Europe Books

I group this book with Eric Newby's "Love and War in the Appenines" for unsentimental and direct views of the corrupting power of war that use Italy as examples. Liberation seems such a romantic idea that one can hardly resist it, and yet here we can easily read and understand that true liberation takes a lot more than military objectives and shouting in congress.

Lewis's eye was remarkable in one so young. I hope that both these books have found their way to the library at West Point. It is perhaps too much to ask that they should be read anywhere inside the beltway.

Can a foreign military "successfully" occupy another country? Where can we look for historical lessons to our clusterf**k in Iraq. What are our boys reading in West Point? Is there large scale prostitution and venereal disease..Are there markets openly selling stolen U.S. military items.. Where are ordinary Iraqi's getting $ to survive with their economy is shambles? Lots of questions.

Naples 44 is a beautifully crafted account of allied occupation in Naples. Norman Lewis describes, with his usual gentle irony, the unique lifestyle of Neapolitans and how they survive abject poverty.
He has an eye for the absurd whilst retaining his compassionate love of humanity.

When I was younger I knew an Italian-American veteran who spent time in Naples at roughly the time covered by this book. His stories while entertaining always seemed a bit exagerated to me. Now, after reading Norman Lewis' account of those days I owe my long departed friend an apology for having doubted him.
This is a remarkable account from a gifted observer. Lewis as a British intelligence officer assigned to the Area occupied by American forces immediately following the expulsion of the Germans was in a unique position to observe many aspects of the struggles and adaptations of the locals under these extraordianry conditions. The ingenuity and superstition of the Italian people is displayed from a point of view that is neutral in it's judgements while sparing the reader nothing of the darker side of the stuggle to survive at the same time.
As somone who has read extensively about WWII I was surprised this one got by me for so long. I stumbled on it while browsing Amazon and highly recommend it to anyone interested in the War ,Italy or just a good entertaining read.

Lewis left us with a fascinating account of this small but very human part of WWII. And gathered some very interesting details that otherwise would have been lost forever.

One Thousand Tracing by Lita Judge takes place in the U.S. in the 1940s. Two parents and one daughter live together. Papa had to leave home to join the war. The war ended. When the war ended Papa came home. Mama and the daughter received a letter from their German friends who had nothing. Mama and the daughter packed clothes and food for them. The family sent a letter back. It said, "Help others." The mom and the daughter received tracings of feet. They found shoes that would fit each tracing.

The theme is to help people who need help. One part in the story is when the mom gathered clothes food and her own winter coat was sent to another family for Christmas.

Mama worked late translating German letters into English to ask people they knew to help people get a pair of shoes.

The lesson I learned from this book was that no matter how few things you have you can always help others that are in need.

By David

When I first read this book, I fell in love with it. It's definitely not just a children's book. It is a book for all ages. It warms your heart because it is based on true events that strike a chord with everyone who has ever had a keepsake from a grandmother. The story is wonderful and speaks so well to the rewards of giving both time and financial assists to those in need. My decision was swift that all of my grand nieces and nephews should receive their very own copy. And as soon as my husband read it, he agreed wholeheartedly. I hope it will have the same impact on all of the nieces and nephews so that they will want to feel the joy of giving of their time to others. It can become a keepsake to them. An added bonus is all of the beautiful artwork illustrating the book amidst copies of the tracings and correspondence with the author's mother and grandmother during the recovery after the war. The book is so well written and presented, I can't imagine it not becoming a "must read" for all children (and their families.)

We loved this book so much that we have given copies to friends as gifts and we even donated a copy to our public library! The message of kindness and compassion to those in need is powerful and easily understood by children of all ages. It shows us how we can always put our differences aside to help those in need. I have yet to get through this book without my eyes tearing up! The book is beautifully written and the illustrations are amazing.

The drawings in this book are exquisite, and the story is a great lesson from recent history. It can be enjoyed by the entire family and should elicit dicussion about WWII and its aftermath.

Author/illustrator Lita Judge was inspired to write this picture book, her first, when she found a box of full of old letters containing foot tracings. She learned from her mother about the huge relief effort her grandparents, Fran and Frederick Hamerstrom, led to help families in need in post-WWII Europe.

One Thousand Tracings is the story of this effort told from the perspective of young girl (Lita Judge's mother). The story begins in December 1946, "When I was three, Papa left home to join the war. When I was six, the war was over, and Papa came back to me and Mama. I thought everyone we loved was home and safe. But just before Christmas, a letter arrived that changed everything."

That letter was from their friends in Germany who said they were starving and had no shoes. They put together a care package for the family, and weeks later received a thank you letter from the family along with a list of ten families who needed help. There were foot tracings for each family member in the letter. Over the next two years, the Hamerstrom's received over a thousand foot tracings, and enlisting the help of friends and neighbors, over 3,000 care packages including shoes matching the foot tracings and other supplies were sent to families all over Europe.

In addition to telling us the story of the relief effort, Lita Judge draws us in by telling, through letters sent to the Hamerstrom's, the story of one family with a little girl named Eliza who is the same age as the narrator. Her father is still missing, and she, her mother, and brother are in need. The reader is filled with anticipation to find out what happens to this family and the father.

The most poignant part of the story is the fact that Americans put their differences with Germany aside and helped PEOPLE. They were no longer fighting the enemy, but helping mothers, fathers, children who didn't even have shoes to keep their feet warm in the bitter cold. But perhaps the most engaging part of the book are pictures of the actual foot-tracings, yellowed letters, and photos sent with the letters scattered throughout the pages of the book and on the end papers. Mixed in with Judge's soft watercolor illustrations, we can SEE what Lita Judge found in the attic. We see a picture of the real Eliza, a pair of warn boots that would be a godsend to a poverty-stricken family, a doll like the one Judge's mother made for Eliza, and more.

One Thousand Tracings is beautifully written and tells the heartwarming story of human compassion. Sure to spark a lot of conversation, no child's library should be without it.

