If you ever expect to find that little bistro on Pas. de Clery, or a park on R. du Fouarre, you'll need a detailed map. This is it. This has the stuff that is not on the other tourist maps.

There's a key map (a city map with a numbered grid showing the page numbers of the detail maps that follow for each section of the city). And there's a complete street index.

The 29 detailed city maps are divided into two-page spreads. They're labeled with sights, Metro stops, and establishments.

The bus routes are shaded gray, and the bus numbers are printed in red alongside the streets. I spent some time in Paris and came to love commuting by bus on clear days. If you plan to try it, leave some extra time to figure it all out, it's worth the effort. You'll need more info than is provided here. A current bus map would be a big help in planning your day trips, ...

Metro stops are marked on the street maps, but the metro routes are not shown. There's a small metro map on pages 2-3, followed by some very condensed practical information for tourists. (If you need guidebook information, don't rely solely on this book, get a Michelin.)

The detail maps leave out substantial parts of the 12th, 13th, 15th, 18th and 20th arrondissements. If you want something comprehensive, though not as user-friendly, look for "Paris par Arrondissement - Plan Net" by Editions Ponchet. That guide also has detailed bus routes.

I prefer the book map format over fold-out maps, because it gives me a detailed map, but I don't have to fight with it to get it folded and back into my pocket. Ironically, I did end up folding this book to get it into my back pocket. I wish the form factor were slightly narrower.

Bon Voyage!

I am not an impulse shopper, but I bought this little book when I went to Amazon to buy Rick Steve's Paris guide (also great). It has an amazing amount of information in a small but easy to read format - and this means easy to read for eyes that are not so young anymore. It fits in a pocket and weighs almost nothing. It has a Metro map, of course, but also maps of the city in small sections as you would expect in a really good atlas. You can find Metro stops, bus routes and numbers, small streets, and sights in each area. Because it is so much smaller than a typical atlas, it is easy to take with you and use - on a crowded Metro train for example. Although free maps are easy to come by in Paris, this is worth every nickel. It even has great sightseeing information. A bargain at twice the price.

Middleditch's mapguides are the best I have used (I also have used his London mapguide). The maps are larger in scale than most others, which makes them much easier to use. He indicates bus routes on the maps themselves and includes a larger-than-most Metro map. He gives you everything you need to get around in a compact booklet--no irritating folding and unfolding. His commentary on the museums and sights is informative with a personal touch. I just returned from a week in Paris and feel like I couldn't have done without it. If you purchase only one guide to Paris, make it this one!

Remnick's frank, insightful analysis of the Soviet Union's final days filled me with inspiration and sadness. I'm inspired by the inhuman perseverance of the Russian and Soviet bloc people and saddened by the intense and lethal persecution of millions at the hands of their so-called leaders. Remnick shows a society led by decades of fear - citizens who feared persecution and leaders who feared the loss of power. The author flows easily from dissecting the Communist party and power brokers of Soviet society to eating cabbage with Siberian miners who don't expect to live past 35 to intense discussions with the Russian intelligentsia who fought the system quietly and desperately. It is a long book and at times I found myself needing a Russian history reference guide. But Remnick is not writing a history filled with facts and statistics. It is all about the people. Lenin's Tomb should be read by any journalist who feels the urge to go beyond 8 graphs. Truly wonderful.

It's hard to imagine there was any dissention from the Pulitzer committee over "Lenin's Tomb". This book excellently combines top-notch journalism and fine, precise, descriptive writing for an increbidly enjoyable and informative read. Considering how most such "good for you" books are long slogs about as exciting as bran, "Lenin's Tomb" was a surprising pleasure.

I came to this book with minimal knowledge of Russia in general, let alone the Soviet transition, and disliking what I had encountered of Russia's culture and people. "Lenin's Tomb" manages to explain the basics to ignorant laypeople like myself without condescending or dragging through too much history. What you need to understand what was happening, Remnick provides, no more and no less.

"Lenin's Tomb" proved an eye opener about the Soviet experience, but it also reflects on the larger ramifications of Communist autocracy. So many of the explorations of the Soviet erosion of society and culture gave me a sense of Deja Vu compared with China, only China has perhaps been less scathed by the shorter span of its bureaucratic red terror. Also, while "Lenin's Tomb" did not make me like Russia or Russians any more, it did present the context of how and why people can be a certain way, so that I now hold it against them less.

"Lenin's Tomb" is almost novelesque in its readability, a page-turner and easily beach or plane fare. I doff my hat to Remnick's ability to carve dense political stuff into an involving, compelling narrative. Perhaps Russia scholars would find points to criticize, but from a journalistic perspective, "Lenin's Tomb" is the book all of us wish we could write.

David Remnick in "Lenin's Tomb" writes a fascinating book on the demise of the Soviet Union. Remnick manages to convey the views of the liberals who want to democratize the country and the neo-Stalinist conservatives who want to turn the clock back to the repression of life under Stalin.

The author has little sympathy for Mikhail Gorbachev who once he launched "perestroika" could not make the final commitment to democracy and republicanism and remained trapped in the dying and corrupt Communist Party. Yet, Gorbachev's half-hearted attempts at reform nearly ended in a disasterous rigt-wing coup. Only, the incompetence of the plotters and will of the people not to turn back to a corrupt failed system prevented the USSR in falling back into despotism.

Because of "glasnost and perestroika" Remnick was able to obtain candid views from everyone he interviewed during his stay in the Soviet Union. Miners, dissident and even communist party apparatchiks spoke freely about the good and bad of Russia. Nearly, 50 years after his death, Stalin's shadow still hovered over everything and everyone in the nation. Liberals such as Andrei Sakharov wanted the government and the party to fully acknowledge the heinous attrocities of mass murder and imprisonments committed during Stalin's reign, Khrukhschev made a tentative start at 20th party congress in denouncing Stalin but failed to follow through with real reform. During the Brezhnev years the country lurched backwards thast by the time Gorbachev came to power the Soviet Union was totally morally, politically and economically bankrupt.

