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If you're looking for a light read, Trotsky's History of Russian Revolution is not the way to go by any means. It's long, at times it's heavy going. But it is, after all, a big topic, and there's a lot of very complicated history behind the Russian Revolution - but it's still a terrific read which, despite the enormity of its subject, is for the most part surprisingly accessible. In any event, if you want a thorough, detailed account of one of the modern world's most important political and historical events, written by one of its main players, then this is well worth the effort that it will take you to get through it. I don't think any other history of the revolution is as detailed, as comprehensive, and as engaging as this.

Max Eastman, who was a friend of Trotsky, gives us a translation that feels tremendously fresh and was enthusiastically endorsed by Trotsky himself.

Leon Trotsky's History of the Russian Revolution is partisan history at its best. One does not and should not, at least in this day in age, ask historians to be `objective'. One simply asks that the historian present his or her narrative and analysis and get out of the way. Trotsky meets that criterion. Furthermore, in Trotsky's case there is nothing like having a central actor in that drama, who can also write brilliantly and wittily, give his interpretation of the important events and undercurrents swirling around Russia in 1917. If you are looking for a general history of the revolution or want an analysis of what the revolution meant for the fate of various nations after World War I or its affect on world geopolitics look elsewhere. E.H. Carr's History of the Russian Revolution offers an excellent multi-volume set that tells that story through the 1920's. Or if you want to know what the various parliamentary leaders, both bourgeois and Soviet, were thinking and doing from a moderately leftist viewpoint read Sukhanov's Notes on the Russian Revolution. For a more journalistic account John Reed's classic Ten Days That Shook the World is invaluable. Trotsky covers some of this material as well. However, if additionally, you want to get a feel for the molecular process of the Russian Revolution in its ebbs and flows down at the base in the masses where the revolution was made Trotsky's is the book for you.

The life of Leon Trotsky is intimately intertwined with the rise and decline of the Russian Revolution in the first part of the 20th century. As a young man, like an extraordinary number of talented Russian youth, he entered the revolutionary struggle against Czarism in the late 1890's. Shortly thereafter he embraced what became a lifelong devotion to a Marxist political perspective. However, except for the period of the 1905 Revolution when Trotsky was chairman of the Petrograd Soviet and later in 1912 when he tried to unite all the Russian Social Democratic forces in an ill-fated unity conference, which goes down in history as the `August Bloc', he was essentially a free lancer in the international socialist movement. At that time Trotsky saw the Bolsheviks as "sectarians" as it was not clear to him at that time that for socialist revolution to be successful the reformist and revolutionary wings of the movement had to be organizationally split. With the coming of World War I Trotsky drew closer to Bolshevik positions but did not actually join the party until the summer of 1917 when he entered the Central Committee after the fusion of his organization, the Inter-District Organization, and the Bolsheviks. This act represented an important and decisive switch in his understanding of the necessity of a revolutionary workers party to lead the revolution.

As Trotsky himself noted, although he was a late comer to the concept of a Bolshevik Party that delay only instilled in him a greater understanding of the need for a vanguard revolutionary workers party to lead the revolutionary struggles. This understanding underscored his political analysis throughout the rest of his career as a Soviet official and as the leader of the struggle of the Left Opposition against the Stalinist degeneration of the Russian Revolution. After his defeat at the hands of Stalin and his henchmen Trotsky wrote these three volumes in exile in Turkey from 1930 to 1932. At that time Trotsky was not only trying to draw the lessons of the Revolution from an historian's perspective but to teach new cadre the necessary lessons of that struggle as he tried first reform the Bolshevik Party and the Communist International and then later, after that position became politically untenable , to form a new, revolutionary Fourth International. Trotsky was still fighting from this perspective in defense of the gains of the Russian Revolution when a Stalinist agent cut him down. Thus, without doubt, beyond a keen historian's eye for detail and antidote, Trotsky's political insights developed over long experience give his volumes an invaluable added dimension not found in other sources on the Russian Revolution.

As a result of the Bolshevik seizure of power the so-called Russian Question was the central question for world politics throughout most of the 20th century. That central question ended practically with the demise of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's. However, there are still lessons, not all negative, to be learned from the experience of the Russian Revolution. Today, an understanding of this experience is the task for the natural audience for this book, the young alienated radicals of Western society.

