I found Hunter's book to be a real eye-opener. Its ambition is nothing less than to provide a new interpretation of early modern German intellectual history, with profound consequences for our understanding of Kant in particular. Hunter's own statement of his aims - to reinstate the marginalised tradition of civil philosophy - may seem modest enough. But once it becomes clear that this cannot be done without overturning the whole 'progressivist' tradition of philosophical history leading to Kant, then the scope of the book becomes apparent. On my reading, Rival Enlightenments is based around two main ideas. First, that philosophies make more sense when seen in terms of the acts of self-transformation they require of their initiates. (Hunter has a sharp eye for the pedagogical pressure applied by philosophies extolling freedom!). Second, that early modern university metaphysics and civil philosophy were locked in deep rivalry over the best way to deal with confessional division and the wars of religion. (Anyone provoked by Rorty's and Rawls' arguments on why liberal states should not ground themselves in metaphysics will find much of interest in Hunter's exciting historical discussion of this problem). As a result of this reframing, the currently obscured civil philosophers - Samuel Pufendorf and Christian Thomasius - become much more central, as they provide the intellectual architecture for a secularised civil world. Kant, though, appears as the modern inheritor of a university metaphysics bent on making the civil world more moral than is good for it. While challenging to read, this book is one of the most intellectually exciting ones I have come across in a long time.

This book is a welcome counterpoint to the Buber portrayal of Chasidim as saints or the Sholem Aleichem "Fiddler on the Roof" portrayal of European Jewry as a beautiful dead culture. In Yoshe Kalb, you run into the kind of corrupt Chasidim that you're sadly more likely to run into today. It's a brilliant portrayal of the often corrupt world of Chasidic dynasties where the leader knows little to nothing, the gabbai fights with the community and the women are stuck gossipping.

Nahum marries into an Hasidic dynasty due to the dynastic leader's eagerness to get married. A sensitive soul, he withdraws from the community except for an overwhelming lust that he feels for the chief rabbi's wife. Inadvertantly he sets in motion a chain of events that will destroy two dynasties and ends in one of the strangest trials in literature.

If you have only read Isaac Bashevis Singer, I urge you to seek out Israel Singer whereever you can find him.

This is an outstanding autobiography of horrific events as experienced by a boy. Au contraire to post World War II commentators and The History Channel, not every German citizen was a member of the Nazi party, especially a young boy, and suffered accordingly as the regime crumbled. Mr. Samuel's account of his experiences surviving the final days of the Third Reich are spellbounding. This book is not just an autobiography, but a tribute to his mother. He chronicles with great detail the horrors of a dying Third Reich (and the efforts of relative strangers to save him and his family) and his mother's efforts to save them from the advancing hordes of Russian soldiers. Mr. Samuel, his sister and mother survived the collapse of the Third Reich only to endure the horrors of the Soviets/East Germany, until their escape. Truly makes one appreciate the very thin line that separated the horrors of the Nazi and Soviet Communist regimes. And it caused this reader to ponder her own chances of survival if in similar circumstances. This book is a tribute to all those innocent victims of authoritarian/totalitarian regimes who somehow survived and succeeded against all odds. A truly inspiring work.

Colonel Samuel,USAF ret., was born in Nazi Germany to a woman raised in a small town to the north of Berlin and to an officer in the Luftwaffe. German Boy: A Child in War is an account of his life from the age of 10, when he, his mother, and sister became refugees fleeing the advance of Soviet forces in January 1945, to the age of 15, when he emigrated to the United States with his mother and step-father. In between, he lived in both the Soviet and British zones of occupation. This book sets forth Colonel Samuel's vivid, honest, and unsentimental recollection of the devastation, privation, degradation, brutality, and starvation that he and his family witnessed and experienced during those years. It is well written and it takes hold of the reader from the first paragaph and stays with one long after the last sentence has been read.