Remnick also does a fine job showing the first hesitant steps toward capitalism yet evenn today 10 years after the Soviet Union collapsed Russia still refuses to make the fundamental changes to bring a market economy fully to fruition. Under the Communists there was "equity in poverty" today in Russia you see the extremes of rich and poor. This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in the demise of the Soviet Union, but it needs an update to encompass the last decade.

This a classic ill-fated love story, which is based upon the events of the German airship the Hindenburg. It involves a love-triangle between a beautiful young German girl, Anna Becker, who flees her home in Frankfurt, Germany to escape her Nazi brother, Kurt and his wishes for her to live a life of no freedom and marry someone she does not love after her grandfather dies and the household becomes Kurt's ; Karl Mueller, the man she loved once who still holds on to her heart even though he broke it and left her without an explaination; and Erik Peterson, a mysterious, handsome green-eyed man who helps her board the Hindenburg and captures her heart. Yet when all of everyone's secrets come out, who will receive the love and trust of Anna? To find out, read this beautifully written book that will make you shout with joy and leave you in tears! Wouldn't this book make a great movie? I loved it and I hope you do!

The book Hindenburg 1937 is a well written emotionaly effecting love story that takes place during the tramatizing time of WW2. The book is about a young German girl who is living with her grandfather. He dies with his hands on a pair of ticketts to board the Hindenburg in his hands. She is sure that this means she is to board the Hindenburg and leave Germany for America but her brother won't have it. So she escapes and boards. A girl unescorted and looked for is not safe. So she simply walks up to someone and says "Hi, I've been looking all over for you". Luckly it works and everything is going well until she sees her X-long time boyfriend on the ship who is now a nazie spy. And no matter how much he hurt her she still loves him. A love story, complicated mysterie, and more aries. I cannot even express how wonderfful this book is. WARNING: Be prepared to cry after I finished reading it I cried for and hour. MUST READ MUST READ

I loved this book. I just read it for the second time recently and I am surprised and amazed every time. If you like history mixed with romance you will love this book. It says so much in so few pages. The ending was a tear jerker once again and I found that I cried just as much the second time than I did the first. It is a great book and I would recommend anyone read it! It is a classic to me!

"Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" by Bryan Mark Rigg, is a unique World War II history. He has had access to government archives, private records, and personal interviews that most history buffs only dream about. Indeed, one must have a thorough background in the German National Socialist years and modern military history just to begin to appreciate the level of the research that went into the book.

Apart from the unique breadth and focus of Mr. Rigg's research, his book stands out for its fresh and intriguing perspective. The author explores the various reasons why men who appear to have nothing to gain and everything to lose might find themselves in the German military. Their reasons often included elements of patriotism, considerations of personal safety by hiding in plain sight, desire for personal or career advancement, the hope that a soldier's family might benefit from his loyal service, and a sense of duty instilled by previous military training before the Nazis came to power.

The Nazi German racial laws focused more on ancestry than choice of religion. There were significant numbers of Jews, half-Jews, and quarter-Jews in the German military. Although there were few Jews of pure ancestry, there were substantial numbers of the so-called mischlinge, or people of mixed heritage. Hitler's Jewish Soldiers analyzes the actions and motivations of people who could possess one of two extremely different points of view to explain what really went on in Germany in the Nazi era.

A truly unique case history that Mr. Rigg references in his book is Bernhard Rogge. Rogge began his naval career in the Kaiser's navy, served the Reichsmarine of the post WW1 republic, then Hitler's navy to reach the rank of vice admiral, after Germany fell Rogge worked managing with a shipping company, and finally he retired in the 1960's after serving as a vice admiral in the Bundesmarine. Rogge, as a quarter Jew married to a Jew was considered a full Jew under Nazi pronouncements. In 1939, his wife and mother in law, also Jewish, killed themselves to escape the persecution. Hitler gave Rogge an exemption from the Nazi racial laws. Hitler later personally awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves to Rogge for his military accomplishments. Rogge served with humanitarian distinction in command of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis, sinking or capturing 22 ships and remaining away from port for 655 days without any serious morale or discipline problems. Later in the war, his task group built around the Prinz Eugen supported the epic German evacuation in the Baltic Sea away from the Russian invasion in the east. Nobody will ever know how many German lives were saved. Certainly no Nazi, Rogge is just one example of a man of possessed of two heritages who is remembered for serving his country loyally and decently.

The most common analytical shortcut taken by modern historians is to write of groups of people. Since it requires the collective efforts of thousands, and perhaps millions, of people to wage a modern war, it seems quite reasonable to assume that groups of people acted in accordance with a common goal and a unanimous conviction in their ideals. Although it may make perfectly good sense to approach the history of war and politics as a study of the conflicts among races, religions, and nations, the resulting oversimplification dilutes and obscures the real lessons of history. By exploring the individual motivations of men whose backgrounds fit neatly into neither of two competing groups, Mr. Rigg actually examines the whole concept of why men participate in war.

It should be obvious that neither army in a conflict, and certainly no individual soldier, goes into battle with the intention of being remembered as the 'bad guy' in history. Unfortunately, modern writers frequently assume too many things and attribute commonly misunderstood purposes to the German soldiers, and such errors are the result of stereotyping. Many soldiers of Jewish heritage served with valor and were awarded Iron Crosses and Knights Crosses. Individual commanders often shielded Jews in their units. The political and military motivations of leaders and the men who followed them should be revealed so that future generations will actually learn from history. Mr. Rigg's book is a significant contribution to the analysis of an obscure and misunderstood issue.