The central preoccupation of Trotsky's volumes reviewed here and of his later political career concerns the problem of the crisis of revolutionary leadership of the international labor movement and its national components. That problem can be stated as the gap between the already existing objective conditions necessary for beginning socialist construction based on the current level of capitalist development and the immaturity or lack of revolutionary leadership to overthrow the old order. From the European Revolutions of 1848 on, not excepting the heroic Paris Commune, until his time the only successful working class revolution had been in led by the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1917. Why? Anarchists may look back to the Paris Commune or forward to the Spanish Civil War in 1936 for solace but the plain fact is that absent a revolutionary party those struggles were defeated without establishing the prerequisites for socialism. History has indicated that a revolutionary party that has assimilated the lessons of the past and is rooted in the working class allied with and leading the plebian masses in its wake is the only way to bring the socialist program to fruition. That hard truth shines through Trotsky's three volumes. Unfortunately, this is still the central problem confronting the international labor movement today. Read this book many times.

In spite of its length, I've read this book several times. It isn't just a widely acclaimed historic and literary masterpiece, written by a leading participant in the events he describes. It isn't just vividly written and thoroughly researched.

More importantly, it's one of the best books ever written about revolution, as relevant today as ever.

The most important conclusion that emerges is the crucial role of a revolutionary party with an overwhelmingly working class membership, leadership and political orientation: a party that has trained itself in the many years of partial struggles that precede a revolutionary crisis; studied together the lessons of past revolutionary struggles throughout the world; and done everything possible to educate broader layers of workers in those lessons.

(The point is illustrated both positively and negatively. More than once, Lenin had to turn to the Bolshevik's working class rank and file against wavering intellectuals in the party leadership.)

Please don't be put off by the first chapter, the driest and most difficult in the book. The basic idea is that capitalism arrived late in Russia, imported from abroad in the form of huge factories, which laid the basis for the rapid development of a strong, militant labor movement. As a result, the emerging capitalist class was reluctant to mobilize the masses against the feudal nobles and landlords that stood in their way, for fear that the aroused workers might turn on the capitalists themselves.

Under the impact of war and economic crisis, the resulting mixture of different forms of class oppression exploded in a combined revolt of workers, farmers, and oppressed nationalities, destroying both feudalism and capitalism by the time it was through.

Several postcripts:

(1) If you're wondering what went wrong in the Soviet Union after such a promising start, I recommend "The Revolution Betrayed" by Trotsky; also "Lenin's Final Fight" by Lenin.

(2) I disagree with Trotsky's assessment of the pre-1917 differences between himself and Lenin concerning the role of working farmers, the relationship between democratic (anti-feudal) revolution and socialist revolution, and Lenin's formula, "the democratic dictatorship of the proletariat and the peasantry". I think Trotsky's discussion of this is confusing. I recommend "Their Trotsky and Ours" by Jack Barnes. There is also a good debate in "Bolshevism and the Russian Revolution" by Doug Jenness, Ernest Mandel, and V.I. Lenin.

(3) Another reviewer pointed out that this book is available online. However, the printed version has glossaries of people, places, organizations and unfamiliar terms; a more complete chronology; and a thorough index. I relied very heavily on all of these, so much so that I used color-coded post-its to turn to them easily. Also, parts of the online version are full of obvious typos; books from Pathfinder Press are proofread very thoroughly.

(4) Finally, I recommend the ads in the back of the book. Pathfinder Press is defined by a political goal, not commercial success. It aims to provide a platform for revolutionary leaders speaking in their own words. If you like one book, you will probably like others.

This is one of the most exciting books I've ever read. It tells the amazing story of the Russian revolution of 1917, from the overthrow of the Czar to the Bolshevik Revolution of October. What makes it an incredible read is that the author, Leon Trotsky, was at the middle of it all, as one of the central planners of the insurrection that took power. Trotsky was a great revolutionary and great writer. But one thing I especially like about the book is that Trotsky uses excerpts from many other accounts, including those who hated him with a passion, to tell the story accurately. It is an inspiring story, especially for new generations of young people, workers and farmers who need to learn about an example showing that the dog-eat-dog system of capitalism we live in can be overthrown. For the definitive account of how this great revolution was later derailed, see Trotsky's Revolution Betrayed.

This is a huge and wonderful book-- three volumes in one book, some 1200 pages in all. The story Trotsky lays out is most inspiring and encouraging: how revolutionary-minded workers and peasants in Russia, led by the Bolshevik party, overthrew the centuries-old Czarist monarchy, defeated the attempts to impose a capitalist dictatorship and went on to establish a worker and peasant revolutionary government, opening the road to the possibility of building a socialist society. It's a book you can read repeatedly, getting more out of it each time.

