Netherlands Books

What is wonderful about this book is that not only do you get detailed maps with good directions, but there are also overview maps so that you have a sense of where you are in the countries. Everything that you need for a great cycling trip is included, transportation to and within the countries, a few accomodations (and especially where there are no accomodations), noteworthy sites, restaurants and prices. The routes are generally circle routes with side trips and also connect with each other with both total mileage for the whole circle and sectional mileages. Because this book is well organized with excellent maps - I will definately go to Benelux for a leisurely cycle tour - and probably more than once.

This is a gem of a book for people looking for comprehensive suggestions for biking in the area. Given that local maps and guides in the Netherlands are usually published in Dutch, this book is a great help to English speakers. I was impressed when I followed a route in this book how it took me through especially beautiful areas that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Although it's already a few years old, this book is still worth seeking out.

Baantjer is the most popular author in the Netherlands. He spent thirty-eight years in law enforcement before picking up the pen and lends credibility to his police procedurals. He has been knighted by the Dutch monarchy and honored as the first winner of the Master Prize of the Society of Dutch-language Crime Writers.

Inspector DeKok is attending a funeral at the request of the Antwerp police with his sidekick Vledder. The deceased is one Hendrik-Jan Assumburg, and he is an alleged murder victim. Vledder is insisting that a Belgian murder is not within the jurisdiction of the Amsterdam police when DeKok suddenly runs off in pursuit of a man at the ceremony. Vledder is appalled. DeKok is unapologetic:

"Vledder arrived at a run, red in the face with exertion.

'What...what,' he stammered, 'do you think you're doing? It's outrageous. You disrupted the ceremony.'

Slowly DeKok regained his breath.

'I ran after a man.'

'What sort of man?'

'Ronald Kruisberg.'

Vledder looked a question.

'No, I meant, is he a fugitive? Are we looking for him?'

DeKok shook his head.

'He died...two years ago.'"

Baantjer has written sixty crime novels featuring Inspector Detective DeKok. DeKok is not unlike Sherlock Holmes, with a few personal foibles such as pulling his lip out and releasing it, much to the chagrin of observers. A television series based on Inspector DeKok's adventures is quite popular. The series has been published in China, Russia, Korea, and Europe. The appeal of Baantjer? The gritty realism; the attention to detail in the plotting; the characterizations; and the impossibility of the reader to guess whodunit. Baantjer is a gem whose audience knows the value of his work; his prowess with a tale; and his wisdom. Inspector DeKok is a maverick and is one of a kind.

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

The corpse of Hendrick-Jan Assumber was fished out of the Scheldt River harbor in Antwerp, Belgium. The victim actually died from poisoning not drowning; since Hendrik-Jan known as Henry is a Dutch citizen, the Antwerp Police request Amsterdam Inspectors DeKok and Vledder to assist on their investigation.

The body is sent to Amsterdam for burial. Attending the funeral, DeKok notices another mourner Ronald Kriusberg who legally died over two years ago, but the very alive man flees before DeKok can detain him to learn why he is at the funeral as much as why he faked his demise. Not long after that incident Hendrik's widow is stunned to learn her late spouse's savings have been emptied. Nothing makes sense to DeKok who concludes that all roads lead to the Antwerp neighborhood of Bloedberg (Blood Mountain) where the Holy Pact for the Dying might include the victim as a signer.

In his twenty-third case, DeKok is at his best trying to find the ties between "dead" men in which every new clue makes the investigation seem fuzzier not lucid. DeKok seems so genuine and for an example when he chases after Richard he runs out of breathe rather quickly. Vledder enhances the inquiry especially with his continual questioning of why they are working a Belgium murder case. Fans of the series know this is always a super police procedural; newcomers have a lot of catching up to do.

Harriet Klausner

When I first read the story about Anne Frank, I was in 8th grade where every english teacher in my school had chosen to read this story to all of there students. I had no idea of what the story was going to be about and also had no idea who Anne Frank was. But after reading about her life, I had saw how hard it must have been for her.