Bryan Mark Rigg's book 'Hitler's Jewish soldiers' is a fascinating read from both a Political Science and a military history view point. Since 1945 the history of the Third Reich has been portrayed as in a manner that served the political views of the historian. Dr. Rigg avoids this pitfall by not attempting to explain away the bloodiest war in history, he instead take the stories of German veterans of that war and puts their experience into the well documented context of the time. What you end up with is a tragic yet riveting view of people whose lives, careers, and very sense of self are shattered by the racial laws of Hitler's Germany. Though even Hitler could not commit to his narrow racial views as he assigned 'honorary Aryan' status to some, while leaving others to die.
The Zionist view of the Third Reich has been of demonic fascists monolith responsible for the attempted annihilation of an entire race of people. As convenient as this view is for the modern state of Israel, Dr. clearly documents that the truth was far more complex than that. There was not agreed upon 'race' of Jews in Europe. Dr. Rigg documents the shock of people across German society from when the Nazi racial laws when an acted when people who had never even considered then selves Jews where informed at they where by law. Soldier, Officers, Admirals, sailors, decorated war heroes, many of whom went to church ever Sunday, where informed by their government that somewhere in their family tree there was an 'impurity'.
This is not the story of Jews in the death camps who became 'capos' and assisted the Nazis in the Holocaust. This is the story of regular Germans who went off to fight for their country. Some hid their 'racial' background, but many did not. At the onset of the war soldiers with one Jewish parent could serve in the Wheremacht. By the time they where at the gates of Moscow, the bar moved a tens of thousands of the 'Jews' where discharged, only '¼' Jews could then serve.
In reading this book you can not help but develop sympathy for these 'marginal men' not accepted by Jewish community or by the Nazi Government, many found the only place they could be treated as equals was among their comrades in arms, in the Wehrmacht, where they fought and died for a government that hated them and was abusing their families while the one some of their nation's highest awards for bravery.
The Orwellian nightmare where a few fanatics blinded a Christian nation to their diabolical racist schemes that was so essential in the early re-armament of Germany does not find a great deal of factual support in this book either. The facts that Dr. Rigg has uncovered clear show that when Hitler railed against the 'Jews' many heads in Germany bobbed in agreement look to the sprawling ghettos of the East. Centuries on inter-marriage and assimilation lead to fully Germanized, cosmopolitan Germans agreeing in principle to parts, or even, as they understood it, all of the Nazi program, never dreaming that the wrath would be turned upon them.
Anyone who has any interest in the true nature of world war two needs to read this book. It is meticulously documented and thoroughly researched. I don't believe that anyone can read this book and not be profoundly effected.

This is truly a landmark book and an amazing achievement both in scholarship and in humane sensitivity to an excruciatingly difficult subject. The title of the book, while seemingly gratuitously sensational, does sum up the subject of the study: those serving in the various armed forces of the Third Reich, as officers and as ordinary soldiers and sailors, who happened to be of Jewish descent. The chapter titles show how Rigg examines the various facets of the matter:

Who Is a Jew?
Who Is a "Mischling" ['partial Jew']
Assimilation and the Jewish Experience in the German Armed Forces
Racial Policy and the Nuremberg Laws, 1933-1939
The Policy toward "Mischlinge" Tightens, 1940-1943
Turning Point and Forced Labor, 1943-1944
Exemptions from the Racial Laws Granted by Hitler
The Process of Obtaining an Exemption
What Did "Mischlinge" Know about the Holocaust?

Interspersed among the chapters are four collections of (usually personal) photographs of Jewish and 'partially Jewish' officers and men of the Wehrmacht, SS, and Waffen SS, among others.

It seems to me a measure of the scrupulous, indeed rigorous fairness of Rigg's treatment of this most painful subject that the reader (well, I at any rate) was struck again and again by the unfamiliar sensation of, among other high officials of the Third Reich, even Hitler sometimes actually coming across as human, showing what seems--against that ghastly backdrop, of course--to be real decency and compassion for (partial) Jewish veterans, and indeed others whose special circumstances recommended them to his attention. The easy and in fact almost inescapable thing is to simply demonize Hitler et al. and be done with it. Rigg has given the devil his due.

Not everyone is going to be delighted with the book, but there it is. Pace Keats, Beauty is not Truth, and Truth is not Beauty.
Rigg's examination of the central question of who knew how much when about what is, again, scrupulously yet sensitively handled.

A personal note: Thirty-some years ago, I was studying at a Goethe-Institut in Germany. One of my instructors mentioned one day that his father, whose mother was Jewish, received a phone call one evening in the late '30s from a friend at the local police station, who told him his file had come through for "processing." The friend told him that in a few minutes he would go down cellar to stoke his furnace, and with permission that file--and the man--would cease to exist officially. My instructor's father thanked his friend, and the family hid him in the attic throughout the war. His father's physical and mental health were shattered by the experience.

My instructor (telling his class this in 1969) remarked that when he received his draft notice he could easily have evaded conscription, but in fact he served with Rommel in North Africa. He witnessed a ceremony in which Rommel himself decorated a subordinate who had been in charge of capturing some town and afterward had turned his men loose, allowing them to behave as they pleased for a few days. After pinning the medal on this general, he said, Rommel then made a brief speech about how atrocities reflected on the German Army, the German People, and the German Reich, then he drew the general's sidearm from his holster and executed him, just like that. My instructor remarked, "Unter Rommel gab es keine Schweinerei."

Until reading Rigg's book, I had assumed that my instructor's experience as a Jewish soldier of the Third Reich was very unusual, if not unique. As Rigg makes clear, this misperception was common, even among these soldiers themselves, even well after the war was over.

