Europe Books

What a fantastic woman. Incredible story. Open your mind to the world outside.

Hirsi Ali is a survivor. She details her painful experiences as a Muslim female throughout her life vividly and candidly and deserves credit for that alone. She escapes an arranged marriage and winds up seeking political asylum in Holland, where she eventually gets elected to serve in Parliament
As she learns to appreciate her freedom, she begins questioning what she was taught about her religion: women are possessions, the problems Muslims face are created by the West and Jews, honor killings are acceptable etc.
She eventually leaves her religion behind, drawing attention to what she learned and experienced as evidence that her teachings were severely flawed. How can the West, where there is so much freedom, and life is so much better than in Muslim countries, be the cause of their problems? Why shouldn't women have an equal say in their choices? Why should women have to hide their bodies lest men have uncontrollable sexual attractions to them, and men not have to hide their bodies, as if women had no concept of sexual attraction? Why could women walk down the streets in Holland with their legs, arms, necks showing, and not get raped every second? If a woman gets raped, why is it her fault?
Hirsi Ali rejected the notions that the West had any part of the plight of Muslims, and for her bravery, received many threats to her life. Indeed the director Theo Van Gogh was murdered because of his involvement in a documentary he made in conjunction with her.
Hirsi Ali repudiated what she was taught about the West multiple times, but never said anything about how what she was taught about Jews was incorrect. As late as 9/11 (2001), she mentioned that she could have understood what happened on 9/11 (please note, I'm not saying she condoned what happened), had the hijackers been Palestinian, and left notes saying that the terrorist acts were against the US because of its support for Israel. Yet she never addressed what you said about Jews in terms of any enlightened experiences or knowledge. She did speak about the embarrassment Holland felt for its complicity with Hitler, which would have been a perfect time to mention her feelings, yet they weren't addressed.
Hirsi Ali went to great lengths to show how and why she rejected her early teachings. Every single objection was gone over repeatedly. Yet she never addressed the claims about how Jews were responsible for Muslim problems.
I wrote to her at the American Enterprise Institute where she works, about my concern asking for her to address that, and received a letter from an associate telling me that Hirsi Ali reads all her email, but doesn't have the time to answer everyone. Fine. But it would have made sense to be directed to some writing where this issue was addressed. Apparently, there aren't any.
I was torn between giving this book five stars or one. I decided to split the difference, and encourage the writer to explore her feelings and write about what Muslims say about Jews.

In her book "Infidel," Ayaan Hirsi Ali acknowledges several people who made it possible for her to survive the Islamic tribalism she grew up under in Africa, to escape to Holland after her father arranged for her to marry a man she didn't love and to prosper thereafter. But if I were to cite one overriding factor that saved her, it would be the Western novels she read.

Throughout "Infidel," Ali brings up these books again and again, particularly in regard to love, sex and marriage. To understand their impact, it's important to recognize the mind-numbing, repressive culture she had to endure. Ali was born in Somalia to religious, clannish Muslim parents, and her mother taught her to memorize old chants of war and death, raids, and camel herding, and female Somali poetry that never mentioned love, which is, she writes, "considered synonymous with desire, and sexual desire is seen as low -- literally unspeakable."

Fortunately, Ali and her family moved to non-Muslim Kenya, where she attended a British colonial-based school and learned English. There she read "1984," "Huckleberry Finn," "Wuthering Heights" and tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen.

"Later on there were sexy books: Valley of the Dolls, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steele," she writes. "All these books, even the trashy ones, carried with them ideas -- races were equal, women were equal to men -- and concepts of freedom, struggle, and adventure that were new to me."

Here are some other excerpts:

"[T]he spark of will inside me grew even as I studied and practiced to submit. It was fanned by the free-spirited novels ... Most of all, I think it was the novels that saved me from submission. I was young, but the first tiny, meek beginnings of my rebellion had already clicked into place."

"I always found it uncomfortable to be opposed to the West. For me, Britain and America were the countries in my books where there was decency and individual choice."

"I knew that another kind of life was possible. I had read about it ... [T]he kind of life I had always wanted, with a real education, a real job, a real marriage ... I wanted to become a person, an individual, with a life of my own."

"Infidel" is a great study for someone who would like to (further) concretize the crucial, life-sustaining role that art plays in man's life.


~ Joseph Kellard
Theainet1@optonline.net

Ayan Hirsi Ali's account of growing up as a Somali woman in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Germany, and the Netherlands, what she endured, her search for religious meaning as a Muslim and her struggle to be her own person was inspiring and a must read for all!!!!!!

One of the few life-changing books that I would consider a must-read for all: honest, direct, and with inspiring moral clarity.

I think this book was read to me in school many many years ago. I remembered it as an adult and purchased it for sentimental reasons. I think it reminded me of The Secret Garden in a way. The seashell cottage was the perfect hideaway that every little girl could dream of making her own. I loved the story of Mandy and found myself wistfully wishing that I had a place like that as a child. What a wonderful story that Julie Andrews has created. I will cherish it always and keep it to pass down to the young girls in my family.

