Europe Books

I first read this book when I was about 10. It is an incredibly well written and researched book. I am forturnate to own an original copy and also have managed to acquire the prequel Judith which completes the story nicely.

Truly one of the best and most memorable books from my childhood, I can still pick this one up (at 27 years of age) and be transported to Wessex in the reign of Alfred the Great. Based loosely on historical occurences and people, this wonderful book has everything you could ask for. . . intrigue, terror, romance, travel and adventure abound. The prequel, Judith of France by Leighton, is another masterpiece of young adult literature which features the parents and grandparents of the starts of this story. I truly cannot recommend this book enough.

A wonderful historical novel about a daughter of Alfred the Great, brought up to marry dynastically, but brave enough to demand love as well. Also recommended is Judith of France, which is about some of the same characters.

This is the story of a 14 year old princess in 9th century England whose father the king sends her on a long journey to Rome while he delays his decision on whether or not she can marry a barbarian Viking who loves her. The atmosphere of this book is magical. Margaret Leighton describes the surroundings so realistically that I could smell the air, feel the sunshine just as Elstrid did. "At the top of the first hill they stopped to rest their horses. Elstride drew a deep breath of the flower-scented air. Thrushes sang from every hazel bush and high in the flawless blue of the sky a skylark was scattering its music. The road wound down the hill before them...." I wanted to be Elstrid and take this journey SO BADLY!! I read this book as a 10 or 12 year old girl and it absolutely pulled me and entranced me! I checked it out at the library several times over the years. Years later, as an adult, I tried to find it again, but couldn't find it at a library or bookstore anywhere. With the advent of the internet, I finally found it again, but for [more money]! My husband found a beautiful copy for me for my 35th birthday. It was maybe the best birthday present I've ever had.

I first read this book four years ago and have taken it out of the library many times since. It is the wonderful coming-of-age tale of a real historical figure, Elstrid, daughter of Alfred the Great of England. Not only does the journey of the title refer to the pilgrimage that Elstrid takes to Rome, but her journey from child to young woman. It only makes it more interesting to know that the main characters, Alfred, Elstrid and her sisters and brothers, Baudouin and Judith were all real people who lived long ago. I also wish this book would be published again. I would love to have a copy of my own.

Continuing tale of the Cambridge-educated English Officer living the hell of warfare on the Western Front: replete with adoring batman, blustering colonel Blimps, out of control colonials (Australians and Canadians), journeys to England on home leave to meet misinformed civilians. Sasson has a style that waxes between light and lyrical, cynical and dark and starkly realistic. It is reminiscent of Graves but less dark than Blunden.

This is a tale of the human mind (an upper crust mind) that makes the journey from old world to that of the lost generation -- but Sassoon never loses himself. It shows that the mind-set was already there capable of dissecting and throwing away the old world view tradition. With capable honesty Sassoon relates the contradictions in life, army and mind set of the pre-war generation. He still takes advantage of the liesure of the educated class; his batman pours his tea, he still sees the colonials as slightly quaint and backwards (especially the Australians), still finds refuge among his educated Cambridge intellectuals -- this is no tale of class struggle.

This book can read as part of his trilogy lifestyle or on its own. It has many haunting vignettes and is perhaps one of the top 5 WWI memoirs. Highly recommended.

Siegfreid Sassoon's wonderful war memoir is thinly disguised as the story of George Sherston. Based solely on Sassoon's life in the trenches of WWI, it recounts the horror and scale of carnage that occurred. More importantly it shows the emotionally scars that the survivors carried with them as a result of exposure.

Sherston (Sassoon) was a rather spoiled and pampered young upper class Englishman. The war changed all that. Confronted with death, destruction and idiotic leadership from the High Command you sense the inner turmoil of Sherston.

Relieved when he is not involved with the fighting he is driven by guilt over the loss of the soldiers in his battalion. Consequently when his platoon is on the line he takes great risks in reconaissance of the German positions.

The effects of non-stop total war, stupid leadership and the complete contrast between England and the trenches (only a few hundred miles apart) is staggering to Sassoon. Sassoon becomes anti-war and considers becoming an objector, but his obvious connection to his comrades and loyalty to them wins out in the end. He hates the war but won't abandon his comrades in the field.

This is a great war memoir written by a poet who survived and was changed for life by his experiences in it.

While perhaps best known for his poetry written during WWI, Siegfried Sassoon was a very talented wordsmith in general, a trait that is demonstrated in his second semi-fictionalized autobiography, "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer". Sassoon chose to fictionalize his accounts of his life, an odd technique that allows him to distance himself from these experiences as he intimately describes the raw emotion and response behind them. In his three memoirs he is George Sherston, a thinly veiled version of himself, who thinnly veils the real-life characters he encountered during these times.

