5 comments about No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Excape, A Perilous Climb.

1. I'm a big fan of WWII prisoner of war tales, both real (The Long Walk, Ghost Soldiers, et al) and fictional (King Rat, Bridge on the River Kwai, et al), so I was intrigued by this account by an Italian of how he and two companions escaped their POW camp, climbed Mt. Kenya, and then snuck back into camp several weeks later. Unfortunately, while their adventure was undoubtedly remarkable, it never really comes alive in Benuzzi's book. I suspect much of the problem for me is that I know nothing about mountaineering and don't particularly find it interesting. The other difficulty I had was with the flatness of the prose, whether this is due to a weak translation or to Benuzzi's writing in a foreign language I don't know, but in any event, I found it rather tepid. So while I think the whole idea of his adventure is wonderful and in rather brilliant dark humor, I didn't find the telling equally so.



2. This book is a welcome change from all the peak bagging, egoistical, mountain-conquering books out there. The author talks so poetically about the beauty of the mountain , that its hard to remain unaffected. Their mission is extremely pure and simple - to climb Mt. Kenya, although some people might say that it was an irresponsible thing to do in the middle of war .... The truth is that its a fantastic description of their whole adventure, with graphic descriptions of the jungle and how they made it with POW rations and home-made climbing gear. A true mountaineering classic !



3. I really enjoyed this book. It sounds almost whimsical that POWs would go to all this trouble and face considerable personal danger to escape, climb a mountain, and then go right back to the prison camp, but the way Benuzzi describes it, it makes a certain sense. The painstaking process of preparing for the trip - which included all the risks and difficulties of a "typical" prison break plus the demands of an Alpine climb - is told in a matter-of-fact, rather dry fashion. (On nominating the third man for the party: "He had never climbed a mountain in his life. The only reason why we decided to try him was because he was universally thought to be mad as a hatter, and mad people were what we needed.") Benuzzi's descriptions of the scenes on the way up the mountain are glorious, and of the return to camp are funny and quite touching. A very enjoyable pocket-adventure story that deserves to be better known.



4. I enjoy escape stories & the first half of this book was a typical WW2 escape story. The story has humour throughout & their task - to climb Mount Kenya - was quite an undertaking. What I liked best was the author's personality / humour & seeing things from an Italian and African perspective. His descriptions of the types of people in the prison camp are awesome. Day to day camp life is well described also.
   
   I think it took great guts to attempt what they did but to me the scariest parts were sleeping in the jungle with little or no shelter & no weapons. Who know's what type of beasts they may come across? I felt the second half of the book which describes more of the climb itself was more boring. When I got into this part I was mostly looking forward to finishing the book & getting onto something else. It is unique & I don't think in all the escape books I have read anyone has ever had their main intention be to escape back into their camp. That took a little bit of the interest away for me.
   
   It is a good story & I think the author would be a very interesting person to meet but the book was just middle of the road as far as true adventure stories I have read.



5. Felice Benuzzi wound up in a Second World War POW camp close to the foot of Mount Kenya, a mountain that is higher than the highest alp in Europe. Prison camps are boring; soon Benuzzi, who went on to become an ambassador in post-war Italy's diplomatic service, was dreaming of scaling the mountain he saw beyond the barbed wire of his confines.
   
   Eventually he did break out, and with the help of two fellow prisoners and rudimentary mountain climbing equipment they had made in the prison camp, he and a fellow prisoner ascended one of Mount Kenya's peaks, where they planted an Italian flag. A great story of adventure and humanity that loses a little of its lyricism in its translation into English. Great reading for all ages.

No comments about World War II-Hometown and Home Front Heroes: Life-Experience Stories from the Carolinas' Piedmont.

No comments about Life Inside the Wire.

1 comments about We Will Not Be Strangers: Korean War Letters between a M.A.S.H Surgeon and His Wife.

1. This book is very good. It has complete detail of life and death at a MASH unit. It is sad yet unbelievably true. A must for M*A*S*H fans. This book is about the real thing

No comments about Civil War Marine.

5 comments about Major Bob Unvarnished: Why We Keep Making the Same Mistakes.

