Europe Books

My son's Christian School teacher had this book as the other two books in this series on her reading list, however, it was out of print. We purchased all three and my son was very captivated by the action and story lines. Although written for the Christian, all children will love it.

Wow! This book if full of adventure and suspense! The plot is unique and very interesting! I think anyone of any age would enjoy reading this book. It involves likeable characters (especially Con), and religion. Pick up a copy of SECRET OF THE MEZUZAH now! :o) HAPPY READING!

This book is a great beggining for Con's adventures. You get sucked into the book as soon as you start reading. It makes you not want to stop reading it until you are done, but sad when you finish it.

Secret of the Mezuzah is written for young adults, but was very interesting and enjoyable reading for me, a forty-something adult. I appreciated the history included with the present day setting. The characters are engaging and believable. I would recommend this book to adults and certainly to young adults! Fiction, but not fantasy, events that could have taken place and lessons to apply about the people in our lives and around the world.

This is one of the best adventure stories geared toward young people that I've ever read (and I've read a lot!). The relationships are realistic and handled with sensitivity, especially the depictions of casual, ingrained anti-Semitism that could happen anywhere, not just in Austria. Even people who don't consider themselves Christian will get something out of this story.

A very informative book, however it is easy to see that it was written by professors. The book does make basic business subjects more complex than needed.

With its comprehensive content, the book gives a fantastic overview of the important issues in services marketing today. There are many interesting and practical examples demonstrating the learning points. Well-balanced perspective. Besides giving readers the foundations of concepts and tools to use as services marketing managers, it also gives readers interesting tips on how to get around or leverage on current services strategies used by companies as customers.

Its a very useful book covering all aspects of services marketing. Contents are well organised with real world examples, frameworks that you can apply to practical issues etc. I have read through all the chapters in the book and a few headings very interesting
1) Loyalty
2) Managing services people
3) Understanding service quality
4) Power of service guarantee
I strongly recommend anyone interested in services marketing to buy this book.

As Services industries continue to become a larger and larger share of our global economy, the importance of Services Marketing can only grow. Wirtz and Lovelock have written an excellent book for understanding Services Marketing and backing it up with numerous excellent real world case examples. I have been in the Services industry for 21 years, but still learned a tremendous amount from the book and cases. The book makes it easy to grasp the key concepts and has a logical, smooth flow. If after reading this book and exploring the accompanying cases, you still don't have a thorough knowledge of Services Marketing, it is YOUR fault! I highly recommend this book and think it should be part of every MBA program.

This is such a well-written and well-organized book that you can simply read from cover-to-cover or jump into your interested chapters right away.

Not only does the authors present you with their in-depth coverage of the various services related topics, supplementary materials (papers, cases) from other excellent sources/authors make this an absolute encyclopedia of services marketing and a coherent contemporary literature for both novices and seasoned practitioners.

This is THE book for this very under-written and immensely critical topic of services marketing and an essential reading for the 60-80% of the workforce who are involved in the ever growing services sector.

This is a seemingly accurate and easy to follow presentation. Manuals like this are hard to find. I was able to take it and within the space of a week employ many new gambits in my practice. I would have considered most of these beforehand to be inaplicable at speed or too awkward to quickly learn. Very direct and clearly illistrated. If you're part of any of the medieval re-enactment groups out there this book will be very rewarding.

This is an excellent book. It is a great place to start. Having said that, there is nothing like having a good Western Martial Arts instructor though.

This is an excellent interpretation of Ringeck's manual. It offers clear concise instruction, guiding the reader and practitioner towards a very good understanding of the German Longsword combat system. Excellent read. The glossary alone is exceptional, explaining common and relatively obscure terms in comprehensible language.

This is David Lindholm in a subject he knows and masters. The book is well written and concise, the illustrations and interpretations sound and easy to grasp. An excellent addition to any WMA library.

Well presented and thought out. We use this manual in our sword class.

Costain originally published THE THREE EDWARDS in 1958. While he has an easy-to-read style, which as other reviewers have remarked, makes him as fun to read as a good novel, his opinions sometimes come off as pompous - even absurd - by today's standards. For instance, in writing about the love affair between Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer, he says, "When a woman of passionate nature has existed in a loveless marriage and has reached the late twenties before yielding to a clandestine impulse, it may be taken for granted that she will not be guided by anything but the dictates of her love."

Later, about the woman who would become Queen Philippa, he writes, "Queen Philippa [in comparison to Isabella] had seemed rather colorless. She was pretty, sweet, and domestic, a typical Dutch girl."

The short section on Edward II never directly refers to the king's homosexuality. Rather, there are references to his "favorites."

If you can get past these prejudices, you'll learn a lot about 3 reigns - Edward I, II and III - in short order (the 1962 reprint that I read was slightly under 450 pages). Costain does a good job of summarizing the important events as well as the characters of the key men and women. There is also a good summary of the life of Edward III's son, Edward (called the Black Prince for the color of his armor).

I also like the fact that he provides information on his sources - calling rumor, rumor and referring to some contemporary writers as gossipmongers.

On time, as advertised, and packaged well. No problems at all. Would use again.

This is one of a quartet that Costain wrote describing the monarchs and key events in European history from William the Conqueror to the War of the Roses. The history is accurate. It is always clear where Costain is speculating and where he is drawing on traditional sources, such as the various chronicles of the era. However, he weaves them together so smoothly that the reader needs concern her/himself with documentation only when it pleases. Costain is first and foremost a good story teller and an elegant writer.

