Europe Books

DID YOU EVER WONDER JUST WHAT THOSE STRANGE ARTISTIC BRASS SHELL CASEING VASE "WHAT YOU MA CALL EMS " WERE THAT YOU ENCOUNTERED TOO OFTEN AT FLEA MARKETS , ANTIQUE & MILITARY SHOWS ? THAT IS JUST WHO TOOK THE TIME IN THE MIDDLE OF A QUITE BUSY WAR TO MAKE SUCH SIMPLY MARVELOUS MASTERPIECES OUT OF ALL THINGS BUT BRASS WHICH IS A MOST DIFFICULT MEDIUM TO WORK WITH IF AT ALL!WELL WONDER NO MORE AS THIS TRENCH ART MASTERPIECE ANSWER ALL BOOK IS BUT THE "BIBLE" ON A VERY SPECIAL & UNIQUE TOPIC SELDOM EXPLORED IN TRUE DEPTH & DETAIL!THE BOOK IS VERY EDUCATIONAL AS WELL AS ENTERTAINING WITH ALL IT'S MANY EXCELLENT PRETTY COLOR PICTURES & WILL CERTAINLY PUT THE POLISH ON AN INSIGHT TO A WORLD AT WAR FROM NOW ANOTHER TIME , MENTALITY , CAUSE & CENTURY FOREVER PAST! THIS BOOK IS REALLY A MUST FOR THE HISTORIAN & COLLECTOR ALIKE!PRAY THAT WE NEVER SEE THIS TYPE OF WAR ART EVER AGAIN AS THE BOOK IS A STATEMENT OF THE ORDINARY TORTURED FRONT LINE SOLDIER SOULS TRYING TO FIND & CREATE BEAUTY FOREVER LOST IN A WORLD CONSUMED BY THE EVIL MADNESS OF TOTAL WAR! SOUND FAMILIAR? WHERE ARE ALL THESE LOST ARTISTIC SOULS NOW? PEACE! A+!

Jane Kimball has written a book of great value to those who have interest in this form of art. Her wrtting and illustrations bring forward the intricacies of area not generally understood. With this book, Mrs. Kimball is now accepted as recognized authority of trench art.

What an amazing compilation! The information is fascinating and the photos are beautiful. The author is clearly an expert, not only about Trench Art, but also in terms of how to present material in ways that make it come alive for the casual reader. The excerpts from letters written at the time make history come alive. It's fitting in this time of war to be reminded that beauty can survive despite the hell that surrounds it.

This beautiful reference book is a must have for anyone remotely interested in the field of trench art. The author has done a marvelous job of documenting the development of this curious art form. Copiously illustrated with examples from her personal collection and others, TRENCH ART--AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY is the most comprehensive book on the subject. The collecting world owes Ms. Kimball a huge debt of gratitude for her work on this monumental book.

Gary Hollingsworth
Orlando, Florida

Trench art is unique, the creation of sometimes beautiful, often novel and perhaps practical objects of art. Very interesting aspect of both social and military history.

This book covers the World Wars in great detail. Techniques and numerous examples are covered. Writing style is informative and easy to read - the text is lavishly illustrated. Book covers older items (Napolionic bone carvings - not trench art in the literal sense, carved by French POWs in Dartmoor and Portland prisons), through to more recent conflicts such as Vietnam.

I collect trench art as a hobby. See reference below for a couple of my pieces:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze48sdz/id1.html

Wonderful book for any collector of trench art. Fascinating objects to collect - this book really helps to understand the background to these items.

Dear Mr. Rehbein,

I am writing on behalf of my friend, Maria Mendonca, whom you met recently in East Providence, Rhode Island. Maria has leant me the book to read...These are her comments. Wonderful! When I picked up the book to ready, I just couldn't put it down. When I met you and your wife, I knew that you were both kind people. I enjoyed reading about your life. Just to survive was a miracle. The fact that you found both your mother and your father was fascinating. I hope many people read your book....there is so much to learn from it. The world would be a better place. Sincerely, Maria Mendonca

While reading this book can stir many different emotions in the reader, the one that I was left with was hope. Hope in the fact that more people can be as forgiving in their fellow human beings as Charles Rehbein was after all he was made to endure at the hand of mans own kind.