Readers are automatically flung into Sassoon's war experience, from the disjointed and fantastical training, to the brutal reality of life in the trenches. Sassoon describes these experiences in vivid detail, the sheer misery of trench warfare, the almost callous attitude toward the dead on both sides, and the surreal life led by those back home. Sassoon, nicknamed "Mad Jack" for his stubborness and seemingly sheer lunacy at times, was awfully lucky during his battle campaigns. He was wounded a few times, always sent back home to England to recuperate, and almost happy to return to the war.

However, after one session as an invalid, Sassoon begins to recognize that the war may not be all it's cracked up to be, that those in power are not telling the truth about their war aims, and that he may just be a lowly pawn in a game he doesn't want to play. Towards the end of his narrative, Sassoon tells of his decision to speak out against the war, even if it meant being court martialed. This act, filtered with courage and fear, is achingly portrayed as an act both necessary and questionable: as Sassoon places himself in danger, he questions his true beliefs in the matter. This account ends just as Sassoon enters the hospital in Scotland, avoiding court martial with a diagnosis of shell shock, 'lucky' as usual.

"Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a vividly descriptive account of life in the trenches during WWI. Sassoon is a gifted storyteller, who can make even the direst settings come to life. He offers a unique insight into the soldier poets who first questioned whether or not war was such a noble and glorious pursuit and if the sacrifice of lives was worth the price in the end. While a little slow at times, the last quarter of the narrative which details Sassoon's questioning of the war, is a brilliantly written firsthand look at how a too little celebrated writer finally found his voice.

Terrific book that sounded a bit autobiographical. Sassoon, of course, was a war hero on the battle of the Somme, decorated twice for bravery.

The book reads lyrically and is convey's nicely the daily life of soldiers moving back and forth from the front fighting trenches to the rear area of the battle field. He also does a great job portraying the strangeness and inner conflict of being back in British society (while recovering from illness) with people who know nothing of the war or its cost to the participants.

A Brit's version of "All Quiet ..."

Siegfried Sassons' "Memoirs of an Infantry Officer" is a first-hand account of life at the front line during World War 1. This is not a just a historical document or diary however. Sassoon writes via an alter-ego called George. In real life, Sassoon was an infantry officer who fought at the front, but eventually grew suspicious of the reasons for the continuation of World War 1, and as such became a dissenter. This book may be fiction, but it is based on fact and it gives an impressive account of what life must have been like in those trenches, nearly a hundred years ago. Sassoon's incredible ability with words paints a much more vivid picture than any war movie will ever provide.

George was a middle-class officer who had the luxury of a university education and was an avid reader of classic English literature. He juxtaposes the themes and ideas in this romantic poetry with the realities of life at the front to great effect. Although a tad repetitive in it's ideas (perhaps to get the point across clearly), this book is rewarding and still relevant this whole century later. As one character in the book says, "In war-time the word patriotism means suppression of truth" .

The Millionaires' Unit is a very good book with a great story to tell: an elite group of Yale students took it upon themselves to prepare as pilots for the United States' entry into World War I. Not only is the story remarkable, it is remarkable that it hasn't been told before, (except in a privately published history in 1925). Starting as a privately funded militia, the First Yale Unit trained as pilots without recognition from the Navy until the U. S. officially entered the War. The young pilots were then among the first aviators flying for America to see combat over Europe.

The book is very good at setting the tone and profile of upper class Americans before the Great War, then shattering the romantic ideas of our isolated country about industrialized warfare as the young men struggle to uphold the highest ideals of duty and honor. The book evocatively portrays Yale as more of a social club than an academic institution, the difficulty of maintaining and flying primitive aircraft, and the nascent attempts of the Navy to come to grips with the importance of aviation.

Above all, The Millionaires' Unit is a human story told mostly through the correspondence of these erudite, passionate, and committed pioneer pilots. Those that survived went on to serve the country at the top of their fields in politics, finance, and aviation. Those that died elicit some of the most heartbreaking reactions from friends and families in wartime literature. It's a well-rounded book, touching on social, aviation, and military history as it delves into the personal reactions of a young America coming of age at the dawn of the 20th century. I found it a great read.

Darroch Greer

As a kid, my favorite book was, "Iron Men with Wooden Wings" by Lou Cameron. Stories of World War I pilots doing battle in the skies over France and Germany in primitive, cloth covered biplanes ignited my imagination. Years later, I earned a pilot's license and have enjoyed flying my own cloth covered plane.