I read and reread this book about 5 or so times as a child. I simply loved the adventure of it all about the protagonist discovering a home away from home that she could call her very own. This is a fascinating tale for children who love to live in their adventurous daydreams and who love secret hiding places of their own where they can just "be". Although this is a book I would reccomend to children, I wouldn't reccomend it to adults as the plot and drama is very minimal. Adults would be bored of this whereas most children, especially little girls, would be fascinated by the simplicity and beauty described within its pages.

Mandy is obviously the protagonist of this story. She is an orphaned child living in an orphanage with other children of the state. She has a friend that she bonds with over time and gets along farily well with eveyone else, as well as the staff, until the day that mandy climbs over the wall of the orpganage and discovers an abandon cottage! She decides from that moment thatthe cottage is hers and her secret hideaway. She begins to do things that are uncharacteristic of her such as lying about where she has been, stealing from the orphanage supplies to take and supply her new home with, and is suddenly secretive with everyone, even her best friend. Read on to find out about Mandy and what she goes through as a child trying to make a cottage into a home and keep her secret place just that... secret.

Although this book is aimed to appeal to girls approximately between the ages of 7-13, I was in college when Mandy was first released. Being a hugh fan of Julie Andrews, I of course bought the book and was amazed that I could not put it down! To me, a great book has the ability to transport the reader from their day-to-day life into another time and place. I was mesmerized by this charming story from beginning to end as I am sure every child who reads it will be. Mandy is not only a sweet, likeable orphan, but she is very positive role model for children, showing that if you try hard enough, you can make your dreams come true. I admire Mandy's spirit and courage to go after her dream of someday having a real family.
I had read that because Julie Andrews lost a bet to her teenage step-daughter Jenny, that her forfeit was to write her a story, which turned into this wonderful book! Lucky for us readers, the result of that bet gave us our first glimpse at yet another one of Julie Andrews' many talents.
It's been 30 years now since I first read Mandy and I still have my original version of this book in a prominant place on my bookshelf, along with a hardback copy of Mandy and each updated version that has been printed. All the young girls in my family have read this classic book and loved it as much as I do. I only hope someday a movie version of this beautiful story is produced.

I purchased this book with my own money when it first came out thirty-six years ago. I was eight years old. I still have it on my bookshelf and shared it with my own children. This is truly a classic and I hope that someday it will be adapted for the screen!

This book reminds me a lot of "The Secret Garden" without being quite as preachy and overly descriptive. My two daughters absolutely love this book and consider it one of their favorites.

To be a wife of Henry VIII would be great if you were content to not to be an individual with any rights.You would want for nothing.On the other hand if you wanted to express your self and be seen as an equal you would be treading on thin ice.

Alison Weir provides a fascinating, richly detailed and penetrating human history of the life of King Henry VIII and his six wives. The work is meticulously researched and provides a deep and intelligent understanding of these six fascinating ladies and of King Henry himself.

While Henry VIII was responsible for some great achievements for England, he developed into a cruel tyrant; anyone who aroused his suspicion or displeasure was likely to be be executed and those who died included nobles, ministers, prelates and 2 of his six wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.

Catherine of Aragon was a proud Spanish princess, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, and a deeply pious Roman Catholic. She was betrothed at three years of age to the first son of King Henry VII, Arthur Prince of Wales and became Prince Arthur's wife at 16. Arthur died six months after their marriage and Catherine spent 7 years in poverty and insecurity, abandoned by Spain and despised by Henry VII, robbed of her dowry and never sure of what her fate would be. Catherine bore these years with great faith, strength and dignity.
After Henry VII's death, in 1509, the newly crowned Henry VIII made her his wife, and they lived together for eighteen years.
Of the five children born to Catherine, only Mary lived. She became Queen Mary I ("Bloody Mary"). Henry desperate for a male heir and enchanted by Anne Boleyn, decided to annul his marriage to Catherine.
Catherine resisted the annulment as long as she could, while always declaring her loyalty and love to the king.
After Henry broke with the Roman Catholic Church to divorce her, Catherine lived in retirement.

Anne Boleyn was a chamber maid to Catherine of Aragon when the king became interested in her.
Henry secretly married Anne in January, 1533. Henry's Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer pronounced Henry's first marriage null and void.
Anne Boleyn was crowned queen in June and because of circumstances beyond her control was unpopular with the English people and had many enemies.
Anne gave birth to Elizabeth in June.
But Henry a cruel and selfish man had wanted a boy and soon tired of Anne.
After she repeatedly failed to produce a male heir, Henry and his chief minister Thomas Cromwell had Anne framed for adultery and executed.
Anne was an intelligent and courageous women, as well as ambitious and capable at times of ruthlessness.
She was a strong adherent to the Protestant cause and well read in Protestant theology at a time when it was dangerous to do so.
The author reveals that Anne was not however the scheming wanton that some historians have painted her as.

Jane Seymour by contrast was not the good hearted innocent some have seen her as. she copied Anne Boleyn's methods of witholding her sexual favours to the king until she was Queen. She was favoured by the Catholic camp.
She seemed to have remained on the King's good side and bore him his long wanted male heir to be Edward VI.
She died of illness soon after Edward's birth.