Believing that he was able to survive his hardships through his faith in God, Mr. Rehbein's personal story has meaning in it even for those whose faith may not be as strong.

I commend him for being able to share his memories and open feelings with all who are fortunate enough to read this very moving story of "one man's life as lived through World War II."

A book well written and well worth the read.

This informative memoir is set in Eastern Europe, a region historically noted for its interplay between Polish and German settlers. Beginning with the onset of World War II, this book describes the flights and imprisonments of teenage Charles Rehbein. Of particular interest is the characterization of German, Polish, Russian civilians and soldiers. Depictions are simple but insightful and make for an interesting read. Charles Rehbein is a gifted person, quite able to provide the reader with the terror, deprivation, discipline, and the hopes that were his.

It is a privilege of knowing Mr Rehbein for 45+ years not only as a man whom I worked for, but also as a teacher and friend. Mr Rehbein taught me to do my work, as humanly as possible, toward perfection.
His daughter and three sons have to be so proud of their Dad, especially knowing his childhood and teenage history. I envy them because I only wish I had known more about my Dad. His Faith, which sustained him during this tragic time, is a testament to a true believer. May God Bless Mr Rehbein and his Family. Charlie, I look forward to the continuation of your life in the next book.,,, Orson w. Black

This is an astonishing story of faith and survival. The story is well written with vivid descriptions of people, places and events. The author's clear recall of events amazed me and kept me reading with anticipation. This story will put your own life into perspective. The short and to the point chapters make for easy reading. Highly recommended.

Russian banking is 'inventing' a new Russian social process for individual and small group entrepreneurial pioneering and providing people with new pathways for economic growth. Every decisive step in the history of economic development ha been the result of deliberate decisions to open up space and enable people to pioneer. This deliberate incubation of the free enterprise of ordinary people has always worked to produce great results. This is not nostalgic, not romantic, not greed. It is the simple principle of applying "opportunity" to the great driving hunger of millions of people to transcend their inadequate past

A far better description of the actual situation in Russia than what is available in the U.S. or Russian Press, or other alternative sources. Opened my eyes to what I should be aware of.

I found this book provided a clear description of possibilities for collaboration and cooperation with Banks in America. Our methods and practices differ but Dr. van de Waal-Palms explains the common denominators.

A surprisingly insightful description of the banking industry and the moral tenants of commerce which will undoutedly change the view of many Russians.

I found in the book a very professional and profound analysis for specialists in the securities and banking financial markets in the Russian Federation

A very sad commentary involving the killing and mutilation of many thousands of innocent people. A book that must be read although at times it will be difficult to continue due to the very nature of the material presented.

The Black Book, is a book incredibly great writen you will in enjoy it from the first page to the last!!!

In this amazing and original history we learn, finally, the first person accounts of the Nazi genocide perpetrated in Belarus, Ukraine and the Soviet Union by the Nazis during the Second World War. This part of the Holocaust has been only touched on elsewhereOrdinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. Despite the fact that Holocaust Museums such as Yad Vashem have documented the Nazi road of terror and death in the Ukraine, few histories have examined this from the point of view of the people involved.

This book bridges this gap, taking the reader deep into the land that was once flowing with Jewish Shtetle life. Soviet eye-witnesses such as Vasily Grossman, one of Russia's most celebrated journalists, show us the eyewitness accounts of Nazi atrocities and reminds us that almost half of the victims of the Holocaust were murdered here.

An amazing story that turns the heart and will shock the reader and one that fills in this gap of history.