1. Very though provoking book. Would recommend it to friends and relatives



2. His unique experience an an SF Operator and his real world experiences and Lessons Learned but Ignored by the Current crop of Managers (Not Leaders) makes this a great read. Accurate, Factual and without Bias, this is a must read for anyone who wonders why the Global War on Terrorism is stumbling.



3. Major Bob has truely knocked one out of the park with this insightful and gripping reality check. I was delightfully pleased to see that someone in our society still has the nerve to tell it like it is. This book should be mandatory reading in Congress, for White House staffers and in every military institution of higher learning. Major Bob drills down to the very core of the problem and addresses in a very direct way, why we, the United States of America, keeps making the same mistakes. My only regret in reading it; it wasn't longer.



4. Major Bob has a very interesting theory as to what may happen if we just pull all our troops out of Iraq as the liberals want! It is hard to disagree with him. It very well could "play out" just as he suggests and would be catastrophic for our country and way of life. Read it!



5. Major Bob pulls no punches in telling his story but I felt the actual writing didn't pull you in as it should have. The topics are certainly timely but the writing style was sophmoric.

5 comments about Enemy in the Promised Land.

1. The writer thought she has written about Israel. But actually she has written just about the things that her narrow perception has caught. The fact that she is very bright misleading to conclude she is reflecting the reality.



2. i was very impressed with her ability to analises but very dissapointed to see that she have turn every thing sweet and nice to bitter and bad.



3. While the book contains many biographical and historical information, the book i s centered around three years the author, daughter of an Egyptian career diplomat, spent in Israel, long before Israel and Egypt established diplomatic relations. Israel, Hebrew and things Jewish have always held a fascination for the author, and she decided to visit Israel and see for herself what the country and its people are like. Ms. Hasan's visit to Israel met with family disaproval, a hostile Arab press and thr eats of imprisonment by her own government. Having withstood all these, the author's courage and strong will are even more note worthy.

   Right from the start, Ms. Hassan, the daughter of an Egyptian diplomat, impresse d me with her sincerity, humanity and powers of observation. Ms. Hassan encounters a very different reality from what she's read about Israel in the Arab media. "Ver y different" doesn't always mean better as it doesn't always mean worse. With envi able sensitivity, humour and humanity, Ms. Hassan is shares and disects her experienc es in the "promissed land".

   Ms. Hassan didn't enter Israel tabula rasa; She has many preconceived notions ab out the Arab-Israeli conflict, and those may or may not be different from those of h er readers. But she's very open and forthcoming in stating her views up front, and she's sincerely interested in opposing views. Her style of writing is neither preachy nor dogmatic, and so I think the book can be enjoyed by people with views different from her's.

   Her insights about life in Israel, the Israeli-Zionist ethos, and the various so cial strata she encounters are breath-taking. It's difficult to see how someone could acquir e such a profound understanding of Israel after such a short stay (3 years) in the country.

   During the three years the author spent in Israel, she underwent many experience s, some positive, some negative, some sad, and some just plainly bizzare. During th ose three years, the author has occassion to discover what Israel is really like -- to a celebrity, to an annonymous tourist, to a newly immigrated Jew, etc. She meets w ith people, is exposed to their views and feelings and fears. She finds friendship i n Israel, and love. She's also exposed to the uglier sides of life in Israel -- to the rac ism and the poverty, to the facist-militarist mind-set so many people here seem to hold, she meets, lives and works with the underprivilages -- people working in factories, a hotel kitchen, kids in a reform school. The author, Ms. Hassan, has been exposed both to the touristy side of the promissed land as well as to the less flashy, more mund ane sides.

   Throughout the book, Ms. Hassan retains her curiousity and optimism and most importantly -- her sense of humour. She's very self-critical throughout the book , demonstrating again and again how her own premises about Israel are undergoing constant revision and change.

   Her basic attitude is intellectual, positively generous and humane. This doesn't mean that she changes all her views by the end of the book, nor does it mean that she converts everyone to her side. It does mean, however, that while she's an intens ly political and intensly intellectual person, she's also able to relate to people, to see their side (even if she disagrees with it), to show ampathy and compassion for o thers, and to see their needs and fears and motives.