Recently, I was delighted to learn about and read Marc Wortman's title, "The "Millionaires' Unit", which documents the grass-roots formation of a flying squadron of fresh-faced Yale boys almost a hundred years ago. A war was raging in Europe and America was decidedly unprepared for their eventual involvement. Their experiences together at Yale gave them a deep sense of duty to a greater cause. Their privileged upbringing and family connections gave them access to the money to fund their own military flight school and to the captains of industry and state to endorse and champion their mission. Millionaires' Unit is not simply a tale of "iron men with wooden wings", although we certainly grow with each of them from boys to men.

Much less a documentary and much more a narrative, Wortman weaves their personal ambitions and flaws together with their collective mission to fly and to serve. Not since "The Blue Max" has such a complex story of class, ambition, romance and defiance - set against the exhilarating and dangerous backdrop of the pioneering age of aviation - been told.

I'm seldom attracted to books about war, especially if they're not written by someone who participated in the conflict. From my reading experience, the tendency by many authors is to regurgitate bland facts and anecdotes and the main theme is clouded by second-hand minutia. Not this book.
Somehow, Mr. Wortman brought these young men to life allowing me to become interested in their successes, failures and fates. He did a terrific job weaving the narrative from historical documents and bringing the characters to life. I didn't expect to react emotionally but I did. Without giving too much of the story away, there are a few instances when I closed the book, filled with sadness.
Making research material come to life is a skill few master. Mr. Wortman has, and I don't think it's by talent alone. He obviously went the extra mile to learn as much as possible about the principal characters, to literally "Flesh them out."
Wortman also did a great job describing the era; a time when the wealthy recognized their obligation to serve and not use their power and influence to shirk responsibilities. I can't believe the risks they took against such lousy odds.

The Millionaires' Unit recapitulates in beautiful prose the story I first learned about as a child. It was the story, in part, of my grandfather, Erl Gould whom I called Grandfeathers, as he was Naval Aviator #68.

Marc Wortman has combed historical and private records to harvest the best picture of Trubee Davison and his family, flying boats, 1916 and Great World War, and these intrepid young men from Yale. It is simply a terrific read but also an inspiration at a time when few Americans rise above the fray and dedicate themselves to something larger than their own self-interest. As a former Naval Aviator myself, I wore Grandfeather's wings of gold with an inexpressible pride and humility.

Marc Wortman should be congratulated on this fine piece.

It walks the line between history and adventure and achieves a tremendous blend in the process. Not only does it recall the origins of a fledgling form of warfare, but it also provides a tremendous insight into the world of Yale and American aristocracy as it existed in the early twentieth century.

Highly recommended.

Owen Zupp
Author of 'Down to Earth'. (www.owenzupp.com)

We trained together in the FTC but were sent to different Squadrons,
Wonderful memories!

Woodbine 30

In doing research for a book of my own, I have read -- and continue to read -- as many accounts of the air war over Europe as I can, from many perspectives. Mr. Goebel's book, which he was kind enough to personally autograph for me, is not just an amazing, technical account of the details to flying and fighting in what is arguably the most significant fighter plane ever developed, but also tell the story of the American spirit, as an individual, and collectively in the Armed forces, which represented an era that is the foundation of what we enjoy in a free land today. His ability to tell his story, and the story of those around him -- in America's and the world's most pivotal time in history -- is first class reading from a first class author, in addition to his being a first class gentleman and a first class American Ace. Set around the 15th Air Force's 31st. Fighter Group flying out of Italy, 'Mustang Ace' is great reading on every level. It brings both smiles and tears as you get close to real people who won or lost each day by their skill, their courage and crazy luck -- good or bad -- that often made no sense. If you like airplanes, WWII air combat history and personal achievement on a scale few can imagine, then there is nothing better. This is the real deal; an untypical story portrayed with the typical modesty of a real hero, a real Ace, from an elite group of men that have never been fully appreciated for what they did, and how they did it.

Helped by fameds historian Eric Hammell, who helpe shape the original manuscript into a cohesive and envolving story, Robert Goebel, an eleven-kill ace in WWII, wrote a very pleasant book, from training in the United States till ace status in Italy and Europe. If you're into fighter pilot biographies, this one will not disappoint. But I dare to say: the best ever written was "THE BIG SHOW", by Pierre Clostermann.

This book puts you in WWII aviation. It takes you throught flight training and into combat in the Mustang. I am a current flight instructor and believe me this book is realistic as it gets. If you love aviation you will love Bob Goebel's book.