Trotsky explains with rich detail the growing social crisis that wracked Russia, the devastating impact of World War I, the economic collapse, and the incapacity of the old regime to offer any way out. He takes up political developments amongst workers and peasants and the oppressed nationalities of the Russian Empire, including the many millions forced into the Russian army. You understand their growing conviction that the old society had to be and could be overturned and a new order established. And Trotsky gives real insight into the leadership that made possible an actual revolution under these conditions-- the development of the Bolshevik party led by V.I. Lenin and it's successful fight to win the allegiance of the struggling millions.

Trotsky was, along with Lenin, a central leader of the 1917 revolution and of the government it established. After Lenin's death in 1924, he led the international fight to defend the Bolshevik's revolutionary course against the conservative and reactionary bureaucracy headed by Joseph Stalin that came to power later in the Soviet Union. This work was a key part of Trotsky's efforts to make the real facts and lessons 1917 available to future generations of workers, farmers and radicalizing young people. Read it along with some of his many other important works, including The Transitional Program for Socialist Revolution, In Defense of Marxism, The Revolution Betrayed, and The Struggle Against Fascism in Germany.

I liked the book because I am a history major but some parts are hard to get through. It is a classic however and is a great stepping stone to use when reviewing ancient history

Cornelius Tacitus knows perfectly what the cardinal human characteristic is: `From time immemorial, man has had an instinctive love of power.' And, `the reward for virtue was inevitable death.'
His book is a mighty illustration of the ruthless fight for the top spot: emperor. The ambitious and the wealthy fight one another without mercy. `The truth is that revolution and strife put tremendous power into the hands of evil men.' The vanquished are brutally slain.
For Tacitus, the most important factors in the power struggle are money (`money was the sinews of civil war') and control of the military (`the lesson that an army can create an emperor'). If you could `reward` your soldiers, you could win. However, the legions were not interested in war itself only in looting, plundering, raping and enslaving. `The men wanted campaign and set battles, as the prizes here were more attractive than their normal pay.' The victims were innocent peasants, women and children.
Overall, `Italy found it hard to put up with such hordes of infantry and cavalry, and with violence, financial loss and acts of lawlessness.'

While the `Annals' contain more human touch, the `Histories' are nearly completely centered on military, diplomatic and tactical manoeuvres, followed by terrifying and merciless violence after the battles (`the fury of the soldiers').

This for mankind severe and pessimistic book is a must read for all those interested in the lessons of history and for lovers of great classical literature.

Every now and then a pivotal moment in history is witnessed and recorded by a master communicator. The mid-first century of Rome was such a time and Tacitus was such a communicator. The Histories will forever be a benchmark of good history with its observations on human nature and behaviour along with their impact on history. The historian will do well to read Tacitus not just for the historical lessons but for his approach to history as a record of human activity. While observing and commenting on the human element in history, Tacitus avoids making moral judgements and remains as objective as possible in the midst of turmoil, wars, and rumors of wars. His beloved nation and people were suffering under the barbarity of fratricidal war yet he remains above the madness and records the events with passion tempered with objectivity. His example is one that has remained difficult for others to follow.

A word on this translation in particular - I found Mr. Wellesley's translation very readable and poetic. He seems to have captured the literature value of the text as well as the content. Well done.

Most people don't need a review of Tacitus's work. Most people want to know if a particular translation is any good. With that in mind, I recommend this Penguin edition of Kenneth Wellesley's translation. The translation itself is highly readable, and Wellesley indicates the rare instances where he emends the Latin text in footnotes. Wellesley also uses the footnotes to help the reader keep track of some of the less prominent characters in the work, a feature which is a big help for the non-specialist. Probably the best aspect of this edition is the map section at the end. The book contains 11 maps that include maps of large areas, maps of cities, and diagrams of important battles. Wellesley also refers the reader to the appropriate map through the footnotes. This review makes it sound like the book contains a lot of footnotes, but really there are usually just one or two a page. The one minor defect of the book is that the index only contains personal names. A general index would have made this user friendly book even better. But like I said, this is a great English copy of the Histories.

