No comments about Sons of Their Fathers.

5 comments about Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific.

1. I read this book when I was in my 20's and thought it was great for the action and adventure aspects. I re-read it now that I am in my 60's. Again I thought it was great, but now, more for the humanity and feelings the author presents in his story. When I was younger, I tended to 'skip over' the poetry, but with this reading, I was more able to experience the feelings that Mr. Leckie was conveying.
   
   I would recommend this book for an example of life experienced during the period of the World War II Pacific War.



2. This book gives the reader a first hand account of how the war was fought in the Pacific. It details the struggles of the men who fought against the Japanese, the elements, and against theirselves.



3. With the success of HBO's series "The Pacific", many older books on the Pacific war are finding their way back into prominence. Along with E.B. Sledge's "With the Old Breed", Leckie's excellent personal narrative "Helmet for my Pillow" has gained renewed readership. Like Sledge, Leckie gives a first-hand account of the Marines' fight against the Japanese in World War II.
   
   Told through Leckie's eyes, the reader gets a first-hand account of the bloody battles of Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu. Leckie's comrades were not referred to by name; instead, these brave men were simply known as Chuckler, Hoosier, Runner, Smoothface, Gentleman, Amish, Oakstump, Ivy-League, Texan, Chicken, and Loudmouth. These men, along with thousands of others, were the ones who fought the hated Japanese in the steaming jungles of the Pacific and ultimately defeated them. Leckie pulls no punches. Each battle is described in all its bloody detail. He also talks about how the Marines, half starved and nearly dead, would return to the rear areas for much-needed rest and recuperation, only to be sent back to the front lines a short time later. Many of these battles were fought for yard by yard, with the Marines doing days and weeks of hard fighting against an enemy determined to resist to the last man. But, the Marines did fight and, ultimately, win.
   
   This book was a pleasure to read. I gained much knowledge from Leckie's story, and I was inspired by the heroism and valor displayed by the Marines. These were ordinary men from small towns who chose to fight rather than being drafted. They displayed tremendous courage against an often unseen enemy, trusting in their comrades to watch out for them; and they did. The bond shared between these men can hardly be described. Suffice it to say that these men would readily give up their lives for each other; and they did.
   
   I give this book my highest recommendation. This book, along with Sledge's are perfect examples of first-person writing at its best. World War II readers won't want to miss "Helmet for my Pillow".



4. Read like a poetry contest. Author seemed to be trying to write like robert frost or something. Appreciate your service. Didn't care for the writing style though.



5. An Outstanding Marine in combat and a jail bird back in the rear. Good book I must say. I like how he explains how bad some people are at leadership. I love how he gives his own perspective as a grunt in the infantry. Its the real deal experience and not some historians or actors (who has never served) opinion full of heart warming BS. He isnt above himself when he tells of his days in the brig. The book goes from home to boot camp, the jungle, to australia,(most of his time it seems was spent in jail) and than back to the jungle to kill Japs and stay alive. Not full of exciting Hollywood style combat stories, but a good honest personal tale of life in the Marines during world war two. The guy seemed to be somewhat of a trouble maker back than, but Im sure he laughs about it these days. After all he survived hell in the jungle so he has every right to hold his head a little high even though he spent a lot of time in the brig.

5 comments about Survival In Auschwitz.

1. this is about the most vivid description of the camps. the only problem i had was the very poor editorial work with frequent misspellings and/or wrong words or spaces in words where they do not belong. this became distracting at times despite the intensity of the story.



2. In the book Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi paints a detailed picture about living as a Jew in fascist Northern Italy and then being transferred to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. By 1943, the Nazis had moved south and set up holding camps around Italy to detain political prisoners and those of the Jewish nationality until they could be transported to established concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Dachau. This book depicts what happened to Levi after his arrest in 1943. Along with 650 others, he was loaded into a freight train for a four-day journey without food or water and without the liberty to leave the train at anytime. Upon their arrival at the camp of Auschwitz, Poland, the first of a precession of selections took place. The German SS Soldiers separated those they deemed capable of work from those they deemed incapable, such as women, children and elderly. Only 135 of the 650 from Levi's train were admitted into Auschwitz, the other 515 went immediately to the gas chambers. Levi recalled with remarkable accuracy the humiliation and confusion felt as he was forced to assimilate into his new surroundings. The food rations were too insufficient to stave off the hunger. Thousands of others around him were suffering and unavoidably dying as a result of this insufficient food supply. Although he was new to the camp, his experiences with others and his own observations told him that the Germans militant nature was at its worst. In order to outlive the war and survive, he found ways to maintain the illusion of usefulness with the least possible exertion. Any protest or disobedience from prisoners ended swiftly with beatings and death.
   