Well written book. Holds your interest throughout, with paragraphs ranging from technical to personal. Lt Col (Ret) Goebels accounts are fascinating and easy to understand. Going from the innocence of youth to a double ace, his acounts will keep you wanting to read more.

As inferred in his Forward, our ability to get this information first hand is fading rapidly as our WWII veterans are getting fewer by the day. Keep their memory and actions in you hearts and prayers and read books like these to learn and respect our past.

This was a very well-crafted and informative book, which I would recommend reading to those who haven't yet. For those who have, and who enjoyed it like I did, I would recommend Tent Life in Siberia: An Incredible Account of Siberian Adventure, Travel, and Survival, which George Kennan's account of his travels around eastern Siberia on dogs and reindeer sleds.

The Other Side of Russia is part travel narrative, part social history, part memoir, part food writing. All these parts come together to make a terrific book.

Sharon Hudgins and her husband Tom spent a year and a half in post-Soviet Siberia teaching business management for the University of Maryland's overseas program. As peripatetic ex-patriates, they were familiar with unfamiliarity. But they were still not prepared for what Siberia had to offer them.

Join Sharon and Tom as they picnic with the Russian Mafiya, try to teach in an educational system that discourages questions and independent thinking, and ponder why a herd of horses is tangled in downtown rush hour traffic.

In "Absurdistan" it is just one perplexing thing after another. The electricity and water in their poorly-constructed apartment building work only intermittently. But in spite of such challenges, they make friends and entertain regularly. Cultural differences mean that the same friends who swoon over delicacies such as wafer-thin horse liver slices rolled with layers of horse fat, are unable to enjoy a Hudgins Tex-Mex feast.

Hudgins's previous work as a food and travel writer are evident here, and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that she writes fiction as well. The narrative is effortless and the stories she tells are by turns engaging and frightening.

In The Other Side Of Russia, author Sharon Hudgins takes the reader along on her Trains-Siberian Railroad adventure through Siberia and the Russian Far East, an area that was closed off to Westerners (and most Russians) prior to 1990s and the collapse of the old Soviet Union. Here the reader will be treated to a unique travelogue that will take them from the frozen surface of Lake Baikal, to feast with native Siberian Buryats, the food markets and "high-rise villages" of Vladivostok and Irkutsk, Christmas celebrations, New Year's banquets, Easter dinners, and Siberian festivals. The Other Side Of Russia dispels the myths and misconceptions about the Asian part of Russia which extends across eight time zones between the Ural Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Offering a window of observation into this land of harsh winters, vast uninhabited spaces, friendly people, strange cuisines, and thriving modern cities, The Other Side Of Russia is a welcome, informative, and highly entertaining read which is especially commended to the attention of armchair travelers and students of Russian culture and history.

The Other Side of Russia emerged from Barbara Hudgins experience of living in Siberia for a year and a half, from 1993 to 1994. Working as the onsite program coordinator for the University of Maryland University College in Siberia and the Russian Far East, she worked and lived in Vladivostok and Irkutsk.

Hudgins book is the first book about Siberia I'd come across written by someone who spent extensive time in Siberia. This gives her a depth of understanding that adds a lot to her memoir.

The structure of her memoir is unusual. She's divided the book into two sections. The chapters in part one focus on place - Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Lake Baikal, etc. - and the chapters in the second part focus on aspects of life and culture in Siberia - housing, education, food and festivals. Hudgins supplemented her first-hand experience with extensive research. This offers readers an in-depth source of information about many aspects of Siberian place and life.

What's lost in this non-chronological format is Hudgin's own adaptations and reactions over her time in Siberia. She does insert some feelings and personality, but the focus is on the topic, rather than on her personal experience or characters who change and develop over the period.

Hudgins seems to have thrown herself into Siberia with a remarkably open mind. She expertly captures the small details of Siberian life and renders vivid pictures of feasts shared with Russian friends. For those who have been to Siberia, this book will take you back there. For those planning on going, The Other Side of Russia provides a great overview of the life and culture.

In THE OTHER SIDE OF RUSSIA, the University of Maryland University College has established a joint undergraduate degree program in business management with the Far Eastern State University in Vladivostok and the State University in Irkutsk. In the summer of 1993, author Sharon Hudgins and her husband, Tom, packed off to Siberia and the Russian Far East to serve as teachers in this cooperative venture, while the former was also Maryland's on-site program coordinator in both cities. This book chronicles their experiences from their arrival until their departure in December 1994.