Reading Tacitus' Annals I oft remembered Thucydides' account of the Peleponnesian wars. An important theme of the latter work was the corrupting effects of prolonged war on the morals and intellect of the Athenian people, who were ultimately degraded so much that they voted the destruction of the people of a small island just because they had chosen to remain neutral. Tacitus, on the other hand, seems to have dedicated himself in this work to examining the corrupting effects of absolutism on the Roman people after the fall of the Republic. He shows how absolute power brought out the worst traits in the character of rulers like Tiberius and Nero, who grew more and more tyrannical with every year on the throne, and how members of the illustruous Roman senate and other sections of the Roman political society turned into a horde of spineless sycophants, informers and debauches. There were still a few honourable individuals, but as Tacitus shows in an endless series of judicial and non-judicial murders, most of these paid the price of sticking to the ancient traditions of liberty and honour with their lives. Tacitus also deals at length with the relations of the Romans with the subject peo-ples. I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that in such passages Tacitus draws a parallels between the fate of these enslaved peoples and that of the enslaved Roman people -the first a slave to the Romans, the second a slave to the emperor and his bureaucracy made up of ex-slaves. Many subject peoples rebelled and some like the Cherusci under Arminius (towards whom he does not seem averse at all) could successfully preserve their liberty against the in-trusion of the Romans. Those Romans who dared defy the tyrant on the other hand, and especially those who could wisely remain independent and yet stay alive, were far fewer, Tacitus seems to imply. Insofar as it demonstrates how closely liberty (including liberty of thought) and morals are intertwined, this work is still relevant today as a central work of liberal humanism.

This is a wonderful introduction to Italian Renaissance art, completely accessible and scholarly at the same time. Not to be read in one sitting though. An hour at a time is enough. Good for use as a college text as well. Don't feel you have to read every page. If your interest flags, go on to another section where you find the art more appealing.

Gave it to my husband for Christmas. He likes it very much and he is very fussy about books.

Its a subjective opinion "Good as New" - I would not give this description to the book I received. It was in Good condition, but definitely NOT "Good as New" - The book looked well used but not abused - Oh well, its a great book and will be well used again and again and again.

I don't give 5-star ratings very often. I reserve them for only the best, and this is indeed the best Italian Renaissance book. I received my undergraduate degree in art history and this was the text used in my Italian Renaissance class. Now, I am completing my master's and we are using the same text, updated edition. It does not read as a textbook for those considering leisure reading. It reads like art history books by Marilyn Stokstad. It is written in easy to understand language, with chapters being grouped by years. There are a TON of pictures! I would say 50% of the book is pictures and 95% of those are in color. There are a few B&W pictures but they are of obscure sculptures or paintings. The book was originally written by Frederick Harrt who was one of the 'Monument Men' in World War II who went around Italy documenting art, missing, damaged, or otherwise. He has passed away but David Wilkins has kept up on the new editions with the current scholarship being done in Renaissance Art. Whether you get this as a textbook for a class, or leisure reading, a coffee table book perhaps, or even a Christmas book for a hard-to-but-for relative, it is well worth the money.

Frederick Hartt wrote the original book The History of Italian Renaissance Art however, he is now deceased. David Wilkins, Professor Emeritus Art History, University of Pittsburgh and recognized expert on this important period of world art, has authored the recent History of Italian Renaissance Art books.

This is an OK read for those wanting to know who wanted Hitler killed. Obviously, Stalin, the British government, German generals, and other assorted opposition personnel wanted to kill the dictator. Some of them were simply stalkers as with the case of the Swiss theology student. Others were more professional as with the carpenter who made the woodwork on a pillar in the beer hall. All would have done a service to humanity if they knocked off Hitler. I learned a lot about the efforts of German generals plans and the other plots that are only briefly talked about in the history of World War Two. Hitler was a very secure target with minimal exposure to the public. A person who plotted the assassination would obviously have to know Hitler in order to kill him. Most of those who knew him, feared him, and did not have the guts to bring themselves to sacrifice themselves in order to kill him.

This is a nice read about efforts to kill Hitler. All the various plots and plans are neatly summarized for the reader to learn how people planned to kill Hitler.