Costain does a great job with this overview of the first named Edwards to lord it over the English throne. From the fierce but just Edward I ("Hammer of the Scots") to the effete and ineffectual Edward II to the long-reigning and erratic Edward III, the author sustains our interest with anecdotes and thorough reporting of the times. Costain has a delightful habit of suddenly focusing on a historical figure one doesn't generally hear about and then presenting the reader with yet another biography to get excited about. Well done, well written. well read.

All history books should be written as well as Thomas Costain's "The Three Edwards." A comprehensive guide to the lives and labors of the great warrior kings Edward I and Edward III and the screw-up, Edward II, who ruled in between them, this book unfolds more like an easy-to-read and hard-to-put-down novel. Divided into short, easily manageable and well-organized chapters, it covers everything from the marriages of the kings and their children, the political highs and lows of their reigns, the manner of their deaths and the major battles of their wars. Many books about this era are hard to follow if you don't already have a good working knowledge of the time period. Costain avoids this problem by telling you who the people are, what they looked and acted liked, and why they are important to the story, helping you keep track of them by reminding you when he's spoken of them before, and generally describing the people so well that they don't just become a series of names that you can't keep track of. Although he obviously admires Edward I, has disdain for Edward II, and seems to be neutral toward Edward III, to whom about half the book is devoted, he is careful to point out both the good and bad in each of their characters and to place their actions in the context of their times. Plenty of space is given to the kings' ministers, merchants, wives and families, and to those of the Scottish and French rulers with whom the Edwards were at constant war, including Robert the Bruce, William Wallace, John Balliol, Philip the Fair, Jean the Good, and Charles the Bald.

One of the things I love about this book is that Costain shares so many of the great rumors and stories that passed down over the ages (such as Edward I promising the Welsh that he will give them a prince that speaks no English or French and then appointing his newborn son to the post), simply because they are great stories, while taking pains to point out why they can't be true. You can almost feel Costain winking at you as he relates the tales. Another great aspect of the book is that he devotes substantial time to the women of the period, who are generally ignored in most books on the middle ages. Edward II's wife, Isabella of France, is examined in detail, as is Eleanor of Castille, the first and beloved wife of Edward I whose death moved him to erect eleven costly stone crosses to her memory.

This book presents a very comprehensive overview of the lives and works of the three kings and is a great starting place for those who know very little about their lives, or a great review for those who've read much about them. You won't get every tiny bit of detail about Edward III's famous battles of Sluys, Crecy and Poitiers here that is found in, for instance, Jonathon Sumption's books on the Hundred Years War, but they are all well-summarized, and Costain includes many important details such as numbers of foot and mounted soldiers on each side, terrain, battle tactics and formations, and number of casualties as well as political motivations. Given the length of the book, there is a surprising wealth of detail packed into every page, including such wonderful tidbits as the origin of the word "blanket," which came from the name of Thomas Blanket, an early English manufacturer of the item.

In the last few months I have read over two dozen books on the middle ages, and this had been by far the most informative and enjoyable, the one book that really makes the events of the period come alive and the people seem to be actual people of flesh and blood, rather than just an amalgam of their deeds and accomplishments. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

Sandy Mackinnon says it himself - 'I exaggerate, for effect'. I loved the description of the journey from small streams in the north to the tidal rivers of the south and the crossing over to France. It all rings true to my own much more limited experience of rivers and canals in small rowing boats and canoes. But this man is much more capable than you might think from a superficial reading of the book - I know this because I'm on my third reading and have no intention of leaving it there.

The only other book I've loved this much is Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers, in some ways the complete opposite of this book where the main character convincingly describes the skill and expertise of Davies, the owner of the small yacht Dulcibella. A J Mackinnon as a single-hander must write of his own journey himself, so to preserve modesty and to entertain the reader he presents himself as a bumbling amateur with little idea of how to row, sail or maintain his eleven foot boat, but he still gets to the Black Sea by way of rivers and canals that would challenge any experienced sailor. His self-deprecation mightn't fool me but I'm left feeling even more impressed by the journey he describes so well.

I'm not a sailor nor intend to be after reading this wonderful adventure book but, I love adventure stories especially true ones where someone goes off on their own and let's nature do what she will.

This book had me laughing out loud as I think our boy here bit off more then he could chew at the start . seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose : ) altho he did manage to become learned about the nautical jargon thru trial and error . buy it, borrow it ...have a laugh .

A friend shared this book with me, hoping I'd enjoy it as much as he did. And I did. Being familiar with the country and the people - but not the rivers, I loved every mile of Jack De Crow's journey, laughing at almost every page at the impossible conditions that Mackinnon found himself in. As I knew they would, Mackinnon and Jack De Crow rose above it all.

I grew to love that little boat. In turn I shared with friends and family.

If you like sailing small craft and mini-crusiers and camping out, you will love this book. Most entertaining, humorous and well written.....good work Jim McKinnon !

Sandy Mackinnon sets out from Shropshire in a tiny sailboat and sails and rows himself and his small boat across England, across the Channel, and across the canals and rivers of Europe to the Black Sea.