Whether she's describing the immensity of pristine Lake Baikal, the problematic living conditions in their high-rise apartment, local customs and food of the Buryat people, the vagaries and perils of shopping for household necessities, maddening water and electricity outages, local festivals, the growing pains of a free-market economy, the university students' learning ethic, or the conviviality and generosity of their Russian friends, Hudgins has a keen eye for small details, as when describing an open air market:

"An Uzbek woman ... sold raisins and nuts in small paper cones made out of official forms from the Irkutsk Municipal Water Department ... In one part of the market, a pretty teenage girl, wearing a garish, flower-printed dress and a thousand-yard stare, held a handful of peacock feathers and sipped a can of Dr Pepper, while in another section two older women, both drunk, tried to punch each other out in a fist fight."

I haven't been so engaged by a travel essay about Russia since Hedrick Smith's 1976 bestseller, THE RUSSIANS. My only criticism is the relative lack of photographs - only a couple at most per chapter. Luckily, Sharon's poetic prose paints pictures almost as effective as snapshots, as this from her vantage point on the Trans-Siberian Railroad:

"A profusion of wildflowers carpeted the meadows, like an Impressionist painting exuberantly expanding beyond the limits of canvas and frame: undulating shades of yellow, gold, and blue, maroon and magenta, soft pink and pristine white, the pale purple globes of wild onions gone to seed, thousands of red-orange tiger lilies, whole fields of dark purple Siberian irises, and occasionally a single red poppy or two, like a stubborn symbol of politics past. Outside Chita a small lake glistened under the midnight moon."

For me, a travel narrative is all it can be if it makes me want to go there myself. THE OTHER SIDE OF RUSSIA accomplishes that. Well, maybe for just a brief visit, perhaps, because I certainly wouldn't want to live there.

This book was very touching. It was also funny and made me laugh out loud at the things that two ninteen year old girls did. Although it was set in the 1920's and I could not catch every person to which they referred, I still got the point of the book and enjoyed it immensely. I would definitely recommend this book to other teenagers and older because this book was one of the best books I ever read. The things they did I would never have done and the people they met were werid, yet I felt that without being able to relate very much to the book made it all the more interesting to read. I hope this book is read by others so they can all laugh as much as I did.

This book was very touching. It was also funny and made me laugh out loud at the things that two ninteen year old girls did. Although it was set in the 1920's and I could not catch every person to which they referred, I still got the point of the book and enjoyed it immensely. I would definitely recommend this book to other teenagers and older because this book was one of the best books I ever read. The things they did I would never have done and the people they met were werid, yet I felt that without being able to relate very much to the book made it all the more interesting to read. I hope this book is read by others so they can all laugh as much as I did.

I've never read the entire book (I'm working on it!) but just excerpts from my eighth grade lit. book, but what I've seen of it is FUNNY! Cornelia Skinner and Emily Kimbrough get into such hilarious circumstances! This is one of the few books I've laughed aloud with!

If you enjoyed Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, but thought the heroines slightly too worldly, you may be delighted by this autobiographical account of two relatively naive girls off for their first continental jaunt.

It's a delightful, charming little book about their misunderstandings and misadventures, and certainly introduced me to historical ladies' undergarments in an unforgettable manner!

There are sequels (like "Forty Plus and Fancy Free") if you find you particularly liked this one, but the first is the best, as sadly firsts so often are. This is a funny little treasure of a book.

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

Cornelia Otis skinner is the real comedienne of this pair of authors and injects a lot more humor into this book, as opposed to most of Kimbrough's solo works. You cannot imagine two more naive college girls traveling about Europe in the 1920's. It was a simpler time, and today has great appeal to one's nostalgic side. If you get a chance to pick up a used copy, do so!

Amos Elon opens this book describing Moses Mendelsohn, a German philosopher's entry as an impoverished and uneducated teen into Berlin through a gate reserved for "swine, oxen and Jews," and ends it by describing how a famous Jewish writer left Berlin by train just hours ahead of the Gestapo.

Between these bookends you'll find the history of the German Enlightenment, the general acceptance and tolerance that Jews came to enjoy in Germany, of the significant role that Jews played in Germany's cultural, scientific, political and business worlds, and of the assimilation process that led to the specific identity of being a German Jew, and of most tragic suffering. What a pity!

Many books on this period of history sooner or later seem to become recitations of the same truisms. Elon's book doesn't; it's far more sophisticated. Not only is it a (brief) history of German Jewry, but also a brief history of German culture, politics and science. Elon believes that the Social-Democrats were far too weak, disorganized, and confused to have been able to maintain law and order during the Weimar Republic, and that the more conservative parties, which largely were extensions of churches, were too tied down by their religious affiliations to have been able to provide effective government. This, he believes, meant that the only form of government that could have saved Germany from the horrors that came to be would have been a military dictatorship. Expecting the Germans to smoothly transition from centuries of monarchic rule to a democracy during the depths of the Great Depression was not realistic. Democracies cannot exist without citizens who think for themselves, monarchies often raise people to follow orders without question. This is an interesting idea, and not what one hears from the sort of historians who write that the horrors arose because people weren't nice enough.