If you read only one serious nonfiction book this year, this should be the one.

Much has been written about the Wehrmacht, discussing strategies, campaigns, results and commanders; less has been written about the common German soldier in W.W.II. In this
extraordinary book, Gottlob H. Bidermann narrates his experience in the 132 Infantry Division on
the Eastern Front from June 1941 to May 1945 followed by surrender and internment in Russia
until the summer of 1948. He was commissioned and received officer training in 1943 but
continued to be assigned to the 132 Infantry Division. Bidermann's memoirs were written for and
distributed to the survivors of his regiment and division, and originally were not for general
audiences. Derek S. Zumbro, a US Naval officer and friend of the Bidermann family, was given a
copy of his memoir in 1985 by Bidermann which Zumbro translated; the memoirs were published
as the book IN DEADLY COMBAT.

The text is basically an accurate chronology of the events Bidermann personally experienced on
the Eastern Front. Daily death, suffering and destruction was encountered and the author states
"We tended our wounded, buried our dead and moved forward to the next encounter, knowing
that eventually, we would meet the end of our journey". He later notes "Most of us owed our
lives to the skill and self-sacrifice of other in our company, many of whom were no longer with
us."

It is interesting to read the author's personal reactions to brutal combat. He relates how his
training and discipline gave him life saving split second reactions when face to face with the
enemy. While generally not critical of German combat general officers, many of whom he
admired, like the common soldier in all armies he "called it like was". For example, commenting
on one general "And the highest commander, to whom credit for the catastrophe should be
awarded, was not present to witness what his decisions had wrought. As always, the soldiers in
the field bore the brunt of these mistakes and paid with their lives." In another case he wrote
"When captured" General Shoerner "was wearing a traditional Bavarian alpine costume, for
which he had exchanged his uniform and golden party badge. Only weeks earlier he had subjected
untold numbers of soldiers to summary execution for similar displays of cowardice."

Equally interesting is his attitude serving on the Eastern Front, as his division went from a
conquering army in 1941 to the desperate fight for survival in the Courland pocket. Bidermann
writes "....those who continued to cling to the belief in a "final Victory", now realized the
hopelessness of our situation. That said the will to resist the Soviets, the fighting spirit within the
ranks of the Courland fighters, remained unbroken" resulting in the fact "....the troops in
Courland were .... the only combat units in the German army that were never defeated in open
battle." The author makes the interesting statement "We saw the true sense of our operations in
Courland as having one clearly defined objective: the defense of European culture..." then he
laments that the West ignored what he termed "the tragedy unfolding in eastern and central
Europe. Communism descended on an entire culture...."

The text is dictated by the framework of the German army in which Bidermann fought, by the
nature of the Reich and largely by a set of cultural and intellectual conventions in the army which
differed widely from those of the British and Americans. These factors contributed a cohesiveness
that allowed Germany to maintain front-line effectiveness when units like the 132 Infantry
Division fought the enemy for 3 1/2 years, almost without relief. Amazingly, Bidermann relates
that within the framework of the army there were no plans, policies or training for retreat and a
strategic withdrawal which could have reduced losses and preserved unit strength. When orders
were received to surrender on May 8, 1945 the author writes "The philosophy of fighting to death
had become so ingrained within us during the past years that to surrender, as we were now being
ordered to do, was inconceivable." Although they knew that the Russians liquidated thousands of
Polish officers in Poland and expected possibly the same fate, the culture and strict discipline of
the army did not allow for disobeying orders; Bidermann's division surrendered as ordered.

Throughout the text, references to events at home are noted such as "....our relatives lived in a
daily terror of the bombs...." and "The attempted assassination revealed that the war was lost.
Hitler was nothing more that a dictator in brown." Then finally, "In general, news of the death of
Hitler was received by the troops with indifference; however, it must also be said that some
breathed a sigh of relief."

The Epilogue describes of the brutal life in the Soviet prisoner of war camps. The text states "In
the twentieth century prisoners were often afforded little or no protection in any form and
remained free game for the victors. One could beat them, work them to death, shoot them or
simply let them starve." Bidermann observed all of this in Soviet prisoner of war camps. It should
be noted that the same philosophy was followed in Japanese prisoner of war camps. In contrast,
the author states "In the United States prisoners had confinement vastly different from our ordeal
in the gulags. They were well-fed and in the best of health...."

While the writer did not report witnessing atrocities, neither does he ignore their existence. This
work is refreshing as it narrates the hard, brutal life of a front-line an infantryman in combat with
none of the usual apologies of "we were just following orders." often found in other memoirs.
This is a "must read" for those interested in W.W.II history.

In Deadly Combat is the "Must" read of World War 2. The memoirs of 3 1/2 years of combat on the eastern front, followed by over 1,000 days as a Soviet POW can not be described in any other words except by a man that survived the ordeal. Bidermann's account not only details the destruction and misery brought by the "Gods of War," but offers a very intriguing insight on how he both excelled as a soldier, and leader of men....And, his memoirs offers insight about survival.

The most fascinating aspect about Bidermann's memoirs is "what went through his mind" during a terrible & horrific experience.

After my readings of the US combat veteran in WW2, the Korean War, and Vietnam; the perils of 3 1/2 years of continous combat seem momentus compared to the shorter combat tours. Of course, any combat tour must be incredibly sickening, but the realization soldiers of the Red Army and German Army lasted so long boggles the mind.

Finally, Bidermann depicts 3 1/2 years of combat on the Eastern Front in a concise, entertaining and easily read book. His work both as a soldier and author is INCREDIBLE!