Henry was then maneuvered into a marriage by his chief minister Thomas Cromwell, to the Protestant German princess, Anne of Cleves, to bolster the Protestant cause.
Henry had only soon seen Anne of Cleves in a portrait but when he met her he found her unattractive exclaiming "I like her not".
He soon divorced her but because Anne of Cleves did not resists the divorce and was amenable she avoided a tragic fate and lived out a comfortable retirement with a large inheritance, the longest living of Henry's wives.
Ironically the Protestant princess Anne of Cleves was converted to a devout Catholic, by Princess Mary, who became her close friend.

After that the powerful Howard family manipulated one of their young daughters, the 15 year old Catherine Howard to marry the king, and was supported by the Catholic faction. The aging Henry's large ego was thrilled to betroth an attractive girl over thirty years his junior. When he married her, Henry described Catherine Howard as his "rose without a thorn"
Catherine was good hearted, but simple and sexually promiscuous. Described as giddy girl."

The machinations of the court destroyed her and she was not shrewd enough to survive.
She was accused of adultery, whether she was guilty is not known, but she never stood a chance and was executed on the orders of the cruel and vengeful Henry,a truly tragic tale.
Catherine Howard was a powerless pawn used by powerful and unscrupulous forces.

Henry's last wife was the level headed and highly intelligent Catherine Parr. She managed to outlive the king, and befriended the young Princess Elizabeth and Prince Edward, showing a kindly character. She was a strong Protestant and believed in church reform (she had secret Lutheran sympathies) and the author believes she would have made a mark as a great thinker in times when women were encouraged to think independentally and make an intellectual contribution.
Her strong religious convictions led her to argue with King Henry about religion, and the author writes that she may have been lucky the King died when he did.

Catherine Parr, later married Sir. Thomas Seymour and was a great friend to the Lady Jane Grey.
she also foretold that the young Princess Elizabeth was destined by Heaven to be a great Queen of England, when she had told Elizabeth to leave her house after Elizabeth had been seduced by Thomas Seymour, showing her powers of vision and her non vengeful nature,
She was a visionary and a good woman.

An interesting historical anecdote. Friar Peto predicted in 1532 that if King Henry cast off Katherine of Aragon and married Anne Boleyn he would be as Ahab and the dogs would lick his blood.
After Henry's death his lead coffin weakened by the motion of the carriage burst open, and liquid matter from the body seeped out onto the church pavement. A dog was with the plumbers who came the next morning to repair the coffin, and it was seen to lick up the blood from the floor just as Friar Peto had predicted.

Like all of Alison Weir's works this volume combines detailed history with a thrilling and smooth read. Everything you could want in a factual history volume.
It is social and personal history at it's best and captures the essence of the time of Henry VIII's reign and the wider events involving England at the time.

The book is excellent. So much interesting drama! I am Korean and Korea's Chosun Dynasty is also full of Queens and deceit and back stabbing and I realized how England's Kingdom was very similar to Korea's. I suppose King & Queens are kind of similar in their nature to keep the power given to them. Anyway, I bought 2 other Alison Weir books because she just writes wonderfully. Knowing this is history which can be boring, but not so for this wonderful book. If you are a history buff like myself, you will love this book. One thing though, I read my book on subway trains and on buses while I commute to work, and this book too heaaaaaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvy! I guess that would be only minus for this book.

This is a great book and very interesting. After seeing The Other Boleyn Sister I was anxious to read what really happened. A little drawn out between his marrage to Katherine and Anne but considering it took almost 7 years I can see why. He was a tyrant!

Alison Weir's well-written, easy to read book about the Six Wives of Henry the VIII is an outstanding work of history about England in the 1500s, Henry's six wives, and the role they play in English politics and international relations with Spain, France and Germany. It is definitely a five star work of scholarship and entertainment.

A Great and Terrible Beauty was the first and best book in this series, but the final two books in the trilogy (including this one as #2) are great as well. They are a little sexy for young advanced readers, but only in a very few parts. These books are definitely worth reading.

I enjoyed this book. It was a bit longer than I expected (550 pages seems like a lot for a young adult read); however, the writing was simple and easy to follow, so it didn't become tedious. The plot was very nicely designed. I enjoyed the first book as well, but this one was even better. This book is a worthy addition to the Gemma Doyle saga.

Rebel Angels is the wonderful sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty. A gulped up AGATB in two gulps, and RA in the same way. I enjoy this book series emensely, yet at the same time find them annyoing. I always seem to find qualms with ther hundreds of books I read each year, and this one is no exception. But don't totally forsake this book if you read this review: Rebel Angels is beautifully written, and Libba Bray is a great writer. But no work is ever perfect....