This is a hugely informative and highly moving book that is history sine ira et studio, history at its very best. I heartily recommend this book.

This book is truly one of a kind. It's detail and clarity is unprecedented and its topic very engaging as Elon does an amazing job in taking his readers through the 200-year journey and labyrinth of a mostly unexplored period of Jewish history. Awesome! Truly the best thing since sliced bread. Besides being a fabulous historical treatise, it answers many questions.......many many questions and problems and does it so wholesomely and so didactically and flawlessly.

My hat is off to you, Mr. Elon. I am silenced by the great amount of awe and respect I now harbor toward you. Thank You!

One of the best history books I read (and I read quite a few):
Well written, the past comes to life and what's more important you start to live it as if you don't know the future. One of the biggest problems in reading history is the fact you know "the answers" a privilege people don't have when they actually live and take decisions. This book gives you the feeling as if you almost are there with out knowing how things will eventually turn out.
Side bonus: a look in to the best of European culture of the 19th century.
A key for understanding lots of current issues, it will also help to understand the desires and nightmares of Jews in Israel today.

The book is very well written, and the author has a great talent for storytelling. It is almost like reading a novel, this is achieved without affecting the academic value of the work.

The book is referred to as the history of Jews in Germany between 1743 and 1933, in reality it is the history of intellectual jews in those years. There is little mention of poor jews, and for the most concentrates on the people who would have left a larger mark and legacy: mainly intellectuals. There is also some mention of how jews in neighboring countries lived.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in the subject.

Belief in the coming of the Messiah and a Messianic era of world peace is an integral part of traditional Judaism. Even secularized Jews, starting with Moses Mendelssohn and others, transfer this belief into an attempt to create a worldly utopia in the here and now while abandoning traditional Jewish observance. This explains why various universalist, utopian philosophies, such as Marxism, attracts secular Jews. Similarly, attempts to create an improved "Reform" Judaism, or a quasi-universalist Socialist Zionism attracted Jews who had abandoned belief in the Jewish religious tradition. Amos Elon, a Jew of this type, in this outstanding book, looks back at what seemed at the time, the most successful attempt of the Jews to shed their supposedly "parochial" traditions and to assimilate into what looked like a vital culture, Germany of the 19th and early 20th century which had such a flowering of music, literature, art, science and industry in which Jews played such a major role. Although most Jews abandoned religious tradition in the period, moving upward in the social and economic mileu of Germany, and felt that they were as German as any non-Jewish German, especially after having fought as good patriots in the wars of the 1870 and 1914-1918, the whole edifice of German Jewish assimilation came crashing down, dragging much of Europe into the abyss with it. Many Jews came into prominence in the highest levels of German society and politics, even into the Kaiser's entourage, and yet, when the crunch came with the defeat in 1918, the Kaiser and others blamed "the Jews" for the defeat, even though the Jews were the most loyal of all Germans. As Elon points out, many in Europe admired or feared the Germans, only the Jews loved them. And this love was totally unrequited, as the Germans, as a people, decided that the Jews were responsible for all their problems and that the Jews would have to be annihilated, even if it meant the destruction of their own country in the process.
Elon describes well the adoption of the "kulturreligion", the religion of culture that the German Jews adopted with their almost fanatical devotion to music, literature, art and philosophy, and their blind, fanatical patriotism that burst out in 1914 when even many who would later claim to be pacifists such as Martin Buber expressed bloodthirsty enthusiasm for war and German aggression. However, I don't agree with Elon's assertion at the end of the book that Hitler and the Holocaust "weren't inevitable" since he claims that Hitler came to power only through a shabby political deal and not through "irresistable historical forces". All the accounts I read of the period by Germans who were around at the time said most people, especially the young, felt that Germany's future was "either Red or Brown" (i.e. Communist or Nazi) and that democracy was discredited.
What is especially interesting is how Elon is expressing his own longing for such a secular messianic era. Once an ardent Zionist, who thought a similar Israeli society based on a similar "kulturreligion" would develop in Israel and people like him would be revered as national "philosophers", he, to his horror, saw the revival of traditional Jewish religious observance, bringing him to the decision earlier this year to leave Israel for good. As he stated in a newspaper interview, he used to be able to call the Prime Minister of Israel to arrange a personal meeting, but today, the political elite has no interest in him, so he sees no reason to remain in Israel.
At the end of the book, he express the despair of the good German Jews who loved their country so much. Instead of pointing out how tens of thousands of German Jews made "aliyah" (immigrated) to Israel and enriched the emerging society there, in spite of the inevitable hardships, he instead focuses on all the Jews who committed suicide, unable to live outside their beloved Fatherland which had foresaken them. Elon is giving expression to his own despair that the Jewish state is returning to its own Jewish roots and his alienation from them.
This book is a must for those who want to understand the tragic culmination of Jewish life in Germany and Europe as a whole, and the odyssey of the alienated Jew who simply wants to abandon his own people and tradition, something that the Germans and Europe proved is impossible.