   Levi described how many of the prisoners, after long hours of manual labor, would gather in a corner of the camp for a market. They would trade rations and stolen goods. Such goods as a spoon or buttons were as valuable as gold. The market followed all the classical economic laws. This seemed to show the ability of people to live and think and work in the most adverse of conditions. Inside the barbed wire, the prisoners had created their own social and economical world in order to endure. Primo Levi seems to write as a means in which he could express the physical trauma that he experienced as a survivor of Auschwitz and its emotional consequences. He recalls for the reader the challenges that he faced on a daily and hourly basis to meet the basic needs necessary to remain alive. Levi depicts his time as a prisoner with a straightforward and narrative approach and with an almost unemotional tone that often disguises the horror of what he is describing.
   
   Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr.
   Freelance Writer
   Author of For the Fatherland



3. When humans are placed in environments similar to those of the concentration camps created by Germany in World War II, the currency becomes calories, clothing and shelter in that order. Survival is based on getting enough food, oftentimes by having others die or be denied. Every crumb becomes important; over time saving and consuming them is literally the difference between life and death.
   Primo Levi was in his mid twenties, a chemist and an Italian Jew when the war broke out. At first, Italian Jews were relatively safe, that changed as the war dragged on and Germany and the Nazi philosophy grew to dominate the European continent. Captured and deported in 1943, Levi was transported to Auschwitz, where he struggled to survive until the German guards fled and the Russians arrived. This is his story and like all others, his survival was based almost totally on luck and skill. Those skills were due to his ability to quickly shift from a normal, rational world to one of harsh and brutal reality. His luck held as at any time, a whim of a guard could have sent him on the journey that ended with his exiting up a chimney.
   Levi describes his life in hell in great detail, yet with a surprising detachment, almost as if he was engaged in an open and candid conversation about something more normal. It is a stark reminder to everyone that it was a time of great brutality and demonstrates how far away from history and reality the Holocaust deniers really are.



4. This is one of the finest books on the Holocaust I've ever read. Levi writes beautifully - simple, straightforward sentences. No flourishes. As Bellow said, every word is essential. When he describes the various persons he encounters in his memoir, the descriptions are brilliant and memorable.
   
   After finishing "Survival In Auschwitz," I quickly got Levi's next memoir "The Reawakening," which is about the journey he and hundreds of other Italian Jews made back to their homeland after being liberated. This book was also excellent, and covers a part of the Holocaust history that many are unaware of: what happened next to the survivors?
   
   These two books are really a wonder - any person interested in the Holocaust should read them. Anyone who simply enjoys a well--written memoir should also read these two books.



5. this was a great account of a survival story in Auschwitz. yes, there were mistakes in the editing deparment of the book, but to me this didn't take away the suffering Primo Levi must have encountered. i gave it 4 out of five stars due to the badly edited print. otherwise i am recommending this book for the story that is told in this book.

5 comments about All Quiet on the Western Front.

1. In this rightly called classic anti-war novel, E.M. Remarque depicts forcefully the brutal awakening of a group of young soldiers in World War I.
   
   Failed education, breakdown of ideals
   The preachers glorified the Fatherland, the romantic character of war. For them, duty to one's country should be the greatest thing. But, they concealed the real interests behind the war, the rulers, the war profiteers and their acolytes.
   The first death in war shattered all belief that authority was a synonym for greater insight and more human wisdom. The recruits immediately felt that the army leaders considered them as beasts, training them as `circus-ponies'.
   The romantic war turned into butchery: `if we were to give morphia to everyone, we would have to had tubs full.'
   
   Universal comradeship and the ideal solution
   In direct confrontations, the soldiers came to understand that the enemies were in fact brothers: `Comrade, I did not want to kill you. But you were only an idea to me before, an abstraction ... Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours? If we threw away these rifles and this uniform you could be my brother.'
   The ideal solution is to consider war `as a bullfight. The ministers and generals of the countries (in war), armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be more simple and just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting.'
   
   Promise not fulfilled
   `How senseless is everything that can ever be written, done, or thought, when such things are possible. It must be all lies and of no account when a culture of a thousand years could not prevent this stream of blood. I see how people are set against one another and foolishly, obediently slay one another. I see that the keenest of brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring. I promise you, comrade. It shall never happen again!'
   
   Strong scenes and metaphors
   About war: `three enemy trenches with their garrison, all stiff as though stricken with apoplexy, with blue faces, dead.'
   About war and peace: `We hear the muffled rumble of the front only as a distant thunder, bumblebees droning by quite drown it. Around us stretches the flowery meadow.'
   About death: `These nails will continue to grow like fantastic cellar plants. They twist themselves into corkscrews and grow and with them the hair on the decaying skull, just like grass in good soil.'
   