If you're an armchair historian on World War II,then this is an excellent account of Hitler's obscure rise to ultimate power.This is a fascinating look at all the secret saboteurs against the furiose fuhrer.If you're intrigued by the history surrounding the Hitler topic,you'll be spellbound by this book.I never realized the various plots ,inside and outside his inner court,that were being hatched around him.Some will argue it was fated that he would survive.Many would agree it was just bad luck.I still find myself asking if Hitler wanted to destroy Germany on purpose,in revenge for being an 'oddball outcast'.Hitler was seen as a backwood peasant,and not of Viennese artistic quality.Many 'Hitler Histories' claim he was a 'house-painter'.This was not true.He was a failed baukunstler student,that later painted postcards for tourists.Himmler is often listed as just a 'chicken-farmer's geek',when he in fact had technical training at an argicultural institute,as well.The sagacious Himmler was aware of Hitler's ill-gotten birth,ab ovo,and probably felt he was better off as the 'propaganda-direktor'.Rather than the Nazi party's leader.Himmler saw the potential marriage between Hitler and his niece ,Gisella Rubel,as another generation of 'genetic-trouble' for the Fuhrer and an image-problem for the party.It was not discussed in this book,yet it can be speculated ,that Himmler's SS had Rubel killed and Himmler then instructed a 'suicide-scene' staged.Hitler believed fully that 'in-breeding' was preserving of the Aryan race,when in fact it was creating genetic dead-ends for extinction of the human race.At any rate,the various Allied countries valiently tried to eradicate the polemic dictator from his post.This engaging book gives the agentry accounts of the agent-provocateurs involved.From his egregious wanderings into the beer-hall rants then onto his fusty bunker of despair.This is a gripping book about the assassins of change,who failed to curtail the actions of a desperate madman,whose demagoguery bedeviled an entire nation into ruin for a generation.

Well written, readable account of the major plots and attempts to kill Hitler over the course of his political ascension to his final self demise. Impressive telling from young Georg Elser's early attempt to kill Hitler in 1939 with an ingenious self made bomb that exploded on time but after Hitler prematurely left the podium to his military enemies the British who initially found the task undesirable. The telling of these grand and individual plots parallels the rise and fall of the Third Reich. The detail is quite refreshing discussing how initially vulnerable to assassination Hitler was partially due to his grandiose perception that he was supernaturally protected from death. Aside from external and internal plots within the military, the author explains in impressive detail how the various heroic undergrounds were successful in killing numerous Nazis while suffering great and shocking reprisals for their success particularly in Poland and Czechoslovakia. An ultimate example is the Czechs pulling off a major assassination with the killing of Heydrich. Impressive is the author's documentation of the various anti-Hitler networks involving such prominent military men such as Wilhelm Canaris and Hans Oster who both suffer once exposed. The highlight of the book of course is the great attempt that almost kills Hitler, the bomb planted by war hero Stauffenberg in the Rastenburg map room. The author also tells why the assassination failed that is an interesting and new revelation. Another interested party is Hitler's favorite architect and armories coordinator, Albert Speer, who the author recognizes as potentially self serving at Nuremberg but the author also recognized Speers' desire not to have Germany destroyed as Hitler wished at the end. The book also includes an excellent collection of photographs of the collaborators and other fascinating photos such as Goring inspecting the destroyed map room to a startling picture of the extraordinary intense gaze of British Colonel Noel Mason-McFarland during a pre-war German military review. Mason-McFarland emphatically stated before the war that a sniper could easily dispatch Hitler and save Europe.

Although I was aware of some attempts on Hitler's life, I did not know that there were so many and from so many different sources - both within Hitler's entourage as well as far away from it. The author has provided well-researched and reasoned renderings of a subset of these attempts - the most fascinating and surprising ones. But in addition to discussing these various attempts in detail, the author has also presented much valuable information on the background history and evolving politics of Germany from the end of World War I to the end of World War II. The brutality of the Nazi regime is also amply discussed. As expected, particular attention has been paid to the instigation, structure and evolution of Hitler's security organization. The book's writing style is clear, friendly, authoritative and very engaging. It should be most relished by history buffs that have a penchant for the Second World War.

Roger Moorehouse's "Killing Hitler" is a tragic chronicle of the alarmingly few individuals and groups in Nazi Germany who saw early on (or too late) that their "leader" was a mass murdering psychopath and acted accordingly--to no avail.

Though their bravery is commendable, one cannot help feel terrible anger and frustration as one gets into the thick of Moorhouse's feverish narrative. At long last, one has to ask, why didn't someone in the Wehrmacht simply get on good terms with Hitler, stand next to him, and ignite a live grenade? Suffice to say that any evaluation of posterity is just that, and only a slight percentage of those still living have had the experience of living in a ferocious totalitarian state like the Germany of 1933-45.

