This book describes the last bombing mission by the B-29's of the 315th wing of the 20th Air Force. This is an important piece of history mainly because this mission took place after the 2nd A bomb was dropped . . . the time most historians claimed the war with Japan ended. The research that was done to write this book was done by Jim Smith, who was on this mission and knew there was more to it than just another raid on Japan's oil refineries. What came out of the research and is presented in this book is a story so important that it had to be told. What might have happened if this mission had not been flown could have cost the lives of millions of Americans and Japanese. In addition to being a good and exciting story, this is history that has not been reported before in anywhere near as much detail and with as much accuracy. I flew this mission also and have waited nearly 60 years for this story to be told. It is done well and with a high concern for accuracy by Smith and McConnell. Read it if you care anything about history as it really happened.

What a great book! The author makes this small piece of history read as a fiction novel. It gives the detailed account of a night bomber group and the powerbrokers of the Japanese Empire. The stories, very well researched and written, never collide; yet parallel to weave a splendid story. The action is tense and faced paced, and you will not be able to put it down. The authors cite many other works on my bookshelves that I am more eager to read. The stories of the night modified B-29B, flying from Guam points the roots of US strategic air power. The story of the inner turmoil of Japan's surrender are also well done and cited. The book covers (for me) new ground on the use and policy of the decision to drop the atomic bombs. The third story told, the US fear of a prolonged campaign on the Japanese home islands, and the use of more atomic weapons was very interesting. This book is for serious and casual history reader packs an atomic punch!

This is an excellent anthology of Russian Literature of the 1920's -- one of my favorite periods. Mayakovsky's play, "Bedbug;" Bulgakov's "Fatal Eggs," Zamyatin's "We;" are included as is poetry by Anna Akhmatova (my favorite "Lot's Wife"), Tsvetaeva, Bely, and many more. Russian literature during the 1920's was revolutionary, brilliant, multi-faceted, and as yet unbridled by the maxims of Socialist Realism. This collection is a very enjoyable read!

Translating the poet Hafez has been a daunting task since British scholars discovered Persian poetry long ago. So now the fad is to do "renderings," which means you can write something in the general ballpark range of the original work and declare that you've captured the spirit of that original. Sometimes it works, sometimes it misses by several miles. This work, though it has its sporadic good moments, isn't the answer to understanding Hafez.

Thomas Rain Crowe is a poet, translator, essayist, editor, and author of six book of original poetry. In Wineseller's Street we are treated to the best of his literary sensitivity and language skills in presenting the poetic Hafez showcased within the traditions of Sufism and Persian literature rended up for an English speaking readership. 67: O rich man, I have come from Paradise to bring you some happy news!/Amidst my sweet songs, my raucous jokes, and my beautiful stories/That will soothe your heart, there is also the truth./I say, "This mansion is really a dwelling for the poor./Put on a feast that costs you everything you have, in honor of/the real King of Wealth. And give it all away!"

There is a reason Coleman Barks's free "renderings" of Rumi (and of other medieval mystic poets, including Hafiz) sell so well: they're often witty, poetic, even sexy. Whereas there is none of that in THIS collection by Crowe. Instead, you get at least 30 repetitive pieces (I lost count) out of 100 that all begin or contain minimal variations on the line "Winebringer! Bring me more Wine!" What this collection is I don't know, but it's neither scholarship nor poetry. "Poor Hafiz!" (as the Persian sometimes refers to himself) has taken on a new meaning indeed in the hands of someone like Crowe.

Drunk on the Wine of the Beloved is a collection of 100 Poems by the Persian Sufi poet Hafiz. Hafiz, properly Shamsuddin Muhammad-i-Hafiz-i-Shiraz, lived in the 14th century and is generally acknowledged to be the greatest poet of the Persian culture. Hafiz writes in a form known as the Ghazal, which is a short poem of 8 or so rhyming couplets, which was often set to music. The translations in this work are by Thomas Rain Crowe, who has many credentials as a translator of Eastern poetry.

Hafiz's poems are beautiful and have an enchanting cadence. They are full of hope, faith and conviction. He writes movingly of down-to-earth topics, but his underlying message is ever-present and positive. In one poem he writes: "If your life has hit hard times, go to the Winehouse and enjoy some Wine."

Wine and drinking are Hafiz's metaphor for overwhelming love of God. The image of drunkeness suggests both reckless abandon and a frustrating and intoxicating lack of control over human life. Whether you choose to embrace or pass over his symbolic message, you will enjoy the poetry. It's language is as simple as it is powerful and compelling. This is a splendid book of poems, and I highly recommend it. Enjoy.

In this 100-poem collection of his Winehouse poems, Hafiz tells us, "this bitter wine that the Sufi calls the mother of all grief and pain, is a far sweeter wine than even a virgin's kiss" (p. 65). Goethe, Emerson, and Lorca have all praised Hafiz. Meher Baba called the fourteenth century Sufi poet "a fully realized Perfect Master" (p. xiii). His poems are inspired by his love of God, and they may be read as an expression of that love (p. xiii). It has also been said, "if God had taken form as a Poet, it seems He would have been happy to write as Hafiz wrote" (p. xiv). Meher Baba says that the Sufi poet is "a fish thrown up on the beach, leaping and squirming to regain the ocean. He sees God everywhere and in everything, but he cannot find the gate of union" (p. xx). Thomas Rain Crowe is perhaps better known as a poet, translator, editor and recording artist, than a Hafiz scholar. But his "transformative work" (p. xvii), as he calls it, in rendering Hafiz, succeeds in capturing all the divine sentiment of his subject's verse.

The ghazals collected here are vibrant and full of heart. They are the lyrical poems of a poet drunk with divine love. Hafiz uses wine as a metaphor of God's love. Both intoxicate. Both elate the spirit (p. xix), allowing the soul to take flight. Both allow us to forget the world, at least for awhile. Both loosen our affections, allowing us "to burn in blissful agony" (p. xx). Drink a cup of Hafiz. "Like a laughing candle," his poems will allow you to "abandon the life you live in your head" (p. 26). Although I found myself gulping them down like a wino, I say savor these poems slowly. They will leave your heart dancing like a dervish.

G. Merritt