| Books - History - World |
| 1-20 of 100 1 2 3 4 5 Next 20 |
|
|
click price to see details click image to enlarge click link to go to the store
| 1. Stupid History: Tales of Stupidity, Strangeness, and Mythconceptions Throughout the Ages by Leland Gregory | |
 | Kindle Edition
(2007-05-01)
list price: $9.99 Asin: B002TZ3D2G Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing Sales Rank: 324 Average Customer Review: 
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Samuel Prescott made the famous horseback ride into Concord, not Paul Revere. As a member of Parliament, Isaac Newton spoke only once. He asked for an open window. On April 24, 1898, Spain declared war on the U.S., thus starting the Spanish-American War. The U.S. declared war the very next day, but not wanting to be outdone, had the date on the declaration changed from April 25 to April 21.With these and many other stories, leading humorist Leland Gregory once again highlights both the strange and the funny side of humankind. Reviews
| |
| 2. As Always, Julia: The Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto | |
 | Hardcover
(2010-12-01)
list price: $26.00 -- our price: $15.49 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0547417713 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Sales Rank: 78 Average Customer Review: 
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) It's easy to recommend this book to dedicated foodies, and certainly to fans of Julia Child. "As Always, Julia" is the collection of the correspondence between Julia Child and her friend, mentor, and editor Avis DeVoto, from the time in 1952 when Julia wrote a fan letter to Avis' husband (regarding an article he'd written about kitchen knives) and mentioned in-passing that she was working on a cookbook, until the time several years later that the cookbook finally was published.
If you're interested in Julia Child the person (and My Life in France wasn't enough for you, whether or not accompanied by the Julie & Julia movie), then "As Always, Julia" is a no-brainer, because these were the letters shared by two intelligent and opinionated women who were confiding in one another, not talking to a microphone. And confide they did: about Avis' child-raising and Paul Child's job as well as the difficulty of finding fresh shallots. It is, more than anything else, the story of a real life friendship, and better than any epistolary novel you can imagine. You will know these women well, at their most personal, such as Avis writing, "I like every part about growing older except what happens to your feet." (It's hard to imagine anyone compiling such a collection now, with all of us writing e-mail -- if that -- and only packrats like myself keeping copies of everything for decades.) But the book is interesting for several other reasons. Watching the creation of a masterpiece: Mastering the Art of French Cooking was an instant classic, and it was the result of years of hard work. But the words "it was the result of years of hard work" does not begin to capture the number of cooking experiments Julia (and Simca) did, or contract negotiations, or research into the equipment that Julia could expect a typical American housewife to own. She experimented with pressure cookers, for instance, to find out if they were okay for making chicken or duck stock. "First time the [pressure cooker] brew was so horrible I threw it away." Then, after adding the vegetables only at the end, "Again it was loathsome so I threw it out." Many ducks gave their lives for such research, and the Childs often found themselves "bilious" after all these experiments. Would-be writers (or any creator waiting for her ship to come in) may be heartened or inspired by the knowledge that even Julia had self-doubts. She wrote in 1953, "There is so much that has been written, by people so much more professional than I, that I wonder what in the hell I am presuming to do, anyway." A snapshot of foodie history: My mother was never excited about cooking, and I don't think she owned a copy of MtAoFC. But I do remember shopping for groceries in the 1960s and early 1970s, when cookbooks had to give detailed explanations about what cilantro is, or how to make your own coconut milk. It was worse in the 1950s, and much of the Avis-Julia correspondence is about what was (or usually wasn't) available, from decent jarred chives to fresh clams anywhere but the coastal cities. They also debated the wisdom of getting those newfangled dishwashers, Waring blenders, and other devices that, they started out agreeing, nobody really needed. A "daily history" of the McCarthy era: Nowadays, we tend to think of the time when Senator McCarthy held sway as a bizarre interlude in American history, but few of us remember it personally. Julia and Avis were extremely political women; one constant theme in their letters was the current political landscape, which they actively abhorred, and their letters become a chronicle of living through that time. "Oh god I wish this madness would subside, as I know it will, but it is exhausting watching all this go on," wrote Avis in 1953. "I do not enjoy watching the Senate floor turned into a bear-pit." There's so much political discourse, in fact, that it might lower the book's value for some readers. (Or raise it for others, if you're more political than I.) While I care about their views (or at least their passions) it often was more than I needed to know. But I could comfortably skip ahead through those parts. A view of intelligent, accomplished women in a pre-Betty Friedan world: Both Julia and Avis were upper-class women who saw themselves as "housewives" but simultaneously were engaged in serious endeavors. Avis was active in Boston-area intelligentsia (Bernard DeVoto had taught at Harvard), in politics (dinner guests included the Schlessingers and Kennedys), and in book publishing (not the least of which was her initial introduction of Julia to book acquisition editors). Julia was part of the government agency's social scene throughout Paul Child's career, not to mention her own cooking accomplishments in the 40s and 50s. This book is a picture of the years before "Women's liberation" were coined, including social mores. The poet May Sarton, a friend to both Avis and Julia, has a "special relationship;" the editor's footnote explains this meant that Sarton was lesbian. It was indeed a different world, and I'm grateful for a peephole into it -- and even more grateful not to live in it. As you can tell: I've really enjoyed this book. I think you will, too -- and not just for foodie reasons.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Who would have guessed that Julia Child was a control freak?
Judging by her own letters, it seems that she was often in various stages of irritation at her two co-authors of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, the book that launched her career. One co-author didn't do her share of the work, although in her defense, it's unlikely that any of them realized when they began, that they were embarking on what would be a 20-year-long project that was anything but smooth. Her other colleague was a hard worker, but something of a perfectionist, often second-guessing Julia's meticulous research. It's amazing the book was published at all. Julia became pen pals with Avis DeVoto, a reviewer of mysteries and wife of Bernard DeVoto, a writer and editor. Julia had written to Bernard about an article he had written and he asked Avis to answer the letter. Julia and Avis hit it off immediately and began a correspondence and friendship that lasted the rest of their lives. Julia was an expert at French cooking, but she knew little about book publishing and oddly, little about American cooking. She had never cooked when she lived in America, and had learned everything she knew about cooking in Paris, so she had peculiar gaps in her knowledge, such as that Americans keep their fresh eggs in cartons in the refrigerator, not in a bowl on the counter. Avis was able to keep such clangers from getting into the book, as well as steering Julia to editors who would be open to the idea of such an ambitious cookbook. Avis also acted as Julia's stateside researcher, answering questions such as whether cake flour was available, or just all-purpose flour. Avis alerted her to new trends in American cooking, such as the use of mono sodium glutamate (MSG) in the form of sprinkle-on Accent. They wrote about politics as well, with Senator Joseph McCarthy and his hunt for communists the topic of the day. Julia and husband Paul moved from Paris to Marseilles to Germany to Oslo during the 1950s, and she wrote Avis how they were adapting to each new home and how their attempts at language learning were going. Julia loved getting to know new places, but her heart always belonged to Paris. After two years of letter writing, Avis and Julia finally met in France, and they met a few more times over the years, until the Childs finally returned to the States for good and could see the DeVotos on a more regular basis. The letters span the years from 1952 to 1961 and are remarkably interesting despite their share of mundane matters such as the weather and who had what seasonal disease. Julia and Paul went to a play while they were visiting New York in 1957 and were impressed by the "young male lead, Richard Burton...he is English, I believe." In a prescient letter dated 1952, Julia told Avis "I'm enjoying [teaching French cooking to Americans] immensely, as I've finally found a real and satisfying profession which will keep me busy well into the year 2000."
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Picture a young wife, circa 1963, faced with entertaining her husband's European business associates and friends (one of whom was a Swiss trained chef!), but whose only cookbook was "Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook." Now, imagine her astonishment as she thumbs through her brand new book entitled, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking." Talk about prayers being answered! Yes, Julia was responsible for awakening my passion for cooking that continues to this day.
But much as I appreciated Julia as an excellent instructor and enjoyed her television appearances, I had no clue how intelligent, witty and warm hearted she was until I read these letters. In addition, what a pleasure it was to meet her friend, Avis DeVoto, every bit as charming and erudite as Julia. How extraordinary that these two "met" when Julia sent a couple of good French knives to Avis's husband, the writer Bernard DeVoto, after reading his article complaining about the lack of quality in American kitchen knives. That simple gift was the seed of a friendship that is beyond heartwarming to read about. For those of us who remember the late `50's, these letters also remind us of the turmoil surrounding the McCarthy witch hunts and the latter hearings, years that can only be described today as "bizarre." But it reminds us of how easy it is for just one person to create an atmosphere of suspicion and hearsay so poisonous, that, for awhile, it can intimidate an entire country. When I first began reading this rather large book, I thought I would keep it by my bedside and read a few letters each evening. Ha! "Bet you can't eat (read) just one!" Instead, I promptly gave in and let the rest of the world go by while I devoured every word until the end. I can't remember the last time that happened. History, humor, inspiring and unforgettable personalities -- what more can you want in a book?