Perhaps the most impressive of the would-be assassins is Maurice Bavaud, a young idealist with deep roots in Christendom who, in 1939, waited for Hitler to show up at his annual "Beer Hall Putsch" celebration (where the equally courageous Georg Elser would plant a bomb which missed only because of a chance early departure by the dictator) took a pistol, and was foiled because of a group of German civilians. This was not the first time Bauvaud would make such a naked, furious attempt on the Fuhrer's life. Captured and guillotined in 1941, Bavaud stated baldly that whether Germans would accept it or not, he had been acting not only in their interest but the interest of all humanity. Only Col. Claus Von Stauffenberg's already well publicized attempt rivals that kind of courage.

The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 is given an impressive, if limited, recounting here: the PHM (Polish Home Army) managed to kill 9,000 SS soldiers and, through the utlitization of suicide bombers and guerilla attacks, eliminate a few important members of the Third Reich. The RAF's bungled, halfhearted attempts to bomb Hitler's HQ in East Prussia really didn't need mention here.

How desperate some former Wehrmacht soldiers were for Hitler's death is given heart pounding illustration here, in history's first suicide bomber, Rudolf-Chriastoph Von Gersdorff. Having served as an unofficial emissary for Henning Von Tresckow, a lifelong opponent of the Nazi regime and a key figure in the July 20th attempt, agreed to an act of utter self-sacrifice in order to get rid of Hitler: "At this point it became clear to me that an attack was only possible if I were to carry the explosives about my person, and blow myself up as close to Hitler as was possible."
Lining his uniform with "clam mines" obtained from a fellow officer (Col. Brandt, who knew nothing of the attempt, and who ironically would be the man to move the briefcase bomb away from Hitler on July 20th), he armed the mines with a trigger that would give him exactly ten minutes in which to approach his target and "kiss the sky". Hitler was, at the time, speaking in a German museum--originally Gersdorff was to approach him while the speech was being made and stand beside him.

Hitler cut the speech, was intended to be thirty minutes, to two minutes, and despite Gersdorff having already activated the device--with 5 minutes left--his attempts to stay near Hitler were in vain. Hitler may have noticed that Gersdorff was unusually "eager to talk" and the demonic instinct of self preservation kicked in: in any case, he said goodbye very quickly. Gersdorff then ran to the restroom and defused the bomb with trembling hands.

Moorhouse gets downright unethical--probably desperate for material, but still--including Albert Speer in this book. Speer was Hitler's devoted architect from the beginning of the war to the end and was much a brainwashed Nazi as Himmler, Goerring or Goebbels; he was just charismatic and knew how to BS the judges at Nuremburg. He lied about his knowledge of the atrocities and the Allies, not having evidence ofhis full knowledge which would emerge years later, bought it. Aside from a few scholars who have an unhealthy fascination with him, the general consensus is that he should have been dangling at the end of a rope with all the rest. The only reason he had even a passing thought about assassinating a man he otherwise had nearly homoerotic feelings for was the destruction of Germany. And that's all it was, a passing thought. It should probably be removed from the book.

The book provides an excellent source of the names and conversations that shaped the final 100 days.

Excellent book, it gives you a lot of information about the Yalta Conference, the last days of Hitler, the last days of Roosevelt, the Prussian exodus, the Oder ofensive, the VE day, and, of course, the last days of the War in Europe.

I am an avid reader of WWII history and must say that this is without a doubt the best book I have read on the period. This book manages to read like a novel in the majestic way in which it is written and at the same time it makes the war feel personal; the people throughout the pages are more than names, they are lives, maybe ones that could have been your own. Of all the books I have read on war this is the only one that has forced me to stop reading because some of the material in it actually made me want to cry, is this is not literature at its best, then I don't know what is.

In the end I must say that this is not only a classic read on WWII history but on the history of War itself and the major part it plays on the human experience. Trust me, you can't go wrong with this book; this is as close as you will get to feeling like you were in the middle of WWII.

This is a gripping look at the final months of World War II in Europe. Author John Toland covers many angles as the Allied armies advanced into Germany and squeezed what remained of the Nazi Empire. The author rotates between subjects, and keeps the reader's interest with vivid descriptions and many personal accounts of events. Readers learn of Yalta and the politics of Churchill, Stalin, Roosevelt (and then Truman), and note the seeds of the coming Cold War. We get a bird's eye view from inside the Fuhrer's bunker as his brutal empire collapsed. We also read about atrocities against both prisoners and civilians, hear of the plight of refugees, and learn about the views from the top Allied commanders in the west (Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton, Bradley, etc.).

