prince in trying to slay, and I doubt that this was intentional.

The wording is simple, straightforward, and it flows well. The sentences tend to be short, but that doesn't impede the flow much, or at all detract from the book, which is very good.

I must give Disney credit for actually having a spindle to prick her finger on. All too often books have pictures of a small spinning wheel with a design that has no spindle. This wheel, while it is a small one, has a spindle on it to help with spinning flax, so it is actually possible for her to have pricked her finger on the wheel shown. Good job Disney!

Loggie-log-log-log

This book is just superb. This book is made up of pictures from American troops fighting in Europe. Some would call this a picture book, but in my opinion it takes you right into a soldier's and pilot's point of view. This book would make a great companion to an average history book because while you are reading you look at the pictures in this book and it will almost bring the war to life. This book takes you into Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland with the build up of American troops. Then you go into France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany. The pictures capture what the American troops saw and fought over. It shows the weapons they used and some of the ones they discovered the Germans had. Many of these photos I have seen in history books of all kinds. It some what illustrates the battlefields in Europe. It is basically a handheld museum. In my opinion you won't be sorry purchasing the book. It is the photo album of the American involvement in Europe during World War II.

This book is just superb. The book is made up of pictures from American troops fighting in Europe. Some would call this a picture book but in my opinion, it takes you right into a soldier's, and pilot's point of view. This book would make a great companion to an average history book because while you are reading you look at the pictures in this book and it will almost bring the war to life. This book takes you into Northern Ireland, England, and Scotland with the build up of American troops. Then you go into France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany. The pictures capture what the American troops saw and fought over. It shows the weapons they used and some of the ones they discovered the Germans had. Many of these photos I have seen in history books of all kind. It some what illustrates the battlefields in Europe. It is basically a handheld museum. In my opinion you won't be sorry purchasing the book. It is the photo album of the American involvment, in Europe, during World War 2. If you weren't in World War 2 this would be a great way to relive it!

Given the central role of World War II in American culture, most Americans know surprisingly little about its impact on German civilians at the end stage of the war. More, the Germans themselves, copying the American view of W.W.II as the absolutely "good, clean, just war we won" over the absolutely bad and collectively guilty Germans, have shown little interest in remembering their own war experiences. Since the Allies' goal to get rid of a criminal regime had been good, very few if any questions were asked about their means, such as the American and British fire-bombing, especially late in the war and using new and devastating technology. It is still controversial in the U.S. and in Germany to discuss the wholesale destruction of German cities and the mass killing of civilians in terms other than the richly deserved punishment of the defeated. But the extent and manner of this destruction was an important part of that arguably worst war in Western historical memory and it needs to be analyzed and remembered as such. Based on a wealth of new historical and contemporary documents, Barnouw's new book The War in the Empty Air discusses the political uses of the memory of W.W.II in their impact on the history of the German and American experience of that war. Anticipating accusations that German interest in their own memories meant disrespect for the uniqueness and centrality of the Holocaust, the German intellectual and political elites have over many decades censored them so that they only recently began to be discussed more openly. Barnouw welcomes this beginning of a more inclusive, more questioning, more historical narrative of W.W.II, not only in Germany, because it might enable more people to learn more about and from that huge human disaster that was W.W.II. Instructively, one of her topics is the invocation in the post-war era of the Good, Just W.W.II to justify America's unjust wars and war-like interventions, a prime example being the invasion of Iraq. To quote from one of the reviews at Amazon.co.uk: "Barnouw's book covers the ground thoroughly. It is a book for the thoughtful reader." Given the catastrophic situation in Iraq and the current critical interest in the politics of the Israel Lobby, it is also a very timely book.

This book is an examination of thinking about World War II from the German side. Right after the war a series of photographic essays were published by the Allies showing the concentration camps and the inhumanity shown by the Nazi's on conquered people. These images seem to have created a skeleton in the closet that in turn became difficult to discuss.

Now that sixty years have passed since the end of the war, and the integration of what were two Germanies into one, there appears to be an awakening of discussion about the war. Perhaps there will be a merging of the horror of Auschwitz with the horror of Dresden.

I notice though there is very little such discussion coming from Japan. Nothing appears to have been Japan's fault. They were going peacefully along when all of a sudden we started dropping atomic bombs on them.

William Samelson's WARNING AND HOPE is an outstanding book. Dr. Samelson provides a well-documented and well-researched account of significant events and people concerning the Holocaust. The book is well-written and is a valuable addition to Holocaust studies.

This is a remarkable book. William Samelson survivied slave labor and concentration camps, and has written an outstanding account of the history of anti-Semitism, the Nazi war machine, and the causes of the Holocaust -- yet still retaining his humanity even while writing about those whose evil destroyed his family. A brave, erudite, and scholarly man, Samelson has added an important document to the Holocause literature.