This is a fascinating journey and Mackinnon is a brilliant and charming storyteller. Although his voyage involves many privations and even humiliations, he is always optimistic, happy, and carefree--well, almost always. Mackinnon's joy and love of adventure, people, and the outdoors is highly infectious. No one will come away from reading this book with anything less than a lighter heart and a brighter outlook on life and its tribulations. Jack de Crow is witty, entertaining, and edifying. It is one of the best sailing adventure books that I have ever read and I have read very many. I highly recommend this book to every reader whether or not you are a sailor or boater. You don't need to know anything about boats or sailing to fully enjoy this wonderful book.

I have one important and heavy dissatisfaction with the book that I must air. I almost broke ranks and would have been the first reviewer to give it fewer than five stars. Mackinnon from start to finish depends on the kindness of strangers to get him through tough spots. His journey, and even his life, is saved several times by other boaters or people along the shore who give him shelter, a tow, make repairs for him, etc. etc. He simply would not have gotten more than a few miles on his own. Of course, this is part, and a central part, of the whole story and journey--trusting to your luck and to the unanticipated and unpaid assistance of strangers. Mackinnon is basically a good natured and kind hearted screw-up. He really doesn't know what he is doing or how to do it, but goes on anyway. Well this makes for a good story as Mackinnon recognizes--no screw-ups, no stories.

But I favor a tradition that values self-reliance at least in things nautical. A watery voyage requires proper craft, charts, equipment in good order, and the ability to navigate and conduct the voyage on one's own. The only excuse for seeking or accepting help from others is dire and unavoidable life-threatening emergency. Mackinnon violates these basic principles of boating, often to his peril, sometimes to the peril of others. I cannot respect this. I believe that Mackinnon should not have made this voyage, that he was morally irresponsible, and that despite the wonderful book that resulted, the overall effect may be detrimental.

One other minor problem with the book is that readers should be aware that there are many many references to English children's literature and other works that are obscure and will not be familiar, and there are no notes or explanations. This comes off as a bit pretentious and puzzling and somewhat diminished my enjoyment of Jack de Crow.

Sometimes Mackinnon can be insensitive. He glows over the beauty and wealth of Vienna--Europe's greatest city (his description). Mackinnon describes with excessive enthusiasm Vienna's glorious history, but never mentions the most important event in Vienna's history--the anything but glorious Kristallnacht. I quote from Wikipedia: "Events in Austria were no less horrendous. Of the entire Kristallnacht only the pogrom in Vienna was completely successful. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbours." I find it hard to share his insensitive enthusiasm for Vienna.

But in the end I suppose that Mackinnon is some sort of genius, a genuine free spirit, and true eccentric and cannot be held to the same standards as the rest of us.

Wow, by far one of the best books that I have ever read. I usually do not like history because I prefer to be more proactive and immersed in today's world. But the clarity on our society's current situation that this book gives by examining the roots of the movement to capitalism is incredible and was so worth my time that I had to take a week's vacation off work in order to make sure that I could focus to read this. The writing conveys only one thing - complete clarity into the world today. It is an incredible opus; I loved it.

There is no easy answer to the challenges we humans face in organizing and creating a shared activity to enable the greatest overall productivity and happiness. The evolution of humanity during the early Renaissance years provides the explanation for where and why we are organized in this way today. Understanding this time in this way (through the lens of the economics of that time period) gives a much greater appreciation for the world today that we have constructed. The most core problems of humanity - social mobility, equitable distribution of resources, stability, and collective cooperation, have never (and may never) become solvable. This book explains these dynamics so eloquently that I wish I had time to read it again and again - much like a great adventure novel that as a kid you just wished would never end and felt a real loss once it did and you had to re-emerge into the real world around you.

Braudel is phenomenal in his depth of understanding about how society of the 15-18th centuries operated. I can't recommend it more highly.

In The Wheels of Commerce, Fernand Braudel deftly blended history and economics with the result that neither suffers. His goal in this book, the second volume in his Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century, was "to analyse the machinery of exchange as a whole, from primitive barter up to and including the most sophisticated capitalism" (21). In the process of examining this machinery of exchange, Braudel also proposed an ambitious thesis concerning the origins of capitalism. The book itself is a monumental work, an impressive combination of statistical analyses and illustrations from primary sources.

Braudel's first two chapters, "The Instruments of Exchange" and "Markets and the Economy," investigated the role of circulation. In chapter one, he concentrated on the mechanisms by which goods (and money) were traded. Braudel explained that markets and shops were at the bottom of the world of commerce. Markets took place once or twice a week, and shops were open everyday. Fairs, the wholesale markets, were on the higher level. Participants traded large amounts of goods and settled their accounts at the end. Braudel pointed out the importance of fairs in the development of capitalism: "The fair itself created credit" (91). If one merchant had a negative trade balance with another merchant, he would either offer a bill of exchange (a promise of payment on another exchange) or defer payment with interest until another fair. Additionally, these bills of exchange could be sold to a third party if necessary, introducing speculation. The trading mechanisms of the fair were eventually consolidated into the large exchanges of cities like Amsterdam and London, and eventually these exchanges grew into the stock markets. Chapter two investigated the manner in which merchants engaged in trade. Braudel stressed the importance of trading circuits and the use of paper (especially in the form of bills of exchange) for profitability. One of the key ideas in this chapter is the role of distance on price. Price was not set solely by supply and demand, but was also affected by the distance the product had to travel. His insight into system was helpful. "Any capitalist market has a series of links in a chain, and somewhere near the middle there is a point higher and more remunerative than the rest" (193).