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) A great and lasting friendship was born on March 8, 1952, when a young American housewife living in Paris, Julia Child, wrote a short letter to historian Bernard DeVoto, complimenting him on an occasional piece he had written in Harper's lamenting the absence of good carving knives in the States, where knives seemed all to be made of stainless steel, which would not hold an edge. Mrs. Child included a French knife in her letter -forged carbon steel. Mr. DeVoto was swamped with work at the time so his wife, Avis, wrote back. Avis and Julia are one of the great pairs of friends in modern times. They were both sharp as pins, they were irreverent and opinionated, and, most of all, they both were genuinely interested in the people and things around them. Avis's letters are now released from archive and veteran culinary historian Joan Reardon has done a labor of love, combining Avis's and Julia's letters across the span of almost ten years (1952-61) to tell the story of a lovely friendship and of the growth to maturity of the author of one of the classic cookbooks of modern times.
On February 12, 1953, Julia Child wrote her new pen pal, Avis DeVoto, to describe a dinner Julia and her two colleagues in their new Ecole des Trois Gourmandes had attended the night before with famed Parisian gourmand Maurice Curnonsky ("the Prince of Gastronomy"). "At the party," she wrote, "was a dogmatic meatball who considers himself a gourmet but is just a big bag of wind. They were talking about Beurre Blanc, and how it was a mystery, and only a few people could do it, and how it could only be made with white shallots from Lorraine and over a wood fire. Phoo. But that is so damned typical, making a damned mystery out of perfectly simple things just to puff themselves up." She concluded, tongue in cheek, by writing: "I didn't say anything as, being a foreigner, I don't know anything anyway." Two pares later, she's rhapsodizing over the kind of kitchen she'd like to have if she were rich: "I am going to have a kitchen where everything is my height [over six feet], and none of this pigmy [sic.] stuff, and maybe 4 ovens, and 12 burners all in a line, a 3 broilers, and a charcoal grill, and a spit that turns." That's Julia to a T, always unbuttoned in her opinions, wobbly in her spelling, bursting with energy, savoring whatever life offered her. She wasn't yet the world authority on French cooking she would soon become but she already knew where she was heading and she knew how she wanted to get there -every recipe tested, adaptations made to American materials, tastes and equipment, the `secrets' of French cuisine made clear and obvious to even the neophyte cook. (She commented once about another French cookbook that it should spell out what weight hen to buy for coq au vin -a five-pounder, which is what the recipe called for, would be an old hen: it wouldn't cook in forty-five minutes as the recipe stated; it'd still be tough as leather.) Julia hadn't finished her immortal Mastering the Art of French Cooking yet, but Avis and she were talking about it. Avis lived in Cambridge, Julia in Paris. Avis hoped to get Julia a decent publishing contract with Houghton Mifflin, a publishing house with which she had contacts. The letters continue through 1961, by which time Mastering had been published, not, alas, by Houghton Mifflin, but by Alfred Knopf. Bernard had died unexpectedly in 1955. Julia and her husband Paul had paid for Avis to visit them in France. The flurry of letters back and forty continued unabated but by that point the continuing themes of their correspondence are in place. As much fun as their letters are to read, at this point there are few new revelations. But who cares? These are first class letters by two first class people, and who would not want to know more about the forging of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I? A warning: There is a lot about cooking in these letters, typically gone into in great detail. Julia asks Avis for American ingredients (dried spices, for example) and cooking equipment and counsels her how to make dishes, Avis corrects errors and un-Americanisms in Julia's prose. Other topics pop up repeatedly, most notably, in the earlier portions of the book, their caustic commentary on the Red Scare, Senator Joe McCarthy, and the spineless elected officials who time and again failed to confront him. These are two tough (but very warm) ladies. It's a treat to be let in on their intimate and prolonged conversation with each other.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) In 1951, American West historian Bernard DeVoto wrote an article for Harper's magazine in which he deplored the lack of adequate knives for the American housewife. In Paris, Julia Child read the article and sent him a French kitchen knife. Avis DeVoto, Bernard's wife, who answered her husband's mail, wrote back to Julia. From this start, the two women corresponded until Avis' death in 1989.
"As Always" covers only ten years of their 38-year friendship. During that 10-year period, Julia attended Le Cordon Bleu to learn how to master French cooking and decided to write a French cookbook for American women. Over the course of a 38-year friendship, the two women wrote hundreds of letters. Reading these letters was fascinating because interspersed in the two on-going topics of cooking and eating were discussions of politics, living in foreign countries, and many other topics. One has to wonder whether these two erudite and intelligent women would produce such a body of correspondence in this day of 140-character tweets, 500-word blog posts, and emails. If you love cooking, eating, Julia Child, cookbooks, and intelligent women, this book will fascinate you.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Julia Child's legacy still lives on whether through her foundation or her revolutionary television show on public television, "The French Chef." Despite her own WASPY upbringing in Pasadena, California in a well-to-do family, she had planned on becoming a novelist in New York City and went to serve her country in Ceylon where she met Paul Child, her loving husband. He accepted an assignment in France. There Julia decided to expand her knowledge on French cuisine and gastronomy with enthusiasm, fascination, and interest.
THis book is not just about Julia Child but about a friendship between her and Avis De Voto, the wife of author Bernard DeVoto. Avis replied to her letter and there began a friendship of love, devotion, honesty, and candid between these two women until the end of their lives. Their letters also express the time in the 1950s whether set in Cambridge, Massachusetts where Avis lived with her family and all over Europe where Julia and Paul had managed to live in Paris, Marseilles, Germany, and Oslo among his assignments. In the duration, Julia had worked with Louisette and Simca, two French chefs, on a cookbook that was years in the making. In many ways, Avis was the fourth author of this book. She was the force to get it published in the United States through her contacts. In reading this book compiled by the author, the letters do go into details about food a little too much for me. Avis was also an accomplished chef. But it's a fascinating look at American life and the world of letter writing between two exceptional, brilliant women who revolutionized the publishing and cuisine industries to this day.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This is the kind of book where you come to know the writers like friends, grow to love them, and feel their joys and tragedies as your own. In the opening sections I was captivated by the chatty, literate voices of Avis and Julia, their generous wit and intelligence, and the exciting political and cultural circles in which they moved even more than any of the specific--and also wonderful--information about food. Avis is married to the noted Harvard historian, novelist, and Harper's columnist Bernard DeVoto and knows everybody, writing about Adlai Stevenson, Archie MacLeish, and the scions of American publishing as houseguests and `lambs.' Speaking of Dorothy de Santillana, a top editor at Houghton Mifflin, she remarks, "She used to be married to Robert Hillyer [a Pulitzer prize-winning poet and novelist]. She is now married to Giorgio de S., who is an Italian marquis and teaches history of philosophy at MIT and is a darling. . . You'll die when you meet Dorothy because she is very beautiful and enormously fat--I think this is really one of the rare glandular cases--it makes no difference because she is a great natural force and men gravitate towards her like flies. I'm quite sure she'd give her eye teeth to get this particular book."
I was both amused and intrigued by this breezy kind of talk and the up close and personal views of American literati, their dinners and cocktail parties, and Julia's and Avis's thoughts on such subjects as the `new' stainless steel knives, Dick Nixon, frozen vegetables, roasting chickens, the French, Peyton Place, and McCarthyism. It was like being steeped in pitch-perfect Fifties culture as experienced by tremendously talented, intelligent women immersed in domesticity and serving others and yet somehow managing, quite heroically I might add, to craft lives where their own remarkable gifts shine through. It took me a while to realize just how courageous these women were because part of their outward cheeriness and generosity towards others is making it all look not that hard. As the years roll by and their labors on Julia's manuscript and for their families continue, you start to see along with all the recipes and other commentary more of the very real hardships they face and the steadfast determination that gets them through. The book is organized by editor Reardon so that you know when something very tragic or really wonderful is about to happen, and then you live through it with the women in their letters as it occurs. This makes for an incredibly engrossing, affecting read. As the Booklist reviewer pointed out, Avis thought Julia's book was as exciting as a novel, and their correspondence about creating a culinary masterpiece and surviving the ups and downs of midlife is certainly the same. In fact, it's richer, more sumptuous, true, and moving than almost anything I've read this year. You don't even have to be that interested in food or cooking to get swept up by the story. Thank goodness Houghton Mifflin had the good sense to publish their book this time!