I am a history buff, and "WEHRMACHT DIARY" is without question one of the best books in recent years that I have read dealing with World War II. It's not often you get a chance to look at the war through the eyes of a German soldier, but "WEHRMACHT DIARY" gives the reader that opportunity. Similar to the films "Cross Of Iron" and "Das Boat," you almost - but not quite - start rooting for the Germans near the end of the book. The author, Wolfgang Cooper, has done a superb job of chronicling the life of Major Siegfried Knappe, who fought on every major battle front save for the North Afrikan campaign, met Hitler face to face three times, and was in the bunker near the end of the war when the Russians were storming the gates of Berlin. Knappe's detailed accounts of the five years he spent in Russian captivity are also fascinating. The fact that this man survived numerous injuries and personal set-backs, and survived to eventually bring his family to the United States, is truly a remarkable story. I also enjoyed the section near the end of the book where Cooper gives a reasoned and intelligent view on the difference between Nazis and party ideology and regular German soldiers who were ordinary men fighting for their country. Unlike many history books that lose the reader after the first chapter, "WEHRMACHT DIARY" is written in a straightforward, easy to understand style. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about World War II and world history.

I am a history buff and have always enjoyed World War II stories that are somewhat out of the mainstream. "WEHRMACHT DIARY," written by Wolfgang Cooper, ends up being one of those stories. The book follows the exploits of Major Siegfried Knappe, who fought for the German Army in virtually every major campaign during the conflict - was wounded numerous times - ended up in the Fuhrer bunker with Adolf Hitler near the end of the war where he served as a communications expert, shuttling back and forth between the front lines and the final German defenses - spent five years in various Soviet prison camps after the war - and finally made his way to East Germany, where he helped his family escape to the west. The amazing Major Knappe finally made his way to the United States. This is a very good book about a good soldier and a good family man. Similar to the movies "Das Boat" and "Cross Of Iron," I found myself pulling for Knappe and his comrades to get out of their perilous situations. Fascinating and easy to read. Not to technical. I loved it - and so did my father.

Perry Biddiscombe asserts that historians have overlooked the extent of Nazi partisan warfare during and after World War II. With meticulous research and drawing on U.S., German, French, British and some Soviet sources, the author admirably fills in this void by piecing together an account of Nazi resistance. He focuses on the Nazi Werwolf diversionary groups, part of the SS-Police establishment and closely linked to the Hitler Youth corps. These groups were established to engage in partisan resistance to the invading Allied forces.

Biddiscombe describes their organizational, ideological and social character and follows their development inside a Nazi bureaucracy beset with turf wars and personality clashes. Noting that "the Nazi Reich was hardly a unified totalitarian state, but rather a feudal patchwork of rival fiefs," he adds a geographic element to his analysis, highlighting the regional differences among the werewolf groups within Germany and the differences found in groups outside German territory.

The Nazi resistance or partisan movement began in 1944 as the Allies began to dislodge the German army from occupied territories. Biddiscombe draws on detailed archival materials to describe how support for a resistance movement came from a variety of competing interests within the Third Reich. First established as part of Himmler's SS, then coupled with the Hitler Youth, the Werwolf groups were subsequently dominated by the military who saw their usefulness in slowing the Allied advance. In analyzing the active role of the Werwolf in partisan resistance, the author presents many detailed descriptions of attacks on Allied soldiers and collaborating Germans (sniping, decapitation wires, assassinations, poisonings, etc.) and sabotage actions. He documents a few cases involving children as young as 9 or 10 years old (p.62 and p.64) and many conducted by teenagers (pp.59 ff.).

At times the author's analysis distinguishes between Werwolf attacks and partisan resistance that occurred before and after the German surrender, but generally this distinction remains in the background. This distinction deserves greater prominence. While some fighting has continued after the formal end to many wars, most stops soon thereafter. (Fighting continued only briefly in Texas after Lee's surrender and President Johnson?s declaration that the civil war was over.) Continued and vigorous post-surrender partisan activity in Germany would have revealed a significant residual pro-Nazi German sentiment and resulted in a much more difficult occupation.

Biddiscombe at one point characterizes post-surrender resistance as "minor" (p.275). He labels post-war Werwolfs as "desperadoes" (p.151) and describes them as fanatics living in forest huts (p.80). He also cites U.S. Army intelligence that characterized partisans as "nomad bands" (p.197), judged them as less serious threats than the attacks by foreign slave laborers (p.152) and considered their sabotage and subversive activities to be insignificant (p. 115). Finally, he notes that: "the Americans and British concluded, even in the summer of 1945, that, as a nationwide network, the original Werwolf was irrevocably destroyed, and that it no longer posed a threat to the occupation." (p.51)

It would appear that the defense of home and family from outside invaders united large, disparate groups of Germans, while post-war partisan actions only attracted relatively few fanatics and/or thugs. A plan to mount post-war resistance, the Axmann Plan, never worked. In tallying up the Allied soldiers killed by partisan activities after the surrender, this reader found fewer than several dozen. It appears that when the war was over, so was the most of the resistance.