Seth J. Frantzman

It's a rare reader who'll be able to get through The Unknown Black Book without having to walk away from it several times. The tragedies it documents are just too horrible to bear except in small doses. Both text and photographs stun the imagination and freeze the heart.

The UBB is a narrative history of Nazi atrocities against the Jews in the German-occupied Soviet territories (Ukraine, Belorussia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, The Crimea, and Russia) during WWII. It contains 93 documents, almost half of which are written by eyewitnesses. The rest are compilations of various eyewitness accounts by the editors, a couple of Soviet Jewish journalists, Ilya Ehrenburg and Vasily Grossman, who began collecting material as early as 1942. The eyewitness accounts include diaries, letters, and testimonies of those Russian Jews who managed to survive the wholescale exterminations carried out by the Eastern Front Einsatzgruppen (one of which was commanded by a direct descendant of the composer Franz Schubert).

What can one possibly say that makes sense of the horrors described by the survivors? Tsodik Yakovlevich Bleyman, the sole survivor of the shtetl of Utyan, tells of being driven into the forest with dozens of men and women, who were then sprayed with machine gun fire by Lithuanian fascist collaborators (p. 310). Yevgenia Shendels tells of her father, a physician, being gunned down in the streets of Kursk because he resisted the Nazi murder of medical patients (p. 401). Tatyana Taranova, a student, remembers that one Jew was ill and in seclusion when an Einsatzgruppe exterminated everyone in his village. When he was told of their fate, he was simply unable to believe the fantastic tale. "He decided to ask the German commandant for help because he did not believe that they had shot the Jews. The commandant smiled and called over a soldier with a submachine gun, and the naive Jew was shot right there" (p. 209). Tales such as these defy comprehension. but they need to be told and heeded.

The UBB's own fate is almost as sad as the stories it documents. In 1942, just a few months after the German invasion of the USSR, the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee was formed to document German atrocities, publicize them throughout the world, and garner aid for the Soviet war effort. A parallel Jewish committee in the U.S., chaired by Albert Einstein, promised to publish an English version of the book when it was completed. The American "Black Book" was eventually released. But the Stalinist regime eventually decided that the Russian version was too "Zionist." In addition, the government was upset that the Russian version documented numerous cases of Russian collaboration with the Nazis, thereby revealing the extent of anti-semitism in the Soviet state. So the publication of the Russian Black Book was squelched, even though the manuscript was complete, and in 1952 Stalin executed some 13 "Zionist" Jews who had collaborated on the project.

The book surpressed by Stalin, the "Unknown" Black book, is finally available thanks to the efforts of the editors of this edition.

Amazing story of the German and Romainian occupation of Russia and Lithuania during the invasion of the Soviet Territories during the second world war and the attrocities perpetrated on their populations especially the Jewish population and the brutality they endured at the hands of the occupiers.

"The most dramatic entrance to Venice is by boat. You can enjoy the same breathtaking view enjoyed by visitors for centuries by taking the Alilaguna waterbus from the Marco Polo International Airport to the San Marco landing in Venice..." pg. 114

For the independent traveler, two CDs present tours to twelve locations in Venice. For the armchair traveler, this book/CD set allows for an enjoyable visual and auditory journey through famous locations of interest.

Pictures of winter floods may dissuade you from visiting at certain times when there are floods. Pictures of people walking across ramps to visit St. Mark's seems somewhat daunting. Gondolas moored along canals on foggy afternoons draw you back into dreaming about visiting Venice. Museums hold a large collection of Venetian boats, including elaborate gondolas from the city's regattas.

"When I went to Venice, I discovered that my dream had become-incredibly but quite simply-my address." ~Marcel Proust

Famous quotes, special instructions for when to turn the CD on and off, tips on where to enjoy famous views, all make this guide very worthwhile. There is a historical timeline and lots of historical tidbits for anyone interested in the city from a historical perspective.