Gottlob Bidermann's book of his personal experience on the eastern front was,to me, something that I have longed for for some time. The only other personal account commonly known proir to this time was Guy Sajer's which, though a good read, I felt may not all be true. The time period covered is mid 1941 until the end of the war. Largely a personal narrative, the description of battle in the crimea, kerch, and breaking the seige of Sevastopol were of great interest to me. The description of desparate fighting with the russians and eventually to simply to survive were touching. Little mention is made of the politics of war, which is fitting, for I feel the common landser had little time or energy to expend on this. One can grasp from this narrative the camradery among the landsers and an incredible amount of military discipline that allowed at least a few to survive an abysmal situation. The portion of his story dealing with the surrender in the Courland pocket and subsequent imprisonment in Russia were heart breaking -- to suffer so much in nearly 4 years of war and then to endure this seemed too much for any man to endure. I can give no higher reccommendation for this book for military historians and for general readers the triumph over overwhelming adversity of the human spirit.

"Hostile Waters", by Peter Huchthausen, Igor Kurdin and R. Alan White. Thorndike Press, Thorndike, Maine, Large type edition, 1997.

An excellent book, dealing with the loss of the K-219, a Soviet Nuclear submarine, off the east coast of the United States. This book is non-fiction but it reads like a fast moving, modern day thrill novel, thanks, probably, to the efforts of author R. Alan White. The book also reads like a "you are there!" recitation of the events of the sinking, undoubtedly due to the efforts of Igor Kurdin, of the Russian Navy. Finally, there are some pointed comments about higher-level actions and reactions, probably due to the efforts of Captain Peter Huchthausen, USN, Retired. It is impressive that three different writers from such disparate backgrounds could produce a book that is such a well-written story of the events in the sinking of the K-219. It all comes together in such an interesting fashion that it was difficult to put the book down.

As we watch the world react to the aftermath of September 11 2001, we wonder why the CIA and the FBI did not have better communications with each other agency. The provincialism and secrecy of the USN submarine service is well documented in this book. In some ways, this is a theme of this book; rivalry between service branches and within each service hinders cooperation and communications. On page 225, for example, you can find: the U.S. Navy's "... number one enemy: the United Sates Air Force". Personally, I can recall working as reliability engineer on a small Navy project in 1987, and I referenced an Air Force document as substantiation for my calculations. I was told, "Wrong color blue". Navy Blue versus Air Force blue.

Through my work as Exec. Asst. to the Exec. Dir. of the Navy League of the U.S., I met member Peter Huchthausen when he introduced Igor Kurdin to the NLUS as an associate member. I became their liaison. Through this I have worked with young hero Sergei Preminin's high-school teacher, who created a small museum to his heroism. Then on 8/4/97 at a dinner in his honor at the Officers Club of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, I was privileged to be seated at the head table with and to meet the brave Russian sub commander, Igor Britanov, who saved our East Coast from a Chernobyl, and probably thus headed off WWIII. I was honored to be made a member of the St. Petersburg Club of Sailors and Submariners that evening. Peter Huchthausen did painstaking research, as did his coauthor Igor Kurdin to create this book. It is riveting, utterly compelling, heart-wrenching, and true. Although I have read it three times and highlighted much, plus viewing the HBO slightly-altered and less grippingly true rendition, I still weep for these brave men. This is the sign of a well-written book! It captures vividly the heart and soul of these men, and what they courageously endured. To read of them and meet them in person is to love them for their bravery and decency. I have never seen a face radiate more goodness than Captain Britanov's. I highly recommend this book to everyone I engage in conversation on the subject. I only wish that it had received much more publicity, in hard and soft cover.

"Down three thousand fathoms deep, Deaths of millions in her keep; With her, in eternal sleep -- Sergei Preminin." With these words begins Russell Hoban's poem immortalizing an extraordinary deed of an ordinary Russian submariner. "Hostile Waters" also recounts Seaman Preminin's selfless sacrifice, which saved the lives of countless unsuspecting Americans. But this is only one of the riveting episodes of desperation and courage chronicled in this true story about a doomed nuclear submarine. Authors USN-AWS Capt. (ret.) Huchthausen and Soviet Capt. 1st. Rank Kurdin were participants in the ongoing Cold War events which led to the tragedy of K-219. Written with the assistance of accomplished novelist Robin A. White ("Siberian Light", "Ice Curtain"), their book reads like a spellbinding adventure of disaster and heroism on the sea. In 1986, the Soviet Navy, in its futile attempts to match its superior American counterpart, was sending its fleet of obsolete boomers to patrol the eastern coast of the US. Capt. Igor Britanov knew that his noisy, decrepit boat was being tracked from the moment she left her home port, and that once in American waters, he was being shadowed by a state-of-the-art hunter-killer. Following an unintentional collision by the USS Augusta, K-219 sustained severe damage which left her flooding and burning, with an open missile-hatch, on the surface. In a cascading chain of catastrophe, her nuclear reactor began to overheat. As the US military went on DEFCON alert, K-219 foundered in her desperate and dangerous death-throes. You, the reader, will intimately experience the Soviet crew's minute-by-minute struggle for survival. You will bond with the Russian Captain, whose fatherly affection for his men inspired their loyalty and dedication to the point of personal sacrifice. You will be astonished by the attrocious actions of the American Captain, which alienated his own crew and ultimately cost him his career. You will be disgusted by the competative uncooperativeness between the American armed forces, and the open hostility between individual branches of the Navy. You will be dismayed by the utter callousness of the US and Soviet governments whose disregard for human life imperilled the world. And you will never forget Sergei Preminin, who voluntarily entered the hot reactor and manually cranked down the stuck baffle-plates, thus preventing a meltdown mere miles off the American coast. For an eye-opening and disturbing view of US Cold War politics, and an even-handed and compassionate portrayal of the Opposition, read this "ten-star" story!