"German Boy" is an important work. As a history, it relates something about a period of history that is not commonly known -- the horrors of World War II in Europe continued long after the fighting ended in May of 1945. As a personal account, it offers hope. Wolfgang Samuel, like millions of children before, during, and since World War II, directly experienced events through which no child should ever have to suffer. His story highlights the resilience of the individual and illustrates that with the will, the perseverance, optimism, and some luck, one can survive disaster and live a better life. This volume would make excellent supplemenary reading for high school and college history courses.

Those who find "German Boy" to be of interest may also consider reading another excellent book, which is titled, "A Woman in Berlin." The author is anonymous. As the title suggests, the book is a published journal written by a young woman while she was living in Berlin during the weeks before the fall of the city to the Soviets and through the first weeks of the Soviet occupation. It was published during the 1950s and is now out of print. However, it is not too difficult to find and it is well worth the effort.

Review: German Boy is a beautifully written and moving story about life in Germany during the period 1945-1949. From the very beginning, I felt like I waa part of the ten year old German boy's world. His photographic memory retained the details of events and conversations which he relates in a pleasing and exciting manner. There is a universal message to be learned from the way the author saw the war, dictatorship and the goodness and badness in people. We are reminded that all human beings have the same hopes and fears. The reader will be surprised to discover how the author was influenced in 1948 by the United States humanitarian effort, - "The Berlin Airlift". I highly recommend this book, and predict that it will one of the top ten this year. A must Read Book

If you read Samuel's book "German Boy" you just wanted to know more about that time in German history and the people who lived in it. This book is somewhat perfect for it, because as it's premise it is about the German Children of the war. It is an interesting read because you get an insight into what happened during and after the war to the people in the book. They tell many insighful stories and you find out that they were also good people in Germany and not every one was a Nazi. Something every one needs to learn.

Where this book fails really and it could have been avoided by interviewing either more people, making the book shorter or getting different aspect of the life during and after the war and concentrating there; either way, the stories seem to repeat themselves. If you read three interviews of the people in the book, it seems like you have read most of the other interviews. At times you get confused and think you are reading about the same person you read about 50 pages ago but you don't. It's truly understandable that all these people had the same story to tell but better editing and more detalied interviews could have addeed more to the book.

Even though the Map is very helpful another map would have been welcomed that discribed where these people use to live. But the photos in this book are really touching. You learn many things about the postwar year of Germany and how the war never really ended after all the shots were fired. There was still lots of poverty, starvation, and crimes being commmited because you were of a Different Ethinic backround than the people who were now in Control. Much like it was when the Nazi's were in control. The things, specially, what the mothers' did for the children makes them true heroes.

Overall it is a good book but not a great book. It should go along with "German Boy" after you have read the Battle of Berlin because this leads right after that. One of the great quotes of the book is "Do not think about tomorrow because it has not arrived yet, live for today" There are some really touching interviews in this book and if you are interested in the aftermath of the war and about the Heroes after it, read this book.

In his earlier work, German Boy, Wolfgang Samuel related in excruciating and harrowing detail what it was like to be a German child caught up in the final months of WWII, as the American-led forces came into German soil in the West, while the Russians closed in from the East. Caught in between was a German population composed mostly of children and women, clinging to life without the help of their men, trying desperately to stay alive while keeping together what was left of their families. Life itself became a series of mad flights to dodge the crossfire of battle, and then, when the shooting stopped, it became no better, degenerating into a bleak struggle for survival in a ravaged and impoverished land, where the cruelty of the war itself was replaced by a savage and anarchic quest for daily subsistence.