   Unforgettably, E. M. Remarque evoked in a highly emotional language the tragic fate of a lost generation. But also, it was `of no account'. The war machine continued to rumble all over the world.
   
   I also highly recommend the hard-hitting and very insightful memoirs from the other side of the channel written by Robert Graves in `Goodbye to All That.'
   These books stand in sharp contrast with `the ice cold hedonist attitude within plain Barbarism' (T. Mann) expressed in the texts of Ernst Jünger about the same war.



2. This edition (Pacemaker Classics paperback) is abridged and that is not indicated anywhere! Very frustrating!



3. Having been in the military, this book brings back the bad memories of the BS that I endured in the seven years I spent in it, and that was quite enough. In this book you find the horrors of trench warfare that defined WWI. This book rarely loses speed, albeit slightly when he is on leave at his home base. The characters are rich and the dialogue entertaining. The savageness of the shelling and gassing, the brutality of hand to hand, and the rare compassion intermixed, it's all here. Add to that the constant need to keeping enough food, and the excellent writing. It is no wonder it is a staple in any bookstore. Five Stars.



4. This book came fairly quickly and I was very satisfied with the condition it's in. Nice doing business with you!



5. All Quiet on the Western Front has been on book lists since my high school days. I should have read and re-read it many years ago. It is only the first statement I ever read from a German Foot Soldier...a hero in my eyes. The author, Erich Remarque, was wounded five times in the "Great War". The book was Banned by the Nazis, maybe the best reason to read it. It begins in naive sounding prose, giving the background for the strong friendships that develop later, under fire. The first-person account of Paul Baumer relates the painful deaths of his buddies, one by one, and his first wartime kill...a French soldier who jumps into his shell crater. In hand to hand combat, Paul fatally stabs the soldier, but vainly attempts to save him, as he reasons that neither should be in the situation. The final straw is the unsuccessful attempt he makes to save his closest buddy, Kat. The sadness is palpable and intense. I must re-read this magnificent work.

5 comments about Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945.

1. This is a titanic telling of European history since WWII. It begins in the immediate aftermath of the war, and from there painstakingly details the reconstruction and rehabilitation of Europe up to the present day. This is a massive undertaking, and Judt makes a comprehensive job of it in a style that is consistently scholarly and fascinating. To the uninformed who want to learn more about this period in Europe this is a paramount resource; the book explains Europe's post-WWII reemergence, the strain between nations, the growing totalitarian influence of Communism, the loss and increase of power between states, the Cold War, crushing economic problems, the Balkan genocide, growing US resentment towards Iraq, and much more.
   
   Judt is obviously a born historian, and there is hardly a detail here which is left out not delved into. But what Judt also excels at is detailing European's (especially central- and eastern-) altered sense of values and morality in the midst of a time in which societies were so compromised writ large. The great defining point of modern European history- the Holocaust- is ever-present in the background of Euro politics and has a subtle impact even in present-day European life. My main complaint, however, is that sometimes the book is just too much. It is massive in size, and its tone is oftentimes textbook dry. Complex economic policies are thrown at you to digest on your own, and sometimes Judt's hypotheses about the cause of major and minor conflicts sound more like intellectual braggadocio rather than regular, proletarian insight.
   
   It is a book to take in small doses; read about an event and pause to consider its impact on its sister countries and in the continent as a whole. Europe is a big fighting family here, each member filled with its own rules and ambiguities but connected to each other through a shared, contentious history. This book sheds light on the history ad infinitum, and is highly recommended to anyone with the desire (and time) to learn more about it.



2. This is history writ large. It covers a large topic--the history of a continent during a period of very great change--very well. I bought the Kindle version, and while I like it very much, I wonder if the sweep of the topic would not have been better suited to a big thick book. But that's a mere quibble. I read a lot of history, and I put this one up there with the best of them.



3. I was suprised at how readable and interesting this book is. I am gaining a whole new understanding of how East and West Europe moved forward after WWII.



4. I am SO disappointed in Amazon's handling of this book. I am a longtime Amazon customer (back to 1997) and I am a longtime Kindle user. I own a hardcover copy of this book and I treasure it because it is big and heavy, so I downloaded it onto my Kindle assuming that I could carry my digital copy with me as needed. I DID NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE PRICE and I never will.
   