Martin Gilbert has done an admirable job in condensing his milti-volume biography into one volume, but such an effort must necessarily involve many compromises. In this case, in an effort to bring about a more human picture of Churchill the man, he has sacrificed much of the fun of Churchill the public figure. Many of Churchill' most vivid and exciting incidents are passed over too quickly. Especially regretable is Gilbert's failure to include of many of Churchill's most enjoyable and amusing public dialogues with the other leaders of his day. Of all 20th-century leaders, Churchill was one of the most highly esteemed for his wit and eloquence in debate. A few examples show his eloquence; almost all of his wit is lost. The result is a book that is wonderful for those who already know Churchill, but, alas, is amazingly flat for anyone who has not read much about him. After reading it, one may admire Churchill's determination and leadership, but may wonder how he was able to claim the attention of the British people for so long.

This is the Churchill biography to read if you either don't have time or aren't looking to read several volumes. The official Churchill biography by Martin Gilbert was condensed by the author into this one volume, 1000+ page, wonderful book (released in 1991). Gilbert is direct, never overdramatic and as objective as possible for an official biographer. Also, this book is very factual and historical. For anyone looking for witty Churchill quips and anecdotes, I recommend James Humes's, "The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill", or Stephen Mansfield's, "Never Give In." This book is a strictly condensed biography that strays very infrequently into humorous side stories and quotes, of which Churchill obviously had many.

It can be very frustrating to waste time reading an unenjoyable, lengthy book, especially for the busy, nighttime only reader (like myself). This book is not one of those. Gilbert does a great job of handling one of the most (I believe "The" most) captivating men of the 20th Century. At the end of the book, whether one loves Churchill or hates him, any reader will, thanks to the masterful writing of Marting Gilbert, be sad at Churchill's passing and the book's ending.

I liked much better this book than those of William Manchester. The story is linear and one feels the author's absolute knowledge of the life of Churchill. Gilbert's admiration of Churchill is apparent. I heard he has written an eight volume (official) biography of which this book is a very comprehensive and very-very well written abridgement, in other words the eight volumes are „distilled" into one. I also think the quotations are much better selected, Churchill's often very long speeches are very well compressed (my favourite is the speech after Munich). This gives the impression - at least to me - of having read a whole speech, whereas in Manchester's book it never really happens and the speeches are usually followed or preceded by the author's comments. I felt Gilbert keeps a greater distance from his subject, the book is more like a frame and lets the reader build up Churchill's personality with his imagination. Also this might be important to some (like myself) that Gilbert's language is easier to understand.
The Manchester books are of a very different character, not linear, much more personal, the author presents a lot of insight, and tells his opinion or judgement on a variety of subjects and choses the right quotations to underline these. These two volumes of Manchester contain a lot more information and interesting details. I usually agreed with his judgements but i sometimes felt he was forcing and repeating them too strong and too often. A great advantage though is that we learn a lot more about the outside world.

Churchill's book on WWII has a part which is called the „Gathering storm" meaning the approaching Nazi danger for the democracies. For Hitler Churchill was the „gathering storm", a phenomenon which is impossible to ignore and whose „thunderous" speeches and articles were so „loud" and powerful. It was nothing else but the power and truth in his speeches that made him so menacing to the Nazis as he was distrusted by all parties of parliament and indeed by the whole population.This was the reason why he was attacked publicly as a simple MP by Hitler in the late thirties when Hitler was the all powerful leader of Germany and Churchill only a political outcast.

I heard people describing Churchill as a born leader. I disagree. I don't think he was a born leader. He was a genius, the „largest human being of our time" but I think these were not the traditonal leadership qualities that made him emerge to become a strong man and a very powerful leader but his courage and his very deep comprehension of history and the power of justice on his side. Without the truth being on his side i think he would never have been a great leader (unlike Stalin or Chamberlain or Hitler).

After reading it one gives credit to the British people and also to their parlamentary system for being so rubust and being able to defend itself in times of great danger. After this book it seems that no attempt were made to bypass it even when it seemed that the present rulers (Baldwin and Chamberlain) were leading it to certain destruction.

Very good idea and makes it much easier to find something in the book afterwards is that on the top of each page the year of the actual story is shown.

Although the author avoids making many personal comments, the book is so well built up and the story itself is so full of drama that it is hard to put down. I am looking forward to reading other works of Gilbert, who really became my favourite historian (I hope they'll be translated into Hungarian soon).

I read this book for my book group and it was very hard to get through. It is very well-written and interesting, if you can get past the Greek names, killing, starvation, torture and general horror. Not wanting to be defeated by a book, I read on, trying to mentally cover my eyes and rush through the worst of the beatings and torture. Somewhere along the way I became mesmerized by Nicola's story of his Mother's life and how she managed to defy the communists. It is a very heart-wrenching story, from the clouds of war in the beginning to the final horrible outcome for her. But it is also uplifting in the sense that her spirit prevailed right to the end and lives on in her son, who upholds her example in his most trying hour. Anyone who can read this book and not thank God he was born in the United States, and is living in a time of peace must be crazy!

"Eleni" is an hymn to the author's mother. It describes the strength of his mother's love for her children that helped the family survive through a variety of hardships - the father's absence in USA, civil war, poverty, hostility by other villagers. The book describes a compelling story of the family, their struggles and the escape of 9 year old Nicholas Gage to the U.S.A. As an adult, Gage returns years later to get revenge from the people who tortured and murdered his mother but at the end he decides to honor her by following her teachings instead of revenge. The book provides a look in the life of small villages in the Balkans and the beginning of cold war. It is a great novel and the author is a masterful story-teller.