Samuel, now Colonel Samuel, United States Air Force (retired), has given us his own story in German Boy, how he survived and how he eventually found a fulfilling life and career in the US. As he recalled this phase of his life, he realized that he was part of a larger whole, a generation of children who lived through these same horrors of war and yet somehow went on to become normal and productive persons. The War of Our Childhood is his compilation of first-person stories told by members of that generation. In a series of 27 interviews, Samuel lets each tell his or her story, although some were reluctant to be interviewed, to relive those suppressed memories of long ago. The book is organized into three chapters: Those who faced the war directly on the ground; and those who were either displaced by their conquerors from the East or forced to live under them at war's end. Underlying nearly every story is the constant fear of the Russians, whose cruelty and barbarism were whetted by the additional motivation of revenge. This fear and the flight to the West of millions of Germans in the face of the advancing hordes form the single consistent background throughout this period of chaos and displacement.

In nearly every story a kind of indomitable spirit shines through, especially among the women, who somehow kept on going. Some stories are more shocking than others, but one still wonders how the German nation and culture survived such decimation and onslaught. Yet in spite of their violent and deprived start in life, these children persevered, grew up, and went on to build meaningful lives, somehow made stronger for their hardships and experience. Lessons for the reader need not be expressly articulated; Colonel Samuel lets the people speak for themselves. This reviewer, who as a six-year-old fled Pomerania with his mother and younger brother, just one step ahead of the tanks and with shots ringing in his ears, experienced many of these same events. From reading The War of Our Childhood he now comes away both enligtened and a bit saddened, but reminded one more time never to take for granted the good things he enjoys today.

THE WAR OF OUR CHILDHOOD
Wolfgang Samuel
ISBN 1-57806-482-1

This is a moving work by Wolfgang Samuel about German children in WWII, their recollections of things endured and things taken away from the experience. In the author's earlier book, GERMAN BOY, he wrote about his own childhood as a refugee during the war and the debt he owed his mother. In this book, he interviews survivors and learns the details of their stories. Some did not wish to relive those years, but did so reluctantly with the writer's encouragement. He was one of them. The reader is privileged to experience these accounts, some of which were not previously shared with anyone.

One must steel oneself to read events in these stories. Some of the things that happened are terrifying and difficult to confront. They are tragic in the truest sense. These stories are about children who lost their parents and relatives, homes, and an entire way of life. Some were strafed by low flying fighters on the way home from school, and a number saw or heard women, sometimes relatives, being raped by Russian soldiers. Most endured the elements and were hungry more often than not. These stories are about kids who survived the war with only the clothes they wore, viewed in the areas where they ended up as refugee riffraff.

Why read such a book? Perhaps, the answer is to learn more about the experience of other human beings, in a time not so distant, who were on the losing end of the war. Also, everything is not as unambiguous as one might think. For example, a number of those who were German children then report that Russian soldiers who raped women were ironically, generally kind to children, "even generous at times, sharing the little they had." One man even said he forgave the Russians who raped his mother, that it was their leaders who encouraged them to take revenge on the Germans. Other surprising information of a lighter nature in this book is that many Russians learned to speak German relatively quickly, and even low-ranking soldiers showed a remarkable language aptitude.

One comes away from this book recognizing the strength of character and resourcefulness of these people. Most give credit to the mothers who guided and saved them while their fathers were away fighting and dying in the war. They talk about how their families worked as a team under the mother's leadership, to survive. A number said that they thought of their fathers only as photographs. Surprisingly, few of them had much bitterness about what they endured. Courage and discipline was the rule among them, and it served them well in surviving. Many experienced all the adversity that one can imagine. Those of us who think we have endured difficulty in life may change our minds after reading this book. Wolfgang Samuel's accomplishment in compiling these stories is enormous and worthy of the utmost respect.

Anybody interested in Viennese culture before World War I and between the wars ought to read this book. It portrays the atmosphere of a city that was one of the most influential centers of European culture, where contributions by the Jewish community were epoch-making and masterful. A must for anybody wanting to understand the marvel that was Europe.

Ah, Schnitzler. That magnificent chronicler of old Imperial Vienna - the Vienna of sweet young things (usually working- or middle-class), slightly neurotic but charming young men (usually upper-class), and their fleeting love-affairs, terminated so easily once ennui starts to exceed pleasure, the Vienna of walks in the Prater and talks in the cafes (ever so full of interesting artistic types), the Vienna where the nostalgic strains of Johann Strauss provide a suitably bittersweet accompaniment to the beginning (or the ending) of the abovementioned love-affairs ...