   I appreciate its portability in the Kindle format, but a book of this scope, size and importance is almost useless without some form of index and, as I found out the hard way, this book has not been indexed for content--hence, if I try to use the "search this book" function, I receive a message telling me that I should try again later. RIGHT. I can't skim 800 pages of slow Kindle "next-page" functions to find the word "Austria" when I need it: I can do that faster with my heavy hardcover first-edition copy of this book that I hoped to save the beating I usually give my scholarly reference books. Why isn't a book as important as this one by an author as celebrated as Judt provided with some kind of search function for (1) professionals who might need it or (2) amateurs who might enjoy it? And why are the trashy paperback rock biographies I have stored on my Kindle thoroughly indexed? Are there standards? And why doesn't Amazon provide this information in the book description?
   
   When I visited Amazon's website to lodge a complaint, I found no email address, customer links or other helpful advice. There is no contact information at all, just a mailing address (gee, who is this supposed to "help"?), a "service agreement," and a lot of distracting attempts to lure me back into shopping. Hence, I have resorted to this, the least likely means of attracting Amazon's attention. Please, please, as a Kindle shopper, do not shell out your hard-earned 17 dollars unless you plan on reading this book for pleasure. And Mr. Judt's book is a true pleasure, but it's also the kind of book that you might need as a reference. Save your money and buy the real thing until Amazon decides that books of this caliber are worth a scan and an index.
   
   AND AMAZON.COM, my most faithful friend for all these years: please be responsible and add a feature to your item descriptions so those of us who love to spend our money on your site know what we are getting. And, oh yes--index this book so I can freakin' use it for work as well as love. This was 17 dollars I gladly spent and now regret. Please do not continue to disappoint me.



5. Postwar is packed with new info, insights and yet highly readable. It's a masterpiece, he sparkles as a writer.

5 comments about Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began.

1. It doesn't get any better than this.}
   It's almost beyond giving it a "review"....Both I and II are so important and so good. An honor to the six million and more.



2. This was an excellent book. I received the first one for Christmas, and completed it within a day.



3. In this second installment of Art Spiegelman's comic, the author continues to chronicle his cantankerous father's tale of survival in Nazi Europe. The comic also follows Art as he is torn between his admiration for Vladek Spiegelman surviving the horrors of the Holocaust, and his frustration with Vladek's failure to survive in present-day America. Once again, Art chalks up a black-and-white comic that is anything but.
   
   This comic is unrated: Violence, Adult Language, Adult Situations.



4. From my blog review:[...]
   
   For those unfamiliar with this project, Maus tells two stories. Predominantly, it is the story of how Vladek Spiegelman survived the Nazi regime and Hitler's concentration camps. Interspersed throughout, though, is a present day depiction of the interaction between Vladek and his son, Art. Art expresses both admiration for, and exasperation with, Vladek. This is, for me, the most meaningful part of Spiegelman's story. We have a habit of reducing history to a one-dimensional existence in our minds. The Jews who were targeted by the Nazis were all pitiable victims, the Nazis were all inhuman monsters, etc. What Spiegelman has done with Maus is show that the survivors were admirable...and that they were much more than that, as well. It turns out, they were also human and got on their children's nerves the same as nearly every other parental generation. Rather than undermining the dignity and resilience of Vladek, Maus makes him more relevant because he's a whole person and not a cardboard cutout.
   
   Spiegelman took an awful chance bringing his father's story to the medium of graphic storytelling in the 1980s. Even in 2009, the same year that a movie adaptation of Alan Moore's Watchmen (long considered unfilmable), the notion of telling of a holocaust survivor's story in comic book form seems destined to offend. The fact that Spiegelman presents ethnicities as animals (i.e., Jews are depicted as mice, Germans as cats, etc.) would seemingly further remove from the story its proper sense of weight. Remarkably, Vladek's story is perhaps even more striking told through Art's presentation. There is, strangely, a heightened sense of humanity throughout "Maus" that I often find absent even in History Channel programs drawing on actual video footage of the described events.
   
   Simply put, I cannot offer a higher recommendation than the one I give to Art Spiegelman's "Maus: A Survivor's Tale." Originally, Maus was serialized in Spiegelman's comic anthology series Raw; I read the two volume collected edition. Since then, the entire work has been collected in a singular volume. Whichever incarnation you find available, I urge you to take the time to read the tale of Vladek Spiegelman.



5. The book does not pull any punches, and it is particularly honest in its portrayal of the author's difficult relationship with his father who is shown as a rather mean spirited and manipulative old man. The book also examines the author's difficulties in composing the narrative and trying to understand exactly what his father and mother experienced. I recommend these books (or the one combined version here ) to everyone. If you don't think you can take the pain, you can, in this presentation. If you think you've heard it all, you haven't. If you think you'll never forget, just wait. This will ensure it. On an aesthetic level, this book is beautiful. The illustrations are simple and yet show a great eye for perspective.

5 comments about The History of the Peloponnesian War: Revised Edition (Penguin Classics).