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) For those of us whose appetite for all things Julia was whetted by My Life In France and the movie Julie and Julia, As Always, Julia is a gift. A bonus is getting to know the inimitable Avis deVoto, a vibrant and memorable character in her own right, whose role in creating the phenomenon that was Julia Child and Mastering The Art Of French Cooking deserves to be better known.
Things began in 1951 when Harvard historian and foodie Bernard deVoto wrote an article for Harper's on the abysmal quality of American made kitchen knives. Julia Child wrote in response, mentioning her interest in French cooking for American kitchens and sending along a French knife. Bernard's wife/secretary Avis wrote back in thanks, requesting recipes for a couple of French dishes she remembered fondly from a trip abroad. Their ensuing correspondence resulted in a deep friendship and the eventual publication of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking, revolutionizing American kitchens, supermarkets and, it can be argued, quality of life. As Avis would say, "Wow." The French Chef and the Cambridge hostess had much in common. They were both curious and avid readers, loved parties, wines, politics, jokes and cooking and eating great food. These letters sparkle, even when the contents are gloomy. Julia's humor, honesty and exuberance leap from the page, her zest for life evident even when relating an anecdote about a truly awful ladies' luncheon in Oslo. It's prefaced with a succinct, "Gawd!" and ends with "Ugh." In addition, there is delightful commentary on people and events and wonderful glimpses inside Julia's marriage to that Renaissance man, Paul Child through their many moves, language lessons, health issues and conflicts between his job and her own ambitions. For her part, Avis' letters reveal a sharp and rigorous intellect, a deep commitment to home and family, and wide ranging interests. They provide a fascinating picture of domestic life among the Cambridge intelligentsia in the second half of the last century. Highly entertaining descriptions of what was available in grocery stores, uses of aluminum foil, quality of frozen vegetables, meals she cooked (often with the benefit of Julia's coaching) and parties she attended are interspersed with blunt and perceptive characterizations of public figures; Sen. Joseph McCarthy "...really insane," President Eisenhower "a dope;" and Adlai Stevenson "a nice man." It was Avis who knew the ins and outs of publishing and while MTAOFC might have seen the light of day without her help, it was her suggestions, contacts and guidance that made the book what it is. From initial feelers to Dorothy de Santillana (resident of The Pnk Palace), the only woman editor at Houghton Mifflin, through the devastating news that after seven years of consideration and work, HM turned it down, Avis was its indefagitable champion and just as euphoric as the Childs when it found its home at Knopf. Her letter to the Childs delivering the news is one of the most eloquent and charming in the book, espressing love, respect and admiration and joy. My only complaint is that the footnotes are somewhat distracting and perplexing. On the one hand Ms. Reardon provides a great deal of information on people we already know about (Richard Nixon, Arthur Schlesinger, Archibald MacLeish), information on people mentioned once in passing at a dinner party or something but ignores juicy details of incidents and anecdotes we'd love to know more about. Avis and Julia run away with two-thirds of the book, leaving Ms. Reardon and her footnotes in the dust, but she really tried. The section introductions are informative and good if perhaps the book could have done with more editing--there's a lot of step by step cooking in it, and some dullish passages about long-over political debates--but better too much than too little, and one can only imagine Ms. Reardon's state of mind when faced with the task of compiling these letters. Overall it's an heroic effort, and minor quibbles are just that. Highly, highly recommended. ... Read more | |
| 3. India: An Illustrated History by Prem Kishore, Anuradha Kishore Ganpati | |
 | Kindle Edition
list price: $14.95 Asin: B002ZRQ6SQ Publisher: Hippocrene Books Average Customer Review: 
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Reviews
Dr. Lionel Maithri Perera
| |
| 4. Norse Warfare: Unconventional Battle Strategies of the Ancient Viking by Martina Sprague | |
 | Kindle Edition
list price: $29.95 Asin: B0030DFBW6 Publisher: Hippocrene Books Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review From the late 700s to the early 1000s, waves of strange and ferocious warriors from the barren lands of the North routinely swept into Britain and the Western Roman Empire. Plundering and pillaging, they left ruins in their wake; their trembling victims never knew when or where they would strike next. Hailing from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, yet beholden to no single king, government, or god, the Vikings fought for personal glory, material wealth, and a longing for adventure. They roamed as far as the Arab world, always following the code, "live hard, die with honor." Reviews
| |
| 5. Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms,and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories by Simon Winchester | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $27.99 -- our price: $15.47 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0061702587 Publisher: Harper Sales Rank: 159 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Atlantic is a biography of a tremendous space that has been central to the ambitions of explorers, scientists, and warriors, and continues to affect our character, attitudes, and dreams. Poets to potentates, seers to sailors, fishermen to foresters—all have a relationship with this great body of gray and heaving sea. Winchester chronicles that relationship, making the Atlantic come vividly alive. More than a mere history, Atlantic is an unforgettable journey of unprecedented scope by one of the most gifted writers in the English language. Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Simon Winchester's Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories is an arm chair explorers dream and yet another installment in a growing list of terrific books. Filled to brimming with stories of exploration and heroic figures, Winchester sees the Atlantic Ocean as the well spring from which all (or the major part) of European history and greatness finds its roots. Atlantic is as much a biography of the Atlantic Ocean as any other biography and a detailed examination of how some of mankind has interacted with that ocean and been affected by it.
Not wanting to omit anything, Winchester begins the story with an investigation into the formation of the Atlantic basic 370 million years ago and rapidly advances to relatively modern times. Vikings, Norsemen, Portuguese, Dutchmen, the French, English, all have their place in Winchester's book. The title includes the phrase "Million Stories" and surely this is true. As I was reading Atlantic, I was often mindful of the fact that the stories included in the book aren't all of the stories; that there are more forgotten tales than there are remembered tales. That realization is numbing when you think about it. Still, Winchester has managed to pull together a gripping read. If you're a lover of adventure and history you'll want to spend some time with Atlantic. Simon Winchester's previous works include three terrific books among other writings. The Professor and the Madman (1998), The Map that Changed the World (2001), and The Crack at the Edge of the World (2005) are all extremely readable and highly interesting. Atlantic is certainly equally interesting. I highly recommend Atlantic by Simon Winchester. Peace always.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Atlantic is not easily described. I'm a science & history reader and so I believed I was undertaking another topical read. That was my mistake. Atlantic is a gently rolling hybrid of a travelogue, life journey story, geological epochs, and human history rolled up in a manner to grab the attention of the curious mind seeking the really `big picture' of half a billion years. Hundreds of books have been written to address the particulars of Atlantic's topics. From this legacy of writings and observations, Winchester derives a kind of "organic" Atlantic to describe with mans 'brief' encounter. Winchester pulls the many layers of man's history and experience together in just the right format of snip-it's in context to permit the reader to witness an Ocean that might otherwise be `missed' as a 400 million year old `life form'.
This is not a technical read. It is an enjoyable, personal armchair reflection of man's geo-socio-rhetorical relationship with the Atlantic. It might be best enjoyed on your next transatlantic flight or on beach vacation or, if you're really lucky, a ship crossing looking out over the seas horizon ahead and behind. Sans the pain of an Atlantic flight, it is a poetic writing for all that have stared out across the pond and wondered. You are guaranteed to become the resident savant of Atlantic trivia at your next dinner party. The reader can relate to the author's penchant and his coming to terms with a life lived around the often unnoticed Atlantic's defining nature for Western civilization. The core story is the "Atlantic" ... man is the context around the story. Great book!
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Simon Winchester's enjoyable sail through thousands of years of Atlantic history could easily double as a useful general primer on western civilization. Covering everything from the Phoenicians, chilean sea bass, Cadiz, and norse dragon ships to deep sea trawlers and the mid ocean mountain range, this book explores related fishy subjects down through the centuries.
"Atlantic" can be nicely entertaining about its subjects, even if it's rather like a wine tasting party in overall coverage of any specific topic, say, on Germany's two fearsome submarine campaigns. In subduing this leviathan of biographies, Mr. Winchester turned to William Shakespeare for inspiration. He reveals his storyline as, "A stage setting that would transmute all the themes of ocean life into players, progressing for infancy to senescence, so that all could be permitted to play their parts in turn." Like weathering patches of rain squalls, Mr. Winchester's story tacks through brief bands of science and lore followed by rather intense short periods of history and geography story telling. Only rarely will the reader find himself fogbound in Mr. Winchester's reminiscenes. Indeed, his personal quest on Namibia's Skeleton Coast in the epilogue, is wonderful reading. This fine book is clearly not intended to be the last word on maritime references. But for any readers wanting a learned, entertaining and lucid introduction to a vast foggy subject, Mr. Winchester's "Atlantic" could certainly be their favorite.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) What an interesting read. We needed a book like this. It talks about the history of the Atlantic Ocean and how she fared with the ships at sea. There were many battles in this ocean (still are) hundreds of ships and boats havetheir last resting place here with Titanic being the most famous one. But it's not just about the ships itself. No, the story is about the Atlantic Ocean and how she has survived through time during storms,battles, destruction, enviroment, weather, you name it and it's here.