All of which occur in The Road into the Open; nevertheless, the Vienna depicted here does not only consist of only the sweetened tableaux so frequently dismissively (and unfairly) attributed to Schnitzler. The easy charm of the Vienna here is extant, but by no means idealised - it masks the artistic impotence that seems to afflict nearly all of its inhabitants, haunted as they are by the sense of being epigonal; grandiose artistic projects are continually being talked about, but never executed, whether because of an aversion to actually setting them down on paper, or simply because of what is commonly called a "lack of inspiration". More sinisterly, it also masks the habitual anti-Semitism of what one of the characters wittily calls those of "indigenous physiognomy"; though written in 1908, there are passages that almost foreshadow the rise of Nazism. Schnitzler subtly intertwines the study of the individual with ruthlessly objective social commentary and evocation of the atmosphere (both artistic and political) of fin de siecle Vienna, to produce a fascinating book highly recommended not only for those with an interest in the period, but also for anyone who fancies a thought-provoking book

This book is a long gospel.

It is unbelievably well-written and truly fascinating. The desriptions are vivid and colourful; Sholem Asch is simply great at revealing the mysticism of Judaism. I can only agree that it feels as if he has seen the events with his own eyes; his interpretation is well thought out and and well 'felt out'.

To me this book was a spiritual experience comparable to few others - like the Bible and 'The Glass Bead Game', perhaps.

I read the Brazilian-Portuguese edition, translated by Monteiro Lobato, a well known brazilian writer. He has done a great job, too. The book is absolutely beautiful, captivating, magic. It transposes you in time and space. People and facts are presented with such clarity that it's almost if you were there, watching things happening. It provides an important lesson in the end, too.

Just as the reading of Josephus's 'Works' illumined my understanding of, and appreciation for, the Old Testament and the Jewish heritage of my Christian faith, so did reading 'The Nazarene' inform my understanding of 1st century Jewish life, culture, mores and religious practice. Seldom have I felt so utterly absorbed in the world of an author's creation (A possible exception being 'City of Joy'). I'm having a harder time convincing myself Mr. Asch wasn't a first-hand witness to the events he describes than I would convincing myself he was. For 600-odd glorious pages, I was there amidst all the political and spiritual tumult of the times and the confusion and emotional chaos of those grappling with the life and words of Yeshua of Nazareth, both from within and without the Messianic camp. In 'The Nazarene' I didn't read a book, I had a spiritual experience that - once I've had a chance to distill and absorb it - will profoundly affect the way in which I believe and, therefore, live and exercise my faith. I wish there were ten stars.

This is the first edition of "Eagles of the Third Reich: The Men Who Made the Luftwaffe". Same textbook is also published by Airlife under the title "Eagles of the Third Reich - Hitler's Luftwaffe" (183 pages, large page format) targeted rather to the aviation enthusiast, full of (B&W) large pictures of aircraft, pilots, etc. unlike the other editions which comparatively have limited pictures.

Splendid and unbiased writing, presents the nuts and bolts of the German WWII air force (the most advanced in the world at that time), it's secret built-up phase, the Spanish civil war involvement and its successes and failures in the forthcoming war effort.

Although large scale air war was pioneered in WWII, it's hard to believe such Luftwaffe strategic errors as the early discontinue of long-range-four-engine-bomber project or the disruption of priority production of the revolutionary ME262 jet-fighter. It's clear that Germany's gamble on WWII was a large scale blitz with a view to 2-3 years time. Once it stalled on Moscow and then Stalingrad, things became uneven. Nevertheless, they came real close...

Mitcham's writing on what it was and what might have been is absorbing from beginning to end. The book is also appendixed with excellent bibliography, high command info, ranks, etc. A fine work indeed... (Presidio, 356 pages).