1. There are four main translations of Thucydides available for the English reader:
   
   Thomas Hobbes' 1628 version. Although made over 300 years ago this translation is still considered a classic by many in the English-speaking world. Hobbes is best known for writing "Leviathan" that classic work on Politics that all College students in the Western world for the past 200 years had to read. Do you like Shakespeare? If so give this edition a try. Hobbes vigorous and lively Jacobean English prose will enchant those more literary minded souls - however, Hobbes version has been noted for some inaccuracies due to his lack of proper understanding of the original Greek language text.
   
   William Smith's 1754 translation. Most know of Crawley and Hobbes works but Smith's excellent 18th century version has been almost forgotten. I think you can only get it in a used edition on abebooks dot com. Smith's prose is as majestic as you you expect for a 18th century translation. While a bit hard to read for most modern readers Smith's prose is worth the effort if you stick with him. Some things were not meant to be "dumbed down". I compare reading Smith's Thucydides to plowing through Whiston's translation of Josephus.
   
   The mid-Victorian (1874) Richard Crawley version is the one that most English speaking people were familiar with until the Penguin Books edition came out. This is a much easier version to understand than the Hobbes and Smith translations. While still retaining a very formal prose style it captures the Greek much more accurately than any previous version. This translation has the best balance between literary style and accuracy to the original text. This is the edition that many of our Grandparents and Great Grandparents read in school or College. Modern Library puts out a very affordable edition.
   
   Rex Warner's Penguin edition. This is the version offered here. Warner is excellent for those who want to avoid the archaic and more challenging prose of Hobbes, Smith, or Crawley. He is very clear and lucid in his rendition of the text. This edition is more suitable for modern readers who want an easy to read prose that maintains accuracy. I think that Warner's translation is the only serious rival to Richard Crawley's version. For those of you who are first embarking on your exploration of Thucydides I would recommend this edition.



2. The greatest of all Greek historians was the Athenian general Thucydides (455-400 B.C.E.). Thucydides' classic work, "History Of The Peloponnesian War", provides us with the historical framework for 5th century Greece, a golden age of intellectual achievement and creativity rarely equaled in human history. This history is by far the best account of the bitter war between Athens and Sparta as well as the only surviving contemporary record of the rise of the Athenian empire. Thucydides as a master storyteller does not just cover the battle scenes; he records the great political speeches of Pericles, leader of Athens, and Lysander leader of Sparta with great acumen. He is recognized as the first historian to actually go and get eyewitness accounts, visit battlefieilds and research documents and records. This work took him over 20 years and it shows!
   
   The lessons he teaches about imperial over reaching and unreasonable peace settlements are prescient today as they were during his times. President Woodrow Wilson, read this book on his voyage across the Atlantic to the Versailles Peace Conference and vociferously fought the other Allies in making unreasonable demands of the Germans. Wilson learned the dangers that the world would be placed in by backing the Germans into a corner politically and economically from Thucydides book.
   
   As a graduate student in philosophy and history, I heartily recommend this timeless classic to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history. I also recommend you read it with David Cartwright's "A Historical Commentary On Thucydides."



3. Thucidydes' History of the Peloponnesian War was one of the most important books ever written in the history of Western civilation and world history.
   
   In opposition to Herodotus who wrote earlier, to whom Thucidydes was a student and reader of, Thucidydes was a realist and discussed the interests, positions, and power politics that occurred between the Athens and Sparta and their respective leagues (allies; combined military operations by treaty). As opposed to Herodotus, who is sometimes known as the father of history as Herodotus was arguably the first person to write history in the sense that we know it today, and who still utilized unseen forces, gods, spirits, etc., as guiding world history, Thucidydes focused more on the human aspect and what he could gleem from his travels and research. Thus, many historians point to Thucidydes as being the true progenitor of history as we know it today.
   
   The political intrigue, the military and political strategic considerations, the actual boots-on-the-ground description of the battles, etc. are vivid, detailed, and make for compelling reading. I especially like the stories concerning Athens and Sparta's fighting on the island of Sicily.
   
   All students of rhetoric will also find some of the finest examples of it within its pages (i.e., Pericles' funerary oration, etc.). The descriptions of the debates within the assemblies shows the considerations that both the Athenian and Spartan led leagues and their populations had to consider.
   
   This is the first book on international relations known and is the first work to utilize a realist interpretation of international politics. It is studied at the war colleges and by all scholars of international relations, and by all serious students of grand strategy.
   
   This book is excellent, in the Greek sense, that is Arete.



4. If Herodotus is the Father of History, Thucydides is the first truly great historian. Building upon the foundation laid by his predecessor, Thucydides refines and sharpens the art of history into what it should have been all along. He is one of a few ancient historians whose reputation has almost never suffered among subsequent generations of historians.
   