The next two chapters, "Capitalism Away from Home" and "Capitalism on Home Ground," dealt primarily with issues regarding production. Chapter three dealt with what could be considered the lower world of production. One of the key issues that Braudel explicated was the role of fixed and circulating capital. The fixed capital that was invested in production was tied up in equipment and other items, while the circulating capital was more liquid and included wages. Braudel also investigated the role of land in production and capitalism, noting: "The great landowner was not a capitalist, but he was a tool and a collaborator in the service of capitalism" (271). He also focused on the peculiarities of production in these pre-industrial years. In chapter four, Braudel investigated the higher world of production. His explanation of the development of banking practices, which would fund production, was illuminating, as was his discussion on the development of companies from private family business to joint stock companies.

Though the book focused on capitalism's development in Europe, Braudel integrated discussions on other geographical locales as well. Braudel did not present Europe as arriving at its capitalist system in a vacuum. He noted the role that other cultures had in aiding the formation of the European model, not just through trade, but also through Europe's adoption of foreign innovation. However, Braudel surprisingly downplayed the importance of double-entry book-keeping to the emergence of capitalism. He asserted that the practice did not spread quickly and was not universally adopted, giving notable examples (574).
Even though successful merchants were found all over the world during this time period (especially in Islamic lands that provided them with a favorable status), full-blown capitalism developed first in Europe. Braudel attempted to provide an explanation as to why this was the case. His thesis regarding this matter is the raison d'ýtre of the book. Braudel believed that three conditions were necessary for the emergence of capitalism. The first was a "vigorous and expanding market economy" (600). Braudel noted that many regions fulfilled this qualification. The second necessity, which hindered many prime candidates, was a strong hierarchy was necessary. This hierarchy encouraged the accumulation of wealth. Landed positions were not hereditary in India, China, and Islamic lands making the nobility's position precarious and the accumulation of wealth difficult. Braudel only mentioned two areas that fulfilled these first two necessities: Europe and Japan. However, Japan closed herself off to world trade, the third necessity. Braudel noted, "Long-distance trading ... was the only doorway to a superior profit level" (601). Braudel's case is a compelling one that must be addressed by anyone investigating this topic.

The Wheels of Commerce is immense, but immensely readable. Braudel portrayed for his reader a heady, exciting Europe, one in which the prime goal was to spend money faster than it could be made. However, even during his descriptions of the dizzying pace at which money was circulated, Braudel did not lose sight of his objective. His scope was large, but he remained precise in both style and purpose, obviating the befuddlement of the layperson (which I confess to being). The book is a balanced work, exhibiting a variety of historical methods. Braudel made extensive use of statistics and mathematical models (the book contains a plethora of charts and tables), but he also included numerous narratives regarding business practices of the time (demonstrating an astonishing knowledge of the primary sources). Because of the attention with which he supported his claims, historians of all stripes can admire this book.

Finally, the student of economic history should not overlook one of the finer aspects of The Wheels of Commerce. This book contains over 120 excellent illustrations from the 15th-18th centuries. The pictures, which vary from woodblock prints to oil paintings, depict the lives of those involved in commerce at the time. Not only do the abundant illustrations make this book a more attractive read, but also they provide the book with a certain level of completeness, giving the reader more tools by which he or she can comprehend the emergence of capitalism in Europe

In the first volume of this series, Braudel sets the stage for life and commerce in the period under discussion. Volume two of Civilization and Capitalism really gets the ball rolling. Or as much as anything ever gets rolling in a Braudel book.

This is fascinating stuff. But it is not easy going. The language is straight forward, but Braudel wanders around his subject, giving us mountains of specifics and following various side currents to their ends. The basic point of the volume is to outline, first, the difference between the market and capitalism, and then to trace the creation of capitalism in the markets centers of Europe between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Unlike many historian of this period, Braudel is more concerned with the world of finance than the world of production, which I find fascinating and innovative. If you care to know how the financiers of Amsterdam dealt with getting a ship in the ocean and bound for America or India, this is the place to look.

While not being an economic determinist, economics is at the center Braudel's work. Unlike many other economic historians, Braudel does take the time to deal with how culture (there a section on fashion in the first volume!) religion and other factors play into the shaping of an economic and social system. This makes for a deeply convincing argument when he demolishes Weber's idea of the protestant work ethic, but is less informed or convincing (and sometimes borderline racist) when he is dealing with non-western cultures.

I appreciate that Braudel didn't assume that by "civilization and capitalism" one can only mean Western Europe, but his sections on the rest of the world I found lacking. They did not have the erudition he exhibits when taking about Western Europe.

I found the book fascinating, but I think Braudel could have done with some editing. This book is not going to lay out point by point the creation of capitalism for you. You'll need to discover the steps through the examples Braudel gives. It's riveting if you're an econ and history nerd, but complicated and meandering work, which could have used a co-author (or a better team of research assistants) to handle the non western areas he covers and a editor to tease out the string of the creation of capitalism that subtly floats through this work.