I gave this book 5 stars not because it is an easy read and certainly not because books detailing the atrocities of the holocaust "should" be given a high ranking. I rate it high precisely because of the high quality of scholarship and because of the author's insights.

I will make no attempt to summarize this detailed, complex history. I will, however, paraphrase what I learned. The Nazis entering the halls of power in 1933 were antisemitic but, despite Hitler's barely-veiled threats in "Mein Kampf", there was no plan for genocide. Also, Nazi anti-semitism stemmed from multiple roots one of which was an ingrained pattern of belief going back centuries. Another root was no-doubt the Nazi struggle with Communists in Bavaria in the 1920's and early '30's. Many/most of these Communists were Jews. Somehow--gradually probably--the belief arose that the Jews were inveterate Communists and the Communist leadership was essentially Jewsih. Here, I think, we can smell a whiff of "Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

In any event, the Nazis were determined to get rid of the Jews by "humane" means and ratcheted up the pressure on German Jews to leave the country--school segregation, Stars of David, boycotts and Kristal nacht. Many left. Then came the war and suddenly millions of Jews were included in the Greater Reich. The Nazis, in their malign wisdom, decided it was necessary to compel ethnic Germans to live in or close to Germany; for Poles to settle elsewhere; and for Jews to survive as best they could. The Nazis got USED to the idea of absolutely controlling the movements and fates of millions of people although, at this point, murder was the exception.

No problem. Germany would win the war and the Jews--all the Jews--would be rounded up and exported to Madagascar. Germany, although militarily successful beyond their early expectations, couldn't defeat England...and...England controls the waves. Germany continued to gain ground--and Jews--in the East but had no military capability of shipping the Jews out. Something had to be done. Forced labor was definitely considered and, to a certain extent, was used. More radical Nazis--Heydrich, Himmler and probably Hitler--opted for mass murder rather than the use of the Jews as slaves.

The Nazi psychology is remarkable. To the extent that is possible to get into their mind-set, the "Final Solution" was incredible. Why not, indeed, use the Jews--many of whom were skilled craftsmen and scientists--for their talents? These arguments were definitely made but the exterminatists gained the upper hand. Here we see the schizophrenia inherent in Nazi circles. They came to a kind of evil compromise. Jews were worked as slaves as they were simultaneously starved to death. What kind of a worker is a starving, dying person?

Nazis responsible for Jewish labor made precisely this complaint to their superiors but, like I said, the exterminationists won the argument. Or, as one Nazi official said, "We may lose the war against our external enemies, but we'll win our war against the Jews." [!].

Still, the holocaust was not deliberately sadistic. German soldiers suffered imprisonment and even death for deliberate cruelty against the Jews and other people. Not that there wasn't plenty of sadism but this was counter to official Nazi policy. The killings, the camps, the gas chambers were meant to be cold, efficient and mechanical. Let Poles, Ukrainians, Russians and even Jews do most of the real dirty work.

There are still important questions. How many Jews actually died? I've heard figures of six to fourteen million but how were these figures arrived at. Robert Conquest, in his studies of Stalin's purges, actually studied Russian population statistics to come up with a minimum of twnety million people murdered by Stalin. Why hasn't this been done for the holocaust? Maybe it has and I'm not familiar with it.

In one sense the precise number matters only to the dead. Is a person who murders 100 people less evil than someone who murders 1,000? I doubt it.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

Christopher Browning has left us with THE book written on the topic.
Highly detailed, meticulously and flawlessly researched this book presents the result of many years of careful studies.
The gradual shift in Nazi-Policies to wholescale extermination of an important part of the European population is well described and intelligently subdivided in chapters by which the author helps the reader along carefully page for page sharing his wealth of knowledge and understanding of "the inexplicable".

It is after all one very well crafted piece of research dealing with one truly important topic in human history and clearly shows, as the Nazi administration struggled along to find a "viable solution", that early naivety of both victims and on-lookers was terribly out of place. True, the Nazis took great pains to hide the truth from the population, but it is only through this book that I came to understand how they actually succeeded. The monstrosity of the crimes becomes even more perplexing by understanding the gradual shift in time and place from mass-deporting and sorrounding the victims to mass-murder. What could have been expected from a sick brain like Himmler's, who had been a large scale chicken breeder in Bavaria before?
This book is an outstanding achievement. !Principiis obsta!

This is a most commendable work from Browning, an internationally repescted Holocaust researcher who conclusively demonstrated that Hitler, while desiring of the cleansing, ie, forcible expulsion, of the Jews from German dominated Europe, in one way of another, had never decreed that the Final Solution , as coined by Himmler and his deputy, Heydrich, should end in the death camps and gas chambers.

The radicalization and escalation of measures against the Jews mostly originated from his underlings who competed for brute power in a polycratic, darwinist bureaucracy, and who sometimes paid little attention to Hitler's expressed wishes, unless they were set down as written directives.

On wonders all those counter factual arguments puit forth by the Intentionalists that Hitler, mindful of the adverse consequences (!) of a written directive putting Jews to death, was careful not to lay down a paper trail leading to him as the main culprit, when Hitler himself signed a directive for the forced euthanasia of crippled , mentally handicapped, and deformed GERMAN babies and old people (what would cause a greater outcry amongst the Germans, should a directive be found, one for disposing of thier own kin and the other of the despised Jews?).

As from 1939, Hitler, as evidenced by all the OKW/OKH/OKL/OKM dairies as well as his so called table talk,concerned himself exclusively with foreign diplomacy or his campaigns, and never gave much thought about domestic politics or internal administration, thus leaving a void for his cohorts to enagage in a free for all power grab, with to each his own interpretation of what Hitler mentioned as the end of Jewry in Europe, and each and everyone going for increasingly radical measures as justification for aggregating addtional power/authority to oneself.