The only problem is that when you read the proofs to a book that has yet to be published, things tend to be out of place. Usually, this isn't noticable but here, you have pictures that are blocked with the source of where it comes from, spelling errors and things like that. What I have is basically a reviewers copy. Does it deter from the reading and enjoyment? No because if you are a fan of history, then this book for you will bring you enjoyment. It's also easy on the eyes which will wander to the bottom of the page where the footnotes are. Now, I like the footnotes here instead of the back of the book because this way it doesn't take away from the reading and you can understand things a bit more. Atlantic Ocean is the most popular one if you live in the U.S and Canada so it's something we should know about seeing as how one person goes out there every second on a daily basis. Reading this will give us a better understanding.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) A book like this creates a slice with which to orchestrate an essay.
One of the finest I have ever seen is Europe Between the Oceans by Barry Cunliffe, the story of Europe from 9000 BC through 1000 AD. This history of the Atlantic Ocean is quite good, a way for the author to weave the hydrological with the great explorers, the mapping with the peoples, the battles with the flows of peoples. The result is a window to the human condition as it plays out against the grey waters. I enjoyed the author weaving some of his own visits to places -- Monaco for charts and naming of the seas, for example, and he always seems to be sailing past a headland -- with his eye for events, such as the grand exploratory tour of the HMS Challenger. He uses clear, simple and engaging writing. I am never sure that these sorts of volumes really hang together, in the sense that there is no one story of the Atlantic, rather a series of short essays around the basin, so to speak. But the book is very interesting, the Atlantic from north to south, from cables on the ocean floor to the great ships above. The great scope tells the story of the peoples as they rose against this great ocean, and were consumed within it. ... Read more | |
| 6. Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $25.99 -- our price: $15.27 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0307453278 Publisher: Crown Sales Rank: 126 Average Customer Review: 
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This book is a great read, and a lot of fun into the bargain. This is the story of a little-known British anti-Nazi espionage plan to divert attention from D-Day in Sicily. There has been brief mention of this tale in several books concerning the British spy systems during WWII, But never before have all of the actual real-life details been revealed. If you enjoy reading of the derring-do exploits of some during war time, this is the book for you. If you are interested in the history of WWII, this is the book for you, if you enjoy spy stories- this will suit you to a "T".
The tale begins inauspiciously enough with the combination of a poor Welsh laborer and aristocratic MI5 officers, it proceeds through a poor Spanish fisherman and the halls of power in Germany to Hitler's desk! The results of all of this chicanery are astonishing, resulting in a triumph for the Allied forces that leads to a successful invasion of Italy. This tale encompasses stolen bodies, massive cover-ups by the British government, a veritable warren of European spies, and a submarine. The book is well written and consuming, the type of book that one reads in 1 day, because one can not bear to put it down until all plot twists are revealed. The review copy did not have many illustrations, but I would imagine that the final book itself will be well-provided with images of the protagonists, doesn't matter- the book grips you with vivid descriptions and thumbnail sketches of it's own. For all WWII buffs, lovers of European history, spy thriller fans and many others, this is the book for you. Hugely recommended !
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Having read numerous spy novels over the years, I am proud to say that "Operation Mincemeat" is far better than the vast majority. It is riveting, insightful, exciting, and incredibly difficult to put down. The author demonstrates intimate knowledge of his subject matter with exhaustive research and shares his enthusiasm with wit and style. I want to particularly acknowledge the vivid characterizations throughout the book, each of which brings to life a real-life persona, even those with only passing relevance to the story, in a way that adds to the excitement and drama of this successful wartime operation.
The author assumes at the start that most readers have heard of "Operation Mincemeat" and know the basics. However, not being an World War II enthusiast of any sort, I knew nothing of this story prior to picking up this book. Setting aside any apprehension, I dove straight in, and I don't regret a moment of the time spent soaking up all of the vivid details. I can safely say that even war history novices with no prior knowledge of this bold World War II intelligence operation will never be lost or confused. This is remarkable non-fiction storytelling at its finest, and I would not hesitate to recommend this title to everyone.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I came across this story in the 1950s as a schoolboy reading "The Man who Never Was" and seeing the movie. I didn't think there was much more to tell until I read this book, where a combination of new facts (like the Enigma machine) and Ben Macintyre's easy style made me happy to read it again.
In 1943 the Allies were victorious in Africa, driving Rommel's Afrika Corps back to Italy. The next step was to invade some part of Europe, and "Operation Husky" was to take the fight to Italy. The Allies deluded the Nazis into thinking that the main attack on Sicily was just a diversion, and that the attack would fall on Greece and Corsica. Troops and weapons would be stationed in other places than Sicily, so the invasion would meet less resistance. The plan was outrageous, and the central figure was a dead man. The British made the Germans believe that this was a courier whose plane had crashed off the Southern Atlantic coast of Spain. Spain was ostensibly neutral, but there was a strong Nazi diplomatic presence and many Nazi sympathizers in Spain's bureaucracy. The Spanish officials, it was hoped, would let the Germans copy letters in the dead man's briefcase, and forward their finding to Berlin. The story moves from London to Wales (where the dead man came from), to Scotland where he was placed on a submarine which released the body off the Spanish coast. As the story unfolds, Ben Macintyre describes the scene and is particularly good at portraying the major characters. It would be very easy to slip into stereotypical Allied and Nazi personalities, but Macintyre shows that the cast comprises a part-Jewish German officer and an English racing car driver, and you soon get the feeling that you know these people. Macintyre shows the same skill as he did in his earlier book - "Agent Zigzag." The writing never flags and you want to know how things turned out. The book almost descends into farce when the Spanish have the documents, but aren't letting the Germans look at them, while the British have to both act like they want the documents to remain a secret while privately hoping that the Germans will be taken in by them. I chose this book because I like military history, but even if you don't I think you be carried along by it. Good writing and a great story make this one to take notice of. And of course, if you've never heard the tale before, Macintyre is the ideal guide.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) A dead body, washed up onto a neutral beach, top secret documents, invasion plans, double agents, faked papers, and security leaks. It's everything needed for a spy movie but was a genuine piece of British World War II disinformation. Bits and pieces of the story have been told for years in both non-fiction and fictionalized manners, but the full story is told here for the first time. It's a well-researched and eminently readable version of the story as well.
Of particular note for me was Ian Fleming's role in the operation and the closeness with which the Soviet spies operated all around the operation. Among items in the appendix is a copy of the original British documentation of the fake Major Martin's personal belongings, an interesting historical detail to the tale.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) On April 30, 1943, Jose Antonio Rey Maria set out with the rest of the fishing fleet of Punta Umbra, Spain to net sardines. This day, however, he pulled in a more significant catch: the body of British officer Bill Martin, a briefcase chained to his body, the apparent victim of a plane crash. The contents of that briefcase -- personal correspondence between senior officers -- convinced the Germans that the target of Operation Husky (the Allied invasion of Europe) was Greece or Sardinia, instead of the more logical choice of Sicily. The resulting change in German defense positioning laid Sicily vulnerable and resulted in far fewer casualties than initially estimated by military planners.