   As an Israeli, I found that Ms. Hassan's book certainly held a mirror up to my f ace, to let me see Israeli existance from a different angle. Unlike the other reviewer, I don't think that this mirror is the least bit distorted. I found the book inspiring, a nd I think that it's important reading material for Israelis at home and abroad, Jews every where interested in Israel or contemplating aliyah, and all others that would like to see Israel-as-it-is -- de-mystified, cleared of any romanticism, but still -- comple x, tricky, sometimes ugly and sometimes very beautiful.

   All in all, the book was a delight to read, and I'm sure I'll re-read it again.




4. I have so thoroughly enjoyed reading this book it was difficult to put it down until the very last word.

   This is the story of a young Egyptian Moslem woman, from a very wealthy family who became obsessed with Israel. She left her postgraduate studies at Harvard and went to Israel for a six-week visit that lasted three years. This all happened in the mid 70's before Sadat's visit to Jerusalem and Egypt's peace with Israel.

   Sana Hassan delved into numerous aspects of Israeli society. She lived on traditional Kibbutz and on "progressive" Kibbutz; she lived amongst new immigrants from the former Soviet Union and elsewhere learning Hebrew, Judaism and life in Israel, she went through the process of how Israel receive new arrivals. She lived in ordinary apartments in Tel Aviv and amongst the cultural elites in Jerusalem. She also managed to pass herself as a Jew and worked in Israeli factories and restaurants and allowed herself to be recruited into religious orthodox ways. Sana Hassan managed to get herself everywhere imaginable in Israel and the occupied territories.

   Sana succeeded in interacting with every possible segment of Israeli Society, politically, culturally, religiously and ethnically. From tea with Golda Meir at her house, lunch with Begin at the Knesset, and dinner with The Sharons all the way to meetings with pimps and prostitute as part of her volunteer work as a social worker. She managed to see more of Israel, perhaps than the vast majority of Israelis ever will.

   The portrayal of the Israeli society is that of a country full of contradictions and racist attitudes. We see the lowly state of Eastern Jews and an almost pervasive hierarchy based solely on racial origin and beliefs. She portrays the "subhuman" untouchable type status of the vast majority of the Israeli Arabs and the West Bank Palestinians. She portrays an Israel full of push and shove, of vulgar, inconsiderate people with unabashed racism.

   Sana Hassan also portrays an idealism, work ethic, warmth of ordinary people, capacity to love and learn and so much generosity. And yet, we see this hug mental barrier against admission or acceptance of the injustice befallen the Palestinians.

   We are also treated to two love affairs of Sana Hassan, one with a married Israeli army officer and a very passionate affair with another young woman who was her roommate at the progressive Kibbutz. I puzzled for days over Sana Hassan's inclusion of these two stories, which undoubtedly would have been very controversial in her conservative home country. An affair with a married officer and a Lesbian episode would undoubtedly dilute Sana Hassan's message of peace. After years of condemnation in Egypt, Sana Hassan was finally rehabilitated, why did she choose to shock again and upset sensibilities?

   Sana Hassan quest for peace was always personal, coming out of her inquisitive nature about Israel and things Jewish. From the days of her childhood when she was told off playing with an Israeli boy while on an Austrian holiday, from the unquestioning one sided media of Egypt, it was always a personal endeavor, she never pretended it to be on behalf of anyone else. I suspect for Sana Hassan, her on honesty and integrity were more important than acceptance and continued rehabilitation in conservative Egypt. She must have felt that she could not write about her experience in Israel without her affairs. Her recount of these stories certainly enriches the book and helps us understand her degree of assimilation and acceptance of the unthinkable.

   Sana Hassan developed an in-depth understanding of Zionism, history, thought and present day attitudes. She presented the process with which she seemed apparently unable to reconcile her acceptance of Israel's right to exist, with Israel's "right" to be Zionist. She presented herself throughout the book as an unwavering supporter of Palestinian rights. Yet, she admitted to being more troubled by her army officer connections to racist South Africa than his career as an IDF officer. She also seemed throughout the book willing to accept the possibility that her lover was planted by the intelligence service.

   With so much going on in her three years of Israel, you would expect a book written in simple straight forward story telling or even text style. That is not the case at all, Enemy In The Promised Land is so beautifully written. Sana Hassan is capable of great prose and lyrical descriptions of scenery, experiences and emotions, and most of all, of people. Her style comes across similar to the early work of Virginia Wolf, at times it seemed like she is even using similar words and phrases.