All in all, this is a sad book to read of the fate and treatment of the Jews by their persecutors, tormentors and executioners, be they Germans, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Hungarians, Romanians, Bulgarians, Dutch, French, Italians, Russians, Slovaks, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Belgians, Greeks....

This is one of the best books on the market that explains the political development of the Holocaust inside the Nazi power circle. It provides a strong argument that the Nazis did not originally plan to exterminate the Jews in Europe, but rather export them from Germany. Browning's thesis is a challenge to the slippery slope fallacy, which suggests that just because a person steps a foot in one direction doesn't mean he'll step a mile. The Nazis clearly started out w/ a 'Final Solution' plan of sending the Jews to a place like Madagascar (which was on the table as late as the Battle of Britain), but after the invasion of Russia this 'Final Solution' snowballed into a landslide of killing Jews via gas chambers (not that the Anti-Semitic rhetoric of the early 30s were justified in any way, whether pro-genocide or pro-expulsion). The Nazis took a step in a bad direction, and then they walked a mile along that evil path. This would give logicians a nightmare.

Most people assume that Hitler ran on a genocide program in 33. This is a dangerous assumption, for two reasons: 1.) it tends to view the Nazis as a supernatural party of evil. Make no mistake, the Nazis WERE evil, but they believed themselves to be do-gooders who provided solutions to the problems the average German faces. Did the German people know what they were getting into in 1933? Sure, they were willing to view Jews as the scapegoats for the Depression, but did they hate Jews enough to kill them? This book challenges the "Hitler's Willing Executioners" theory, because although Hitler touted a Final Solution in Mein Kampf, that wasn't interpreted by him or his companions as outright genocide until 1941.

And 2.) Holocaust deniers use this fact, that the "Final Solution" in the 30s meant population dispersal rather than genocide, and then they play the "Well, if you were lied to in high school about the original intentions of the Nazis, what else were you lied to about? (hint hint, you were lied to about the Holocaust period!)" card to gain confidence w/ the unsuspecting listener, and then convert this person into a Holocaust denier. It is important that we know the facts about the Holocaust, so that the uninitiated in deep WWII history won't be hoodwinked w/ "gotcha" facts by Holocaust deniers.

The mystery of how the Final Solution became the Final Solution will never be truly solved, that is lost to history, lost within Hitler's mind. Christopher Browning explains some of the forces and events that sped the Final Solution along. Browning may be the most eminent Holocaust scholar in America today. He has been looking at the whys and hows and wheres, mainly of the executioners, where motivations are still not crystal clear. What I saw as a reader was that the road to the Final Solution was almost an organic event. Poland was the first step, ethnic German resettlement next,then the necessities of occupation and finally Russia. Not one decision, but as you will see, decisions and choices dictated by events as much as ideology. This story will carry you along with fascination, with horror, and with a chilling understanding, not justification mind you, but understanding.

Although this book was written in 2000, when I saw it at a book boutique I bought it immediately...a fabulous book on a unique culinary culture for those who love to delve into french cooking recipes. I highly recommend it! The photos transport you back there and it has made me so homesick to return to Paris again even though I return there every year when I can to visit family there and have always made it a pilgrimmage to go to the Marches a few times a week, especially to the 'Richard Lenoir Marche at Place de La Bastille in the 11th arrondisement...you can spend the entire morning (they close at 1PM) there perusing from table to table and end your day walking home in the streets of Paris with a tote-ful of delicacies to prepare the sumptious evening 'repas'
The varieties of each food are endless and fabulous and fresh, the colors of the fruits and vegetables are brilliant, the energy at the marches are exhuberant, and venders are so proud of their products...This book really does take you back to feeling like you are there in the midst of a culinary feast; the recipes are easy and with US measurements, and the descriptions of each arrondisement gives you such a personal tour that you feel akin to each personality they present you with. This is really the true colloquial joie de vivre experience in Paris-a way to commune with nature's bounty. I highly recommend this book; 5 stars!! a true feast for the eyes!!

Nicolle Aimee Meyer and Amanda Pilar Smith have created a book that is part travel guide, part cookbook, part biography -- and all wonderful! The photographs are terrific. The text brings the markets and their people to life. And I can't wait to try some of the recipes, which are for many classic French favorites. Altogether a complete success! Bravo!!

Beautiful photography and lively writing make this a perfect gift this holiday season (or any time) for anyone who likes to eat and loves Paris. Even for a longtime resident of the City of Lights like myself, this book brings another Paris to life, one you will want to explore again and again, in these pages and of course like the authors did themselves, bicycling through every arrodisement, leaving no quartier unvisited, no fromage untasted, no croissant unfinished! A magnificent and original hommage sure to earn its place among the classics of cuisine and travel.

A must for anyone seeking out the real Paris, off the beaten track of tourist traps. Even if you can't visit more than two or three markets per visit to this wonderful city, this book will continue to be a major reference for seeking out these fascinating places of food, drink and 'objets'. Happy exploring!

I love this book! The cover roped me right in and before I knew it I was buying it. I am so glad I did. The book is organized by arrondissement; each chapter is devoted to one of them. They tend to focus on the biggest or best market in each arrondissement but they devote paragraphs to the others. The text itself is gracefully written and yet very convivial. For each of the main markets, the authors start you out on a typical Parisian morning and gently suggest the path you might want to follow as you navigate that particular market; it is almost as though they are walking along with you. They tell you what's available at each market and what are each market's strengths and weaknesses. You will be introduced to a lot of people - the butcher at the Marché d'Aligre, the poissonier at the Richard Lenoir, the organic farmer at the Batignolles market, the interesting old fellow who hawks bath salts as he soaks his feet in green water... I feel as though I'd be able to walk up to them and say hi. There's some history mixed in there, too, so you'll get to see some nice old photos and learn about everday Parisians of the past. And of course there are the recipes. Most of them appear delicious and a few rather exotic. Many of them come from the very people that you "met" in the chapter preceding, so you know they're authentic and the human element makes you want to try the recipe all the more.