This year in school we had to choose a book to read and do a book report on it. I had chosen to do Anne Frank because I had already read a little about her but I had wanted to learn more information about her and life for Jewish people during WW2. By reading both of this book it had shown me how hard it was for Jewish people of all ages. They where taken out of there homes and sent to a concentration camp where most of them later died. It puts the whole world to shame because we all knew about this and nothing was getting done early. But finally we were able to help them and save them.

It takes a brave little girl like Anne to be able to write everything down in a diary that was happening in her life. And by Mr. Frank giving Anne's book to be published must had taken a lot of courage also. But in many ways we are glad that he did because Anne had showed us in many ways how tough it was to be Jewish and how hard it was to go into hiding. I would recommend this book for people off all ages because it is a wonderful book, and I know everyone will enjoy reading it.

Even though I was born during the war and grew up with the remembrance of it I was untouched by its reaality. When, at the age of 14, I first read Anne Frank's diary it was perhaps the most amazing encounter with the horrors perpetuated on millions but seen through the eyes of one person.

Her little diary gave the world a personal view and meaning to the millions who suffered the same fate. It will continue to be read and lets hope they will be young readers, caught in time to perceive it while their hearts and minds are still impressionable. It simply proves that life is a wonderful mystery. Anne Frank's diary and death were destined to touch the hearts and minds of millions. Her legacy written into history as a trivial, adolescent words scribbled in her little diary to transgress time.

My own question when reading her diary was "who was Hitler?" which brought tears to my mother's eyes. She said, I was told that someday your children will ask ! that question. One great and powerful forgotten, another, a little sparrow, remembered by millions.

My boys and I really enjoyed this book as we did the first volume in this series. They are regularly asking when we can purchase the thrid volume in the series. The illustrations are not great, but the story is told well, full of adventure. Along the way the faith of the characters is evident as well. I would wholeheartedly reccomend it.

Martin helps the army of Count Louis of Nassau in an attempt to free The Netherlands from Spanish Tyranny in the year 156

Agree with the 1st review. Very well written and clear. Good photos and easy to read layout. A must have for anyone who wants to dive Curacao.

An accurate portrait of the dive sites, with clear descriptions for both the beginner and advanced diver. I highly recommend this book to anyone who plans to scuba dive Curacao.

Anne Frank is jewish.The Nazis want everyjew to wear a star that says jood.But they are hidingin the secret annex.so that they wont be sent to secret Gearmamany camps to wrok in.
I feel sorry for anne frank because she did not get to be free. I recommend this book to people who are not prejudice because some people did not like jewish people like Adolf .A.Hitler.I think that the people who read it are going to enjoy it because it was alot of fun reading anne franks diary.Because you can see how she sufferd hiding in the secret anex for 3 years .
I liked this book because it was fun reading. Anne franks diary and how her life was back then becuse we were not born yet .It was also alot of fun knowing about her life because you can see she is exprissing her feelingswith her diary named kitty AnneFrank had to hide in the secret annex for a reson.If I fauond Anne Franks diary I would not give it to any body so I could read her secrets .so anne frank sufferd a hard life.

Anne Frank lived a secret life with her family. She had to hide from the Nazis and she wrote her experiences in a diary. This is written for ages 4-8, however I would recommend it for ages 6-8. This story has more complex sentence structure, information boxes an alphabetical glossary and a comprehensive index.

When Otto gave Anne a red and light-green checked notebook with a metal lock, she never imagined the impact she would have on the world by writing her thoughts down. This is in a story format with snippets from the actual diary.

There is a picture of the place Anne hid and a picture of Anne Frank. This book just brings her story to life for young children. When people think of Anne, they think of her courage, her sense of humor and her hopes for the future.

The actual diary was first published in America in 1952 as Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Anne dreamed of becoming one of the most famous authors in the world. I just wish she had lived to realize her dream.