There are various pretenders to the throne of explaining globalization, such as Thomas Friedman's recent The World Is Flat, but all such efforts seem shallow and pallid compared to the masterwork of the genre, Fernamd Braudel's trilogy Civilization & Capitalism, 15th - 18th Century (The Structures of Everyday Life (Volume 1), The Wheels of Commerce (Volume 2)
and The Perspective of the World (Volume 3)

I do not lightly suggest tackling almost 1,800 pages of reading, but there is simply no substitute (short of a master's degree) if you aspire to a true understanding of global trade's role in the social, political and economic history of our world. It is not a boring read--anything but, for Braudel's depth of research, breadth of knowledge and his appreciation for the limits of current scholarship are matchless. Where authors like Friedman incautiously grind whatever axe they set out, drawing upon work which supports their thesis, Bruadel is ever-cautious about drawing hard-and-fast conclusions from the data he has culled from archives' dusty pages.

What Braudel reveals is a world which has been disrupted by far-reaching trade for hundreds of years. Capital has flowed across the great oceans of our globe for far longer than most people realize, destroying local industries in favor of distant ones in the process. It is impossible to summarize such a rich, vast work, but reading even one of these volumes will give you a deep insight into the long history of globalization, and how entire industries and financial centers have been displaced time and again in the Arab Levant, in Asia, and in Europe. You will also come to understand the rise of European economic dominance, and how it cannot be so neatly attributed to guns, steel and germs, as appealing and powerful as Jared Diamond's thesis may be.

Braudel does not work to create over-arching explantions so much as present the archival facts he so assiduously assembled. (The books were written in the late 1970s; Braudel died in 1985 at the age of 83.) For example, he shows that prosperity, since at least the 1400s if not earlier, is inevitably found in those cities and regions where prices are highest. It is counter-intuitive at first--since shouldn't money go farther where prices are low?-- but the same is obviously true of our era. The most prosperous nations are those with the highest costs, and the poorest are those where prices are lowest.

At a minimum, this sheds light on the centuries-old exodus from rural to metropolis, and on the nature of prosperity itself. I recommend these volumes not just for their vast erudition but for the enjoyment gained from his unparalleled mastery of everyday life in distant lands and distant times. Not much has changed, it seems, except the speed of the ships and the communication between traders.

I don't even LIKE history or economics...but I love this book.

In the course of researching some historical background for an English Lit paper, I ran across two of Braudel's books -- this was one of them.

It was so fascinating that I read the entire book (even though what I needed for the paper was a few pages); and then I went ahead and bought my own copy, plus others by this author.

This book is real, deep and insightful. I find myself in awe of the personal courage of the men who ventured over Festung Europa during the darkest days of 1943 and early 1944. I read and reread this book whenever I need inspiration to face daunting and/or painful circumstances. I really wish that it was back in print.

Harry captures it all. Being a navigator in one of the most colorful bomber groups of the 8th Air Force in WWII, (if not the most colorful.) Harry is there as an original crewmember of the Bloody Hundredth. In a time where your life expectancy was 8 missions and you had to fly 25... Harry's a one off, what a story, what a history. Should be mandatory reading for anyone who claims to be American.. Well done.
Mark

Find a copy of this book somewhere, it is well worth the extra effort. Only the new WWII airwar novel, The Triumph and the Glory, moved me as much as Crosby's epic tale of the 100th Bomb Group

Harry Crosby's account of the 100th Bomb Group and the air war against Naze Germany from mid-1943 till the end is one of the most informative and thoughtful memoirs of those dark days. Crosby relates many stories in his accounts, of his own experiences as a navigator, of the impact that Curtis LeMay and other group commanders had on combat techniques, of the sometimes touchy relationships between AAF personnel and their British hosts, and some thoughtful observations of the nature of war and the overall bombing campaign.

Crosby with a degree in English and considerable writing experience writes lucid, stripped-down prose, and his accounts of navigating under difficult circumstances brought a reality than few other accounts--written mainly by former pilots--have done. His story of an early mission to Trondheim, in Norway, is a gem of the navigator's problems--of unexpected cloud cover, of flying over Norway where, as Hobler put it, one fjiord from the air looks like another, and the element of luck and chance in any mission. As a WWII navigator in the Pacific, these types of details were welcome, as was his understanding of the "place" of navigator's in the AAF pecking order. When I was informed in December 1945 that I was on a preferred list of those to man the postwar Air Force, I politely declined knowing that navigators would be highly unlikely to advance at the rate of pilots. (I did, however, remain the reserves for 20 years}.

What comes through most clearly, however, was the terrible losses that the 8th suffered in its campaign against Germany's manufacturing capacity and infrastructure, and of the courage and perseverence of those who served. The 100th BG, for example, arrived in midyear, 1943, with 35 crews; only one intact crew completed 25 missions, though a few other crew members from crews broken up because of casualities and other reasons also survived. Was it worth it? Did the damage done justify the loss in life, not only of the air crews but also those of German civilians and others killed by the raids. Crosby is a bit ambilavent--he joined the anti-war movement in the 1960s. Nonetheless, no one can take away from the aircrews, and those who did not return, their courage and belief that they were part of a grand but terrible endeavor to bring the war to an end and of the demented policies of Hitler and his Nazi cohorts . May they rest in peace.