While fans of WWII history are familiar with the story of the Man Who Never Was, Operation Mincemeat reveals new details from recently declassified material along with a trove of personal documents from the one of the key players in the deception plan, Ewen Montagu. Operation Mincemeat discusses the history of the so-called haversack ruse (planting materials on a corpse) and the genesis of the idea for using this method as part of the overall deception plan for Operation Husky. Once the plan was approved, execution of the plot required significant attention to detail in order to present a convincing story, resolution of a string of logistical challenges (just how does one store, transport, and release a decomposing body so that it will reach shore?), and psychological manipulation of several key people within the nest of viperous spies that was wartime Spain. Mixed in with the complications of Russian spies, possibly treasonous siblings, and cameo appearances by such figures as Ian Fleming and Bill Darby, the book is a rousing ride through a part of the war that is generally unknown.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) If you thought you knew the story of "The Man who Never Was" from film or book, you didn't have the whole story, and here it is - at least most of it and I suppose all we'll ever know of it until the files of Soviet intelligence are opened and a few more i's can be dotted and t's crossed. For, you see, the brother of one of the major architects of the scheme to deceive Hitler about the pending invasion of Sicily was likely a Soviet spy. As is, this book is popular history at its best with a fantastic cast of characters from Ian Fleming and Winston Churchill to Adolph Hitler and Nazi intelligence operators who wanted to deceive him. A rip roaring good tale neatly told. A page turner if there ever was one.
| |
| 7. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $24.99 -- our price: $15.99 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0316051640 Publisher: Little, Brown and Company Sales Rank: 188 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
| |
| 8. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $29.95 -- our price: $17.51 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0465002390 Publisher: Basic Books Sales Rank: 336 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Bloodlands is a new kind of European history, presenting the mass murders committed by the Nazi and Stalinist regimes as two aspects of a single history, in the time and place where they occurred: between Germany and Russia, when Hitler and Stalin both held power. Assiduously researched, deeply humane, and utterly definitive, Bloodlands will be required reading for anyone seeking to understand the central tragedy of modern history. Reviews
| |
| 9. Why the West Rules--for Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future by Ian Morris | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $35.00 -- our price: $23.10 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0374290024 Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Sales Rank: 462 Average Customer Review: 
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Sometime around 1750, English entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding energies of steam and coal, and the world was forever changed. The emergence of factories, railroads, and gunboats propelled the West’s rise to power in the nineteenth century, and the development of computers and nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its global supremacy. Now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, many worry that the emerging economic power of China and India spells the end of the West as a superpower. In order to understand this possibility, we need to look back in time. Why has the West dominated the globe for the past two hundred years, and will its power last? Reviews
| |
| 10. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl | |
 | Paperback
(2006-06-15)
list price: $13.00 -- our price: $10.40 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0807014273 Publisher: Beacon Press Sales Rank: 728 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
One of the most interesting, and disturbing, issues in the book was the idea of the Capo. These were were people put in charge of their fellow prisoners, in order to keep them in line. Dr. Frankl describes these people as, often, being more harsh than the actual guards. This seems to be a disturbing lesson in the abuse of power. This also goes along with Dr. Frankl's discussion of how the camps brought out the true personality of the people within it (after all the social trapping had been stripped away): The cretins, the saints, and all of those in between. The second half of the book is made up of two sections "Logotherapy in a Nutshell," and "The Case for Tragic Optimsism." These two sections basically describe Dr. Frankl's theory on as to how to conduct therapy (Logotherapy). The idea behind this therapy is that man is driven by his search for a meaning in life. This differs from the psychoanalysis perspective (driven, at this time, by the ideas of Sigmund Freud) in that the psychoanalytic school believed that humans were driven by their unconscious desires. For Frankl, the need for meaning seems to outway the unconscious. In fact, he goes into detail about the negative effects that the abscence of meaning, or what he calls the "existential Vacuum," has on people. To illustrate many ideas, he often uses his experiences in the concentration camps, as well as various cases for treatment (which help to solidify his view of life, and therapy). I would recomend this book to almost anybody. I feel that it's interesting, and worthwhile. I would especially recomend this to people interested in psychology, as well as those who wish to learn something about the experiences within the concentration camps.
This particular work is one I keep at hand and re-read on a regular basis. I read it for the first time a few months after I started medical treatment and therapy for life-long depression. I get more from it each time I go back to it. Logotherapy manages an incredible balance. It does not put man himself at the center of the universe, thus avoiding the kind of narcissistic self-reflection common to much of the therapeutic literature today. Yet, it does not sweep man aside as irrelevant. Instead, Frankl argues that we have an incredible power to shape our attitudes and responses to the challenges life presents us and that we inevitably grow thanks to these challenges. This is a quick read and could conceivably change your life. Man is more than the sum of his biology and his environment. We inevitably choose to be who we are. Frankl's argument is that, if we choose wisely, we can triumph even in tragedy. It's a truth many of us have lost sight of in our cynicism.
After recounting the horrors of everyday life in a work camp - the initial selection process in which 90% were sent to the gas chambers while 10% were kept to extract the last ounce of work as slaves for construction firms; the Capos selected from the most brutal who had lost all scruples in order to save their life; how everything was subservient to keeping oneself and one's closest friends alive - Viktor Frankl tells of the psychological problems they met. The most important seems to be the hope of release as shown by the very high death rate in his camp in the week between Christmas 1944 and new year 1945 which had no explanation in food, treatment, weather, disease or working conditions; it was that the majority had lived in the na�ve hope that they would be home again by Christmas. In the absence of encouraging news, the prisoners lost courage; disappointment overcame them and their powers of resistance dropped. Frankl noticed that it was the men who comforted others, who gave away their last piece of bread who survived longest and who offered proof that everything can be taken but one thing - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. In the camp every decision determined whether or not you would submit to loss of inner freedom. The sort of person the prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. It is this spiritual freedom which cannot be taken away which makes life meaningful and purposeful. Only those who allowed their inner hold on their moral and spiritual selves to subside eventually fell victim to the camp's degenerating influences. Most inmates believed that the real opportunities of life had passed. In reality, however, one could make a victory of those experiences, turning them into an inner triumph. Frankl saw himself giving a lecture on the psychology of the concentration camp, living Spinoza's observation that "Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it." Armed with the insight that any attempt to restore man's inner strength had first to succeed in showing him some future goal he tried to help would-be suicides to realize that life was still expecting something from them - a loving son awaiting his return, an unfinished work to complete. When the impossibility of replacing you is realized it is impossible to throw your life away. When you know the why of your existence you will be able to bear almost any how. Frankl had to learn and then teach that it really did not matter what we expect from life but rather what life expects from us. The answer lies in right action and in right conduct; life ultimately means taking responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill tasks that it constantly sets for each individual. These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man and from moment to moment, making it impossible to define in general terms or in sweeping statements. No man and no destiny can be compared to any other man or destiny. It may require a man to shape his own fate, contemplate or accept his fate. There is only one right answer to the situation at hand. When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his single, unique task. His unique opportunity lies in the way he bears his burden. Once the meaning of suffering has been revealed, suffering has hidden opportunities for achievement. When he had the opportunity to address a group of prisoners his purpose was to help each man to find a full meaning to their life in that practically hopeless situation by pointing out the joys each had experienced in the past and that no one had suffered irreplaceable losses. Whoever was still alive had reason for hope; health, family, happiness, professional abilities, fortune, position in society, could all be restored. Life never ceases to have meaning and this infinite meaning includes suffering and dying, privation and death. God or someone alive or dead would hope to find them suffering proudly. After the war, Frankl introduced Logotherapy, which focuses on the meanings of life to be fulfilled by the patient in the future. The patient is confronted with the meaning of his life. The meaning of human existence as well as man's search for such a meaning is unique and specific and can be fulfilled by him alone. He is able to live and even to die for the sake of his ideals and values. The more that you forget yourself by giving to a cause or serving in love, the more you actualize yourself. We can discover meaning in three ways - creating a work or doing a deed; by experiencing something or encountering someone; and by the attitude we take to unavoidable suffering. When we are no longer able to change a situation such as inoperable cancer we have to change our attitude. He asks his patients to project themselves forward to their deathbed and look back on the meaningful things in their lives. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be; he has control over what he will become in the next moment. This book has certainly provided much food for thought!
This is a WONDERFUL and INSPIRATIONAL book that I recommend for anyone suffering from any tragic cirucmstance...cancer, death in the family, divorce, etc. All of the phsychiatric nonsense might help (I doubt it), but this book will get you on the right road.
The first (and largest) section of this book is the searing autobiographical account of the author's experience as a longtime prisoner in a concentration camp. These camps claimed the lives of his father, mother, brother, and wife. Frankl's survival and the subsequent miracle of this book are a testimony to man's capacity to rise above his outward fate. As Gordon W. Allport states in the preface, "A psychiatrist who personally has faced such extremity is a psychiatrist worth listening to." I agree, and highly reccommend this book. As the sub-title says, it is an "introduction" to logotherapy, and anyone who wants to go deeper into the principles and practical application of Frankl's existential psychiatry should go to his excellent "The Doctor And The Soul". Frankl was fond of quoting Nietzsche's dictum..."He who has a WHY to live can bear with almost any HOW."