I love Paris. This book really gives you a sense of what it is like to be there - colorful, vibrant, stately, modern, classic, young, old... Paris is all of these things and more at once. I went there seven years ago and I don't think I hit a single market. This book makes me feel incredibly well-equipped; I think that without it I would feel a bit intimidated. I plan to go back and I'm gonna bring this book with me!

Zeepvat didn't write anything short of an amazing book on the 19th century Romanovs. She really got into the intimate details of family life as well as writing of their political role. A must read book for all Romanov fans!

A delightful collection of stories starting with the first Nicholas and Alexandra in 1817, winding it's way to a story about the Tsesarevich Alexei. Many lesser known members of the Imperial Family are here, many who are quite interesting in and of themselves!

Very well written series of 'short stories' of different members of the Russian royal family at the turn of the 19th century, some obscure and not normally written about, which I found very refreshing. I am an avid collector of historical biographies, Russian royal family especially, but I have never seen such a comprehensive exploration of the Romanovs. Quite a few pictures I had not seen before also. All in all a great investment, and a very good read.

This book goes way beyond the normal stories of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna. Charlotte Zeepvat leads us through the personalities in the Romanov family, and what part they played in imperial Russia and its downfall. Through these biographies the reader can understand the slide from a united family to the rival factions that partly brought about the Revolution and its aftermath. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered about the imperial house of Russia , and the fate that awaited them.

This is a well written book that covers the last century of the Russian Romanov dynasty.

The author has chosen a wide focus rather than a narrow one on Nicholas II and Alexandra. For once we get to meet the other family memebers, learn about their personalities and what events shaped their lives and the fate of the dynasty.

We also get to read in detail about the various palaces and estates the family used. These are often referred to in other books without any real background information on their history or importance to the family being described. This book fills that vacume.

If you know nothing about the Romanovs this is a fantastic place to start as all these people's live stories weave in and out of each other to create an amazing and true story.

Author: Peg Kehret

Ages: 9-12

The secret journey is a great story about a girl named Emma. Emma is a twelve-year-old girl living in London. Her mother and father are journeying to France because of her mother becoming ill. Emma's parents think it is better if Emma does not come along. Emma was supposed to stay at her aunt's house with her cousin. Now Emma will do anything to get away from her aunt and annoying cousin Odolf. So she pretends to be a boy named William and sneaks on a ship that she thinks is going to France. But she is misled and ends up getting on an illegal ship that's going to Africa trading slaves! Then a horrible storm blows-in and wrecks the ship. Will Emma (or William) ever make it to shore? Will she survive?

It is very easy to relate to this book. I give the book 5/5 stars! This fast paced book will keep you on the edge of your seat. I used to not like reading because a lot of the books I read were boring, slow and had no plot to them. But occasionally there was a really good book I heard about and decided to read it. This book was one of those. My teacher told me about it and ever since I read it, it has been one of my favorite books.


About the Author

Peg Kehret has been awarded the "Children's Choice" award in 14 different states. Along with the Kite Award given by the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators and the PEN Center West Award for children's literature. The American Library Association, the International Reading Association and the Children's Book Council normally recommend Peg Kehret's books.

How far would you go to be with your parents? 12 year old Emma went all the way to Africa and back to be with her parents.

This story took place on a ship but not just any ship. The Black Lighting was the most notorious slave ship afloat. Emma was told that this ship was the Wayfer. Now Emma is known as ship's boy Willam. Poor Emma landed on the coast of Africa with no supplies. What will happen to this courageous girl? Well I guess I'll tell you part of what happens to this daring girl. She rummages through the forest and... gets attacked by a bull! Then she finds fwigs. Well believe it or not I like it when she gets attacked by the bull because she finds food. Poor Emma from Liverpool to Africa. What could be worse?

I won't tell you anymore but I will tell you that I recommend this book to all my friends and family because of all the description made me make a picture in my mind. Yesiree Peg Kehret did a phenomenal job on this book.

The Secret Journey is a good book. It is about twelve-year-old Emma Bolton, who lives in England in 1834. Her mother is sick and she and Emma's father are going to France and leaving Emma with Aunt Martha and her hated cousin Odolf. In a desperate attempt to get away from the evil Odolf and go to France with her parents, Emma runs away to the docks of Liverpool and gets onto a ship that she is told is the one her parents are on. Too late, Emma realizes that she is on the wrong boat. She has stowed away on the Black Lightning, a slave ship. She is going to have to go all the way to South Africa and back, disguised as "William", the ship's boy. However, about halfway there, the ship sinks in a huge storm. Emma is the only survivor. She is stranded in the jungle of Africa with only chimps to keep her company. Will someone find Emma? Or will she be stuck here forever?

The Secret Journey is a fantastic book. It starts out when Emma's mother is sick and has to move to warmer climates. The only problem is that Emma's father won't let Emma go. That means she has to stay with her horrible cousin Odolf. Emma will do any thing not stay with Ololf. So Emma disguises herself as a boy. She sneaks on to a ship which she thinks is the ship with her parents on it. It turns out that she is on the worst slave ship afloat! Then a storm comes and Emma gets marooned on the coast of Africa. There she only has her wits to keep her alive. The theme of this book is don't give up.
Anyone who likes adventure would love this book.

The Secret Journey was very interesting to read! It is about a twelve-year old girl named Emma Bolton whose mother is deathly sick. The doctor advises Mr. Bolton that the only way to save his wife is to have her have lots of fresh air and complete rest by sailing to France. Emma's father arranges the trip on the ship Wayfarer...but decides to leave Emma with Aunt Matha and her Cousin Odolf, who she really hates. Emma is determined to go with her parents rather than to endure living with Odolf for months.