Harry Crosby was a navigator in the 100th Bomb Group in World War II. He was one of the original members of the 100th, a bomb group that, because it ventured into battle with less training than groups preceding it, and because of its unenviable position flying in the lower part of the formation on many missions, suffered heavy losses and became known as "The Bloody Hundredth". Crosby uses his obvious skill as a student of the English language to recreate the drama, the humor, and the terror of flying B-17's out of East Anglia in the war. He describes many of the historic missions flown by the 8th Air Force as an eyewitness. I have read the book several times and it is good history as well as a good study of human beings and the stresses they face daily in war. I highly recommend this book.

David Burke's new guide is enormously entertaining. It's jam-packed full of intriguing little tales about dozens of literary giants in Paris: where they wrote, drank, loved, fought, and influenced each other. Maps and addresses throughout the book enable literature lovers to visit these haunts physically as well as imaginatively. The photos are a treat, too.

David Burke's Writers in Paris: Literary Lives in the City of Light is simply perfect; not only does it present a treasure house of information (who knew it was Gargantua's tale that gave Paris its name?) but it's also written extremely well, with the scholarship balanced with wit and charm. I found so much in this book I had never known and timely connections between writers I had never guessed at. The joy of finding additional information about a particular writer popping up later in someone else's section gave Burke's book a rich sense of dovetailing detail. This book finally puts it all together for me, and I found great pleasure in reading it. Writers in Paris makes me exclaim: Euro be damned; I must get back to Paris!

This book is spectacular. It brings the writers alive in a Paris of the past but one that most travelers merely sense. The book is a must read for those who want to feel and see how Paris complimented the writers' lives. The meticulous research coupled with wonderful photos make this a pure joy to read.
I think this book would be of interest to anyone who enjoys a literary tour of Paris whether they visit the City of Light or take an armchair tour.

Literary Paris comes alive on the pages of David Burke's new book, Writer's In Paris. A beautiful and comprehensive book about the writers who lived, loved and created in the City of Light.
David Burke navigates the Arrondissements of Paris as easily as a native Frenchman, taking us through
the haunts of the likes of Andre Gide, Proust , Jean-Paul Sartre as well as the expatriate writers who
called it home, such as Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, F.Scott Fitzgerald and many others. Buy this
book and take it to Paris - you won't regret it!

How many streets in the city you live are named after writers?

In Paris: more than 400.

David Burke seems to have walked them all.

And that's just for starters. He also seems to have read all the books by those writers, cross-referenced their friendships, and then figured out a clever way to summarize his knowledge in a modest 240 pages, with 125 photos along the way.

But then, David Burke --- a "60 Minutes" producer who moved to Paris for a year and simply forgot to leave --- is a lifelong reader and Francophile. As a kid in the `50s, he went to Pamplona not just for the running of the bulls, but "because that was where the climax of `The Sun Also Rises' takes place." Later, he tried to find Jean-Paul Sartre in Saint Germain-des-Prés.

Now he's divided the city he loves into three sensible zones --- the Left Bank, the Islands, and the Right Bank --- and slotted in the writers who lived and work there, working mostly chronologically, delivering the most salient stories about each. Like...

The Church of Saint-Julien-le Pauvre
It's the oldest church in town. When we're in Paris, we like to go to concerts there. I had forgotten that Ford Madox Ford took his mistress Jean Rhys there - or, in one of her novels, his alter-ego did.

39 rue Descartes
Verlaine died there. Hemingway rented the garret he'd occupied.

Rue Mouffetard
What's in a name? Mouffle means "stink", and "skinners, tanners and tripe butchers" set up shop along the river here. No surprise that young, unknown George Orwell lived here.

Deux Magots
James Baldwin was taken here directly on his arrival in Paris to meet Richard Wright.

Colette
I don't know that she got her break with her "Claudine" book three years after it was universally rejected. Then another book about schoolgirls was a hit, her husband showed her manuscript around again, et voila --- Colette had a best seller.

Hotel du Vieux Paris
They called it "the Beat hotel". Allen Ginsberg lived here. He produced 56 lines of "Kaddish", "weeping as the wrote them in Café Sélect."

Gertrude Stein's Picassos
I never knew that the Gestapo searched her apartment and decided the Picassos were "Jewish trash, good for burning." But they left them hanging.

Hours Press
And I didn't know about Nancy Cunard's poetry contest. A young writer heard about it on the last day, wrote 98 lines and stuffed them in an envelope. He won ten pounds. Samuel Beckett, aged 24. Of course.

Luxembourg Gardens
"Balzac circled the garden at night in his monk's cowl, candelabra in hand" --- another tidbit I didn't know.

Le Dome
The first big café. One night when Sinclair Lewis was boasting about one of his books on the terrase, someone shouted, "Sit down, you're just a best seller."

Rue de la Gaité
Henry Miller was "drawn to the erotic as a bear to honey." He loved the sex shops and vaudeville theatres here.

Georges Simenon
Colette advised him, "No literature. Suppress all the literature and it will go fine."

Jim Morrison
And I didn't know this: No one recognized his corpse, including "the man who came every day to keep the body packed in dry ice because of the city's heat wave."

Emile Zola
I had no idea he died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The police said it was an accident. Some evidence suggests he was murdered. A tantalizing incident, briefly told, that leaves you wanting more.

Proust
And I certainly didn't know he inherited the equivalent of $6 million, giving him $180,000 or so in today's money to live on each year.

And there's so much more, much of it exhilarating. But watch out --- you'll read with a pencil, you'll mark titles and writers, and before you know it, you'll have a stack so tall you might as well have bought a plane ticket.