Unfortunately, despite Mr. Cage's credential as an investigative reporter, the book falls short on historical accuracy and serves as a [...] tool for the pro-western faction of the civil war against the "evil" communism. It is a romanticized version of the actual events as witnessed by a young boy who wants to "protect" the memory of his mother since he was not there to defend her life and as re-told by the villagers who want to absolve themselves of any crime.

Great portrayal of a mother's love for her children just do not buy it for its historical value!

Eleni is a gripping story of man's inhumanity to humans; in this case the Greek Communist's inhumane treatment of its own men, women and children during the Greek Civil War in the late 1940s. Although this book is a biography, Nicholas Gage's narrative prose reads like a powerful novel. Every aspect of the hard-working villagers' life is depicted, right down to the peasants' ignorance, their superstitions, and their cunning and cruel treatment to each other for survival in the hands of the communists. Above all, this story is about Gage's mother Eleni who sacrificed herself to save her children. If you can read beyond the killings, the cruelty, the starvation and torture, you will find it difficult to put down this 470 page masterpiece. For the weak-hearted, simply skip those parts, it's worth reading.

Ten young Florentine noblemen and women escaping the Black Death in Florence in 1348 entertain themselves by each relating a story per day for ten days - 100 entertaining stories in all, mostly set in and around medieval Florence. Although famously naughty, none of these stories strikes a modern reader as more than mildly erotic. Rather, they consistently astonish by their thoroughly modern message that women are as good as men, nobility doesn't come from birth, sanctity doesn't come from the church, and - above all - true love must never be denied. Amazingly, Boccaccio often delivers this message while pretending to say the exact opposite; sometimes he presents very sympathetic characters who get away with things thought scandalous in his time, offering a mere token condemnation at the end, while other times he depicts someone actually following the accepted code and committing some horrible act of cruelty in the process. Either way - and despite his claims to be upholding convention - we always know what he really means, and apparently he didn't fool too many people in his own day either.

But one doesn't need to focus on the revolutionary aspects of the Decameron to enjoy the book; each of the stories delights the reader with a different tasty morsel, and, you can read as much or as little at a time as you please. Once you get past the introduction, (and that's probably the most serious part of the book, so be sure not to give up before you get to the first story) the stories will make you laugh, make you cringe, and make you sit on the edge of your seat. Inspiring authors from Chaucer to Shakespeare and entertaining audiences for over 700 years, the Decameron continues to delight.

I had to read a good part of "The Decameron" last quarter and I have gone back to read more stories from it even though the Fall quarter is over. This is a great book: funny, entertaining, subtly revolutionary, insightful, and superbly well-written. Approach it without fear. It is a Classic, but it will have you laughing, thinking, and learning far better than any current best-seller. Anyone with an interest in journalism and/or history will profit from Boccaccio's Introduction, at the beginning of the First Day. His description of the Plague in Florence is vivid and gripping, and this eventually provides the background for the setting of the one hundred and one tales that seven young women and three young men will narrate in a villa away from the dying city. Also, the Introduction to the Fourth Day presents the reader with an unfinished, but hilarious story about a man who has been kept away from women. This story is what my teacher called the 101st, and I have to agree with her.

Do not think that all "The Decameron" deals with is sex. The mostly illicit sexual encounters depicted are some times funny, sometimes sad, but they share a common trait with the stories from the Tenth Day, for example (these ones are mostly about sacrifice, abnegation, and servitude), or with those of the Second: Boccaccio's concern for his society and the terrible tensions that had reached a breaking point by the 14th century. The Plague, in Boccaccio's universe, acts as a catalyst of emotions, desires, and changes that had to come.

Read, then, about Alibech putting the Devil back in Hell, Lisabetta and her pot of basil, Ser Ceperello and his "saintly" life, Griselda and her incredible loyalty in spite of the suffering at the hands of a God-like husband, Tancredi and his disturbing love for his daughter, Masetto and the new kind of society he helps create with some less-than-religious nuns, and then it will be easier to understand why Boccaccio is so popular after 650 years. And although it may be skipped by most readers, do not miss the Translator's (G. M. McWilliam) introduction on the history of "The Decameron" proper, and that of its many, and mostly unfortunate, translations into English. This book is one of the wisest, most economic ways of obtaining entertainment and culture. Do not miss it.

Giovanni Boccaccio THE DECAMERON. Second Edition. Translated with an Introduction and Notes by G. H. McWilliam. cli + 909 pages. Penguin Classics. London: Penguin Books, 1995. ISBN 0-14-044629-X (Pbk).

Second-hand opinions can do a lot of harm. Most of us have been given the impression that The Decameron is a lightweight collection of bawdy tales which, though it may appeal to the salacious, sober readers would do well to avoid. The more literate will probably be aware that the book is made up of one hundred stories told on ten consecutive days in 1348 by ten charming young Florentines who have fled to an amply stocked country villa to take refuge from the plague which is ravaging Florence.

Idle tales of love and adventure, then, told merely to pass the time by a group of pampered aristocrats, and written by an author who was quite without the technical equipment of a modern story-teller such as Flannery O'Connor. But how, one wonders, could it have survived for over six hundred years if that's all there were to it? And why has it so often been censored? Why have there always been those who don't want us to read it?

A puritan has been described as someone who has an awful feeling that somebody somewhere may be enjoying themselves, and since The Decameron offers the reader many pleasures it becomes automatically suspect to such minds. In the first place it is a comic masterpiece, a collection of entertaining tales many of which are as genuinely funny as Chaucer's, and it offers us the pleasure of savoring the witty, ironic, and highly refined sensibility of a writer who was also a bit of a rogue. It also provides us with an engaging portrait of the Middle Ages, and one in which we are pleasantly surprised to find that the people of those days were every bit as human as we are, and in some ways considerably more delicate.