She then decides to sneak aboard Wayfarer and to stay with her sick mother. So she disguises herself as a boy and rushes on Monday midnight to the dock. There, when she asks which ship was Wayfarer, a man purposely instructs her to the wrong ship. The ship was Black Lightning, the most dangerous and worst ship anybody could ever go on.

Emma realizes too late that she was on the wrong ship and she is discovered. She then decides to keep acting as "William", ship's boy for the Captain Issac Bacon. Suddenly, a storm causes a shipreck and she is the only survivor as she is marooned on the coast of Africa.

She learns how to survive and it is very interesting for I like 'shipwreck stories'.

I'm sure anybody would like this exciting book! It's very fast paced and very enjoyable to read!

Usually I do find stories written in verse too gimicky, but in this case the verse adds clarity to the voice of Elaine and the beauty in the language is a joy to read.

This tale, written entirely in verse, is about Elaine of Ascolat, "The Lady of Shallot". After her mother's death, she and her brothers go to live with her father. She grew up the only girl in a sea of men, and so she forgets the proper way to act, and instead runs wild with the other boys. She makes good friends with some of them, and she even falls in love with the handsome Lancelot. But it isn't too long before there is a war with the Saxons, and somehow Elaine finds herself in a mess she never could have imagined.


I finished this book very quickly, partly because it was in verse and partly because I was hooked. Elaine is a likeable and believeable character, and the book had a perfect mixture of romance, friendship, and action. As far as the writing goes, it was absolutely breathtaking. This is definitely a book that I would recommend to anyone looking for something thrilling and engaging.

A lovely book and one of my favorites! This book is based on Camelot and has a great overview of the same characters. Although it has a more modern take on it (has understandable Language.) The only problem I had with the book was that it was printed weird. Because it was supposably like a song, I was unable to read it correctly and had to go back and reread paragraphs because I wasn't taking in the info. Overall I think it's a romance tail with a lovely twist. Has a fairy tail ending, but isn't that what we all want?!

This book is an amazing book. When I first received it I was a little discouraged about the fact that the book was written in free verse poetry but if you want to you can just read it like it was a normal book. This story is full of romance and promises, adventures and tragedies. This is probably the best book I have read in a few months. This is a great book if you are studying free verse poetry but I would personally not recommend this book if you are looking for something with a lot of foreshadowing, etc... If you are looking for symbolism you will hit the jackpot but you have to look deeply because it might not be apparent to the human eye. I personally think that no matter who you are and what kind of books you read you will enjoy this book because it has a little bit of everything.

I have never read a novel in verse before. But i found that it added extra drama to this beautifuly written story.

16-year old Elaine, lives in a battle incampment, with her father, brothers, and of course Arthur and Lancealot. She has run wild all her life, and now finds herself longing to be more beautiful and gracful when she discovers she has feelings for Lancealot. She longs for him to notice her, but when the beautiful, gracful, and cold Gwynivere joins them, Elaine is jealous, of her effect on Lancealot. But when the time comes will the two rivals be able to work together to save Arthur and his army?


This book is amazing and i could hardly put it down, i finshed it in about a day and a half. Beautiful and lyrical. I love it!!

Fred Morton certainly lived up to his reputation in this novel about the waning days of the "Imperial City of Vienna" and all the different personages inhabiting the Empire [Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky] during these turbulent pre WWI years. Excellent for history buffs such as myself or anyone else for that matter who enjoys a good read about the declining days of Empire and the effect of the Great War on European Aristocracy. Also interesting to note that Franz Ferdinand's three surviving children [daughter and two sons] were taken in by a friend after their parents murder by a Serbian Terrorist [not family as they were morgantic children due to their mother's status] and all eventually found themselves sent to a concentration camp [Therienstadt] when Austria was gobbled up by Germany during the Nazi's rise to power..as they did not possess "Imperial Status" Dont hear too much about this in any books. Eventually they were liberated by the Allies and their property restored to them. Sophie outlived both her younger brothers living to the ripe old age of 91. Her desendents live today in Konopiste; the Palace of Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife Sophie Chotek.

There is an historical theory, or perhaps it is no more than a bon mot, that empires at the end of their power and political influence spend their last energies on a showy efflorescence, like a century plant. The prime examples would be 18th century Venice and early 20th century Vienna.

In "Thunder at Twilight," Frederic Morton presents a gossipy and apparently frothy portrait of such a bloom, told as a tragic love story. Like a good Mozart opera, there is a subsidiary, comic love story as well.

The tragic lovers are Franz Ferdinand, crown price of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, Sophie Chotek. Because Sophie was not royal, merely a countess, the archduke could not marry her as consort but only as a morganatic wife, and their children would not be in line for succession to the throne,

The comic lovers are Emperor Franz Joseph and the Widow Schratt, who also could not marry but who were so proper that they did not even make out.

The villain is Montenuevo, first court chamberlain, epitomizing the sclerotic empire that after rolling along for 800 years had almost seized its gears.

There is a huge supporting cast: Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin; Freud and Jung; the mad general Conrad von Hotzendorf and the crazed Serb Apis, etc. etc.

With an eye on the weather and the changes of seasons and in a flurry of adjectives, Morton leads them all toward a doom. This is one of the few reviews of the period that treats Franz Ferdinand as anything more than a stage prop.

In fact, in Morton's interpretation, the archduke is practically the only sensible man in the empire, full of fierce words masking a desperate attempt to keep Austria out of war with Russia. Sophie plays the calming influence who steadies her hotheaded lover.

Morton rightly calls Franz Ferdinand's policy appeasement of Serbia. It could never have worked. As we know from a further century of bitter experience, the South Slavs can neither govern themselves nor be governed

Conrad, though incompetent, was right. Serbia needed to be crushed. The problem was, Austria could not do it unless Russia stood aside; and Russia, another dying empire, was as full of aristocratic nitwits as Vienna, and had its own ungovernable Slavs (and Germans, like Lenin).