For me, Anne Frank is symbolic of everything that is right about life and everything that is wrong about war. Thankfully Miep Gies kept Anne's diary which sadly, she had hoped to return to Anne. I think this book will help younger children gain a new appreciation for the lives they have and realize that not all children were as lucky to live the life they live.

Inspirational and sad, all at the same time. I have also reviewed the movie called: The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) which shows the beauty of the her spirit in the midst of an evil and ugly war.

~The Rebecca Review

this book really should be reprinted. It's a landmark.

OUT OF PRINT??? This is one of, if not, THE preeminent texts about Early Netherlandish Art, a virtual Bible for those studying the subject. Along with its companion volume (Volume 2, the Plates) Professor Panofsky gives the reader not only information that is vital to the understanding of the field, but his language is a joy to behold as well. Along with Huizinga's The Waning of the Middle Ages (sadly, another oop title???!!!???), these two scholars give one a full look into an age of not only unrivaled artistic achievment, but a profound glimpse into the spirituality, politics and history as well. NOT TO BE MISSED!! PLEASE REPRINT THESE SOON!!!

I came upon this book, an outgrowth of Sonnenberg-Stern's PhD thesis, in looking into Dutch Jewish history and trying to understand the complexities of Jewish assimilation - or the lack of it - in the 19th and 20th century, why there is/was such a predominance of Jews in the diamond industry, and how it was that such a high percentage of Holland's Jews perished in WWII. The book helped understand all of this.

The book covers the period from 1796, when under French rule Jews were given legal emancipation, through about 1850. There is an exhaustive review of interactions, letter and reports, between the Amsterdam Jewish community and the civic authorities, during that 54 year period. Although there was toleration of this minority for much of Dutch history after the 16th century, and most histories paint a rosy picture of Jewish life in the Netherlands, the book demonstrates that religious tolerance was not matched by social (i.e. Christian) acceptance or educational equivalence or economic opportunity. Noble and well intentioned rules and regulations were passed, but for the most part they were ignored, or they were opposed, or there was foot-dragging. It was recognized that the Jewish population was in distress, and a drag on the community. Unemployment was over 70%, most spoke Yiddish rather than Dutch, they were excluded from most trades and unqualified by lack of training. Yet municipal poor relief was less to them than to the Christian poor. In addition, each religious community was supposed to supplement aid from the public coffer to help it's own, further magnifying the inequality in public assistance. Conservative Jewish practices and the power of religious leaders further reinforced Jewish isolation, including reluctance even in converting from Yiddish to Dutch. Although there was no geographical ghetto by law, there was a ghetto in effect and therefore no meaningful group assimilation.

Because of the educational, language, and other differences, it appears that poverty, particularly among the Amsterdam Jews, was extreme and widespread. This began to change somewhat toward the end of the 19th century as the Dutch economy improved, and as luck would have it, one of the few businesses in which Jews had an edge, diamonds, took off with the discovery of diamonds in South Africa. (What I wrote in the previous sentence is not really in the purview of the book, which sticks to 1796-1850).

The author documents how the end result of all of this was a view of the minority Jewish population by the larger society as being incorrigibly 'different', lazy, ignorant, preferring to live on the dole rather than earn an honest living, as well as being somewhat dangerous. There were purported dangeers of conversion and of intermarriage. It was interesting to compare these views of this particular poor and disadvantaged minority in Amsterdam against many expressed views of current poor minority communities. Declaring legal emancipation produced neither effective enforcement, nor functional equality, nor prosperity, nor acceptance, yet this was due to patterns of mutually reinforcing behaviors on the part of the Jewish (mainly the religious leaders) community on the one hand, and the dominant Dutch society on the other. These mutual behaviors held back assimilation and reinforced stereotypes, even as they kept the population poor. It was obviously not due to any inherent defect in the poor.