   Thucydides begins his history with the causes of The Peloponnesian War, a 27-year struggle between imperialist, democratic Athens, oligarchic Sparta, and the scores of constantly shifting allies that fought along with them. Though left incomplete at the time of his death, Thucydides's history spans the years 433-411 BC, encompassing the beginning of the war and its escalation through battle and political machination, Athens's ill-fated Sicilian expedition, and the interference of the Persians in Asia Minor.
   
   This translation by Rex Warner is excellent--highly readable and lucid. The introduction and appendices offer lots of helpful information and can be read either before or after the History itself, depending on the reader's prior knowledge or preference. If I have any complaint about this edition, it is that the maps are too small and too few, leaving some important locations unmarked.
   
   Full of real-life drama and moving tales of wartime desperation, Thucydides is just as relevant today as he was when he first perfected the art of history. Reading Thucydides is well worth your time.
   
   Highly recommended.



5. I first read Thucydides' "History of the Peloponnesian War" in the sixties, when the Cold War was fast simmering towards a boiling point. Reading Thucydides at that moment, which (thankfully) passed into modern history with a whimper rather than a bang, was a revelation. The 5th-century BC historian writes a riveting account of how two major powers--Sparta and Athens--became embroiled in a twenty-seven-year war because of self-interest, mutual distrust, and buildup of arms. He then notes that he is writing his history as a lesson for mankind so that such wars will never occur again. With chilling cynicism, however, he notes that since human nature is essentially rotten, the same wars will break out over and over for exactly the same reasons.
   
   Rex Warner's translation from the Greek is both enlightening and readable. The headings at the top of every other page allow the reader to 'skim' easily to particular topics. I shall note only two passages, which speed by despite their length, as examples: the Plague of 430 BC (Thuc. II. 47-55), and the Corcyrean Revolt of 427 BC (Thuc. III. 69-95; esp. 82-83). The first demonstrates Thucydides' brilliance as what we today would call a journalist. His account of the plague is based on keen observation of the disease, which he both caught and survived. Originating at Athens' harbour, it swept through the confines of the city, partly as a result of Pericles' disastrous policy of moving the population into an already-crowded city (Thucydides does not know about rats and lice, but he does note that all domestic animals and birds of prey, which came into contact with the stricken, died). The historian, whose narrative is considered the first epidemiology, describes the disease from its symptoms, through its crisis, to its devastating end, sometimes in recovery, most often in death. As riveting as his narrative is, Thucydides transcends straight reportage as he describes the psychological toll on the populace, who not only became demoralised, but also sank into committing normally unthinkable acts, such as sneaking out at night and dumping their dead relatives onto someone else's funeral pyre, or allowing the sick to die of neglect.
   
   The other not-to-be-missed passage is Thucydides' narration of the Corcyrean Revolt, which is far more than an account of a mere rebellion. It is an account of propaganda, and how the very language undergoes transmogrifications of meanings during times of stress. For example, what in peacetime might be considered "a thoughtless act of agression," in wartime becomes "courage"; what in peacetime is a consider-all-sides-of-an-issue policy, in wartime, becomes cowardice; Thucydides writes: "Fanatical enthusiasm was the mark of a real man, and to plot against an enemy behind his back was a perfectly legitimate self-defence" [Thuc. III. 82]. The passage seems especially relevant in this commercial age of mass media, when language becomes so easily distorted and misinterpreted.
   
   Thucydides' history breaks off in 411 and thus does not cover the end of the war in 404.). Even so, its themes are so universal that they convey an immediate ring of truth that bridges the gap of the millennia.
   
   Incidentally (and anyone, who thinks this is a spoiler, ought to avert his eyes), the war ended with what might be described as mutually-assured-destruction of both Sparta and Athens, with Macedon filling in the power vacuum.

5 comments about Catch-22.

1. Being a fan of M*A*S*H in its myriad of forms, I've often heard comparisons made to "Catch-22" so I finally decided to read it, and I'm glad I did. "Catch-22" has a great deal of dark humor as well as some outright silliness. It is a brilliant satire on war in general which is set in Italy during the waning days of the Nazis in World War II. My one criticism of the book is that some jokes tend to get repetitive at times.
   
