Every now and then you get an absolute delight when exploring authors you only knew vaguely, or had not read for a while.

Howard Fast's Max is a surprise and a delight. Fast's writing style always keeps the story moving and captures the reader's interest.

Max is a masterpiece. whether Max is based on one of the true life pioneers of the movie industry I don't know, but you believe every incident and action.

All of the characters are real, and I really loved Max's ingrate mother.

This is my book of the year.

This book contains some of the finest short stories I have ever read. Running the gambit from time travel to overpopulation to pollution, these timeless lessons come at you in a way you'll never forget. Howard Fast appeals to a whole new audience with this work.

This title is difficult to find, and if you do find it, keep both hands on it, because you'll want to share it, and they'll want to keep it!

I remember being really taken with this book when I read it as a kid, so I found a used copy to read to my kids. We make a big deal of Hanukkah so that Jewish kids don't feel gypped compared to everyone else, but hardly anyone really knows the story of Hanukkah in all its graphic detail. We should not shrink from telling our kids this story, and Fast's book is the only popular book I know that does it. The kids will not only have a better appreciation of the meaning of this holiday, but will also have a better appreciation of current events.

This review is dedicated to all the sons and daughters of Israel who have fell in defence of that remarkable land.
This wonderful book is essential for any Jew who wants to learn about his or her roots, any Christian who wants to learn more about the Judaic roots of his or her faith, and anyone else who wants to learn about the soul of the Jewish people.]
This is the story of the Maccabees- 5 glorious brothers who lead the rebellion by the Jewish people of Judea, against the cruel tyranny of that land's Greek and Syrian occupiers.
It is particularly relevant today, when the Jewish State is fighting for its life against cruel and ungodly forces that have decided that the Jewish people are no longer entitled to their homeland, and that Israel must disappear.
"We where slave in Egypt - and we will never forget that we where slaves in Egypt. So it must have been then, in the long ago, when our people, twelve tribes of them, sick with wandering and longing for rest, came out of the desert and saw the wooded hills and fertile valleys of Palestine'.
Once more the Jews have returned from their homeland, this time after two thousand years of persecution, and soon the lion will be awaken in the souls of the Jewish people to protect their land, from those who would kill their children and take it way, as the Maccabees did so with the Greek and Syrian invaders.
We read how a pretty eight year old girl, Deborah, the daughter of the schoolmaster Lebel is brutally murdered on the orders of the Greek warden of Judea, Apelles, and we are reminded of the slaughter of Jewish children by Arab terrorists, who much of the world, today support. It is these many incidents of cruelty and the desecration of the Jewish peoples' holy places that leads the peace loving people of Judea to become fierce warriors who's message to the world is: "We have extracted the price of freedom, which is always counted in blood, even as Moses did, and Joshua and Gideon too. From here on, we will not ask forgiveness, only for strength, for strength."

In a chillingly familiar parallel the attitude of those who support Palestinian terror,we read of the edict by the Greek King Antiochus, that to kill a Jew is no longer a crime but a virtue".

We learn how the peaceful Hebrew people, a people who ask nothing more than to determine their own future, in their own homeland, are forced to become warlike and to avenge the blood of its children: "They will pay -for every lick of flame, for every drop of blood, for every hurt."
There is always a message of hope: 'Simon a free people cannot be conquered - for us it is always the beginning, always the beginning."
It is this hope enshrined in the depiction of the beauty of the land of Israel, the only homeland of the Jewish people, and the beauty of it's children living in peace:
"Never was Israel like this before in all it's time, for the children played without fear, laughing as they ran through the grass, and splashed in streams. On the hillsides, the white lambs bleated for their mothers, and between the rocks pink and white flowers grew. Nowhere was there a break in the terraces; layer upon layer, they climbed the slopes, and the crop was a good thing to see, so rich and verdant. Who could see such things and deny that this was the land of milk and honey, blessed and thrice blessed".

"My Glorious Brothers" was once given my by a friend, about
30 years ago. He told me it was among his favorite books. I
soon found out why. Written in a beautiful, almost poetic
style, Howard Fast (a great and prolific writer) presents the
story of the Maccabees. These were the heroes of the amazing
Jewish Revolt against the mightiest world power at that time --
the Syrian-Greek Empire. From the small village of Modin, a
father and his five sons organize a rebellion to free ancient
Israel from its cruel occupiers. It is a thrilling account,
written from the perspective of Simon -- one of the five sons.
Fighting perhaps the first "guerilla war" in human history,
the Maccabees lead their nation of farmers and scholars against
the greatest organized fighting force in the world. It is a
thrilling and inspiring story of the few against the many; the
weak against the mighty. Their triumphs and sorrows are told
in one of the most moving books I have ever read. The Holiday
called Hanukah, celebrated by Jews the world over, commemorates
this incredible story.
Over the last 30 years I somehow lost this wonderful book,
and have spent years looking for another copy. I finally found
a used copy on Amazon, and paid a small ransom for it, gladly.
I am re-reading this story and will pass this book to my son.
It is truly one of the most treasured possesions in my life.