~The Rebecca Review

The entire book has good amount of useful practical information but the unique aspect is the 12 audio tours. We extracted the audio tours off of the CD's and loaded them on our iPod nanos. It works like a charm. Occasionally we wished that the script was a bit less general but it is an excellent precursor of what is probably the wave of the future. Why follow guides who are trying to impart the information in three languages (perhaps with a heavy accent) and practically running the too-large tour group past the attractions when you can use this methodology?

It was magical. My husband and I travelled to Venice last month, and the audio guide Venice in Context was fabulous. Instead of weaiting for a tour, and trying to hear and follow the guide, we went at our own pace. It was easy to follow and use. A great and eceonomical way to tour a city, I recommend it!

Seemingly designed for the curious and cautious American traveler, this illustrated/ textual/CD combination will guide you through, beyond, and back into one of the fabled cities of known history. Wayne takes care to neither preach nor cajole, yet sheds much light on a treasured living artifact. Perfect for singles or couples.

Venice In Context provides travelers with twelve narrated walking tours of Venice. This CD has information about what travelers can see and how to get around Venice on their own. tour brings to life the city's romance and explores its rich history and artistic heritage with stories and anecdotes about the lives of historical figures, artists, and musicians that will greatly enrich the travel experience. The series is narrated by Joel Godard, a veteran New York actor who appears as the announcer on NBC's popular Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

In 1805 a young boy Sam and his uncle are pressed into the British navy. Meanwhile A girl named Molly moved to America from England because her father died and her mom fell in love with an American. One day Molly goes into a bookshop and buys a book with a piece of Sam's ship called HMS Victory and signed by is granddaughter. Sam's life is described very well and is very detailed and you always know what is going on. Molly's life is very dramatic and really draws the reader in. Toward the end Sam's story gets gory and if you don't like that kind of stuff you won't like that part. This book was so good I couldn't stop reading it.
This book was the perfect mix of history and modern day mysteriousness.

Jordan.

Victory by Susan Cooper is a tale of time. When two people are join together from different times. United by one person and a cloth both people come together. Both feel the same way as each other. Sam Robbins is a boy who's family was poor. He joins his uncle but is then press into the navy. Molly Jennings a girl who

Certain authors publish with an aura of definite mystique. Lloyd Alexander, for one, can still elicit a certain thrill when his books sit on a shelf. Ditto Philip Pullman. But of all these fellows, not a one of them can hold a candle to the majesty and plum good writing of Ms. Susan Cooper. Her "The Dark Is Rising" sequence is still the go to series when it comes to Celtic myth and Arthurian legend. It was with great shock that I discovered a couple years ago that not only had she written comic pieces (as with "The Boggart") and time travel ("King of Shadows") but that she was STILL WRITING. Somehow I'd assumed "The Dark Is Rising" books were written decades ago solely for my own enjoyment and that the author had long since passed on to another world. Hardly. It is fortunate indeed that "Victory" proves how wrong I was. Not quite a time travel book, but not quite realistic fiction either, this latest Cooper saga follows two children, inexplicably tied to one another. And while it's not the author's finest work, there's no denying the fine fabulous writing that has gone into it.

Molly's world has fallen totally and irreparably apart. A logical girl, she understands why she and her family have moved from London, England to Connecticut. She knows that her new stepfather and stepbrother are fine fellows and that her house and room are bigger and more beautiful than anything she's ever had before. She knows this. However, Molly is so homesick for England that she'll hold on to anything that might tie her to it as if it were a lifeline. When a book of the life of Lord Nelson falls into her possession, Molly starts finding herself connected to the life of a boy who lived hundreds of years before her own. Sam Robbins was, during the time of the Napoleonic wars, pressed into serving on Horatio Nelson's ship. Once he is on The Victory, Sam finds himself both horrified and awed by his experience as one of the crew's powder monkeys. Told in alternating chapters, the book charts Molly's journey back to her former home to visit The Victory today, and Sam's journey over the seas on the boat he would soon regard as his own.