Qualm Number 1: I am a true romantic. Although I would never read downright romance novels, I love that little bit of love and denial in each book I read; I come to expect it. But I was so mad that Kartik and Gemma didn't get together in this book. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? Kartik is so obviously crazy about Gemma, and she chooses to ignore him, sit in her little realm world, la la la I can't her you. And what she said to him was unintentionally mean, but he should have gotten over it, since love is endless. Personally, I would already have them together in the first book...but that's just me. But Kartik sounds like such a nice guy, you know? I have the absurd tendency to fall in love with characters, and Kartik joins Percy Jackson and Edward Cullen in this department. Why can't Gemma realize that? WHY? Ok, ranting over on that subject. I am not crazt haha :)

Moving on....
Qualm Number 2: Is it just me, or does it seem like Felicity and Ann are using Gemma? I think that they are, just to get to the realms. Felicity wants the power and to see Pippa, and Ann just wants to be beautiful. They really don't have those experiences friends have. When Gemma finds out about Felicity's past abuses Felicity doesn't cry on her shoulder; she just gets all amd. And Ann...although I liked how she lied about her family, I thought that was too out of character for her. Felicity is so pushing her to be what she is not. And what about Pippa? In the last book she seemed like she had multiple-personalities, and in RA too. One minute she is nice, the next whiny, althoug that might be the realms I don't know. Felicity also treats her weird, one minute Gemma's best friend and the next Pippa's. The whole friendship aspect is a little crazy.

Qualm Number 3: SPOILER!!!! I knew Miss Moore was Circe since AGATB, so that was very predicatble. I was a little sad though. She seemed really nice. :(

Ok, so I loved this book with a passion, and it is now on the sacred bookshelf in my room. I'm getting the sequel, The Sweet Far Thing, so soon as I can. So if you need a book to read, read this one. It's scary at times, but I was enraputured 24/7. Go get it now!!!

Second in the Gemma Doyle trilogy.

When she held Circe at bay and destroyed the runes at the end of A Great and Terrible Beauty, Gemma loosed the power of the realms and made the magic available to anyone in the realms.

Now she has been given the task to find the Temple and bind the magic. Kartik and the Order have their own plans for the magic of the realm and Gemma finds herself caught between them.

Meanwhile, Circe is still on the loose and Pippa refuses to pass as she should. Dark things are awakening within the realms and fighting to control the magic. As Gemma struggles to set things right, she has only the ravings of a mad girl to guide her.

Set against the backdrop of Victorian society, this gothic tale combines historical fiction with fantasy. Readers will be riveted by this well-paced mystery filled with authentic details of Victorian life.

(daughter of user)
Well, I found Rebel Angels to be a slightly better book than A Great and Terrible Beauty. It added to the characters and explained them more, which was very good. Personally, I liked Simon much more than Kartik. I don't know why, but I haven't been able to like his character quite yet. Simon was a gentleman and very sweet. Maybe I just liked him because I want to be adored by a sweet gentleman the way Gemma was adored by him, I don't really know. I was a bit sad that Gemma(SPOILER ALERT) didn't pick him in the end. I understand why she couldn't though. Over all, Rebel Angels was a great book and I'll be rushing to buy the next in the series.

nicholas and alexandra should never had become czar and crazina of russia.nicholas was just to weak spirit and alexandra to strong without know the real russia people.she saw russian as childern who needed to be told how to run their lives by the papa czar.she hide her son illness and brought in a sexual twisted man of god into her family,ruin the romanov's relationship with it's people.stopping changes that would give citzen russian say in their country.in the end the people turn on the romanov's every thing end tragical.

I read this book many years ago and have never forgotten it, and I just recently purchased a copy of my own. Robert Massie is an excellent writer who makes this book memorable for the fun and loving family that the Romanovs were and their terrible, tragic end. I'm now collecting more books on the Romanov dynasty and the individual people who made up this fascinating family. For anyone with an interest, this is the place to start.

Far and away one of the best biographies I have ever read. Massie masterfully gives life to the doomed, tragic last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, and his family. I was absolutely rivetted from page one by this outstanding work. The book gives a sympathetic portrait of Tsar Nicholas, his wife Empress Alexandra, and their ongoing struggle to cope with their haemophiliac son, Alexei, heir to the Russian throne. Alexei's illness indirectly leads to the downfall of the Romanov dynasty and the family's murder. An astonishingly good read, and one I highly recommend to all who are interested in this era of history.

Robert Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra" is a biographical study centered on the lives of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia. Massie's portrayal of the last ruling Romanavs is like many other works on the subject in that it is poignant, dramatic, and vibrant; but never dull. However, Massie's work stands out above other works on the subject for its thorough account of the lives of the imperial couple and most of all, its sympathetic portrayal of them.

Nearly all works of the period agree that Tsar Nicholas II was not the blood-drenched despot the Bolshevik revolutionaries claimed him to be, and although he may not have been as benevolent as his contemporary Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, he at least lacked the bellicose nature of his German counterpart (and early advisor), Wilhelm II. Massie's account demonstrates how Nicholas II was ill-prepared to ascend the throne in after Alexander III, but unlike the contention of other historians, Massie makes a reasonable case in defending the intelligence of the fallen autocrat.

Massie's account of Nicholas and Alexandra does not absolve the couple from their failure to prevent the collapse of the reign and ultimately their country, but it does partially excuse their inflexibility and fatalism on the serious of misfortunes that continued to plague Nicholas from the very day of his coronation; when hundred of Russian peasants were stampeded to death in a overzealous crowd on Khodynka Meadow. Yet, no Romanov apologist can ignore the detrimental influences on Nicholas's reign, including his wife Alexandra, a German Kaiser, and especially a corrupt starets. That such an array of persons from various strata of society could at times impose their will on a man raised to be an autocrat was a tarnish on Nicholas' character.