Whew. Those other reviewers must have read a different book, or they're all on acid. One of them even used "The Immigrants" to compare Fast to F. Scott Fitzgerald! The authors who come to my mind are Edna Ferber and James Michener, who were both more adept than Fast at using the trivial genre of "family saga" as the basis for a good adventure story. "The Immigrants" is a skin-deep, boring travelogue of events in the lives of a dull selection of character stereotypes. The cliches are thick and fast. I could hardly hold the book up. All I can think is that the often fascinating Fast was showing off his famous eclecticism by demonstrating that he could write trash with the worst of them.

Not the most fabulous writing around, and definitely put-downable, The Immigrants is not for those who aren't already in love with San Francisco. If you are one who would take out your old love letters just to reminisce about days that were great and awful at the same time, you might enjoy this book. The story isn't enthralling in any way, but the backdrop...
He does justice to the growth and plunder of the best city on earth

Well, I must say that this is one hell of a novel. I think Howard Fast is much more better than other well-known authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald or J.R.R Tolken. A very well done. This is a must read. Later! :)

The book is a choppy read. There are instances where the read flows like water from a Florida spring. However, it can be dry as Texas during a drought. To give it justice you must be a persistant reader.

I had to read this book for school and it was pretty good. The only reason it is popular in Brooklyn is that you can't find this book anywhere else and since over 75 people had to read it for school, and our teacher suggested getting it here, everyone bought it.

Citizen Tom Paine was written by Howard Fast in 1943, at a time when we were fighting World War II, and badly needed to remember who we were, and what our values were. It did the job splendidly, and with great eloquence! We can use that sort of reminder once again - and that sort of integrity!

Tom Paine grew up in eighteenth century England as a member of the poorest class in London during a time when the poor were treated like throw-away items, to be killed, imprisoned or deported for very small infractions like stealing a loaf of bread. He was a tall, ugly man with a hook nose and crooked eyes.

Paine managed to scrape together fare for a boat trip to the new world, arriving at a time when the country was in great turmoil over whether or not to secede from England. Tom wrote a small book he called "Common Sense," which caught the imagination of the entire country and ended by selling hundreds of thousands of copies. In a very real sense, Paine's words made the revolution possible.

Friend of all the governmental leaders of the time, including Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and both Sam and John Adams, Paine never lost touch with the poorest of the common people, fought with the ragged Union army during the early, hopeless struggle of its beginnings, helped Washington finally to get food and supplies for his men at Valley Forge.

After the war Paine wrote a small book he called The Rights of Man, which became popular all over Europe as well as America, and helped to win supporters for the new American republic, and later, for the French Revolution.

Finally, he wrote a book called The Age of Reason, denouncing organized religions of all kinds as tyranny over the minds of men, saying that there should be no intermediaries between God and each man. In thus expressing his deeply-felt beliefs by the writing of this book, Paine suffered almost universal wrath and violent rejection by churchgoers everywhere, and died in illness, poverty and total obscurity.

Fast's account of Paine's life is in my mind his best book, and deserves to be read by all Americans who are lovers of freedom and who may have (or need) the courage to maintain individual beliefs not necessarily those of most people!

I read this book after having watched the A&E production The Crossing. The screenplay for the video was written by Howard Fast, who also of course wrote this book. The video is much better. The book is not well written and it does not go into great depth about the Battle at Trenton. It does, however, provide information that is not in the video and thus is a useful companion to the video.

The book makes clear that the video changed some things for dramatic effect. For example, the book makes clear that Washington did not choose to attack Trenton on Christmas Day because he expected the Hessian troops to be caught off guard on that day; that is the day that coincidentally was the first day he could launch his attack. The video, though, makes it seem as though he calculated it to be on Christmas Day.

The book does not capture the heroic qualities of Washington in the same way as the video. However, it is worth reading as a way to enhance understanding of what is being depicted in the video.

I read this based on the fact that I enjoyed the movie adaptation so much. The movie credits characterized it as "a novel", but if it is a novelized telling, I can't say that I cared for the almost complete "third person" way in which it was done. If Howard Fast could write such great dialogue for the screenplay, I'm not sure why he didn't do it for the book itself. I believe it would have had a more readable flow to it. It couldn't seem to decide if it was a novel or a factual narrative. His historical notes in the back were more interestingly told than the "story" itself. I may have thought better of it if I had read the book first, but after the screenplay, it was a disappointment.

I've read the historical accounts of the Delaware Crossing and the subsequent battle of Trenton. However, Howard Fast's work puts you inside the head of the characters. Granted some of this can be done with historical documents, but it can be clumsy and certainly less literate than this book. It's not a true history book, but it's a great way to get started or to help you visualize what happened.