My connection to Viktor Frankl dates back to a Hannukah party in which I found myself conversing with a baker who used to deliver his bread. It took me a few more years to discover this absolute gem of a book, itself both bread for the soul and leaven for the mind. The first half of this book consists of Frankl's reflection on his time in a Nazi concentration camp. "An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior," (p. 18) he notices, "Yet it is possible to practice the art of living even in a concentration camp, although suffering is omnipresent." (p. 43) Distilling the essence of his experience at the hands of the Nazis and the resilience of his soul, he states, "If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering." (p. 67) Finally, he notes that "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (p. 65) He segues into the second part of the book, a description of "logotherapy," based on the challenge learned behind barbed wire, downwind from the ovens "Whenever there was an opportunity for it, one had to give them a why--an aim--for their lives, in order to strengthen them to bear the terrible _how_ of their existence." (p. 76) Frankl states that "Man's search for meaning is a primary force in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual drives." (p. 99) He finds this meaning specific & unique to each individual. Logotherapy focuses on the future, the assignments and meanings to be fulfilled by the patient in _his_ future, breaking up the self-centeredness of the neurotic instead of fostering and reinforcing it. He believes that "the meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected," (p. 101) that "_logos_, or 'meaning', is not only an emerging from existence itself but rather something confronting existence." (p. 100) This _logos_ frustrates by not being available to finite minds, but nevertheless continues to confront man. In wrestling with this confrontation, each individual enacts their "will to meaning," defining a "meaning of life [that] differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment." (p. 110) Logotherapy sees responsibility as the very essence of human existence: "each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by _answering_ _for_ his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." (p. 111) Thus, the "categorical imperative" of logotherapy is "Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!" (p. 111) Beyond the philosophy of logotherapy, Frankl discusses technique briefly, addressing anticipatory anxiety, "it characteristic of this fear that it produces precisely that of which the patient is afraid." (p. 123) The mechanism for this is "hyper-intention," which, by focusing on the problem, magnifies the problem. He confronts this with "paradoxical intention," suggesting that the insomniac try to stay awake and that the phobic patient "intend, if only for a moment, precisely that which he fears." (p. 125) He concludes the book with "Our generation is realistic for we have come to know man as he really is. After all, man is that being who has invented the gas chambers of Auschwitz; however, he is also that being who has entered those gas chambers upright, with the Lord's Prayer or the Shema Yisrael on his lips." (p. 136) I find this short book incredibly full of life and meaning; it's one of the most powerful I've ever read. The act of creating a philosophy and psychology of life out of the horrors of Auschwitz confronts my own whinings about the discomforts I find in life. I find courage here, not just Dr. Frankl's courage, but an inspiration to my own courage, and a challenge to live more fully, to create more meaning, instead of simply accepting the meanings thrust upon me by TV sitcoms, billboards, and internet banality. The epitome of a five star book. Worthy of more if Amazon would allow it. (If you'd like to dialogue about this book, please click on the "about me" link & drop me an email. Thanks!) ... Read more | |
| 11. An Uncommon History of Common Things by Bethanne Patrick, John Thompson | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $40.00 -- our price: $26.40 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1426204205 Publisher: National Geographic Sales Rank: 2438 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
| |
| 12. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard | |
 | Paperback
(2006-10-10)
list price: $15.00 -- our price: $10.20 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0767913736 Publisher: Anchor Sales Rank: 1207 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
| |
| 13. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon (Vintage Departures) by David Grann | |
 | Paperback
list price: $15.95 -- our price: $10.85 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1400078458 Publisher: Vintage Sales Rank: 1675 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) The obstacles to proving his theory were overwhelming. As a young man Percy Fawcett became convinced that contrary to conventional wisdom a highly advanced civilization once thrived in the extremely hostile climes of the Amazon. Fawcett made his first foray into the region around 1910 and laid the groundwork for his world famous expedition in 1925. It was a journey from which he and his two associates would never return. "The Lost City of Z: A Tale Of Deadly Obsession In The Amazon" chronicles the life of this extraordinary individual and reveals just what he was up against in proving the existence of the ancient city he dubbed simply "Z".
Author David Grann, a staff writer for the New Yorker, unearthed the story of Percy Fawcett in 2004 while doing research for another project. Before long he found himself totally consumed by the Fawcett saga. He talked himself into travelling to Brazil in an attempt to find out once and for all just what happened to Percy Fawcett, his son Jack and Jack's best friend Raleigh Rimell some eight decades earlier. Suffice to say that what he discovered is a real eye-opener. While putting together "The Lost City of Z" David Grann met with members of the Fawcett family and gained access to a cache of Percy's personal papers that were previously unpublished. These documents allowed the author to gain a remarkable insight into the charactor and thought processes of his subject. The inventory of items Grann had the opportunity to look at included Fawcett's diaries and logbooks, the correspondance of his closest exploring companions and his most bitter rivals as well as journals from his military unit during the first World War. As such, it is safe to say that you will find information in this book you simply won't see anywhere else. Reading "The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession In the Amazon" has introduced me to a whole new genre of non-fiction books. I will likely seek out other titles about explorers and exploration. The truth is that David Grann grabbed my complete attention in the first few pages and never let go. I could not put it down. Very highly recommended!
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) I had never heard of Fawcett or "Z" before I read this book but found the description too interesting to pass up. It turned out to be a very good read and a real page turner; I know it sounds a bit clich�d but this is really one of those books that's hard to put down after finishing a chapter (...just one more then I'll go to sleep.)
Grann does a good job of conveying both Fawcett's fascination with the Amazon and his obsession with finding 'Z' and, I think, settles the mystery of his disappearance. Granns own adventure into the Amazon helps contrast how things have changed and how they have stayed the same since Fawcetts explorations. The thing that was really missing in the book are maps and pictures; it would have made the book so much more immersive. Even a crude map with locations of some of the villages and routes taken by the different expeditions would have been great. Hopefully this is corrected in the actual release edition and they just didn't have them in the advanced reader copies. 4 1/2 Stars (5 stars if the release copies have pictures/maps.)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) David Grann has written an exciting book about adventure, exploration, and a mysterious disappearance which occurred in the mid 1920s. Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett had a hardy constitution and a strong desire to find a lost civilization purported to exist within the Amazon jungle of Brazil. The story about such a civilization had been passed around by the Spanish conquistadors, among the first Europeans to explore South America. With the blessing of the Royal Geographical Society based in London, Percy Harrison Fawcett ventured forth with his son and his son's friend along with a local guide and carefully selected equipment. Percy Fawcett had participated in previous expeditions to this part of the world. He survived some harrowing challenges in the past, risking his life to discover and map this part of the world. His wife accepted her husband's need to explore as his destiny. It was a fire which burned within his soul, something he could never give up..
In 1888 he was a twenty one year old Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery for Great Britain and stationed in Ceylon. Part of his love of adventure and exploration developed at this time. It was in Ceylon he had received a letter with mysterious script which had been translated to relay information about lost treasure in a cave. He took a leave and discovered verdant jungles, lovely mountains, pristine beaches and people wearing flowing outfits in all the colors of the rainbow. Fawcett discovered some ruins but never did find lost treasure. However, the rumor of treasure from an ancient king buried in the region awakened his spirit and created a restlessness and need to travel and explore which would stay with him the rest of his life. It was also in Ceylon where he first fell in love. Through fate he and his wife met and socialized but eventually parted due to family interference. Later when they met again, their love was rekindled into full bloom and they married. David Grann did a vast amount of reading and research to create a book which holds the reader's interest from start to finish. One feels the strong principles and beliefs which Percy Fawcett developed over time which would not let up until he made his last and most dangerous trek into the jungle to find the lost "City of Z" which he named the ancient city he was seeking. The author writes a superb biography of this adventurer and explorer. The dangers and risks are described in detail which anyone faced who entered this wild environment. There were hostile Indian tribes. Besides the threat of being killed by Indians, explorers faced malaria infested mosquitos, pirhanas, maggots that burrowed under human flesh and the deadly pit viper snake. We must keep in mind that there were no antibiotics or other medicines to treat various illnesses. Amazingly, the author also chose to enter the Amazon jungle and retrace the route which Percy Fawcett and his entourage took in order to learn more about the man and his disappearance. He and his guide met with an indiginous Indian tribe, the Kalapalos, who knew about Percy's expedition. There is a very satisfying conclusion to the book which realistically explains and solves the mysterious disappearance of Percy Harrison Fawcett and his exploration group. This is a most highly recommended book. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) Grann's take on the adventures of explorer Lt Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett is a welcome retelling about a man extremely well known in his time but somewhat unfamilar to modern readers. Unfortunately, he also takes us along on his own Amazonian trek, which may make for amusing reading to some (after all, he's a middle-aged writer for the New Yorker) but really adds little to a story that needs absolutely NO padding. The basis for this book is a 2005 article Grann wrote, and that may be a more distilled account .