   This is not a straight forward book. It is the sort of book that will truly makes no one happy. It is a confusing book. If you allow yourself the benefit of "learning" while reading it, it may shake many established beliefs and strongly held opinions.

   Having read this book, I am absolutely certain of one thing. I will never never eat at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the standards of hygiene at the restaurant were appallingly low. On most other issues, I am a lot less certain.




5. First of all, I am a high school student who is extremely pro-Israel. I spend most of my free time writing to people about Israel.
   Ok, I picked up this book in my school library while looking for books on Israeli politics. I expected her to come into it hating Jews/Israel and coming out of it loving Israel. Boy was I wrong.
   What amazed me was that, despite her hating Zionists and Israelis, she went to Israel and managed to live there for an extremely long period of time.
   For any pro-Israel person, read this book. It really allows you to walk a mile in the other persons shoes. I had always seen Israel as a place where everything was happy and good. But, this showed me how Israel is just like any other country. Danny also amazes me, as some people say that Israel is worse then South Africa was during apartheid. Here is a South African in Israel. I LOVED THE BOOK!!! Read it if you have not already.

2 comments about Air Aces of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1914-1918.

1. This book is the result of many years of personal research and several trips overseas by Marty O'Connor, and culminated in what is arguably the definitive work on the subject of Austro-Hungarian aces. The writing in this book is neither eloquent nor poetic, but the information is priceless. O'Connor gives a biographical outline of each ace known within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the number of victories (and the victory lists of several major aces), any personal background available on the pilot in question and as much postwar information as possible. Where no information exists regarding such things as a pilot's birthplace, photo, or postwar occupation, O'Connor specifically makes note of it so the reader is left with no question marks. His work is thorough and his penchant for facts will quickly win the reader's trust. Spanning the language barrier and what in many cases is an almost total lack of official records, O'Connor does a brilliant job of piecing t! ogether enough information to acquaint even a WWI novice to life in the Austro-Hungarian air service. Several appendices trace vital details such as locations of airfields, maps of battle areas and color schemes of many aces' planes. This book is the most complete work I have seen on Austro-Hungarian aces and aircraft, and includes extensive interviews with several of that country's famous aces. Although written more as a reference book than a masterpiece of prose, this book is still highly recommended.



2. I agree completely with the previous reviewer, but just wanted to add a couple points.
   
   1. This book has a surprising number of photos of "in flight" planes, including planes belonging to the men being written about. It even has a couple "in flight/in fight" photos. Unusual.
   
   2. The detail on the planes and paint jobs is excellent.
   
   3. It was originally printed by "Champlain Press," connected with a wonderful "Fighter Museum" in Phoenix which went out of business. Their outstanding collection went to the Seattle Museum of Flight. Anyway, first printing is out.
   The version shown on Amazon comes from "Flying Machine Press," which has picked up a number of titles to reprint and made some fine books of their own. They made minor changes to the cover but it looks like the same (excellent) book inside.
   
   3. Flying Machine Press shows the book as "out of print." I don't know how much we can count on the "one left, more ordered" note that is on the Amazon book listeding as of this date (10-18-05), so if you want this, you'd better order it or go for a used one soon. I don't think this is going to get any cheaper or easier to find in the near future.

No comments about Thomas Paine (Very Interesting People Series).

1 comments about SUBALTERN: Chronicle of the Peninsular War.

1. "The Subaltern", originally written by George Gleig but edited by veteran historian Ian Robertson for this edition, is an account of Gleig's adventures with an infantry regiment of the British Army in the closing year (1813-1814) of the Peninsular War. Gleig's perspective is that of a junior officer; his narrative of battles interspersed between periods of inactivity and mundane survival in the field will be familar to veterans and to students of military life in the Napoleonic era. He provides an intimate look in clear and simple prose at the day-to-day conduct of business at the regimental level. His description of the Siege of San Sebastian in northeast Spain is particularly vivid. Those who follow Bernard Cornwall's "Sharpe" series may find this an interesting factual counterpoint, as might those overwhelmed by the strategic/operational focus of most histories of the era. The casual reader without some background of the Peninsular War or of military life may find this work difficult to follow.