Because the book is shifting continually between the present and the past, Cooper sometimes writes herself into an interesting predicament. On the one hand you have Molly, who's misery is palpable. Cleverly, Cooper allows the reader to feel the child's homesickness and sheer unhappiness just as if it were their own. We are utterly sympathetic. At the same time, though, Cooper has coupled this tale alongside Sam's story. There is a moment in the book where Sam has just been forced to wear an iron bar in his mouth for three days as punishment for something he mistakenly did. He cannot eat or drink or sleep and the bar cuts painfully into his skin, drawing blood. The chapter ends after the bolt is removed and suddenly we're back with Molly who's problems, let's face it, shrivel up and dry in the face of Sam's agony. As I read the book I wondered if Cooper was aware that the reader might not sympathize with Molly as keenly once they'd been introduced to Sam's torturous situation. I needn't have feared. I suspect that Cooper knew exactly what she was doing when she paired Sam's tale with that of Molly's because at that moment the reader starts to feel that the Molly dilemma can only be solved if she herself understands how small her problems really are. The climax comes when Molly does realize this in an almost violent but necessary fashion.

A co-worker of mine started reading the book, but stopped when she found it dull. I was fascinated by this reaction, especially since I've been wondering how kids would react to this story. Would they be bored? Thrilled? I think Molly's contemporary tale is definitely necessary. I suppose the first image of the funeral march for Lord Nelson might be a bit slow as beginnings go, but once Molly is thrown head over heels into the ocean as her step-brother and step-father sail, the tale definitely picks up. Of course, it's filled to brimming with ship terms. And there's quite a lot of discussion of how the ship is laid out. Interestingly enough I kept suddenly envisioning the layout of the ships found in "The Pirates of the Caribbean" movies. I suspect that if you wanted to make a reader reluctant to pick up this story, just explain to them that there are ship fights similar to those in the "Pirates" movies. I can't guarantee that that would work, but it's certainly worth a shot.

But you know, it's just all about the writing, isn't it? The little moments that separate the good books from the so-so ones. Cooper has a couple of those up her sleeve. One of the story's more touching details is the fact that Molly adores her new little baby step-brother, Donald. At one point the family is on the Tube in London and Donald is alarmed by the loud noises. Molly plays peek-a-boo with him to cheer him up. "All the surrounding grownups watch, with nostalgia soft in their faces, except one thin man in a tight dark suit, who retreats behind a newspaper with a disdainful sniff". I could never tell you why, but that's one of my favorite moments in the book. Cooper's writing never lightens the story's tough situations, by the way. Sam is pressed into service with the Navy against his will and the ship situation is gritty, gory, and thoroughly unpleasant. Just the same, you get a hint of why Sam felt that it should become his life's work, no matter what.

Boy, I sure hope that a huge swath of kids today are Anglophiles. Between "Endymion Spring" trying to convince them that Oxford is a hip youth hang-out and Ms. Cooper giving us a hearty heaping of Lord Nelson facts, the time has never been better to be enamored of all things English. With it's almost too tasteful cover and whopping great amounts of historical fiction ah-flowing through its gills, "Victory" is probably not going to be the first book the kids pick up when they walk into a library or bookstore. For those with a penchant for both history and realism, however, they may well find much to love here. Enjoyable indeed.

Suffering from severe homesickness for her former civilized life in London, eleven-year-old Molly Jennings is deeply unhappy. She has been transplanted to Connecticut into a new life and family by her mother's marriage. Forced into a sail with her stepfather and stepbrother, Molly is accidently knocked into the sea. Her terror, before she is pulled to safety, is so profound that it seems to set into play strange, psychic connections with a young British sailor from the past, Sam Robbins. Having been kidnapped into service in the Royal Navy, Sam ends up serving loyally on the HMS Victory with Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The seemingly unrelated stories of present-day Molly and early nineteenth-century Sam are told in alternating episodes. The connection between the two is masterfully. gradually revealed. The excitng past infringes on Molly's present until it culminates in a frightning denoument aboard HMS
Victory, now a marine museum. The ending, which ties up the complex threads of the story with astute perceptions of history, is totally satisfying. Another victory for its author.