As hardcore history, "Thunder at Twilight" is too light, too consciously melodramatic. But it is great fun to read and seems to get the big picture more exactly right than more ponderous tomes.

A college professor recommended this to me so I read it in about a day. It is very interesting how Morton weaves history into some sort of a novel that's very easy to read. Inspired by the death of his uncle in World War I, Morton writes about the history and the climax leading up to the very moment when the Crown Prince Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were assassinated by a Serbian terrorist youth.

Morton explains the nasty relationship with the Hapsburg Empire (that includes Austria) and the lower Slavic nations and the growing animosity between them. This is a great book for history buffs. My only complaints are that there aren't any citations in the book and that the friendship between Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud don't seem to have anything to do with the story itself.

Something is missing. The book was a fantastic read. I would have given it 5 stars and a "Bravo!" - but some things are not mentioned that are needed. I read, elsewhere, about the "blank check" from the Germans that encouraged the Austrians to start a war with the Serbs. This would lead to something bigger for the Germans, against the French. Also, my previous readings indicated that Tisza and the Hungarians were not interested in war and urged the Austrians to offer, at least, an ultimatum. The Austrians, then came up with the "ultimatum/non-ultimatum". The author gives the appearance that Germany was passive in the whole situation and did not want to get involved. No mention is made of the "blank check". The only mention Tisza gets is that Franz Ferdinand did not like him and that the Hungarians abused the Serbs within their land. Nothing was mentioned, in particular, of the Tri-Monarchy that Franz Ferdinand had thought-up. I feel that the author left out some important things.

Other than these points, I thought the book was a really good read to learn about some really sinister people running around Vienna before the outbreak of war. Great information was presented on Princip and, of course, the relationship between Franz Ferdinand and Franz Joesph.

I will read further for information about the above things not mentioned in this book. 4 3/4 stars.

This is a favorite of mine, all the info about the Fin du siecle, Rudolph, and why we went into World War 1, and why some young people don't make it somehow!

Amazing and amazingly entertaining book, very very higly recommended. I dont have anything to add to the info of the book itself, go for the editorial reviews.

Glen Yeadon, author of Nazi Hydra in America, had this to say about The Transfer Agreement:

I found it very boring--it was steeped with internal Jewish politics and very little about the actual negotiations with the Nazis or the actual deal and its results. It is geared to Jewish historians and only vaguely to the war and the Nazis... I liked IBM and the War against the Weak - both were good and I bought this one on the strength of the other two. It tried to remain neutral rather than to place the blame on the Zionists. For example, there was no mention of the Zionist who helped load the trains in Hungary to Auschwitz, who was hanged in Israel in the 50s. That type of material was neatly sanitized by omission.

This was an area of World History that I had no clue about prior to reading this book. This is indeed a tragic story of the plight of Jews in Europe during Hitler's regime. This book was so suspenseful I simply could not put it down. Black does an excellent job of engaging the reader and does not reveal the details of unfolding events until the last moment. Simply WOW!

As person who is not Jewish I think it is important for everybody to learn the lessons of the Third Reich and the Holocaust. However, equally important is that there were greedy and ideology zealots that contributed to the growth of the Third Reich via the Transfer Agreement, i.e., Sam Cohen and even Hoffien and Landauer. The Transfer Agreement was just that a business arrangement to transfer German Jews to Palestine in return German exports would be bought through Zionist entities to ensure the economic growth and wealth of Palestine. Moreover, what was incredibly stunning was the ability of the 18th Zionist Congress to go against the international boycott movement by suppressing the Revisionists- strong arming them into abandoning their ideology.

This makes me wonder what would have happened if the boycott prevailed and the Third Reich "cracked"? Would there still be a Germany today? Would we even have had the Holocaust? I know it may sound harsh and I am sure I will be labeled an anti-Semite because of this, but the reality is according to Black, the Zionists contributed significantly to the rise of the economic and military might of the Third Reich.

This book is simply a phenomenon in and of itself. It completely forces one to reshape how they view events during that time period. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn about a different dimension of relationships between the Third Reich, German Jews, and Zionists. This will definitely throw you off and have you thinking for days. Definitely one of my top 10 books of all time.

Readers of this book must be going out of their way to avoid its nightmarish implications; even the author sidesteps them. Indeed, the book is mis-titled. It should properly have been called 'The Great Boycott and its Tragic Abandonment.' The transfer agreement was simply the rationale for the staggering historic blunder whereby Jewish organizations in the diaspora allowed themselves to be persuaded by Zionist forces to puncture the spontaneous and swelling worldwide Jewish boycott of German goods taking place in 1933, a movement with enormous and growing non-Jewish support as well, which, had it been supported rather than undercut by major Jewish organizations, could very well have toppled Hitler from power by the spring of 1934. Not only would this have spared 5-6 million Jewish lives, it would have spared another 45 million or so non-Jewish lives lost in the Nazi holocaust. I once believed like many that the Holocaust led to the fulfillment of Zionism; this book shows rather that it was the fulfillment of Zionism which led to the Holocaust. And it was all for nought. Israel would still have come into being and moreover would have had several million extra potential immigrants to draw from. This book is all about a simply horrific wordwide catastrophe that resulted from an incredibly BAD choice based on ethnic nationalism, and it is made instead to appear as merely a somewhat sordid chapter re. a road to nationhood that featured a few nasty bumps along the way. Mind-boggling!

I cannot praise the author, his research, his explanations and his writing enough for this singular tome. Like other reviewers have said, the reader goes into this book, whether Jewish or not, with their mouth open at the incredibility of this occurence. It's easy enough in hindsight to make judgement calls about what the the leaders of the Jewish community world-wide should have done about Hitler's rise to power. However, given the economic situation of the time and the Reich's strategems to place all blame for Germany's economic hardships on the Jews throughout Europe, it's hard to determine that even had the massive boycotts been organized and on schedule, would they have work? And even more important, if Hitler was ousted due to the economic stranglehold on Germany,who or what would have taken his place? And would that have been any less devastating for the Jews in Europe.