   The story focuses mostly on a U.S. Air Force squadron who go on a number of bombing runs doing their best to stay alive and do many crazy things to avoid going on more bombing runs. At the center of the crazy group is Yossarian, a bombardier who is convinced that everyone is out to kill him. Despite actions such as appearing to receive a medal in the nude, in some ways he seems like one of the most sane in the group. His friends include Milo, a bombardier who, instead of flying missions, runs a syndicate which buys and sells almost any goods you can think of; his syndicate also provides services, which at one point included bombing his own squadron! The head of the outfit, Major Major, wants to be liked by the others but they treat him badly because of his position; consequently, he avoids people, only allowing people to be sent to his office when he isn't there. Even the higher-ups prove to be nutty with Generals Peckem and Dreedle spending their energy competing against each other rather than fighting the enemy.
   
   The book shows how insane the military bureaucracy itself can be, embodied in the concept "catch-22". One example of a catch-22 in the book is when Yossarian tries to be discharged by reason of insanity he's told he cannot be discharged because the fact he's trying to prove himself insane means that he isn't. Military silliness is also shown with how concerned officials are with seemingly unimportant things such winning parade contests and bombing a target so it makes for a nice photograph of the explosion.
   
   Many characters come and go with several killed in combat. Heller makes all of them three-dimensional so you grow to either love or hate them. The writing contains a variety of humor - silly, intelligent, outrageous. There are several running jokes, though I feel sometimes they are overused, such as repeated explanations of how Milo's syndicate sells one kind of goods to one group in order to buy other kinds at all sorts of prices. In addition to the humorous moments, the book has examples of the horrors of war. Not everyone makes it home and nobody is the same afterward. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to any fans of classic literature, war comedies, or satire.



2. Hard to read, strange book. Not sure why anyone would like it- it just doesn't seem to be well written, so even with the whole catch 22 point which is pretty clever, it is just bad.



3. Ordered this used book from this seller and the condition of the book exceeded the description. This is a great way to buy Everyman's Library titles if you're looking to cut costs.



4. So yes, the book can read a bit messy. It does take some acclimation, but it is more than worth the work (for some people, such a style makes perfect sense and would give such a book 10 stars if possible). However, if you are not one of thee latter folks, hang with it, and you will be stuck with a brilliant piece of writing that will haunt you for a very long time. This book has staying power, and that's what may make it something of a masterpiece (albeit a messy one).



5. A true story:
   Some time ago, I was in the Marine Corps, scheduled for a deployment in Iraq. After six months of maddeningly boring pre-deployment "training", I had become somewhat scornful and skeptical of, not to mention endlessly disappointed, frustrated and disillusioned with, the military. All of this had me extremely depressed.
   During the few days of leave (just a few days; military policy is to give two weeks of leave, but we only got five days, and this is just one of the ways they screwed my unit over) between the end of the "training" and the movement to Iraq, I went to visit my brother.
   During thee visit we happened to pass a bookstore, and he offered to buy me a copy of Catch-22. He thought I might identify with it. I replied that I was sure I would. I'd heard of the book, of course, but never read it, and figured that if it was as ingeniously satirical as everyone said, reading it at that point in my life might just drive me over the edge. I was afraid it would hit too close to home, and so I refused his generosity.
   I went to Iraq, which turned out to be even more maddening than the "training", stayed there for five months without incident, returned home and retired from the service just as soon as I could. And then I read Catch-22.
   As I was safely retired at that point, it didn't hit particularly close to home. It's well-written, and very effective in making its point. Unfortunately for me (and for any reader who has first-hand experience with the military) it's the most obvious point possible, and so most of the book's humor and absolutely all of its shock value are completely lost.
   In many instances the book is simply too true to be funny. There's hardly anything in it that didn't sound exactly like real life to me. Time after time, my reaction to the various absurd incidents of bureaucratic inertia, institutional asininity, and higher-up incompetence was a simple shrug. I'd seen it all myself, so why should Heller's fictive recounting of it seem like a revelation?

5 comments about World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War.

1. Great book, great story, interesting format! Recommended to me, and I recommend it to you!



2. Great book, a lot of fun. It is in a new and interesting format that takes a couple of chapters to get used to, but by the end you just want more.



3. The book World War Z came in early and was in mint/new condition good job. highly recommend you folks!



4. This was a very interesting book. Don't be fooled by the title. This book will make you think about what if something like this happened. I enjoyed this very much. Thanks Krista for having me read this.



5. I read this book due to a recommendation of a friend and the continued hype around the book. I must say, I was rather disappointed with the book. The books pacing is slow to me and kind of dragged out. I suppose that if you really, really like post-apocalyptic stories you might want to read this but if you like faster paced books you'll get board with it.
   
   I also found that the style of the story writing negatively broke up the story which really interfered with the continuity.

5 comments about Billy Boyle: A World War II Mystery.

1. This would have been worth purchasing. As it is, if you like historical mystery novels, you definitely need to give Lt. Boyle a try. I'm more into SF/F, but for free I thought this would be worth my time to check it out. And it most certainly was. Lt. Boyle is a flawed man with an ill-defined job, but he tries to do his best. And succeeds.