Sam Robbins is an 11-year-old ship's boy, forced from his home in England when he and his uncle are pressed into service in His Majesty's Navy in 1803. Sara Jennings is an 11-year-old girl, forced from her home in England when her mother remarries and moves the family to Connecticut in 2006.

Years and miles apart, the two youngsters share a bond, woven into the cloth of a tiny fragment from the flag that once flew over HMS Victory, the flagship of Admiral Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. The two children's lives couldn't be more different, yet author Susan Cooper weaves them together with the expert touch of a seasoned writer, best known for her landmark "The Dark is Rising" series. Cooper's research is impeccable; although Sara is an entirely fictional creation and Sam was nothing more than a name on a ship's register, Cooper has turned them into real, three-dimensional characters who feel, and consequently make readers feel, too.

Cooper's work is always readable and entertaining. Seasoning her story heavily with history from the exciting days of Nelson's Navy, there's enough detail about life aboard a naval flagship to make readers feel the wood beneath their feet, hear the wind in the rigging and knock their bread against the table, for fear of weevils. The juxtapositioning of Sam's and Sara's narratives -- Sam's in first-person past, Sara's in third-person present -- is completely natural, flowing easily across centuries as their stories unfold.

Written for young-adult readers, adults will find themselves equally captivated by this delightful novel.

by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor

As always Angus McBride's color plates are as lifelike as can be. Especially, plates A,E,F, & G. These elite series are more in depth than the usual armor, weapons, & uniforms. The text is more varied. From their origins in the eigth century to all their adventures from all compass points, we get little gems of information. A refreshingly wide range of sources are used. Norse sagas, English, Arab, Byzantine, Frankish, & Irish chronicles. Most areas are touched on to varying degrees. From their tactics, well known campaigns, & the Varangian guard to the less known "Jomsvikings." The latter being independent, strictly run mercenary companies.

Also, some interesting anecdotes: Did you know that dark hair was much more common among the Danes than the Swedes & Norwegians? That certainly would explain the physical appearance of the Normans on the Bayeux Tapestry. If it had a dozen more pages I would have given it five stars. For 63 pages it was well worth the price.

This is by far the best book on the Vikings from a military perspective, Osprey or otherwise. The text is concise and is both exciting and informative. The plates depict the Viking warriors as well as their enemies and their women with lifelike expressions and poses, and include several spirited battlescenes.

One of the best books I have seen on the Vikings. The Text does a brief but good & concise job about the history of the Norsemen. That & the illustrations of these barbarian slavers is 1st rate and worth the price alone.
Well done to all hands involved!

Like other books in the Osprey Elite series, this one held my interest throughout. Therefore I finished it very quickly. The illustrations help me visualize what real life Vikings must have looked like.

The description of the Viking rite of "carving-the-blood-eagle" was something that I had never read anywhere before. Imagine the terror of seeing these guys arriving from over the horizon ca. 950 A.D.

I have always been a big fan of the Osprey series books, and a fan of Angus MacBride's work.
This book is a good overview of the evolving nature of Viking warfare, from the first raids on the British isles, to the end of the Viking period.
Included is a useful collection of photos of Viking weapons, armour annd other artifacts. But for me, the star of the show was the colour plates, what amazing work! MacBride gives us a diversity of glimpses, such as Viking home-life, building a long ship, the aftermath of a raid, and a great sea-battle, and the end of the Norse adventure in North America.
This is a great book for anyone interested in the Viking period!

This book was most enjoyable--An historical and literary voyage through history until it capsizes--here, at our feet and on our shores on the California-Mendocino Coast.

WOW what fun, work and incredible research the author had to dive through. THIS IS GREAT READING!