We are also given an ongoing hilarious and devastating portrayal of the corruption and hypocrisy of the medieval Church. Another target of Boccaccio's satire is human gullibility in matters religious, since, then as now, most folks could be trusted to believe whatever they were told by authority figures. And for those who have always found Dante to be a crushing bore, the sheer good fun of The Decameron, as Human Comedy, becomes, by implication (since Boccaccio was a personal friend of Dante), a powerful and compassionate counterblast to the solemn and cruel anti-life nonsense of The Divine Comedy.

There is a pagan exuberance to Boccaccio, a frank and wholesome celebration of the flesh; in contrast to medieval Christianity's loathing of woman we find in him what David Denby beautifully describes as "a tribute to the deep-down lovableness of women" (Denby, p.249). And today, when so many women are being taught by anti-sex radical feminists to deny their own bodies and feelings, Boccaccio's celebration of the sexual avidity of the natural woman should come as a very welcome antidote. For Denby, who has written a superb essay on The Decameron that can be strongly recommended, Boccaccio's is a scandalous book, a book that liberates, a book that returns us to "the paradise from which, long ago, we had been expelled" (Denby, p.248).

The present Penguin Classics edition, besides containing Boccaccio's complete text, also includes a 122-page Introduction, a Select Bibliography, 67 pages of Notes, four excellent Maps and two Indexes. McWilliam, who is a Boccaccio scholar, writes in a supple, refined, elegant and truly impressive English which successfully captures the highly sophisticated sensibility of Boccaccio himself. His translation reads not so much as a translation as an original work, though his Introduction (which seems to cover everything except what is most important) should definitely be supplemented by Denby's wonderfully insightful and stimulating essay, details of which follow:

Chapter 17 - 'Boccaccio,' in 'GREAT BOOKS - My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World'
by David Denby. pp.241-249. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997. ISBN 0-684-83533-9 (Pbk).

As someone who frequently checks out reviews of books on this service for a long time before purchasing, it was with great anticipation that I began reading Alan Furst's Dark Star. I had read a few other of this author's titles and wasn't "wowed", but it seemed clear from the opinions here that this novel stood well above most of the others.

However, as a "thriller" it is relatively thrill-free (even when compared, as it often is, to the novels of LeCarre). There were only a few (short)instances when I was quickly moving along in the story, eager to find out what happens next. It was much more likely that I was eagerly turning pages to be done with a drawn-out section which "bogged-down" the progression of, in retrospect, a pretty clever story.

As mentioned in numerous reviews here, characterization and mood/atmosphere are terrific. Does Furst give a genuine feel to his recreation of Pre-war Europe? Absolutely. As a history primer, is it informative? To be sure. But is it a compelling story? Well, that's a more difficult question.

Unfortunately, for every scene of "authentic spy-craft" or short glimpses of "the big picture", there is a much LONGER description of the ruts in a Polish cart trail or the way your back feels after sleeping on a hay matress. I was left at the end of the book thinking, "This was a great story, and in someone else's hands, it could have been a great book, too" Hey, I even liked all the background on the inner workings of the Communist party and NKVD, but I really expected more tension and excitement (not explosions, gore and mayhem - but more intrigue and danger) and could have done without some of the tangential side-trips.

Maybe if I hadn't heard so much build-up, I'd have thought more highly of this book (though certainly NEVER would have thought it worthy of 5!!), but I expected more, a lot more.

Dark Star is the follow up novel the Furst's Night Soldiers. Like Night Soldiers and all of Furst's recent novels, Dark Star takes place in and around WWII Europe. Like all of Furst's later novels, Dark Star wanders its way into Paris at some point. There is at least one common character from Night Soldiers, although seen from a completely different point of view, and another character from this book will appear the Polish Officer.
Dark Star tells the story of Andre Szara, a Polish Jew working as a correspondent for Pravda. Of course, Szara is much more than a journalist but is also pressed into service for the NKVD. Szara eventually runs a Soviet spy network in Paris, and 'controls' a Jewish German industrialist turned agent for Moscow. This is the simple version of the story... Szara's story is in fact a human story set against the horror of the purges. People drop around Szara, be it from Stalin or from Kristalnacht.
Furst also uses Szara as a personal foil against which to paint Stalin's guilt in general. Stalin is shown to be as much a partner or twin of Hitler than an innocent victim. Well, a lot of this is established history... the purges are painted as an anti-semitic pogrom, a way to clear the intelligentsia and Soviet government of Jews. In this, I think Furst is stretching. Sure, a lot of the Bolsheviks were Jews, and most of them died in the purges, but they had a lot of company. I think this is trying to paint order on something that was in fact largely random and arbitrary, except for a very small percentage of individuals.
In any case, Dark Star is not pretending to be a history book but instead a historical novel set against the backdrop of WWII. In this, the book succeeds. Furst does what he does best: he drops the reader head first into a highly detailed version of Europe on the eve of war... of the fear and horror of Hitler and Stalin.

I had read "The Polish Officer" first and wanted more of Alan Furst's evocative pre WWII novels of espionage. "Dark Star" surpasses the later novel, it simply hits on all cylinders. Historically accurate, with a twisting plot, vivid characters, and settings that make the reader feel the darkness and gloom enveloping Europe on the eve of WWII. This novel goes beyond the genre of espionage and paints a differently humane approach to the times. The main character, Andre Szara, while heroic, is "everyman" in that he fears, struggles and fails and succeeds and gets lucky at times. Truly the opposite of the Tom Clancy, James bondish type spy, Alan Furst offers us a hero who we can understand without suspending our disbelief. "Dark Star" is a wonderful piece of work by an author who amazes with his breadth of knowledge on Central Europe in the 30's