John Toland (1912-2004) was a master story teller, although not an academically trained historian. Judging by the sales figures, most readers seem to prefer his readable and well-researched approach. This is a vivid and gripping narrative.

The Last 100 Days is a monumental historical work. In it the author pieces together the story of the fall of the Third Reich at the end of the Second World War in Europe.

Although the book is generally described as a work of "popular history" it is more than that. It is in fact a work of history that has itself now become a part of the history of World War II. (Too many authors to count have relied upon this book in writing their own books on a variety of matters covering this period of the war.)

This is because in preparation for writing the book the author did much more than just review the then current literature on the subject by "real" historians (often written in a mind-numbingly boring and pedantic style, not to mention based on government records or reports by people who were not even directly involved in what they are reporting on), summarize it, and then rewrite it in a popular style. Instead, the author bases his book on (a) hundreds of personal interviews with persons actually participating in the acts described and (b) thousands of other primary sources, such as journals, monographs, and diaries.

From this vast treasure trove of information, the author brilliantly sifts through it to create a masterpiece. In so doing he discusses the end of the war in Europe on many different levels (e.g., politicians, generals, NCOs, front-line soldiers, and civilians) from many different vantage points (e.g., American, German, Russian, British, resistance).

The perspective of the last 100 days was also not chosen simply because it sounds good as a title. The significance of the last 100 days is that the beginning of this period (i.e., the first day of the last one hundred days) is roughly the time that both the American, British, etc., allies, coming from the West, and the Soviet forces, coming from the East, first breached the frontiers of the Fatherland, i.e., the pre-war boundaries of Germany. The Last 100 Days is thus an account of the counter-invasion and destruction of Germany against overwhelming forces of men and materiel that is told in an engaging, absorbing, thoughtful, and informative manner.

A must-read for anyone interested in the histories of Europe, Germany, or the Second World War.

What you won't understand, reading this book, (at least I didn't), is that while Eugene may have always been in touch with his "monkey" side, he was seriously intelligent and a master of many genres. Otherwise, he would not have written the brilliant, and prescient, (wrong word, but as close as I can come), preservationist story, JENNIE THE WATERCRESS GIRL, nor, well, ANY of his work. (His poetry, too, is superb!). Whatever Eugene lent his hand to became magical; even his SOUTHERN COOKING, part of the Time-Life Series of cookbooks. That was how I discovered Eugene. I somehow knew the writer of this book was extraordinary, and so sought him out.

No. Eugene Walter as artist, writer, gardener, gourmand, et al, was no lightweight. Although he was a great storyteller, this is only 1/10th the man.

I rather despise both George Plimpton and Katherine Clark's introductions to MILKING THE MOON, though I have to be very grateful to her for writing it. I find their comments condescending.

My sense of Eugene Walter is that he was consumately alone in this life. And lonely. That he suffered a very hard childhood. And, that because he didn't "make it rich", those who are able to turn a name into a NAME, scorned him. But that's my take on E.W. You must have your own.

And Eugene Walter turns up everywhere, for example, turning up in Ronni Lundy's fine cookbook, BUTTER BEANS TO BLACKBERRIES ...Recipes from the Southern Garden, and, much to my supreme delight, in Joan Marble's NOTES FROM AN ITALIAN GARDEN. I cannot wait to see where Eugene will turn up next!

Someone has to release all the tapes Clark made, unedited. I want them. And, someone is missing out on making a fascinating movie.

"As-told-to" scribe Katherine Clark preserves Eugene Walter's voice in the memoir of this "character," as we call folks like him down South. Imagine Truman Capote without the best-selling books and TV fame. This is how Walter comes across in this memoir-autobiography-oral history transcript. He is a Southern Zelig, always showing up in pivotal moments in the development of literature and arts during the mid-20th century. Recalling his days in late 1940s New York, 1950s Paris and 1950s-60s Rome, he drops more names than the New York City phone book. From Greta Garbo to Judy Garland to Frederico Fellini, he hangs out with them all. The best-written portions of the book deal with his native Mobile, however. But who is he? He's the ultimate fly-on-the-wall. He writes some, acts some, translates movie scripts, throws cheap yet creative parties and plays the part of Southern eccentric in Europe. Who is he? He seems like an early 1970s Dick Cavett Show guest: an obscure bon vivant who shows up with George Plimpton to discuss a new Martha Graham dance or to cook a Southern meal. I ran across a mention of the book in an Oxford American magazine article and got a copy after reading a couple of very positive reviews by critics like Jonathan Yardly of the Washington Post. The book also received a 2001 National Book Critics Circle award nomination for biography. It's not for everyone. And I'm probably in that group. But it is intriguing and engaging and, at time, humorous. And at all times, like its subject, unique.