Bidiscombe's book on German resistance and the Allied occupation has received some notice by people searching for historical parallels to the current US military occupation of Iraq. Hitler and Saddam Husein as personifications of evil make such comparisons seductive. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and National Security Advisor Rice evoked this theme in their 25 August 2003 speeches before the 104th National Convention of the VFW. While one hopes that our national leaders bring an historical perspective to their actions, it appears that they have chosen to read Biddiscombe's book, not to learn from history, but to manipulate it for their own ends. Biddiscombe's book should, however, cause one to reflect on the current US situation in Iraq.

First, General Eisenhower and his staff devoted considerable effort during the war to developing a post-war occupation strategy, not all of it consistent with international law. (pp. 252-254) Second, the occupation of Germany was a direct result of German military aggression and followed a formal surrender by German authorities. Germans knew that Germany had started the war. Third, the successful occupation of Germany occurred after it was entirely surrounded by hostile forces. There were no open borders with countries opposing the Allied occupation, unlike Iraq, which borders Iran and Syria. Fourth, the Nazi Party?s extermination of the Jews left only Protestants and Catholics, two Christian sects that hadn?t been at war in Germany for over 200 years. The ethnic (Kurds and Iraqis) and religious (Sunni and Shiite) tensions in Iraq continued to erupt throughout the twentieth century. Finally, the partisan resistance to Allied occupation quickly faded at the end of the war. Continued Iraqi resistance quite likely points, in part, to simmering ethnic and religious tensions.

These historical differences show the magnitude of the problems facing the current U.S. military occupation of Iraq.

If nation building by military force is now an accepted tenet of U.S. foreign policy, this book should provide valuable historical background for the U.S. officer corps and the enlisted personnel called upon to implement that policy. It would also be useful for citizens who wish to understand better some of on-the-ground issues that would be faced by their military occupation forces.

As WW2 came to a close, the Third Reich established the "Werwolf" guerilla movement for defense against the Allied invasion of Germany. This book discusses the establishment of the Werwolf, and covers a long series of their exploits: sabotage, sniping at allied troops, and leaving behind poisoned liquor for the Russians. A young HJ member's valiant retaliation against a Russian officer who accosted his sister is discussed, along with the further crimes the Red Army perpetrated in response. The famous last-ditch Alpine Redoubt is covered in detail.

This book also discusses the significant differences in attitude toward the Allied invasion in different districts of Germany. The fate of ethnic Germans living in Alsace, Malmedy, Poland, and the Sudetenland receives a considerable amount of attention.

The book can become rather depressing at times, because of the utter hopelessness of the war at this point, and the attrocities commited against German civilians and POWs by the Allies. However, it remains a very compelling tale none the less. I highly recommend the book.

I think that it would be very hard to classify this as a picture book. The text is truly tremendous and the accompanying illustrations were excellent.
I certainly look forward to collecting the books in this Time-Life series.

This is one of those rare books which explores both the micro and macro of the period. It discusses the major historical events of the time in great detail. But it also paints a picture of everyday life of the common man/woman. The information is abundant and accompanied with vivid graphical representations which aid in learning about this place and time in history.

This is a very touching book. I highly recommend it for it isso educational for all to learn what wars are all about. Some werevery lucky to return home to their families and some weren'tso lucky.I can't even imagine experiencing anything like this for it was such an ordeal for Forrest to go through.He must have had so much faith in God and prayed that he would not be executed so that he could return home to his family.To this day Forrest has nightmares about his ordeal being shot down and living like he did in prison for I'am his daughter. He has lived in agony with his injuries from being shot down but he continues on going with what life has to offer.Please read this book and believe me when I tell you that once you start reading it that you won't be able to put it down until you finish it.It will make you think.

CAN'T EVEN EXPLAIN IT, AN AWESOME BOOK!! I STILL CAN'T BE BELIEVE THAT GRANDFATHER ACTUALLY ENDURED ALL THAT!!!

"Reasonably happy and prosperous people", Mitcham notes at the outset, "regardless of nationality, do not elect extremists like Hitler to high office in normal times".
Normal times were but a memory to the hard-pressed Germans, with economic chaos, daily political violence, and an inept government which compounded their misery. Into this political maelstrom strode Hitler, with plausible answers - and hope.
Mitcham's very readable history makes it clear that the advent of Hitlerism was the product of a particular set of circumstances; not so mysterious, and not so unusual as to rule out the possibility that another desperate people might risk dancing with the Devil.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

This book is extremely well researched. Its what you might expect from a professor. It is better documented than Rise and Fall of the Third Reich that is considered the Bible on the subject but is shorter in length. Some of the intricate details however seem dubious, such as, the reference to the Soviet autopsy report on Hitlers body that states that Hitler had only one testicle. I don't doubt that the Soviets wrote such but there has never been DNA proof that his body was ever identified. As a result of the authors research it does seem to refute the notion that Hitler, in his early years, was a bum with relatively no financial resources compared to others during that period. His book is nevertheless spellbinding for those in search of Why Hitler, the high school dropout, rose to lead a nation with 12 Nobel Prise winners in Berlin and the worlds greatest opera, a nation that was elitist by any standard.