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.World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Richard Panchyk

February 05, 2003
"World War II for Kids: A History with 21 Activities" really has three key components. First, there is a history of World War II from Hitler's rise to power in 1933 to the surrender of the Japanese in 1945. Second, Richard Panchyk provides excerpts from actual wartime letters written to and by troops on both sides along with personal anecdotes from people who lived through the war. Finally, there are 21 activities that can show young readers how it felt to live through World War II, both on the battlefield and on the Home Front.

Actually, the first function is the least impressive part of "World War II for Kids," although Panchyk provides a solid history of the war. It is just that the personal writings and recollections, along ... Read More:
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.Their Darkest Hour: People Tested to the Extreme in WWII
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Laurence Rees

June 05, 2008
The trouble with reading too many books about our dark periods of history is the lowering effect it can have on the rest of ones life. Loved ones become accustomed to lectures over breakfast on the iniquities of Nazi Germany. Squabbling children are reminded about the consequences of unbridled human aggression. Family shopping trips are punctuated by laments on the consumerist nature of today's culture. After a literary diet of "Auschwitz" and "Their Darkest Hour", it's back to the Moomintrolls and Clive James for me. That or I'll find myself banished to the Sunnydays asylum for over-serious wives and mothers.

But I digress. "Their Darkest Hour" is a fine piece of work and a very necessary read for anyone trying to understand ... Read More:
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.The Drowned and the Saved (Abacus Books)
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Primo Levi

February 01, 1991
The author, Primo Levi, tries to understand the rationale behind Auschwitz, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen. Dismissing stereotyped images of brutal Nazi torturers and helpless victims, Levi draws extensively on his own experiences and substantial intelect to delve into the minds and motives of oppressors and oppressed alike. Describing the difficulty and shame of remembering, the limited forms of collaboration between inmates and SS goalers, the exploitation of "useless violence" and the plight of the intellectual, Levi writes about the issue of power, mercy and guilt, and their effects on the lives of the ordinary people who suffered so incomprehendingly. A sad tale of an attempt to rationalise mans behaviour in the most extreme of circumstances.
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.The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the Third Reich
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Ian Kershaw

September 27, 2001
A remarkable book , you will never view Hitler's Germany in the same light again.
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.Devil's Guard
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: George Robert Elford

1995-03
I was a little nervous when going to read about a German SS officer,going into the French Foreign Legion to fight the Viet Minh,before the Americans entered the fray.It had me hooked from page one!The author,Hans Wegemuller describes his combat experiences in the final days of World War 2,and he with his comrades-in-arms fighting the new enemy in French Indo China,before it became Vietnam many years later.He's an interesting character.Totally ruthless when so desired,but also a warm,and decent human being too.That took me by suprise,as I've read many accounts of the SS in battle,as being really cruel enemies.I'm pleased that I've got this book.Its a timeless read,and I'm desperately trying to get the second book!
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.Stalin's Russia 1924-53 (Access to History)
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Michale Lynch

June 27, 2008
I was a little nervous when going to read about a German SS officer,going into the French Foreign Legion to fight the Viet Minh,before the Americans entered the fray.It had me hooked from page one!The author,Hans Wegemuller describes his combat experiences in the final days of World War 2,and he with his comrades-in-arms fighting the new enemy in French Indo China,before it became Vietnam many years later.He's an interesting character.Totally ruthless when so desired,but also a warm,and decent human being too.That took me by suprise,as I've read many accounts of the SS in battle,as being really cruel enemies.I'm pleased that I've got this book.Its a timeless read,and I'm desperately trying to get the second book!
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.The Bronze Horseman
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
starring: Paullina Simons

April 02, 2001
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.
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.Masters of Battle: Monty, Patton and Rommel at War
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Terry Brighton

August 28, 2008
Have to agree with the other reviews - this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I must have read it four or five times now and each time it never fails to move me. The reader's emotional connection with the characters is second to none. Yes, perhaps there are minor flaws in the book (including the plot device of Dmitri), but the writing is so REAL that you won't notice them much - if at all - because you'll be completely absorbed in what happens. Tatiana must be one of the most likeable female protagonists ever, and Alexander is just - well, you'll probably even fall in love with the way he smokes his cigarettes. The writing is evocative, lush, vivid, raw, beautiful.
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.The Origins of the Second World War
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: A.J.P. Taylor

October 31, 1991
Fascinating book which broke down a lot of the myths I had learnt about the 2nd World War. However, it looks at the situation purely from a political point of view and covers little background as to: the economy, the public, the USA and the preparations for war.

If you're after a casual more rounded read I'd look elsewhere, but as a focused 'text book' this is pretty definitive.
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.Mengele: The Complete Story
City Travel Guides > Books > Origins
by: Gerald L. Posner, Michael Berenbaum, John Ware

2000-10
I bought this book because I wanted to find out more about Mengele's wartime activities and the efforts to locate him after the war. This book succeeds perfectly in the latter but fails in the former. We are given a lightening fast summary of Mengele's wartime activies, with very little examples or witness statements or indeed much in the way of exploration of the man's psyche. Then we have a beautifully researched and well-written account of his every movement postwar. This book feels unbalanced. For this reason alone only 3 stars. Surely developing the character of Mengele the Auschwitz doctor would only have strengthened our interest in the hunt for Mengele the war criminal fugitive?
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