Rick Steves is a total nut job wacko (I met him once in one of his recommended hotels in Paris!), but this is hands down the greatest travel advise I can possibly imagine. The Rick Steves style of travel is not for everyone (my mother-in-law for example) but by using the advise in this book, most people should have a fabulous European vacation.

This book is filled with great advise to successfully plan and enjoy a trip to Europe without the fuss of an organized bus tour. Meet locals, enjoy great food, and stay at charming little hotels on a suprisingly inexpensive budget.

This is a must read for anyone who is even thinking about traveling overseas independently. Going to Europe independently (either solo, as a couple, or small group) is by far the best way to see Europe in all its pretentious, snobbish, dirty, crowded, smokey, rude, elitist, and hyprocritical, yet beautiful, fun, friendly, historic, great-tasting, exciting, and romantic charm.

**NOTE** This not a travel guide with suggested hotels, restaurants, etc. but rather a travel skills handbooks; how to find a hotel room, make your way around a European train station, or order a meal at a "No English spoken" restaurant. His series of guide books dedicated to individual countries are also worth checking out has yet to steer us wrong on three trips around Europe.

I love this book. What else it there to say. I refer to this book ALL THE TIME. I was living in the UK and planned a few trips to the continent, and this book was invaluable. From desitnation suggestions, to places to stay, as well as advice, and little secret tidbits. I love it. Anyone traveling to Europe needs to buy a copy of this book!

I have used Rick Steves' books for over 6 years in varying capacities, and if you read them with the idea in mind that he is first and foremost a teacher, you can get more out of these books. They are definitely helpful to those who find travel abroad intimidating at first, and after giving it a go, will follow his travel pedagogy and break out on their own path, looking for their own back doors. While he does 'reveal' some well-known (to Europeans) 'back doors', they are places that do offer a different aspect of Europe than the popular destinations.

I bought this book in preparation for my first trip to Europe last summer. Two of us were going to be traveling around Europe for approximately three weeks.

We're students so we were clearly on a budget but not incredibly limited.

This book was a God send! I used it to structure my budget, itinerary, everything. While I can't discount the help of online resources (particularly http://www.guideforeurope.com) I couldn't have planned the trip without this book.

I recommend this book to people planning a first trip to Europe or a first independent trip to Europe. Now as a caveat I think you should use parts of this book but not treat it like a Bible. It's a starting point and then the rest of up to you - but as a starting point it is fantastic!

In addition to this book I highly recommend Rick Steves Best of Europe book. His entire series is just fantastic -- if you use these books your trip will turn out incredible and you'll be a pro at planning!

I must admit, Rick Steves knows what he's talking about when it comes to travelling through Europe. I backpacked through four countries in Western Europe this summer and I followed much of the advice contained within this book in my preparation and travels. I encountered no problems in my travels, but it still felt good to be better prepared than not. As far as the back door adventures . . . well I didn't get to any of them. I stayed in the large cities and the "touristy" spots of Europe, but the information and advice within this book is beneficial to anyone, regardless of where they're going. The only thing I didn't do that Steves recommended is to leave the book in the hostel for the next traveler. I'm going to keep this book and use it the next time I prepare to fly off to Europe for awhile.

Any book that tells you how to say "May i give you a back massage" and "I dont have any diseases" in three different languages is definatly worth buying it. Also it has the basics and maybe the more useful phrases like "where is the bathroom" "check please" and the like.

I bought this book because of the reviews I read and it lived up to the hype. It came in handy in both routine and emergency situations - particularly when I had left my passport, money and credit cards on a train in Italy and had to communicate to the stationmaster in Genoa!