Samuel W. Mitcham is a Professor of Geography at the University of Louisiana in Monroe. He is also the author of numerous works of military history, most recently Rommel's Greatest Victory, The Desert Fox and the Fall of Tobruk, Spring 1942, (Presidio Press, 1998). Just about everything he has written, in fact, has related in some way to the German Army of the Second World War. In this, his twentieth book to run through the same vein, he demonstrates that while he may not have acquired breadth in his understanding of the military history of the period, he certainly has the depth in one topic required to convey vast amounts of information to the reader. This new book is a solid 'Operational History' from the German point of view.
In military history there are several sub-genres. There is, of course, the traditional 'bugles and trumpets' sort of patriotic first-person military history made popular by several well-known military historians in the past few years. There is also a more sophisticated (but not always useful) sub-field one might call 'social-military history.' This is a type of history that seeks answers to broader questions or applies emergent theories of human behavior to questions of military history in search for 'answers.' Then there is one of the older types of military history, 'Operational History.' This is the straight-forward account, without interpretation, of events in a battle or campaign in a sequential narrative. Best written without emotion, this type of history forms the foundation for all others. It is the record of facts, not the interpretation of them. In Retreat to the Reich Mitcham gives us a decent though not definitive, single source account of the German side of the Battle of France.
On the down side, one suspects after a while that perhaps Mitcham has become too enamored of his most written about subject. His portrayals of the officers in the German Wehrmacht are generally favorable, and in some cases are openly admiring. After just a few dozen pages one begins to wonder, given what we know of the actions of the German Army and nation in the Second World War, if these are the same officers that we were fighting in World War Two. Mitcham generally accomplishes this historical sleight-of-hand by not delving too deeply into the personal histories of these officers and generally relying upon their own post-war memoirs for accounts of their actions and behaviors. Thus he avoids mentioning their participation in any massacres or pre-war applications of force against Jews or other minorities. One notes especially that he carefully avoids noting the actions of these German officers or their units on the Eastern Front. In fact, the only distasteful actions in the entire book are the summary executions of SS troops at the hand of some American MPs and another more general suggestion that this was a common practice that summer and fall of 1944. Not once does a German unit or officer misbehave or maltreat prisoners or civilians in their precipitous retreat across France. Apparently only Americans (and Canadians) did that sort of thing. The was, I will admit, news to me.
What Mitcham does devote a lot of verbiage towards is a fairly complete account of the underground anti-Hitler conspiracies that permeated the Wehrmacht during the war. While the fact remains that these conspirators never actually made an attempt on Hitler's life until the summer of 1944, the fact that there was at least some movement cannot be ignored. I will readily concede that the few dozen pages Mitcham devotes to this aspect of German Army history are some of the best and most interesting in the book. In the end, however, I am reminded that there were hundreds of thousands of officers in the armed forces of Nazi Germany, and only a few dozen actually tried to do anything about Hitler. That's a fact that you tend to forget when reading this book. However, there were some interesting parts. Among the most interesting facts Mitcham brings out is the history of one Lieutenant Colonel (later Major General) Henning von Treschow. Treschow, a career officer, had been coordinating various groups towards an attempt on Hitler's life as early as 1942. As the Chief of Staff of Army Group Center (on the Eastern Front) he had maneuvered to collect several like-minded officers together in that Headquarters so that it became the center of resistance to Hitler's régime. One by-product of this cabal was the creation of a military unit that could, should the situation arise, be used in direct combat against Nazi forces. That unit was a cavalry regiment commanded by the younger brother of one of Treschow's co-conspirators, Captain Georg von Boeselager. The 'Boeselager Cavalry Unit' became the 'Cavalry Regiment Center' and was essentially the fire-brigade for Army Group Center. With more than 600 Russian Cossacks in the ranks, and a specially selected cadre, it was also potentially the foundation for a coup. Such was not to be, alas, as the one attempt on Hitler's life in 1943 was an abysmal failure. As an operational level history, the history of a campaign, this book does a decent job explaining how the German Army fell apart in the Summer of '44. One learns from Mitcham's broad strokes where each unit was, what their missions were, and how their commanders interacted. It would be interesting to match this book against Stephen Ambrose's Citizen Soldiers. This approach would allow the readers to cover the same period and many of the same smaller unit actions, from both sides.