There are few obvious heros and anti-heros in this book, except for the Nazis as being the ultimate in villains. One man paid dearly for his attempts to save European Jewry...with his life. It was not conclusive as to whome the assassins were and who put out the price on his head. It's all too easy to blame the reactionary groups, but there are obvious questions about whether his death was one of convenience so that blame could be placed by the leading group of Mapai at the door of the reactionary Jewish groups.

Sam Cohen was a businessman through and through. His reasoning to press The Transfer agreement was purely motivated by money, and not the need to either save European Jewry or to establish Israel as a separate state. It is this 'selling' of the agreement by so many that is so mind-boggling. So many were willing to take the wealth of German Jewry (and later the funds that were supposed to be used to save the lives of Jews who had no homes or businesses to return to) and use it to set up a home in Palestine...it's beyond my ability to pass judgement on these men as to their motivation, yet I am not certain I could possibly decide to shake the hands of these men. The fact that there was a need to set up a Jewish state, and that there was all this money to fund its establishment is beside the fact. At no other time, was any other method even considered to rescue the millions of Jews trapped, even the children...this is so reprehensible as to curdle anyone's blood.

And though this happened, our countries, including the U.S. and Britain were equally at fault for closing immigration quotas, even though they knew what was going on in Germany. It was easier to merely close their eyes and ignore The Holocaust, until it became obvious that no one was safe from Hilter and his cronies.

This story is just so incredible that I wish there was some way to make it into a movie that does the story justice. I don't suppose that is a possibility. But it is a tremendous story that needs to be included in European history, as it's impact was great. Edwin Black did a fantastic job. (...)

Researchers have recently unearthed `directives' sent from Heinrich Himmler to Dachau, and Mauthausen concentration camps to the effect that all inmates were to be bathed in showers providing insecticides, their heads cleared of hair, their heavy garments that bore Wool Collars were to be burned outright. The reason for such directives was to prevent lice, and leprosy from spreading among all other inmate prisoners.

Gypsies, Polish, Slavs, Soviets (Christians and Jews) who had been incarcerated during the war and routed into the five main Concentration Camps, {which had been established throughout the years 1933 to 1939}, were in their majority suffering lice parasite, notably on youngsters. Himmler ruled "they should be showered in insecticides twice per week in order to remove the nits attached to their hair - difficult to remove without specialized products."

Many inmates were homosexuals' prisoners of war, suffering from venereal diseases - transmissible. This parasite was widely spreading at the time Germany was lacking enough doctors to take care of the prevention process or even to guard against casual means of transmission.

Most doctors were preoccupied with war related engagements; on their priority list was first and foremost to take care of injuries from battles, research, and the last was to worry about concentration camps per se, unless in absolute emergencies like `fear that certain virus might not be contained and would be causing widespread damage'.

In very few pages of this book did the author speak of Concentration Camps - dispersed on ten pages? Even there he did it casually in the context that ""workers were rushed to construct a mysterious political concentration camp at a pastoral village called Dachau...."" """Every train entering Denmark was crowded with German Jewish refugees..""" indicative that the `Transfer' from Germany to Palestine (in transit through neutral Europe - France had fallen by then) gives credence to this book.

Perhaps written books on the `Pogrom' will soon be revisited and be traced back with more up to date material on these most fateful human tragedies of WWII.

I obtained a copy of this book to aid my understanding of the common soldiers' actions and thoughts while touring these battlefields. I found it to be a valuable tool in tracing the actions of the past. Bando has done a credible job in collecting and providing context to the wealth of information gleaned from the veterans and collected in this volume. Richly illustrated, it is deserving of a spot on any WWII buffs bookshelf. Aberjona Press is to be congratulated on providing this updated version based on Mark Bando's earlier works.

Had there been a Nobel Prize for military history books Mark Bando's Vanguard of the Crusade would be nominated...and ought to win. It is crystal clear to me that the research behind this book is close to a life-time of hard work (I am an author myself). The text is stunning both in content and style. And the number of not only unpublished but also amazing photographs is awesome. In contrast to many other divisional histories you'll also learn from this book about the enemies that the division fought - in great detail. If ever there was and will be an absolute must book for US Army airborne veterans, family and buffs - this is it.

Mark Bando has done an outstanding piece of work in his "Vanguard of the Crusade: The 101st Airborne Division in WWII."

I have read copies of this and some of his earlier work and find "Vanguard" an impressive fusion of, and significant addition to it. What's more, the author's sense of dynamic and his attention to detail reflect mastery of the subject material and reflect great honor upon the many, many superb accomplishments of the 101st Airborne Division in World War II. Bando rates a 'thumbs up' in my mind.

I was surprised at recent rating remarks that were quite critical of this book and of its publisher. I have read both of Bando's earlier works leading to "Vanguard" and believe "Vanguard" is much more than a paste-together: both as seen from detail to information and attention to detail in preparation, photos, and printing.

What the eye sees, is what it sees. In my opinion, comparison of earlier Bando publication photos shows the "Vanguard" publisher worked diligently to ensure best possible renditions - and a lot of new data - are in the book. Deterioration of the quality of archived or private photo records nearly 60 years old is inevitable. The "Vanguard" publisher, in my opinion, did his best to obtain pictures of high quality - and that might intrigue the reader, spurring him/her on to the next pages and revelations.

In the Amazon description of "Vanguard" there are plain words saying it is an improvement/expansion that draws on Bando's earlier works, with more detail, more maps, more data.

I believe the author-publisher team has created an exceptional new recounting of glory, grimaces, and ghosts of war. Hats off to Mark Bando and the Aberjona Press!