Despite his habit of being easily swayed at times, Nicholas is not one-dimensional in Massie's account. It is noted how Nicholas ignored the advice of able ministers and most of all; remained unyielding to grant the masses of his subjects the representation and constitution they desired--until it was too late. Even Massie can be counted among the historians who muse whether the Romanov dynasty might have survived had the Tsar been more accommadating to the popular demands of his people--or if war had not erupted in the manner it did in 1914.

Although Massie's work is very thorough, it only briefly touches the clandestine operations of the Tsarist police state in rooting out revolutionaries and assassins from its masses prior to 1917. Indeed, other works (e.g. Edmond Taylor's "The Fall of the Dynasties") are careful to point out that Tsarist police included a host of known double agents whose loyalties were perpetually in doubt. While Massie makes note of that insecurity in his account of Prime Minister Peter Stolypin's assassination in 1911 by a Tsarist agent, he fails to explain how widespread the problem actually was. Indeed, Taylor describes as monarchy's slide to collapse as a "suicide", not because they were unable to stop that slide, but rather because they were unwilling.

Just as it is difficult to excuse the corrupt system of Tsarist counter-revolutionary activity, historians are also unable to justify the Russia's policy in WWI of placing the needs of France above that of her own. The disaster at Tannenburg early in the war is described in detail by Massie, and is correctly portrayed as a premature offensive launched by Russia (with the support of Nicholas) to rescue its beleagured ally from the German onslaught through northern France. Indeed, even after his abdication and arrest, Massie notes how Nicholas pleaded with Kerensky to continue to support the Russia's allies in the war effort--a mission with which the Provisional Government leader would complete in the summer of 1917 with disastrous consequences. Although Massie's "Nicholas and Alexandra" does not outright label the monarchy as a principle agent of its own destruction, his book nevertheless provides a strong case to the conclusion that the last rulers (and their ministers) of the Romanov dynasty practiced an inexplicable policy of self-immolation.

It is perhaps this mystery--or lunacy--of the Romanovs that continues to fascinate so many readers 90 years after their unglorious deaths in their Siberian imprisonment. Undoubtedly, the story of the last Romanovs will continue to perplex students of history for decades to come, and Robert Massie's work will will remain the foremost account of the twilight of Imperial Russia.

In 2000, there was much talk about the "most important person of the 20th Century." My choice was always Gavrilo Princip, the young Bosnian assassin who killed Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, igniting World War I, which caused the Russian Revolution, Communism, and the Treaty of Versailles, which led to Naziism, World War II, atomic bombs, and the Cold War.

Of course, there were other factors which formed the tragedy of the twentieth century, and perhaps some of these historical events would have happened anyway. Almost for certain, the Romanov Monarchy would have fallen or been transformed out of recognition without the help of Gavrilo Princip's bullets.

Although the Ottoman Empire was always referred to as "the sick man of Europe," Robert K. Massie illustrates that Russia was not very well either, despite appearances. An obsolescent autocracy, the Russian Empire was mired in time at the dawn of the twentieth century, the great mass of its people existing much as they had 100 years earlier.

Massie's theory, that the hemophilia of Alexis, the young Tsarevich, had an inordinate influence of Russian and subsequent world history, is well thought-out, though perhaps an oversimplification. Yet, it cannot be discounted. The Romanov Dynasty had ruled Russia then for 300 years, and brought the country, by fits and starts, slowly into the orbit of the modern world. Despite this, there is much truth in the observation that "Lenin inherited a nation playing beside a manure pile and Stalin bequeathed a nation playing with an atomic pile." This is not to defend Stalinism, but only to say how little the Romanovs did overall to modernize their State.

When Nicholas II inherited the throne after his father's untimely death, he was woefully unprepared to rule. Dominated for years by archconservative and anti-modernist members of his family, he did little to educate his people, provide health care, build infrastructure, or lift the heavy cloak of official repression that lay over all but ethnic Russians in his realm, or the cloak of cultural repression that lay over the ethnic Russians.

Yet Massie shows us a man and a family of uncommonly kind nature in Nicholas II and his family. His daughter Olga paid personally for the care of a handicapped subject she spied from her carriage one day. The Tsaritsa, Alexandra, despite a reputation as an uncaring woman, herself nursed sick friends before the war and horribly wounded soldiers during the war. The family built hospitals and schools in and around the various cities wherein lay the royal estates. They acted to ameliorate suffering wherever they saw it, without reservation.

Of course, this was the problem. They acted only on what they saw with their own eyes, never recognizing that these sufferings were endemic throughout the realm. Their myopia was part and parcel of the lives of the citified upper classes, completely divorced from the mass of agrarian peasants in the countryside, magnified by the hermetically sealed nature of being an Imperial Family, aided and abetted by sycophants and the self-serving, who kept the real world at a very long arm's length, in order to maintain their own privileged positions. Living in a bubble within a bubble, they were just not aware of conditions in most of Russia.