After cringing through the first half of the book where north African Arabs horrifically persecute the Jews, it was a relief when I finally came to accounts of courageous Arabs, although not many, who helped them. I found this book difficult to put down. I hardily recommend it.

I received this book "Among the righteous" as a gift through amozon.com from dear friends who knew of my background. I am of North African origin. Upon a preliminary examination of this book I was taken to my childhood and the fairy tale story of "The wolf & the lamb" hung over my mind. It was probably a way to trigger a defense mechanism to just get me ready to what I was about to read. Linking 9/11, the holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel together was a bad start.

Some of the stories of local inhabitants and occupational forces interactions are presented. Some were positive and some were negative. It is a mix. The author divided by choice the local inhabitants into two parts only - the Jewish and the Arabic part - but reality was otherwise. The stories were documented to the best possibilities available at hand but they were not far off of the norm available at the time. Similar stories are available throughout history of the region from the time of "The Barbary coast" through the independence of the North African nations. One of the best examples readily available is the story of the Emir Abdelkader. (A town Elkader, Iowa is named after him).

The author did not find any evidence of "death camps" but plenty of evidence of "Forced labor camps". These Forced labor camps had Jewish people in them but they were not exclusively Jewish. To my knowledge those camps were present throughout the occupation time. (They were certainly present before 1935). It would have been very interesting to find out more about them from the archives of the governments of France, Italy and Germany. The author limited himself to the occupied body without attempt to get information from the occupiers' brains. It may be a topic of a future book. Some of those camps sadly continued to be used even after the independence of the North African countries.

The author indulges himself gratuitously here and there in local stereotypes which were not necessary. The best example is on page 66 were he labeled people who helped him as Algerian black marketeers. If you believe that 4 Algerian black marketeers can drive a truck in Morocco's borders day time and stop to help you then I have a Brooklyn bridge to sell you.

The last chapter is more political than historical. The author discusses the politics of the day in the Middle East and justifies the creation of the state of Israel by "deserving" it (page164). Many states deserve to be created but not at the expense of others and the principal of self determination for any nation should be respected. The minute a link is made between the holocaust and the state of Israel creation john doe the Arab looses interest. Holding the position that Israel creation in the Middle East should be viewed as a "payment" for the holocaust is fictitious. Linking the two events at any level raises suspicion of agenda driven activism for muddying the water and not for clarifying the issues.

The holocaust is European and Europe cannot escape from its past.

I am glad that I read this book and I recommend it to others. It provides a flavor of some aspects of the lifestyle under the occupation in North Africa.

Before I go too deeply into this book, two general observations right off the top.

Firstly, considering all that has been written about the Second World War in its magnitude, to have a relatively untouched subject such as this be brought to light at this late date is truly welcome and laudable. Secondly, as I've often noted, an unfortunate side-effect of the coverage justifiably given to the evils of the Holocaust has been a certain infrequently-admitted desensitizing to the horror of the mass murder at its heart, and this new study of that period helps reawaken some comprehension of the utter dimension of cruelty that was behind the atrocities.

This book and its true stories of Arabs as rescuers of persecuted Jews (and sometimes as pro-Fascist collaborators who oppressed the Jews in North African labor camps) is a meaningful read for any scholar, or for the curious-minded. Telling tales of bravery in a time of great danger, there are many feel good moments, foremost Tunisian statesman Mohamed Chenik's clever and brave duel of wits and nerves with the occupying Nazis, courage on his part that saved Jewish lives, but there is also a scattering of disheartening tales, too, showing no culture has a monopoly on indecency.

I think anyone who deems peace between Jews and Arabs to be impossible would do well to consult the history recorded here. Not only is it a fact that traditionally Jews received better treatment when dwelling in Muslim nations than in Christian ones, but many Muslims regarded the slaying of Jews, identified in the Koran as "a People of the Book" to be a direct sin against God. Furthermore, I also think it's a sad fact that so many Muslims who worked to assist their Jewish countrymen later denied their roles, lest they suffer repercussions at the hands of reactionary fanatics intent on waging war on Judaism and those seen as soft on it. Progress may not be a constant in human affairs, but a book like this is fuel for the light of optimism.

The "righteous" would be those who risked their lives to help the unfortunate....in this case Arab Jews during the holocaust. We remember the WWII battles in North Africa. We may forget that they were necessary because the Germans and Italians controlled those areas that were at the time colonies and only became nations post WWII. Because there have been no stories about righteous people rescuing Jews in those countries, Robert Satloff set out to find them. He did find some and he also opened up a whole area of research because he is sure there are many he did not find. That said, however, he had trouble finding descendents in families who would admit this heroism. Apparently this kind of heroism is so unpopular these days that a family would rather not be known as heroic. This leaves one extremely depressed.

One interesting fact I learned is that the definition of the word "Zionism" is completely different in Moslem countries than it is elsewhere in the world. Here we see it as another word for Israeli nationalism. There it means, "the purposeful infliction of pain and suffering on Arabs and Muslims." Wow! No wonder we have so much trouble acquiring peace in the region! So let's abandon the term and simply say there are two countries there that need to have borders established.

By all means read the book. It does depress one a bit, but it also shows that simple humanity is possible. Let us build on our common humanity.

