No comments about Tragic Knowledge: Yeats's Autobiography and Hermeneutics.

No comments about Charles I 1625-1640 (Seminar Studies in History).

1 comments about James Joyce: 2.

1. I was looking for a biography on Joyce and was pleasantly surprised by this one. I picked it up for a very cheap price. Despite the fact that it is brief, it offers the basic outlines of the great man's life and is an excellent introductory work. There seems to be pictures on every page which was a wonderful side benefit as the visual images tell a story of their own. Before reading this, I really had no idea as to how autobiographical Joyce's fiction was. That so many of characters parallel people he knew was unexpected given the unbridled level of creativity he possessed. Upon finishing it, I immediately wanted to read more about his life in Trieste and Paris which I will do in the future.

No comments about The Warden.

No comments about Oscar Wilde : Recent Research, A Supplement to 'Oscar Wilde Revalued' (1880-1920 British Authors Ser).

2 comments about Voices from Vilna.

1. Ms. Greenberg's assembly of these letters and her brief and pointed comments communicate a love affair in a distant time across the world and the love of Ms. Greenberg of her antecedents. All of this in the context of one of the many times of horrific turmoil in the 20th Century. A worthy companion to Anne Frank's Diary and other personal accounts by victims of tyrants, who, notwithstanding their suffering, look to the future with optimism.



2. Jack Bershad's review is right on the button. It is everything he said it was, and more. Dr. Greenberg's Voices From Vilna is poignant, and priceless. It brings you to tears, while revealing the courage of everyday heroes. It is a book everyone should read.

No comments about Female Activists: Irish Women and Change 1900-1960.

1 comments about The Agony and the Ecstasy: Stephen Roche's World of Cycling.

1. This book tells the tale of the rise of one of Ireland's greatest professional cyclists, Stephen Roche. It is co-authored by David Walsh, who also wrote the definitive biography of Ireland's other great professional cyclist, Sean Kelly.

   Roche describes his humble beginnings as a milk man apprentice for his father through his rise through the ranks to become only the second cyclist to win the "Triple Crown," the Tour of Italy, The Tour of France and the World Championship in 1987.

   Packed with details only an insider would know, Roche and Walsh have written a highly entertaining and informative book about the world of professional cycling, the greatest sport in the world.

5 comments about Hitler's Last Courier.

1. You would -very much- enjoy this book for the following reasons:
   * It is very informative. It is a social analysis of the Nazi Germany. You come to understand everyday life in Germany and how they (especially the younger ones) were indoctrinated, why they supported Hitler, even in the desperate final days. "We were willing to forgo our lives, as a sacrifice for Fuehrer and fatherland". "In the great scheme of things, we had been taught, our individual lives belonged to the nation. Not for us to live on, but for the nation to survive".
   * It is an easy read. The book was divided into many chapters.
   * Well-written. It reads almost like a novel. Other than the historical information, the author writes about his personal experiences which are not related to history that's being written around him, like the chapter "love and lust". These personal stories don't take away from the book or become a distraction; they add literary beauty.
   Overall, very good book.



2. Having read a great many Eastern Front and last days of Berlin accounts, I can't just can't be certain of Lehmann's account.

   It seems unbelievable to me that he was a part of Hitler's last public appearance outside of the Bunker, an appearance of which we know photographs do exist - see Hitler Youth, The Hitlerjugend in War and Peace 1933-1945, by Brenda Ralph Lewis, Spellmount, 2000 p185 - and yet there is not one photograph of the event (or indeed any photographs of Lehmann except for 1946 and 2000 pen portraits) contained in the book. For such a keen young photographer, it seems almost as unbelievable that not one of his photographs (or his family's) has survived and/or warranted inclusion in the book.

   Finally, having received a shrapnel wound as serious as he seems to depict in early 1945, I find it hard to accept the account of his recovery. He goes from continuing severe pain on walking and fever only days before his release from hospital, to contiuing pain while standing on a train to his grandfather's house on leave, to no mention of any continuing side effects only ten days later when he rejoins his original Kampfgruppe.

   Fact or fiction - your guess is as good as mine when you compare this seemingly incredible account to works from Sajer, Voss, Koschorrek or Zoepf.




3. I've often wondered what I would have done as a youth, given the Nazi dominance in Germany during the 1930s. I was always obedient as a child, so I empathize with Armin's experience. I can see ME in his actions, his pride, and his resoluteness to protect the Fuhrer.
   
   To his credit, as other reviewers have stated, he was able to honestly appraise his upbringing and bring his soul to a place of passionate resolve to help the rest of us understand and resist the type of hatred that Nazism stands for.
   
   I will not criticize him for any hsitoric inaccuracies. It is clearly his personal experience that is the core of this book. It is well written and a testament to the belief that personal insight can lead to positive changes in a cynical world.



4. Mr. Lehmann's writing shows us how henous things comes to be. For those without sin, cast the first stone. I truely beleive this book shows how one of the most evil men came to rise without resistance, only to move on to become one of the most evil man in history. We can only refrain from repeating the past by learning history's lesson. Excellent book.



5. Hitler's Last Courier shows us what life was like for a teenager growing up in Hilter's National Socialistic Germany.
   Being a 17 year old teenager,myself, I found this book quite interesting because he was a year younger than I am, and it made me think what that would have been like. Imagine, serving in the Hitler Youth, being wounded in combat, awarded the Iron Cross by Hitler, becoming Hitler's personal dispatcher, and being captured by the Russians...all at the age of 16.
   I have read numerous war novels, from both sides of WW11. These incredible accounts by Lehmann tell us a story, unlike any other. People hardly hear about the German side of WW11,let alone Hitler's last days, and the life of a Hitler Youth soldier. This book combines all of that to create a spellbinding novel.
   Over time, I have become a good friend of Mr. Lehmann. It is an honor to know such a humble man who has devoted his life to insuring peace, and keeping his story alive. It has to be passed on.
   I would recommend this book to anybody with an interest in history. I also recmmended this book to teens, my age, because they should learn the events of the past, especially from a different side of WW11. They should become aware of the countless numbers of sacrifices people made for their countries and how desperate Hitler became towards the end of the war. Rather than surrender, he sent thousands of teen-soldiers to be slaughtered for a cause that would soon come to a bloody end.
   This truly is a story that should be told,as well as one that should never be forgotten.
   
   Thank YOU Armin Lehmann.

No comments about The Royal Irish Constabulary: A History and Personal Memoir (Classics of Irish History) (Classics of Irish History).