This new book from Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., author of numerous books on the German armed forces during World War Two, is another great addition to literature on that subject. In this book the author covers the German defeat in France after the Allied invasion in June 1944. In just over 270 pages Mitcham offers the reader an interesting account of the German measures to defeat the Normandy invasion, the story is well told and the narrative flowed along quite smoothly.

The book is no where as detailed as the classic account by Carlo D'este, 'Decision in Normandy' published in 1983. However it does offer a very good overview of the invasion at Normandy and the fighting in the bocage country along with the subsequent invasion of Southern France. The story continues with the Allied drive to the Rhine and the failed airborne operation 'Market Garden'. One of the best points about this book is that it offers a biography of each of the major commanders and a mini history of each major fighting unit. The author presents this information in a way that it does not interrupt the story, it enhances it.

There are a number of first hand accounts by participants on both sides of the fighting and the author makes a number of interesting observations about the German and Allied forces and their commanders. The photographs supplied were OK but I think could have been better presented and I am a bit suspicious about some of the captions. The main disappointment with this book is the standard of the maps. They could have been a lot better and more detailed. This seems to be a common problem with a number of books on the market at the moment and I only hope that some publishers take note.

Overall I found this book to be an interesting and enjoyable read and I think that most people who have an interest in this subject should enjoy it. I would make the point however that this is more of a general overview of this campaign and not a detailed combat history. Regardless of that I hope the author intends to follow on with a book covering the Ardennes Offensive and the final drive into Germany.

If you are looking for a book that goes into any detail at all of the German East Front disasters of 1944, look elsewhere. This book is primarily a series of long slams of the German commanders of various sections of the front, followed by the briefest of sketchy descriptions of the fighting in their areas.

but a perspective from the pro-German side in no way offsets the 99% anti-German bias of all other accounts of WWII, not to mention the absolutely ridiculous accounts given by the Russians of this conflict, good grief, they treated their soldiers like drunken cattle.

September 7, 2002
Crumbling Empire:
The German Defeat in the East 1944
By: Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.

By its very title, this book is a detailed account of the changing tide of the war in the east.
Written mainly from a German intermediate corps and divisional perspective, the author intersects both graphic tactical details and a strategic explanation into a coherent discussion of the actual battles.
The book also includes biographies and accounts of lesser known but historically valuable leaders and units which served in this area. From the flanked, preempted commands of Field Marshal Ernest Busch to the largely unknown and less than honorable actions of the Kamensky and Direlwanger battalions; in addition to the vitally important role of famous and elite units like the 3rd SS panzer division "Totenkopf" and the 5th SS panzer division "Viking"--assigned missions of futility and impossibility (and almost achieved them).
At appropriate times, the author overlays with a description of the strategic military and diplomatic situation in the region or sector, and its impact on the vital control of natural resources--copper, bauxite, grain and petrol. It is not mentioned, but also needed foreign currency and gold reserves. Aspects in the war in the east that argueably caused the defeat of the German Reich faster than tactical bloodshead on the battlefield.
Supporting material includes substantive photographs and well documented, detailed footnotes and order of battle diagrams. And some front line situation maps which are lacking. In appearance, it looks as if the maps are hand drawn templates that have been photocoped. The information is compressed, cluttered and difficult to discern against the textual material referenced.
Beyond this, the book is well written and detailed towards the issue. The reader can both imagine and understand the inexorable situation facing the Germans, the ferocity and desperation of the battles themselves and an accurate survey of the strategic situation in the east in 1944 during declining months of the great patriotic war.

Sean Marche