Nicholas II ruled over the largest domain on earth. Russia today is still the world's largest nation, even shorn of Finland, Poland, the Baltic States, Belarus, the Ukraine, the Central Asian provinces, and (in 1867) Alaska. Sunset in Vladivostok was dawn in Brest-Litovsk. His hundred million subjects included hundreds of peoples speaking hundreds of languages, linked together by a shockingly small road and rail system. The sensitive Nicholas, had he been really cognizant of the shape of things, could have, by a single order, vastly improved the lives of each and every Russian (of course, as he noted, being an autocrat and giving orders does not ensure that they are carried out properly). His greatest failings, as a ruler, all had to do with his decisions to outwardly maintain his Imperial hautre and his autocracy at all costs in the face of cataclysmic change.

This bubble-within-a-bubble existence however, could not spare them from the fact of the Tsarevich's hemophilia. A genetic disorder inherited through the female line (Alexis' Great-Grandmother was Queen Victoria, whose progeny were ravaged by the disease), it prevents the clotting of the blood. When Alexis was born in 1904, the world was a full lifespan away from the development of a usable clotting factor; most hemophiliacs simply bled out and died. The Tsarevich was protected by a full retinue, but this did not help him, and the boy was often in screaming agony and close to death from what might in another child, be a bad bruise. The Heir, therefore lived in a bubble within a bubble within a bubble.

The Tsaritsa, Alexandra, was a solemn, shy, but deeply emotional and loving woman, nicknamed "Sunny" by her husband. To the world, she presented an aloof exterior, and was extremely unpopular with her subjects. Had they known the sorrows and agonies she suffered through with Alexis, her realm, and history, might have treated her far better. But the Imperial Family decided to keep Alexis' condition a closely guarded secret, fearing the destabilization of the Monarchy and Russia in the face of a physically frail Heir. This may have been the Imperial Family's worst error, as it robbed them of an outpouring of sympathy and support from a passionate populace.

Alexandra turned to religion, and ultimately, to Gregory Rasputin, a filthy, degenerate, sexually perverse and personally dissolute monk of peasant extraction. Although derided by most, and called a charlatan by many, Rasputin was perhaps one of the most charismatic men in history, had a devoted following (largely comprised of Society women he'd seduced), did have the power, somehow, to control Alexis' bleeding episodes, and therefore, had the Empress's full and unwavering support in all things.

The feared and hated Rasputin may have indeed been a seer or had mystical powers of some sort, judging from circumstances. Rasputin was not really political, but as his influence over the Romanovs grew, his power expanded commensurately, and he was able to have Ministers dismissed, Generals reassigned to sinecures, and policies changed according to his own whims (expressed as messages from God) or concerns. Capable Russian leaders, who did not know the basis of Rasputin's power, suspected the worst of Alexandra, and in challenging Rasputin found themselves toppled from power. As World War I dawned, Russia was upside-down, its best men in internal exile, and woefully unprepared for war. Rasputin himself counseled against war, stating that Russia would collapse from within. Nonetheless, the British, German and Russian grandsons of Queen Victoria went to war.In that war, millions died, empires fell, nations were born, ideological political systems triumphed, and the stage was set for a darker and yet bloodier future.

The Tsar and his genteel family were consumed, ending their days against a wall before a Bolshevik firing squad, probably not understanding, until the end, that they had been in the eye of a hurricane that remade the world.

Massie's work of Russian history is one of the fines biographies I have ever read. It keeps interest start to finish. It never gets boring at all, and that is important since the book is over 800 pages! Massie delves into the experience that made the man who is Tsar Peter The Great, yet at no time does it ever let down. It is exciting, readable, and very human. I enjoy Massie's book, and I intend to read more of his works

In short, I am an amateur historian of Russian history and found this biography to be very detailed, thoroughly researched biograaphy while at the same time reading as a top notch novel. I can't recommend it more. If you are interested in the man, this transitional period in Russian history or are after a great read, you won't be disappointed. Enjoy!

Much like Pierre Berton's great Canadian history books, Robert Massie brings history to the "people" with Peter The Great. In this long but highly readable biography, Massie illumimates the distant past of a backward nation which grew into a major European power under the energetic Peter. We read about the palace intrigues in the Kremlin in Peter's early years, his rise to power, and his historic trip "incognito" through Holland, Austria and England. A major part of this book is devoted to the Great Northern War with Sweden, and the fascinating character of Swedish king Charles XII. I knew very little about that attempted invasion of Russia, and Massie paints a vivid picture of the Swedish campaign. The author also brings us inside the Ottoman Empire and the life of the Sultans and Grand Viziers. He puts Peter's life in context with the greater world and shifting alliances of Europe.

The brutish nature of life in Russia in this era is not glossed over. So many labourers died in the construction of Peter's centrepiece city St. Petersburg, and the cruel punishments of the time are depicted. Overall, this is the type of historical biography they don't write anymore. History can be and should be written to appeal to a broader audience, and also to tell things as they were, without resorting to revisionism. Books such as this encourage readers to explore history more.