The Voyage of the Frolic is a readers dream. Bostonian History, Maritime life, Chinese trade, the Coast of California and our indigenous Indians all rolled into one well written and enjoyable read. Thank you Professor Layton for unraveling the past and placing it in a wonderful china bowl for all of us to peruse and get to know.

Layton is a master at pulling you in and teaching you a thing or two. I'd love to learn more about the Chinese connection.

A model of the Frolic is on display at the Cabrillo Lighthouse, Mendocino, CA. Before you visit the area, read this book. The book covers the entire history of the Frolic, those who built it, the course it took for its short 6 year life -- before sinking off Pt. Cabrillo. Its history includes its involvement with the Opium War, American incursions in China and exciting trade run with opium, Chinese ceramics and silks. A must read if you're interested in international history and the ships that created commerce and connection with the rest of the world.

Oddly enough, our book group chose Voyage of the Frolic and what great fun and an education it has been. I've always dreamed of going on an archeological expedition and here, without the dirt, pan, screens and brushes, I've discovered another layer of the past. What an eclectic history California has.

From beginning to end I was caught in the poignant details of this story. The Russian Revolution is brought to life through the individuals who face poverty, uncertainty, and constant changes in their circumstances. Whether people are poor, middle class, or wealthy, they are thrown together in difficult, often dangerous situations. Nora Percival fills the pages with family members who are at times wise and courageous only to later be petty and weak, each one trying to survive in a world that no longer makes any sense and which never stands still long enough to build new understandings about how to respond. Nora's free spirit in the midst of this chaos is a constant inspiration. As a young child and into her teens she tends to her mother who is depressed and unable to find the energy required by this newly restricted environment. Though her mother often becomes tiresome, Nora continues to persevere, giving of her own strength to keep her mother afloat. When Nora finally comes to America the reader comes with her, feeling Nora's celebration of freedom and a chance for a new life.

I happened upon Nora Percival in Valle Crucis, NC where she was signing her books. I feel so lucky to have personnally autographed copies of her books and a photo of me with her. Nora Percival is as captivating in person as she is in her story.
"Weather of the Heart" is wildly educational, exciting and inspiring, a study in optomisism. I literally could not put it down: I carried it from room to room and took it with me if I left the house. When I finished reading the book, I missed Nora the child because I found her so charming; WHAT A GIRL!! What a book!

This book details the events that brought an immigrant family to safe harbor in the US after escape from the Russian revolution. The viewpoint is that of a young girl, just 3 years old at the beginning of the story. This young girl is the only daughter of a bourgeoisie family. Her father left the farm as a penniless young man, and through his own enterprise came to own a small shoe factory in Samara. As the revolution takes hold, Percival's father is named as a criminal against society because of his social standing, and he is forced to flee to Manchuria, leaving his wife and daughter behind. Percival describes to us how she and her mother gradually lose their life of relative luxury and ease, how their German governess fled, and how they had to abandon their home and move in with her paternal grandparents. The circumstances that follow develop her into a mature young woman by the time the main narrative ends when she is 8 years old and living in New York City.

Occasionally, especially in the first chapter, Percival's writing style can be a little annoying. Nevertheless, the story that she has to tell is riveting. She provides unique details of the daily life of ordinary people in the time just before, during, and after the Russian revolution. She also tells us much about the conditions and rules faced by immigrants to the US during the early part of the 20th century.

I learned so much about revolutionary Russia and a different way of life from this book. Reading Ms. Percival's life story was intriguing--full of happy reunions and sad partings. The book really makes you realize that people are the same all over the world. This story of a young girl's long journey to America will inspire you and make you cry.