The connection to WWII is not one which is made by the author, but which I draw from this and other works. Although tolerated, the Jewish community always seemed to have remained distinct and readily identifiable, giving more the appearance of complete assimilation than being really absorbed. They were identified by neighborhood, by names, by occupations, and even by entries marking their religion ("I" for Israelite, I believe) in municipal registers. The assimilation that was claimed was certainly incomplete, as it was relatively easy before WWII to discrimnate, still, against Jews in occupations, public office, elections, private clubs and associations. Opportunities to begin to inhibit the perpetuation of continuing Jewish distinctiveness might have been there after the emancipation of 1796, but they were not taken for all of the reasons amply documented in the book.

If there were a 5- rating, I would give it: the topic is probably somewhat obscure unless one has a particular interest in this area, and a few times repetitive. But it is well written considering the mass of detail and documentation that is presented, and it clearly expands and alters the general view which one generally reads from Dutch Jewish survivors of the war about the wonderful past their forebears experienced in Amsterdam.

This is one of the most outstanding books one can read regarding the history of the jews. It is written by one of the most intelligent writers I have read. Expressed in perfect detail. Deserves a Pulitzer.

Invaluable are the Introduction by Seymour Feldman and also, the Translator's Preface by Translator Samuel Shirley which gives lucid explanations of key Spinoza termsone of which is:

From Page 23, Note 5 G-D(Deus)

"Although Spinoza gives repeated warnings that his "Deus" is far from the anthropomorphic conception of God prevalent in the theology of his time, the reader will find it difficult to bear this constantly in mind. It is not until Ethics 1, Prop.14, that God, by definition, is shown to be identical with the infinite, all-inclusive, unique Substance, and thereafter it is all too easy to lose sight of this, as the religious overtones of the word "God" keep asserting themselves. So Spinoza's frequent use of the phrase "Deus sive Natura"God, or Natureis intended as a salutary corrective. For Spinoza God is all Being, all Reality, in all its aspects and in all its infinite richness."

This volume is a fine translation of Spinoza's _Ethics_ together with some other writings that help to illuminate it -- namely, the _Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect_ and some well-chosen passages from Spinoza's correspondence.

Aside from its presentation of Samuel Shirley's clear and readable translation, this volume includes two additional helpful features. Seymour Feldman's workmanlike twenty-page introduction provides an overview of Spinoza's thought and of the main themes of the _Ethics_; and a translator's preface includes a list of twenty-four possibly confusing features of Spinoza's terminology with short explanations/clarifications. The TIE is of interest in its own right, and the items from Spinoza's correspondence are well selected to illustrate or elaborate some of the features of his more formal wriitngs.

A Jewish woman credits her survival as a Dutch teenager during
the Holocaust to small miracles and human kindness, which she
chronicled in this deeply personal book.
The saga got only modest attention when published in 1998 and
sold 3,000 copies, but now the story by Flory A. Van Beek is getting
international buzz, with word that ABC and actor-director Mel Gibson's
production company are eyeing it for a miniseries in 2007. Now, the 81-year-old retired legal secretary says, "I am happy that
someone is interested in my book as TV special, because it keeps the story of the
Holocaust alive."

Read the book and weep. An important addition to the literature of that time. Oich!

This is a gripping, moving book which must be read by descendants of Holocaust sufferers in order to fully appreciate what their relatives experienced. My parents were also in hiding in Rotterdam, but were never able to describe their ordeal with the graphic detail that Ms. Van Beek uses. While it is often unpleasant reading, the book enlightened me as to the utter dehumanization that my parents and others like them were subjected to. "Anne Frank" was written through the eyes of a young girl who was probably spared many of the gory details her parents did not want her to know. "Flory" provides us with the unabridged version. The pictures and the documents Ms. Van Beek was able to save and reproduce help to paint a fuller picture. One can only thank Ms. Van Beek for having the courage to share her experiences with those who have the need to know.