What a treat this book was to read. Robert Massie demonstrates an ability at biography to a level I had never before experienced, though a huge portion of my reading is in fact biography. Truly amazing is the level of detail and background, which is somehow seamlessly spun into fibers, into yarns, and into a rich textile of thoughts and events sweeping through Russian and world drama by the fluid hand of Mr. Massie. He is with no exaggeration a master of his craft. I suppose this is why the book has earned a Pulitzer prize.

Not only is the worth of the author a call for every historically curious person to swim eagerly through this work, but so do the very facts of the account examined create among the richest stories available in history for any author to weave into narrative. It just so happens that here we have a wonderful and rich history handled by an unusually able story teller.

Peter The Great is such a curious character that one might consider such a collection of ability, insight, temper, and crushingly wielded power more the subject of a novel before thinking him one who walked the Earth, leaving his mark forever impressed upon Russia until the modern day.

It was Peter who pulled Russia kicking and screaming from the dark ages. It was Peter who created the Russian Navy from nothing (actually it is said from a single rotten sailboat). It was Peter who created Russia's first standing professional army. How? From the ranks of children with whom he played army as a child himself. He grew, they grew, and they became the core of the new Russian army. This by the way is a brutal and captivating tread of the story in its own right.

The book is riddled with such accounts, rendered in a degree of detail as to leave you simply awestruck and immersed in your own transported imagination. This to the point of regretting the arrival of that last of its many polished and engrossing pages.

This is truly a wonderful display of scholarship, of factual organization, and of rich story telling. This book is absolutely perfect for those with a mind, seeking to have it engaged.

I love to read history and have numerous books about many people and events that happened throughout history. But this book has to be my absolute favorite. Peter the Great was an amazing person and led a life without one dull moment. Once you start reading this book it will be difficult to put it down. Even though he did not live into old age, he lived a life full of adventure and you will never be bored while reading this book. You will find that Peter the Great is one of the best leaders of all times and I often wonder how Russian history would have evolved if Peter had lived to be eighty. It is too bad the man cannot be cloned.

This is one of the first Holocaust survival stories that I read. It is by far one that has stayed with me in the most detail.

What a strong girl Gerda is. she was told to never give up her boots and in the end it is one thing that saved her life after marching in a blizzard half frozen to death. How she survived is nothing short of a miracle.

Reading this when you are in a hard time reminds you that you do have the inner strength to survive. If she can do that then I can face my problems. It is quite graphic and tells the truth of really happened in the holocaust.

I'm not going to give the story away I'm just going to say you will cry and rejoyce in this story. It will touch you to core of your very being.

I must read for EVERYONE!

I have read many of the holocaust books out there but this is the one I pass on to friends to read. Especially moving is the liberation of the prisoners at the end of the book. I wish all schools made this mandatory reading. What a way to learn history! This author is quite an incredible woman.

This book was gripping and I could not put it down until I finished it. It's so hard to believe the hardships so many endured for being Jewish. A must read. Beautifully written with rich detail.

I read this book a long time ago and just got done listening to the book on tape for the second time. It is the most powerful representation of the Holocaust I have found. Please read this book if you want to learn about the Holocaust from a gifted author and survivor.

Despite the horrors around her, and fellow prisoners dying and becoming mentally unbalanced every day, young Gerda Weissman managed to survive several Nazi camps from the late 1930s through the grisly end of World War II.

Imagine being a teenager, wrenched away from your beloved parents, older brother and home -- and never seeing any of them ever again. It would be enough to make anyone unstable, not to mention bitter. Yet somehow, Gerda emerges from her horrifying ordeal stronger than she began. As her body heals in a hospital run by the Allies during the spring of 1945, Gerda begins a relationship with Kurt Klein -- a young soldier who urges her to tell her story.

Now an elderly woman living in Arizona, Gerda Weissman Klein is able to see just how far she's come from the young Jewish girl living a priviledged life in Poland. Yet at the same time, her writing style allows readers to see clearly just how that same persona has managed to live such a rich, eventful life to the fullest all of these years.

I've read many Holocaust memoirs, though I must say that Gerda's story is beautifully and distinctly told.

This book will take you on a wonderful journey from the innocence of a young german sailor to the plagued life of a U-Boat captain. Every encounter will draw you deeper into the stress and emotions of the men inside the "Iron Coffin." Before, the germans may have been viewed as the enemy but from this book your paradigm will shift and the similarities of the Allied and Axis forces will become closer that ever could have been imagined.

This book is great. After viewing the movie DAS BOOT I had to learn more about the glory and tragedy of the U-boats of WWII. This book is an edge of the seat thriller. I've bought several more books on the U-boats and if they're half as good as this one I'll consider it money well spent.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would - it is absolutely excellent. Herbert Werner was born in 1920, and served active duty aboard German submarines from 1941 until the very end of the war in May 1945. He survived the war, which is no small accomplishment. Of 40,000 World War 2 German submariners, 30,000 never returned home alive. But on a personal level, he suffered tremendous losses. More than 90% of his comrades did not survive, and even worse - his parents and only sister were killed in an Allied fire-bombing raid over the German city of Darmstadt. His lovely Blonde girlfriend and her parents were killed in an earlier Allied air raid over the German capital city of Berlin. It is hard to think of real stories more tragic or more sad than this. As a naval officer, this young man (age 25 at the end of the war) was incredibly well-experienced, proficient, and even somewhat lucky. But I would give far more weight to experience and proficiency than to luck. If more young German submarine commanders had Herbert Werner's on-the-job training and experience, many more would have survived. Their senior commanders and above all their senior national leadership (under Hitler) were reckless men who ruined them, their country (Germany) and many other unfortunate people of their tragic time.