This is one of my best purchases in Amazon, it's amazing how good is this book. It's very practical for any traveler around the world, it has detailed content in subjects like: what to tell to italian men if they are bothering you (and as a woman... this can become very handy!) or everything you need to say in a medical emergency or how to enjoy the food in a restaurant (because you can understand now the menu). I really recommend this book if you are looking for a better experience in your trips or if you are learning a foreign language (like me). Greetings from Mexico. Nayeli

This books is great. It has many handy phrases that make traveling in Europe easier. Contrary to what most people believe, not everyone in other countries speak English. If you are the adventurous type and like to explore on your own, knowing some phrases to navigate the area is really useful.

I purchased additional copies of this book for a few friends that were traveling as well.

This book is full of practical advice and essential information that kept me from making some mistakes on our vacation this summer. Though I probably won't return to Europe for a few years, this book will stay in my bookshelves for future reference. I have always enjoyed Rick Steves' travel shows because of his down-to-earth, straight-forward style. The book follows that pattern perfectly. I highly recommend this book to any European travel novice.

Book was very easy reading and well organized. One of the best history books I have read.

if you want to no about the early to last romanov's and russia history this book is for you.this writer leave nothing out.

Mr. Lincolm, unlike Robert Massie who wrote "Peter the Great," left me with the clear impression that he understood the source material he had at hand, and was able to verify through corroboration every thing he said. Some of the more incredible stories, or speculative rumors are left out. This does not make his work any less enjoyable, but it does lend Mr. Lincoln's work a feeling of solid thoroughness in its research--something that is lacking in Massie's book. If a story was left out, I felt quite confident that Mr. Lincoln knew of the story, but could not corroborate it to his satisfaction.

This book is very thorough and incredible in its vast sweep. But it is broken apart into major periods. Each period is further broken down into topics, such as political history, economic history, social history, and so on. This format makes the book quite useful as a reference as well as enjoyable to read. This is the best book on the story of the Romanov family in the English language to date. And I can see this book firmly establishing itself as a timeless classic, alongside Shelby Foote's "Civil War," or Gibbons, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

W. Bruce Lincoln's history of the 300 years of Romanov rule in Russia (1613-1917) is easily his most readable account of Russian history. While Professor Lincoln's research is meticulous as ever, in this volume he has to cover far more ground than in his other more focused histories and thus he avoids some of the digressions that he normally might allow himself. The result is a superb one-volume history of the Tsars and Tsarinas who determined Russia's development from a minor principality into the largest empire on earth.

The Romanovs consists of four parts: Muscovite beginnings (1613-1689), the Rise of an Empire (1689-1796), Empire Triumphant (1796-1894) and the Last Emperor (1894-1917). The first three parts each consist of several chapters, with the first covering biographical details of the Tsars and Tsarinas in that period, followed by chapters on political and cultural changes in that period. There are only two significant problems with what is otherwise a superb presentation: a non-chronological methodology and a lack of a single supporting map of Romanov domains (there are two maps of St Petersburg's layout). In the first case, Lincoln tends to keep coming back to Tsars in subsequent chapters on culture, politics, etc which is very confusing. Indeed, he seems in a rush to plow through the biographies of the Tsars, then revisit their cultural accomplishments, then come back again and discuss their political accomplishments, and then maybe discuss a few scandals or wars. As for the lack of maps, it makes it extremely difficult for the reader to evaluate the territorial expansions of the various Romanov rulers or Russia's growth over three centuries.

Despite these two flaws, the Romanovs is a delightful read for anyone with a scholarly interest in Russian imperial history. Perhaps the three most significant rulers that Lincoln assesses are Peter the Great, Catherine the Great and Nicholas II. Most histories tend to elevate Peter to hero status, but Lincoln's evaluation is more mixed. While Peter gets great credit for pushing Russia to modernize, the costs he incurred may have been too great. In particular, Lincoln questions Peter's obsession with building his capital on totally unsuitable terrain; the fact that the Russians were able to eventually succeed in constructing Peter's dream capital often disguises the fact that the human and financial losses were exorbitantly wasteful. The reader will be left to ponder the question that if Peter had built his capital elsewhere, Russia's development might have been much less painful. As for Catherine, Lincoln prefers to minimize the scandal and corruption associated with her court and view this as the golden age of Russian cultural development. Finally, Nicholas II appears as even more of a fatalistic dolt bent on self-destruction than he did in Lincoln's previous books. In sum, The Romanovs provides a solid and very readable account of Russia's development under the Tsars and Tsarinas.

A genuinely great book. Lincoln certainly could write, and make
all those old Russians seem really interesting. As Lincoln's
former students (including me) know, his lectures were tediously
boring, so that makes the books all the more remarkable.