Walker is a Southern storyteller. He more than fits his own definition of one who speaks with dozens of side tales (parentheses). Webster calls these parenthetical expressions "a remark or passage that departs from the theme of a discourse." Walker may depart from the theme, but he always returns, and it always fits. He says: "The mark of a good storyteller is: Have a whole shelf full of shoeboxes of details.... It's like those ballad singers at the Scottish lords who improvised new verses for those ballads every night...." What music this Southern balladeer makes especially as he explains the use of the Southern front porch for storytelling, visiting, shelling peas, and an explanation of the etiquette of porch visiting. He even makes a detour (parentheses) to explain how front and back porches differ (shell peas on the front porch, shrimp on the back). One comes away understanding why Walker fit in so perfectly with the side walk café salons of Paris and Rome. The Southern porches were his training ground. Those were the original talking salons. One almost hears the music of porch furniture: "...a whole world of wicker or rattan chairs and divans and tables and plant stands and swings big enough for three people. How I wish some composer had heard, as I, the different sounds of porch swings. Everything from rattle-squeak to crunch-budge-tink. With a bass accompaniment of shuffling feet, often bare." Ah, these were the real salons, set to music, before people had to go to Paris to talk and before Americans discovered those faux porches that serve as little more than standing room on the front of today's dull houses. Walker explains the South as he remembers it, the South he carried with him around the world, and it makes any Southerner long for the South of his/her youth, or it beckons any curious Yankee to come and savor a romantic time and place that they've never experienced....

I completely fell under the spell of Eugene Walter but must pay homage to author Katherine Clark for seamlessly allowing us to believe we are spending hour after hour with Eugene as he spins fascinating story after fascinating story about his southern childhood, his friends, both famous and obscure, and what it was like to work in every capacity on Fellini movies. Recently I saw a friend from Mobile and said, "I'm just going to say two words to you. EUGENE WALTER. It was so satisfying to see her face light up and hear her squeal, "I LOVE EUGENE WALTER!!!!"

I suppose I was one of the fortunate few who had a chance to meet Eugene before he died. The people I was working for back in the mid-nineties were friends of his and, therefore, I had the chance to be around him.

Eugene was the consummate storyteller. One of those who never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn. His idea was to make you enjoy where you were and who you were. To inject a little wonderousness into the world. Although based in truth, nothing he told was strictly true.

This book captures him almost perfectly. Although it cannot convey his gestures and antics and voice, it does convey his mind and gift for gab. Pour yourself a glass of port and read with the voice of an eccentric Southern uncle in your head and Eugene starts to come out. It's not quite the same as being there, but this book is as close as any of us will ever be again.

I purchased this book as a gift and had done a lot of research looking for just the right one. I loved the book from the moment I opened it and was very excited to see not only beautiful pictures but loads of ideas and design elements that were very helpful. The receiver of the book was also very thrilled with the design elements and help that the book brought to help with decorating her home in the french country style. Loved It.

This is one of the best books on Country French that I've found. The illustrations are wonderful, whether you prefer the older designs or are looking for something with a more modern feel. I loved just looking at the pictures and getting a feel for the colors and styles. This is a book I'll return to again and again to get the feel of the French countryside.

Really a wonderful book - both beautiful to look at and informative. Very interesting reading, as well as artistically lovely with wonderful, colorful photography. I am not a decorator or designer by trade, but go to this type of book for creative inspiration, and this one was a winner.

The book was very informative. It gave me many ideas on how to include my furnishings with a French feel.

I can see this book is going to sit on the top of the coffee table book pile for a long time to come. Aside from the fabulous photos of French Provincial homes, Dannenberg delicately picks apart the details that make a typical Provincial home and garden. It does the job so much better than we sitting in another continent can grasp from a few photos in a book. It teaches us how to copy this style and really appreciate the quality of each piece of furniture, artwork or chattel we acquire for own little pretend patch of France.
I love this book!

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!