Grann also is a little fast-and-loose. He consistently refers to Fawcett as a "Victorian explorer", when in fact Fawcett's first expedition wasn't until 5 years after Queen Victoria's death. A nit to some, but why not try harder? His style is chatty and adjective-heavy ("cold January day" is like saying "yellow canary") and adds a lot of details that may, or may not, be true, in describing every scene. And why throw in Charles Dickens' impressions of *his* ship's cabin when it was written 100 years before Fawcett's trip? For that metter, the bibliography is padded with Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, and even Hobbes' "Leviathan", but is missing two of the best books about Fawcett, Harold T. Wikins' "Mysteries of Ancient South America" and "Secret Cities of Old South America". Also missing: MAPS! How can you write a book about an Amazonian expedition and not include a SINGLE map? Photos would have been nice, too. I've been interested in Fawcett for many years, so maybe I'm overly critical. It's still a good book, easy to read and a terrific introduction to this fascinating personality. I just wish it had a lot less Grann to it.
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?) This book was very engaging, and kept my interest throughout. The author very cleverly combined his story with the Colonels. It provided some real insight in to life in the Amazon, then and now. It also opened my eyes to what the indigenous population tolerated from outsiders. The irony at the end was extremely interesting, I won't give it away.. I found the book did end rather abruptly though. I was left with quite a few questions. Such as: was there more to the story of the ring? Does the tribe that may have killed Faucett still exist? If not, did they have a main camp that could have been found? Overall the book was very good, and if you are looking for a fascinating, if open-ended adventure story, you won't go wrong here.
... Read more | |
| 14. The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman | |
 | Paperback
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $10.88 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0312425074 Publisher: Picador Sales Rank: 1816 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
| |
| 15. The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914 by David McCullough | |
 | Paperback
list price: $20.00 -- our price: $12.01 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0671244094 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Sales Rank: 2142 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Truman, here is the national bestselling epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal. In The Path Between the Seas, acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of this grand enterprise. The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale. Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs), The Path Between the Seas is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the history of technology, international intrigue, and human drama. Reviews
This big book is necessary to tell a big tale. The effort to build the Path Between the Seas across the isthmus of Panama lasted from the 1870's through 1914. In a nutshell, first the French tried and failed to build a sea level crossing at Panama. This was in pursuit of a vision held by many national leaders in order to cut thousands of miles from the journey from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans. The Americans picked up where the French left off, and after a decade succeeded in creating a crossing using locks and a man-made lake. What McCollough does so well is flesh out the above nutshell. It is a tale that would not be believed if written as fiction. The level of incompetence, misfeasance and malfeasance, wondrously peculiar personalities, engineering failures and brilliance, vision and size astound the reader and underscore how that age relied more upon enthusiasm, idealism and optimism in the pursuit of grand efforts than does our careful and measured era. The French followed the builder of the Suez Canal into the jungles of Panama. Tens of thousands of French families invested their life savings in the stock of a company that had no plans for the actual canal, very little good data of conditions on the isthmus, no idea of the amount of earth required to be removed, and no budget that would pay for the grand adventure. After spending the 1870's and 1880's mired in the jungle, losing tens of thousands (mostly black Caribbean workers -- the people who really built the canal) to disease and accident, raising increasingly more expensive capital in desperate gambles to stay afloat, the French effort collapsed. Shame, ignominy and jail awaited some of the project leaders. Their effort will amaze the reader -- that such an ill-conceived (that's too much of a compliment it wasn't even conceived at all beyond "we'll dig it -- viva la France!") undertaking could consume much of the savings of middle class France reminds one of how susceptible people can be to charlatans and swindlers. Into the breach stepped Teddy Roosevelt. This story once again displays the Presidents immense force of personality, drive and integrity. Evidence strongly suggests he made a revolution in Panama to win that then Colombian province away from a country that could not come to terms with the United States on acquiring the rights to dig the canal. He then ensured, through the use of highly skilled and able administrators, that the organization, logistics, financing and authority existed to make what for years stood as the world's largest construction effort. Great credit for the actual building goes to several engineers and their staff -- many US Army engineers. The success also greatly rested on Col. Gorgas and his partially successful efforts to battle disease: yellow fever, malaria and a host of others that had cost upwards of 200 of every thousand the French employed a generation earlier. McCollough brings scores of fascinating personalities to light. He tells of the financial and great political battles that attended all of the stages of the canal effort. The engineering and workings of the canal are simply and clearly laid out. The important efforts to improve sanitation and fight the mosquito borne diseases are succinctly explained. All of these elements are rendered interesting and tightly woven in this very good book.
McCullough skillfully weaves personalities and events together to create a powerful narrative replete with political intrigue, financial scandal, and triumph over tremendous adversity. The author first acquaints the reader with the leaders of the French attempt to build the canal - Ferdinand de Lesseps and his son, Charles, and Phillippe Bunau-Varilla, among others - and tells of the ultimate failure of their venture, and their disgrace due to financial scandal. McCullough then chronicles the ultimately successful American attempt to build the canal. Here is seen the political intrigue (the U.S. backed Panamanian revolution against Colombia, with the complicity of President Theodore Roosevelt, Secretary of State John Hay, and Bunau-Varilla); the successful war against yellow fever and malaria, led by American doctor William Gorgas; and the organizational and engineering genius of two American Chief Engineers - John Stevens and Colonel George Goethals - which led to the completion of the canal in 1914. "The Path Between the Seas" is more than just the story of how the Panama Canal was built; it is a well researched, historically accurate, and at the same time lively and highly entertaining account of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Highly recommended!
| |
| 16. Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky | |
 | Paperback
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $10.88 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0142001619 Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) Sales Rank: 2209 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Reviews
Because our need for salt is so fundamental, its history encompasses that of humanity. Salt was basic to many economies, Kurlansky notes. It's acted as the basis of exchange between traders, was the target of empire builders and even paid out to soldiers as a form of "salary" - hence the term. Venice, a coastal city tucked away from the main tracks of Mediterranean trade, bloomed into prominence when it discovered it could garner more profit by trading in salt than by manufacturing it. The Venetian empire and later renaissance was founded on the salt trade. Empires may be built on salt, but can be felled by misguided policies on its trade and consumption. One element leading to the downfall of the French monarchy was the hated "gabelle", or salt tax, which imposed a heavier burden on farming peasants than it did on the aristocracy. The reputation of tax evasion borne by the French relates to the resentment expressed over the salt tax. A British regulation on salt resulted in similar reaction leading to the breakup up their own Empire. It was a "march to the sea" led by Mahatma Ghandi to collect salt that galvanised resistance to British rule. Over a century after the French Revolution, the British were displaced from India for similar reasons - greed. While acknowledging the importance of salt in our lives, Kurlansky notes that determining how much is "too little" or "too much" is elusive. Many people today claim to have "salt-free" diets while remaining ignorant of how much salt is contained in our foods, both naturally and through processing. Yet, as Kurlansky records, salt has appeal beyond just the body's needs. He records numerous commentators from ancient Egypt, China and Rome who express their admiration for salt's flavour-adding qualities. Sauces based on various ingredients mixed with salt permeate the book. He notes that the salt dispenser is a modern innovation, supplementing the use of salt in cooking processes. Salt's decline in conserving food, which changed the amount of salt we consume directly, came about due to increased world trade, displacement of rural populations into cities, and, of course, war. "The first blow" displacing salt as a preservative came from a Parisian cook; a man so obscure that his given name remains disputed. Nicolas [Francois?] Appert worked out how to preserve meat by "canning". Adopted by Napoleon's armies, the technique spread rapidly. The technology of the Industrial Revolution led to effective refrigeration. Kurlansky gives an account of Clarence Birdseye's efforts to found what became a major industry. Although the topic seems overspecialised, the universal application and long historical view of this book establishes its importance. Kurlansky has successfully met an immense challenge in presenting a wealth of information. That he graces what might have been a dry pedantic exercise with recipes, anecdotes, photographs and maps grants this book wide appeal. He's to be congratulated for his worldly view and comprehensive presentation. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
I like these small, focused histories (as you've probably guessed if you've read any of the other reviews I've written). I've read many of them, including another one by Mark Kurlansky, Cod (which I rather enjoyed). So when I ran across Salt, I was certain I wanted to read it. I liked Kurlansky's style, and I already knew that the subject matter would be interesting. And it was. In Salt, Kurlansky walks through both the history of salt and the influence of salt on history, presenting a wide and varied picture of one of the [now] most common elements in our modern world. And he does this in the same engaging fashion that he used in Cod; although, with fewer recipes. So why not give it five stars? Well, it has a couple of noticable flaws that tended to detract a bit from the overall presentation. The first flaw was in the sheer number of historical snippets that were included. While I'm certain that salt has been important in the broad span of human history, there are a number of these historical anecdotes where he was clearly reaching to demonstrate the influence of salt. Salt may have been involved in these incidents, but it was peripheral at best, and the overall tone sounds too much like cheerleading. Cutting a few of these out would have shortened the book without detracting from the presentation at all. The second flaw was the meandering path that he takes through the history of salt. He generally starts early in history, and his discussion moves along roughly as history does as well; however, he has a tendency to wander a bit both forward and backward without effectively tying all of this together. I'd have preferred to either walk straight through history while skipping around the world (effectively comparing the use and influence of salt around the world) or to have taken more time to discuss why we were rewinding (effectively following one thread to its conclusion and then picking up another parallel one). To me it made the presentation a little too choppy. There have been other criticisms as well; for example, the chemistry is incorrect in a number of places, but if you're using this as a chemical reference, then you've got serious issues with your ability to library research. Of course, that begs the question of what errors are in there that we didn't catch. And it does tend to be a bit repetitive in parts; although, this could have been used to good effect if historical threads had been followed a bit more completely. While I had a few dings on the book, overall I liked it. The fact that I read it end-to-end and enjoyed the last chapter as much as the first is a testament to my general enjoyment of it. It wasn't the best book I read last year, but I'll certainly keep it on my bookshelf. So, back to my original question: does salt merit its own book? Yes, it does, but perhaps in a somewhat shorter form.