Vanguard is the most comprehensively researched work between two covers of the Screaming Eagles in WWII, from (A)ddeville to (Z)ell am See. It's the perfect mix between a scholarly presentation of the facts, and human interest war stories as told through the words of the men who were in the "dress rehearsal" for the Hollywood productions. Bando is not a cheerleader, so don't expect a spin on the facts. He's a retired policeman, an investigator/researcher and a reporter of events. He often leaves the answers to questions of right or wrong to the reader. You get the report of what happened as seen through the eyes of the men who pulled the triggers and lived through experiences that many of them still think about daily.

Bando's decades of personal interviews and research have become his trademark. There are no research assistants or hastily pumped out books to coincide with the anniversary of a well-known invasion or battle. When he writes something that isn't attributed to another author, you can be sure that it was the result of 40 years of personal research that included and continues to include traveling the country speaking to individual veterans, attending everything from company to division reunions, and regular trips to the National Archives and the battlefields of Europe, whether he's armed with a notebook, camera or metal detector. I'm never surprised when I read a quality book by another author (Richard Killblane and Jake McNiece's "Filthy Thirteen" for instance) and see Bando's name in the footnotes or bibliography.

"Vanguard" turns the spotlight over to the guys who weren't portrayed by Hollywood's A list in the movies. Men like Lt. William Russo, who could do with an 81mm mortar what a sniper could do with a scoped rifle, only to much more dramatic effect on the hapless target.

I wish I had the time to go through "Vanguard" like Manny, with my maps out, especially the ones published with Bando's 2-part article in "Armchair General" magazine, but the anecdotes on virtually every page of the book are enough to keep me turning the pages. They're stories you haven't heard before, whether the story is humorous such as when Jack Womer of "Filthy Thirteen" fame speaks of Winston Churchill urinating on his boots while he hid in a hay pile after a practice jump, or riveting like the story of one-man army Charles Santarsiero, or Joe Beyrle, who spent more combat time with a Russian armor unit after multiple escapes from German POW camps than he did with US troops. Vanguard also answers the question: "Can one paratrooper shoot 3 SS men with one round from his M-1?" The answer, of course, is "yes", and Leo Gillis did it.

If you like history more than Hollywood, and want the most accurate information available on the 101st. ABD in WWII, buy this book. Better yet, buy this one together with "101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy". Some authors dedicate their careers to what they know, and others to what they can sell quickly. This author knows what he's talking about.

Vanguard of the Crusade: The 101st Airborne Division in World War II by Mark Bando is a truly special chronicle of the 101st Airborne from its time in wait in England prior to the invasion of the Continent to the end of the war and disbanding of the Division. Vanguard stands as a tribute to those who fought with the Screaming Eagles, whether they survived the war or not.

Bando has sculpted his prose from hundreds of interviews and personal diaries (although expressly forbade in combat zones!) of 101st veterans. With often only snippets of information from any single source, Bando has been able to piece together an engaging history of combat of one of the most elite forces the Allies assembled during the Second World War. Where possible Bando has reproduced the words of the veterans verbatim within the context of larger discussions lending a feel of authenticity that many other works do not achieve. Vanguard is not written in the flowery novelette style of so many authors (e.g., Ambrose) and as such may be a "difficult" read for many less interested in historical events minus the Hollywood feel. Yet, having said that, anyone interested in how the 101st earned its reputation should not be deterred from tackling this book. It's a wonderful collection of memories and writings that is weaved into a nearly seamless single story of the Division from England 1943 to late 45 in occupied Germany. If you want HISTORY - untainted and without opinions based on hindsight of 60 years - this is it. Bando and the Editorial staff at Aberjona Press have done an incredible job checking, re-checking and verifying information and this fact alone makes this a wonderful piece of historical writing. One other subtle yet VERY effective editorial trick has been to italicize German unit names. In this way it is always clear who is who without knowing all units by heart.

Vanguard of the Crusade represents an indispensable source of fuller information that has not been pre-digested for those less patient for the complete story. Two obvious examples come to mind: First, many probably think they know the "story" of the Airborne drop in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market-Garden. However, the story told in the classic (and both well written and factually sound) A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan is quite "sanitized" and abridged with respect to the actions in which the 101st were involved. Bando does a wonderful job touching on the breadth of the combat situations in which the Screaming Eagles were involved while trying to keep Hell's Highway open. It is probably fair to assume that many people assume that the 101st fought as a single group in relatively small engagement areas during Market-Garden but Bando's text makes it clear that the reality was that of smaller groups spread over greater distances engaged in multiple hit-and-run (generally) battles with both first and second-rate German troops. Few sources (one exception being It Never Snows In September by Robert Kershaw) make this clear. Second, although the Battle of the Bulge is certainly one of the most recognized military actions of the US armed forces, and many know that the 101st Airborne Division played a crucial role, it is unlikely that many understand what the siege on Bastogne really represented in terms of combat. Contrary to "popular" depictions, the month long fierce battles around town of Bastogne were not simply one battle a la the Alamo. Certainly Bastogne was surrounded by the Germans and siege set, but many small Belgian towns like Foy, Bizory, Marvie, Longvilly, and Noville that were situated around Bastogne played a role in its defense and ultimate reversal of battle. It is important to remember not just those who fought from within Bastogne proper, but also those who battled from a distance of yards to a few miles outside Bastogne itself. It was this collective group that earned the Distinguished Unit Citation en masse for their key role in the Battle of the Bulge. Bando dedicates a large portion of his text to these lesser known but not lesser important engagements.

I found Vanguard of the Crusade to be an extremely pleasurable read. I would sit with maps of the various engagements (all the maps presented in the book can be downloaded and printed from: http://aegis-consulting.com/index.html), plot the actions while I moved through the text, and get lost in the hundreds of photographs presented that put a real face on the map coordinates and words. While it is not essential to read Vanguard in this fashion I suggest it, as it is rare that one can so lose oneself so fully in a popular historical text. I give Vanguard a hearty 5 stars for context, presentation and soul!