Sir Peter Tennant was the Press Attache at the British legation in Stockholm, Sweden, during the Second World War. This meant his own taking an active part in the various efforts from the side of the Allied powers to sway the Swedish public in favour of their cause against Hitler. It also included countering the quite intensive Nazi propaganda in Sweden. In the same time, he also worked for SOE (Special Operations Executive), being involved in the blockade-running of industrial products, notably SKF ball bearings, essential for the war industry in Britain.

Sir Peter was in an unusual position to write this unique memoir as an inside outsider or outside insider in Sweden, at that married with the daughter of a prominent Swedish scientist.

Recent critical reconstruction of the history of Swedish foreign policies and politics during WWII, has depicted quite a number of prominent Swedes, both politicians of the time, and actors in the higher realms of finance and business, notably the formidable Wallenberg brothers, Jacob and Marcus of Stockholms Enskilda Bank, as part villains.

In the light of this, Tennant's book with its realistic, yet humorous description of wartime Sweden, is a most interesting supplement to that history. It is full of detail and names and biographic sketches of people, whom many of my Swedish countrymen and -women, who grew up during the war years, would recognize and remember.

For being written many decades after the events, the book seems to be remarkably accurate. The most zealous nitpicker would find little to remark on. There is hardly even one mis-spelled name.

The constant drama of the mutual stalking of each other's spheres of political interest, between the agents of the Axis and those of the Allied side, provides for quite thrilling reading. The interest of Tennant's tale is not necessarily limited to what happened in neutral Sweden in the see-saw of war action around that small and rather isolated country on the outskirts of Europe. "Touchlines of War" is as good a case study as any, for the ways, means and effects of psychological warfare and the competition for the souls of a reasonably innocent people anywhere in the world.

Looking for an exciting book that you can't put down? Anthony Burns would be a great one. A slave who has be accused for stealing and he is on trial, fighting for his life and freedom. It's a sad book because he's in jail with water once a week, food twice a day (which is raw meat, cornbread, and really just scraps of food. The end is shocking and it's a great book that I recommend reading.You will never put it down.

With the exception of Gen J. Lawton Collins, little attention is placed at the level of corps command during WWII. With new biographies of Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S.Patton surfacing regularly, one wonders if and when the focus will trickle down to the two-star generals who actually fought the battles that made up the various campaigns of the war. It is for this reason that Frank James Price's biography (first published in 1974) of Troy H. Middleton is significant.Middleton, the youngest colonel to command a regiment in WWI, commanded the 45th Infantry Division on Sicily. In March, 1944, Ike gave Middleton command of VIII Corps. It was Middleton's 4th Armored Division (Maj. Gen. John S. Wood) that spearheaded the breakout from Normandy. It was Middleton's VIII Corps that was left behind to fight in Brittany, while the rest of the American Army raced for the German border. And it was Middlton who held the southern flank during the Battle of the Bulge.Price's book is really two works combined. The first half covers Middleton's military career; the second part his career on the admisitrative faculty at Louisiana State University. Written while Middleton was still alive, Price conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with his subject. Thus, Price's work takes on the qualities of a memoir rather than an objective biography. I was also looking for a bridge between Middleton's military and civilian careers. How does a professionally trained Army officer make corporate decisions? Price (also at the time on the faulty at LSU) does not provide that bridge. Asside from these minor flaws, I reccomend Price's biography. Middleton's achievments in WWII alone should have warranted him more exposure. Although not as political as Eisenhower and, certainly not as flamboyant as Patton, Middleton story sheds light on a level of command so often overlooked by military historians.

This collection from phaidon, give as a good study of three projects with detailed plans and good pictures. This book recovers also a three masterpieces, fallingwater, villa mairea and eames houses. Three good projects, cheap price, just get it.

It was a good book and gave some great detail but there were at least 2 false facts I found in there. It gave more detail on how he ran the mafia and his lieutenants then in the other Costello book I read. It starts with a chapter about the day he was shot and gives excellent detail on every that happend that day. Then goes back to his childhood and all the way up to the end of his life. All in all a good read but again a few false facts.

"Because Nickerson hit a dog, he lost a hubcap." That is the opening line of "Nickerson's Luck," the first story in this collection of poignant stories by Alaska resident Frank Soos. Soos held me captive right from the start with that first line. With sharp, funny language he evokes the way in which we're all connected by fate and events beyond our control. In the collection's title piece, a character believes airplanes are held up in the sky by people on the ground who watch them with "acts of collective concentration." Soos has an evident love for his characters which shines through in the language on every page. In the past, he's stated that Alice Munro is the author he admires the most. There are echoes of the Candian short story writer throughout "Unified Field Theory." I enjoyed Soos' first collection, "Early Yet," but this latest book shows a definite maturation on his part. I can't wait for the next Soos to hit the shelves!

This is a great tool to help you learn Russian, and is even more helpful when used in conjunction with the workbook that goes along with it. After reading this book (and doing the workbook excercises) you will have a fairly good ability to communicate in Russian about common subjects. A good thing about this book is that its author, Olga Kagan, (who I studied under at UCLA) adheres to the philosophy that learning a language shouldn't be done through mere translation (this-English-word=that-Russian-word), but should be approached by taking the words in context and by seeing how Russian phrases/words are used, and not just what they mean. The only thing lacking from this book is that there aren't enough oral exercises, but overall, if you already know basic Russian and want to move to the next level, this is an excellent way to do it.

Recalling Crane's "Maggie" in its sexual candor and several of Dreiser's novels in its brutal portrayal of the decline of its protagonist, "Vandover and the Brute" can be read as the American realist version of Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." (The lead character is, not coincidentally, reading Stevenson early in the novel.) Written in 1895, when Norris was 25, but not published until 1914, after Norris's death, it is an important if uneven precursor to the naturalist tradition in American literature.

Young Vandover, a Harvard-educated man-about-town whose chief traits are a lack of ambition and a sense of entitlement, is a San Francisco native who wastes every advantage his privileged life presents to him. Yielding to his inner "brute," Vandover gradually descends the rungs of civilized life, losing first his status in "proper" society and then all his wealth and what remains of his integrity. He suffers from the devastation of self-inflicted scandals, the trauma of a shipwreck during exile, and the ravages of syphilis. Yet Norris doesn't direct his barbs solely at indolent, amoral youth like Vandover; just as reprehensible is the ambitious, double-crossing Charles Geary, one of Vandover's friends, who aims "to make his pile in this town and make his way, too." (An interesting aside: unlike most realist fiction, the novel's last sentence ends with a glimmer of hope and a piece of bread--very much like McInerney's "Bright Lights, Big City.")

Although this novel is no longer available on its own in any edition, interested readers will find it included in The Library of America's omnibus collection of Frank Norris's works.

Starting a big book about a subject as complex as the Mexican Revolution can be a chore, but McLynn turns a complex, socio-economic crisis into the tale of two arrogant men. For that reason, his book is priceless. Although reading a biography about Villa and Zapata can realistically just skim the surface of the Revolution, the verve with which thje author tackles his subjects, and the respect he clearly felt for them make his book an enjoyable read. Romanticism does cloud his judgement - although he presents Villa's banditry alongside his derring do - but that makes the book better. He escapes the rigorous pedantry which hangs like a millstone over so much history, but remains accurate.
This book is a great start for anyone approaching the Mexican Revolution, and a fascinating comparative biography of two flawed and contradictory characters.