Robert Satloff follows Germany's genocide plan to wipe out the Jews in North Africa during World War II. As in European countries, some neighbors helped the Nazis and others helped the Jews, either colaborating with the Nazis or risking their own lives helping the Jews of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Satloff did intense research and traveled to the locations of the labor camps and communities. He gives the reader a complete picture and a very well written history.

I've been working with these cards for a couple months now and I have to say I've fallen in love with these Cats!!! Both the major and minor arcanas are so well thought out and the companion book as well. It's just a really fun deck and find myself identifying with these beautifully and creatively dressed cats. Everything down to the nice size and stock of the cards makes this tarot kit a real joy. Even if you really arn't a cat lover, you'll find yourself falling in love with these cats, you can't help yourself...Enjoy.

This is my favorite tarot deck. It is just too cute. There are a wide array of cute cats wearing elegant clothing. It is by far one of the nicest decks that I have seen in my time. It is a fun deck to use. Sometimes I take it out just to look at the cards. If you love cats then you need this deck.

This is one of the nicest decks I've owned. Great for reading. The images are gorgeous in the detail and the baroque customes are exquisite. The book is well written with Karen Mahony's delightful style and with a small "cat's interpretation" that brings a smile and also other ideas that can actually enhance a reading. Regarding one of the other reviews, there is a small art gallery in the town where I live in Denmark and they have a very true phrase as slogan, "Art is Work". This deck is a patient and enjoyable work of love, not the work of people that have "too much time on their hands". I own most of the products from the Magic Realist Press and am always forward to see the new products of these very nice and extremely talented people.

I have a growing collection of tarot cards. As beautiful and interesting as I find many of the decks, I usually return to the classic Rider-Waite for meditation and divination. As a cat lover and tarot deck collector, I was intrigued by "The Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot" and ordered it from Amazon. I found this deck to be a visual delight, which I sort of expected, but was suprised to find the interpretations of the cards in the accompanying book to be equally well-done. Unique and insightful, the interpretations given from the cat's point-of-view are charming, accurate and a whole lot of fun. For the tarot afficianado or cat lover, this tarot is the cat's meow.

"There seems to be some definite, if indefinable, link between cats and tarot...Could it be that people who are attracted to animals as enigmatic, untamable and yet at the same time as warmly emotional as cats also find some of these same qualities in the tarot?" - From the companion book

Karen Mahony and Alex Ukolov, the creative geniuses who run baba studio and Magic Realist Press in Prague, meld lavish costumes, posed cats, stunning Bohemian scenery, and quirky art and architecture in the Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot. While many "cat decks" are mostly art decks, this gorgeous Tarot is a bona fide reading deck based on the Rider-Waite-Smith tradition.

Sumptuous fabrics and lovely detailing grace the costumes created by Finnish artist Anna Hakkarainen, while many of the "models" used in the Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot were from the Prague Cats Rescue Home. Russian Blues, Tabbies, Persians, Siamese, Orientals, British Shorthairs, mixed breeds--all manner of hue and personality infuse these cards.

From the singing Abyssinian on the 3 of Pentacles to the wide-eyed kitten on the Sun card (which was coaxed to stand up on a horse with a teaspoon of cream!), the almost-human expressions surprise and delight. The fierceness of the Siberian on the Knight of Swords crackles with energy, and the sweet innocence of the 6 of Cups elicits an "awww!" for both its cuteness and the way it captures the essence of this card. The 9 of Cups is a hilarious card, with a British shorthair licking his lips in snarky Puss in Boots fashion. Ms. Mahony writes of this card:

"A somewhat portly and obviously very satisfied cat sits on a barrel in the public room of an inn, licking his lips. Behind him, carved in wood, can be a seen a scene of grand merrymaking."

Because some readers prefer Strength and Justice as either Trump 8 or 11, the deck designers have chosen to keep the Majors unnumbered. In addition to the standard RWS attributions and format, Ms. Mahony and Mr. Ukolov have also added a "good luck" card to the Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot: Hermes--which shows a golden statue of the god in a sunny courtyard while a lovely cat clothed in a sage green gown with white ruffles looks on. At first glance, it appears the card backings are fully reversible, but upon closer inspection, you can see the names Ukolov and Mahony on opposing sides. Because the script is so small, however, the backings still work wonderfully for reversals.

This deck, like their Fairytale Tarot, arrives in a box set with a beautifully bound soft cover book. With 207 pages, the glossy pages depict black and white reproductions of the cards as well as photos of fountains, sculptures, paintings, and various architectural elements found therein. Ms.Mahony's prose, as always, is a sheer joy to read, and she offers a brief overview of what's going on in the card, a "cat's interpretation", keywords and phrases for both upright and reversed meanings, and a lucid, in-depth explanation of the card. She also notes source materials for each card.

The Baroque Bohemian Cats' Tarot is an excellent reading deck, and especially good as a deck for children or cat lovers. Because this deck follows RWS, it can be used in conjunction with many Tarot books, making it a great beginner's deck, as well. I've had quite a few insights with these cards, which I've jotted down in my Tarot journal. While an artistically exquisite Tarot that belongs in every art deck collection, it's an excellent deck for both reading and meditation.

(To see 10 images from this deck, visit the Reviews--Decks section at JanetBoyer.com)

Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book: Picture the Past, Experience the Cards, Understand the Present (coming Fall 2008 from Hampton Roads Publishing)