2. Despite the gloom and gore of wartime, this is an upbeat story. Told in first person, it puts the reader right there with Billy Boyle as he adjusts to being in the thick of things when he assumed, since General Eisenhower is his uncle, that he would have a nice safe desk job far from the front lines.
   
   It's 1942 and the first American servicemen are beginning to show up in England, where they are received with mixed emotions. As Billy puts it, "I was one of the thousands from across the sea, easy with money, informal beyond the bounds of their polite society, a threat and a salvation all wrapped up in one."
   
   He takes it all in stride, navigating the tricky shoals of military protocol with humor and a touch of American swagger. Much of the story takes place at Beardsley Hall, an old castle on the Suffolk Coast. When the last heir died in World War I, the government took charge of it and in 1940 granted it to King Haakon and his Norwegian government in exile. They're funded by the 8 tons of gold they smuggled out of Norway and stashed in American and Canadian banks.
   
   Billy is briefed on Operation Jupiter, the underground's top secret plan to invade Norway and drive out the Nazis. He also learns there's a spy in their midst. When one of the king's top advisors is murdered Billy undertakes the investigation, his three years as a Boston cop making him more of a detective than anyone else in the group. An attempted murder and another murder follow. Billy bypasses official approval to carry out a bold plan for confronting the murderer
   
   Benn brings it all alive on the page. Billy settles into his wartime role bolstered by what his father taught him about being a good cop. A neat twist at the end is based on an actual Allied plan for Norway.
   
   A good war story is a romance in the classical meaning of the word. Quoting from Wikipedia: "... stories from the Middle Ages about marvelous adventures of a chivalrous, heroic knight errant ... who often goes on a quest. ... A related tradition comes down from Scandinavia in the form of epics, but the richest set of Germanic literature of Romance comes from Scandinavia in the form of the legendary sagas."
   
   Billy Boyle may be a 20th century Boston cop but he is at heart that heroic knight errant on a quest - willing to face his own mortality in a quest for truth, a quest to bring a killer to justice, with global warfare as the backdrop.
   
   Not for nothing does the author bring into the story The Edda, a poem from 13th Century Norse mythology:
   "I know a hall whose doors face North on the Strand of Corpses far from the sun. Poison drips from lights in the roof; that building is woven of backs of snakes. There heavy streams must be waded through/by breakers of pledges and murderers."
   
   There's also romance in a more contemporary vein. Emotional attachments in wartime are inevitable but iffy. For one of the characters who survives a bittersweet love affair, "what has been is past forgetting," to quote from an old Noel Coward song. Billy has an amorous adventure of his own, and in one especially poignant chapter he manages to remain a gentleman while in the arms of a grief-stricken woman whose husband is missing in action.



3. Wonderfully written, very entertaining. A detective story, yes, but woven around an important fact of WWII, and realistically written.



4. I am not a writer, just a fan of good books that read fast. I thought this book was well written with some really funny lines. The internal thoughts of the main character are spot on with how he interacts with others. Again, I am simply an avid reader but do not read many "mystery" books but I really enjoyed the first one and am loving the second one as well. It is a bit over the top sometimes but I feel it goes well with the storyline.



5. Billy Boyle is a newly appointed detective of the Boston police force. He got there the old-fashioned way - through family connections and questionable shortcuts. After he's drafted, he gets on Ike's staff, the same way - through family connections. Billy is everything the early GI's were in Britain - a brash, cocky exterior overlaying a bit of uncertainty. His reception is cold, as his immediate superiors and equals think him a no-good upstart there through nepotism - which is not far from the truth. He is sent to a conference with the Norwegians. A murder takes place and, as the resident cop, he gets assigned the case. There is also a spy in the midst, and Billy and the reader are never sure which one he is hunting for at any given time.
   
   The book has several elements. In no particular order: the mystery is a good one; the history is top-notch and supported and explained by an author's note; the characters are excellent. Not only does Billy develope through the book, but the supporting cast is very good. The war hits him and the others in unexpected places which adds a reality to the book not often found in this genre. He also finally sees war in personal terms. There are singular deaths in his immediate vicinity and cirlce which seemingly mean more to him than the thousands dying on beaches and in trenches. How he deals with that enigma is poignant and makes him more than a cardboard cutout war hero.
   
   Mr. Benn's novel is very enjoyable and readable as a mystery with a good solid dose of history. Actually neither overrides the other, making it a win for mystery buffs and history buffs. Or, if you are a buff of both, like me, it is a complete win-win. I'm off to follow Billy Boyle's next exploits.