This is a very well written and organized version f the battle of the atlantic for any fans of the U-Boat Saga.... Very insightful into the U-boat way of life and what all those brave boys went through back then.

Great book,one of the signal submarine tales of the Second World War.They made a very dramatic movie out of a few episodes of the book. My wife happened to see the movie recently and I mentioned how little of the book was covered, so it was time to add a hard cover to our library.
well packaged , arrived in excellent shape.

This book literally changed my life. As someone with a deep interest in Anne Frank and the Holocaust, I began reading it with some concern. I have read several books involving time travel and there is nothing that irks me more than a romanticized version of Anne Frank's life. However, this is a book that brings her and other victims of the Final Solution to life for me, and it is one of the best books I have ever read. I can clearly see how easily it could have been me and my family in the Holocaust, instead of someone else. The story also does a brilliant job of linking everyday events with those of the Holocaust. I can only imagine how survivors view modern life after what they went through. It makes you think about what is really important in life. I literally began thinking about how materialistic and selfish I can be, and how little that I really worry about is of any importance.
The title is misleading however; Anne Frank does spark the story and end it, but she is really not the driving force behind the book. She appears in the Holocaust flashback for only a few pages, though those pages are tearjerking.
Nevertheless, there is a great deal of information about the Holocaust in this book. It is extremely well-written, an incredible page-turner. I almost find it difficult to believe that it is a work of fiction, it seems so real. It is a slightly more mature book, recommend at least for teenagers. Aside from the age issue, this is a story that comes highly recommended. It will alter your life forever.

I loved this book! As i was readig it i thought what does it have to do with Anne Frank but as i kept reading the book got more interesting and i found out what it had to do with her.

This was the best book I ever read and i plan on reading it again. i recomend it to everyone.

Anne Frank and Me was an emotional story about a girl in present day and in the time of the Holocaust. If you do not like books that will make you cry, then do not read this one. The author uses very realistic details about the Holocaust so that you feel like you are really there in the story. Anne Frank and Me is exciting from the very beginning. You do not have to read for hours just to get to an exciting point in the book. I highly recommend Anne Frank and Me because it is an emotional book, and it is based on a horrible but real event that happened not too long ago.

Anne Frank and Me was an exceptional book and I enjoyed it very much. I can't imagine how anyone wouldn't love following Nicole through her journey starting in the 90's and ending up in year of 1942. I've read it twice and I know I'll set it down for a few months, then read it again! I recommend this to anyone with a heart! Enjoy Anne Frank and Me.
Stephanie A.
Tustin, CA

I would have to say that Anne Frank and Me is a very well written book about a modern girl trapped in a world shattered by the Nazis. Very realistic, I must say. Cherie Bennett makes it feel as if you are actually THERE. The characters are very original. The ending is very shocking and also well written.

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I must say this is one of the most light-hearted, hilarious books I have ever read. The story is of a world that one really may not get to see these days.. Go ahead and buy it..

In todays day and age of Steve Erwin and Jeff Corbin who go around hunting for animals, it is easy to forget where it all started. With people like Gerald, and the London zoo. In this book, he collects animals, deals with his demented siblings and his long suffering mother who has to raise four kids and fend off the advances of a really persistent Colonel who gets increasingly vulgar and `grabby' when he drinks. This is a rare story that combines a humorous story with humorous writing and I once caused passengers in a flight to turn around and give me strange looks, so hard was I laughing.

My Family and Other Animals is a bare-bones story in terms of plot. The Durrell family goes to Corfu, lives through what could be termed as a soap opera, and leaves. It's humourous, but not particularly challenging.

However, the older Gerald Durrell utilises vivid vocabulary over and over when describing the setting and people of Corfu. Fifteen-letter words that paint a crystalline picture are used frequently, relieving the never-ending roller coaster that is the life of the Durrells.

Overall, this is a highly entertaining book that will keep you engaged for the week or so that you will spend reading it every spare second you have.

Gerald Durrell was not only a naturalist and a gifted writer about his beloved animals, but a loving brother and son whose descriptions of his family and their foibles will keep you laughing all the way through. This is one of those books which I've reread so many times I've lost count, and which I've given to many friends who needed cheering up. Always works, too!

This book is absolutely, brilliantly funny. The wit and unique characterizations are woven with great descriptions of the animals and plants of Corfu. That Durrell can hold the attention of readers who have no interest in biology simply demonstrates what a fine work this is. Gerald's depiction of a larger-than-life expatriate family on a larger-than-life Greek island is a tremendous celebration of life. The variety of different Greek characters parading through this book rivals the variety of Corfu's flora and fauna. Absolute great read!