This is an informal and amusing book, filled with what seems solid research and clear thinking. Half history and half food writing, Kurlansky visits Portugese cod-fishing fleets and Roman salt mines, ancient Asian saltworks and Edmund McIlhenny's salt island in New Iberia Parish, Louisiana. He uses the repeated cycles of history to visit certain recurring themes: a human's need for salt making them vulnerable to taxation, and thence rebellion, as well as the growth of technologies, particularly drilling technologies, spurred by the need for, and want of, salt. Today, with blast freezers, refrigerated truck lines and jets that can move fresh seafood around the world, we have forgotten just how critical salt once was. Nowadays we can tinker with our salt intake and question its affect on health, but for men and women laboring under the sun in salt-poor regions, it was life itself. Kurlansky remninds us of these things, and how the humble white crystal has been part of our development as a civilization.
The descriptions of the role of salt in the American Civil War and the Caribbean islands were fascinating. Then there were the Romans, the Mayans, The Aztecs, the Chinese, the French, the Germans, the English, the Dutch, the Russians, the Scandinavians and others and their involvement with salt. The recipes for cooking with salt are aptly chosen from about 4000 years of recorded history and are remarkably similar to those in use today. The colorful view and history of the San Francisco salt ponds from an airplane were always a bit of mystery to me, but no longer. The origin of towns and cities whose name ends in "wich" was enlightening, to say nothing of Salzburg and the many salt mines in the world. In short, this book is a grand, well-written, informative and often amusing world panorama of salt filled with a host of pearls of learning. It is hard to put down and makes 449 pages pleasantly fly by, leaving you with a taste for more. If you have ever used salt, you really should read this book. ... Read more | |
| 17. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank | |
 | Kindle Edition
(2010-09-03)
list price: $13.00 Asin: B0041OT9W6 Publisher: Anchor Sales Rank: 1035 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
To understand the Holocaust (if one can understand such a thing at all), you simply have to look into the cell of a soon to be dead prisoner; to stand in the mustering ground of the prisoners' barracks and feel the hard gravel crunch beneath your feet; to peer into the terrifyingly etched interior of a human oven and let your mind try to wander its way through it all; to imagine, at the end of all other imaginings, what it must've felt like to live HERE. Not 6 million. Just you. Or someone you love. THAT'S why Anne Frank and her diary will live on. Not because it' s a well written example of literary prowess. Not because it has a magnificent plot. Not because it has lasting value as a work of literature. It will live on because it's the voice of so many people who went voiceless, who went into the night, into the dark, to be shot from behind or in front, blindfolded or eyes open, gassed in sterile shower rooms or tortured to death in the name of "science." I've read some of the reviews here, and the majority of those who gave this book anything less than five stars usually point to the diary's defecincies in the "interesting" section. Time and time again, that's exactly why I found this book to be so engrossing - whatever faults it has comes from the writer not being a writer! She was a girl, on verge of her flowering into womanhood, full of the hopes and dreams and fears we all are at that age. Whatever picture this book paints is one of her, to remind us not only of who she was and that she was real but also to remind us of those 6 million (and more, so many more, in those ghastly 6 years of death) silent voices. The trip to Buchenwald was not totally disenheartening. In the middle of the mustering grounds is a small marker, maybe 4 feet by 4 feet, surrounding by a small collection of flowers and cards. It's made entirely of a steely gray metal, and in the middle of it is a small square with words on it: Albaner, Algerier, Andarraner, Argentinier, Agypter, Belgier, Baenier.... These are the German names of all the nationalities of all the people who died in World War II. They comprise 60 different nationalities. At the bottom is written K.L.B. But the most spectacular thing happened when I touched the plaque - it was warm. It's kept heated, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, in the depths of winter or in the middle of Germany's summer season, in the memory of all those who died. Our tour guide explained it to me, in his accented English: "It stands for the warmth of those who have passed, the life. They are gone, yet this warmth remains. Life remains." That's why Anne Frank's diary is what it is: life remains because of it.
Every detail of Anne's experience rang true -- there were no doubts in my mind as I read it that this truly was Anne's diary, even though I knew parts of it were missing. The way she wrote spoke to me as a human being in general, but as a 12 year old it was amazing to me to realize that this person who was going through such an awful ordeal also had some of the same feelings, experiences, emotions, worries, hopes, and dreams that I did. Anne Frank's diary encouraged me to start keeping my own. This is obviously a book about World War II, but it's also about adolescence, the human condition, families, and writing. It's possibly one of the most important books of the 20th century.
I admire Anne Frank. Some negative reviewers said that there is nothing to admire about Anne - that she only reacted to a situation that she had no choice but to be in. They also stated that she is not a good writer - but I disagree. I admire the way she was able to see herself and to be able to put her thoughts and feelings into words. I tried keeping a diary myself, but found that the only things I put in it were descriptions of my daily events - I was unable to portray any emotion or feelings. I loved this book because it is about the holocaust which is one of the most significant events in history. It is an easy way to learn about the holocaust. Obviously if someone is looking for extensive knowledge regarding this then a diary of a young lady is not the right type of book. But for those of you who would like to learn about it from someone who was there - then this is the book for you. And, for those who have negative comments - try keeping a diary and let's see if yours is interesting enough to be published - let alone considered to be one of the best books of all time!
| |
| 18. World War II: The Definitive Visual History by DK Publishing | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $40.00 -- our price: $26.40 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 0756642787 Publisher: DK Publishing Sales Rank: 1729 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review
Reviews
| |
| 19. The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $26.00 -- our price: $17.16 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1439112894 Publisher: Touchstone Sales Rank: 6751 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review The past is a foreign country. A time machine has just transported you back to the fourteenth century. What do you see? How do you dress? How do you earn a living and how much are you paid? What sort of food will you be offered by a peasant or a monk or a lord? And more important, where will you stay? The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England is not your typical look at a historical period. This radical new approach shows us that the past is not just something to be studied; it is also something to be lived. All facets of everyday life in this fascinating period are revealed, from the horrors of the plague and war to the ridiculous excesses of roasted larks and medieval haute couture. Through the use of daily chronicles, letters, household accounts, and poems of the day, Morti-mer transports you back in time, providing answers to questions typically ignored by traditional historians. You will learn how to greet people on the street, what to use as toilet paper, why a physician might want to taste your blood, and how to know whether you are coming down with leprosy. From the first step on the road to the medieval city of Exeter, through meals of roast beaver and puffin, Mortimer re-creates this strange and complex period of history. Here, the lives of serf, merchant, and aristocrat are illuminated with re-markable detail in this engaging literary journey. The result is the most astonishing social history book you're ever likely to read: revolutionary in its concept, informative and entertaining in its detail, and startling for its portrayal of humanity in an age of violence, exuberance, and fear. Reviews
| |
| 20. Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices by Mosab Hassan Yousef | |
 | Hardcover
list price: $26.99 -- our price: $17.81 (price subject to change: see help) Isbn: 1414333072 Publisher: SaltRiver Sales Rank: 2591 Average Customer Review:
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France | Japan |
|
Editorial Review Reviews
| |
| 1-20 of 100 1 2 3 4 5 Next 20 |
sixth grade book, May 15, 2009
It's not interestingly written!, February 13, 2009