This memorable book gives us the memoirs of an 88 year old first time novelist, Nora Lourie Percival. This is far and away the best book I have read in years. It is an interesting and compelling story of a child growing up in and then escaping from Communist Russia. It is wonderfully written and historically significant. The rich descriptive narrative is a pleasure to read and to hear read (my husband and I read it aloud to one another). I found myself continually rereading passages purely for the purpose of savoring the author's exquisite use of language; I have read few contemporary writers whose use of language is as skillful and as sensitive as is this writer's. This is a book to be added to the family library and to be re-read throughout the years. It is an absorbing, heartbreaking and uplifting true story of a child and her family's survival of the Russian Revolution. The reader is grabbed by the first pages and his interest is held throughout. I've bought several to give as gifts. I would recommend it to anyone! It is truly marvelous.

I am a PhD student doing Operations Research - more specificly, Mixed Integer Programming - that is why I purchased this book, just because of the curiousity about the autobiography of a brilliant mathematician in our field.

I started this book in the end of Feb and couldn't help stopping digging into his unbelievable and inspiring life stories and have already started the third time. Everytime I get new gains and thoughts. First, it is definitely a good encouragement for my research work, by his enthusiasm and passion for knowledge and mathematics; in addition, I always can judge my attitude to life and people by learning from his experience and his eternal optimistic awareness. Here is a book, where you can find faith, justice, intelligence, honesty and love.

This memoir lays out in exquisite prose a touching, insightful journey through a series of challenges that are almost incomprehensible to those of us who have grown up in happier times. As I read I could not help but wonder how I would measure up to the ethical and moral standards set by Professor Balas. His academic excellence and stature are well known to all of us who have worked in any field related to mathematical programming; this book makes it clear that in addition to being an exemplary academic in every way, Professor Balas is also a very great gentleman, in the best British sense of the word. I can only say I am proud to have known him.

If ever I get imprisoned I'll remember to use a coffee-stained napkin and stale bread to make a chess set. I also learned from Egan Balas that to exercise in a confined space one takes an odd number of steps - else one walks in circles. Algorithmic ingenuity enabled him to successfully take up mathematics in his late 30s, against the conventional wisdom that good mathematicians do their work when young, and become an outstanding professor of industrial administration, applied mathematics and operations research at Carnegie Mellon University.

He tells stories of his lives - escaping death narrowly - "according to my own taste", making it one of the most compelling biographies I have ever read.
This would be an extraordinary thriller if it were fiction - but it's not, it's real. The highly personal account of how a Transylvian Jew became a revolutionary worker, a dapper diplomat, a tortured prisoner and a creative academic takes one through some absolutely awful scenes. Balas' craftiness enabled him to survive and his toughness under severe torture protected his friends. This is not some second hand account of Communist and Nazi hate, Balas drags the reader through his pain and suffering. There are happier moments - such as when he comes out of prison and addresses his daughter - not realizing that he's speaking to a younger sibling born in his absence and that his daughter has grown considerably.

For anyone who wants to understand willpower and survival in Hungary and Romania during the 2nd world war this is a must read. Besides historical interest, the story's suspense makes it an ideal gift for thriller and spy story readers.

Professor Balas from Carnegie Mellon University is one of the most respected members of the Operations Research community. I am a big fan of Professor Egon Balas, having read his papers on the "Lift and Project" method in solving mixed integer programming problems.

Nothing moved me as much as this book though. I agree with the reviewer from Toronto, the book is definitely a great scientific mind at work, where Egon describes clearly and in vivid detail all that he went through, without any bitterness or resentments.

A triumph of the human spirit against all odds and adversaries!

Truly a fascinating story. I was born in Romania and went to college in Cluj during the late sixties. The period of time between 1945-1954 was always a mystery to me. Egon Balas has opened my eyes on many aspects of my country's secret past. The book is very engaging and kept me captivated until the end. Egon's story is representative of what happened to Transylvanian Jews who were communists before and after the war. While not all stories have happy endings like Egon's, I know of many people with similar stories. None of them talked to me in so many details and so eloquently as Egon did in his book. I am greatful to Egon for making this very personal account of his life public, so that the story of the communist Jews of Cluj is not lost forever. Great book !