This book is one of the reasons why I became a devoted reader of Otto Friedrich's work. Two others were his excellent series in Time about Berlin in the rise of Hitler along with "Going Crazy," a brilliant study of psychoanalysis with analyses of some interesting case histories of individuals who were treated for psychiatric difficulties. "City of Nets" explores the fabled city of lights and dreams during one of its most memorable decades. In addition to receiving all kinds of interesting tidbits about Rita Hayworth's tempestuous marriage to Orson Welles and Robert Mitchum's time spent in a California honor farm on a marijuana possession charge that would ultimately be expunged, Friedrich also provides the broader picture of a town thrown into turmoil and confusion during the period following the war.

Friedrich gives a brilliant account of the tragic blacklist period. As one who has studied this period closely as a historian, I was impressed by the breadth of the author's scope as a researcher. German playwright Bertolt Brecht is colorfully displayed. His offbeat intelligence and unconventional demeanor completely astounded House Un-American Activities Committee members as they sought to interrogate him. Long after the author of "Mother Courage", "Galileo" and many other plays had returned to his native East Germany, committee members and others were still trying to figure him out. Friedrich relates the incident when Charles Laughton threw a wild tantrum at the Coronet Theater as he was rehearsing for the Los Angeles premiere of Brecht's "Galileo." Another interesting character sketch provided by Friedrich is that of Austrian emigre Billy Wilder, who fled Hitler's Germany and became a major figure in films, first as a writer, then as a director-writer.

The anecdotes and richness of the character portraits transpose the reader back to Hollywood in the forties. As revealed, it was a truly fascinating, wildly unpredictable place during a pivotal period of American history.

Of the books I've read about the golden age of Hollywood, this is easily the best. Friedrich combines brief biographies of the great directors, actors, and producers of the period along with lesser known stars to give a thorough picture of the film culture of the period. What is especially interesting is his analysis of the role refugees from Nazi oppression played in creating and not creating some of the great films of the 40's.

Otto Friedrich's City of Nets (A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's) is as evocative a portrait of a time and place as one could hope for. The book travels through more than film history (much, much more) as the reader explores, dragged by the wonderful writing of the author, crime, unions, politics, communism, war, racisim and a host of other isms. This book is about the parts of America that float to the surface of the pool of churning, boiling water that is Hollywood and it is not always a pretty grouping of flotsam and jetsam. The author captures the personality of the characters in this soapy drama with beautiful ease and, often, humour. It was a joy from beginning to end and deserves far more than five stars. A book about Hollywood for those who care about history and do not see a light shining on some very gloomy corners of history.

As another reviewer of this particular Karl May travel and adventure story, I was mesmerized by his stories when I was growing up in Luxemburg. It is shame that he is virtually unknown in North America. I've started my great nephew (who unfortunately does not know German) reading the stories in translation. I hope that he will get a greatly expanded view and understanding of other peoples, ways, mores as I did; and that he just plainly will enjoy the stories, because they are SUPERB.

This book is a gripping tale of adventure and suspense that left me unable to put it down especially towards the end. I was drawn into the characters and found myself laughing at their antics. In reading this story I felt like I was traveling through the land alongside the heroes of the story.
I especially liked Halef who was a very important part of the story and I can't wait to see if he continues his journey in the next book.
Even though the book was written more than a hundred years ago the customs and traditions of the Arabs have not changed through to the present day.
Not being an avid reader, a book must be exciting to keep my attention and this book met and exceeded my expectations.
Growing up in my grandmothers house who was from Germany I know the German language can be very difficult to understand and with many of the translations from German to English the true meaning of the prose is often lost.
It is obvious that a great deal of time and effort went into this unabridged translation of this adventure story.
This is the first Karl May book that I have had a chance to read and I can't wait for the next book to be translated.
To the translator I say, 'Great job!'. I highly recommend this book to readers of adventure stories and to children - most enlightening.

The Shadow of the Padishah

This book is a step into the world of Shaharazhad and a little beyond. Our Hero, the Frank, Emir Nemsi, is a German writer on an odyssey into the realm of the Padishah, of Arabian Knights and the rich culture of the Middle East, in search of adventure. He travels with a native companion, little Halef, a devoted servant, bent on converting his beloved Master to the True Faith of Islam. It is interesting to note that our hero becomes a Muslim against his will, all the while remaining a devout Christian, an interesting twist of events. The series of adventures, beginning with the discovery of a murder victim, through the Hajj to Mecca to the victory against the Haddadihn leaves the reader panting for more and more, until you are dropped on your head with a cliffhanger. I feel much like the Shaharazhad' sultan, I simply must know what happens next.

I was quite surprised to find out that this story was actually written in the late 1800's, as it has a fresh and modern feel. I especially liked the author's use of the Arabic words, with the translation right behind. It gives the story an exotic cast, without sacrificing the meat of the Tale.

The story is an honest portrayal of this world, with only a slight European smugness, but much less than most of the literature of the day. The Arab Culture is not portrayed as barbaric or savage; rather we are shown its depth and richness.

I am waiting less than patiently for the next installment of my hero's adventures.
HURRY UP!!!!

Beyond doubt it is a interesting and provoking book. But if you really want to read something radical about the Christian relegion and its origin you should read a greek book called "M to the N" by the notable author Mimis Androulakis. It contains shoking information on the Christ`s private life.

just when i thought i'd found a separate publication of the antichrist, it's in spanish. i figured "antichristo/the antichrist" meant untranslated and translated versions in one... ugh. i was wrong.

IS it in english

Oh, what a great read. They certainly don't write them like this any more. I certainly enjoyed the climax at the end of act 1. There is absolutely nothing I can criticise about this gem of a book. Before I read this book I was a bit of a loner, but now I live life to the full. Thankyou Friedrich!

I have also studied this book and I was so amazed by the sexual tension and excitement created by the characters. I would recommend it to anyone!

I have studied this book with great interest as part of my further education studies in the German language. I was thrilled by the use of dramatic irony and symbolism to portray the many themes and morals throughout the play. This book was a ray of light in my otherwise dull life.

Es un "manifiesto" en el sentido estricto: explica lo que anda mal en el mundo y propone un programa para resolverlo; su nombre "comunista" fue vindicado a unos tres lustres más adelante con la Comuna de Paris, cuando los humildes plebes crearon un Estado nuevo y equitativo.

Para quien tenga el compromiso social, es una lectura provechosa; para quienes que están enojados con la injusticia y quieren cambiar el mundo, es una lectura obligatoria.

Escrito por un par de jóvenes de menos de 30 años, da argumentos contundentes de porque no sirve el capitalismo -todos aplicables a su versión más reciente y feroz, llámese "globalización", "privatización" o cómo sea.

La semana antes de que escribo esta crítica, el presidente de México echó al presidente de Cuba de una reunión internacional de "desarrollo" por haber sacado a la luz datos como las tres personas más ricos del mundo cuentan con una riqueza que equivale a los ¡48 países! más pobres del planeta.

Este dato hace eco a mi parte favorita del Manifiesto -la segunda (sección)- donde Marx y Engels burlaron duro a la hipocresía de los burgueses. Toman los exactos argumentos con que los poderosos denunciaron a anarquistas y comunistas de la época, y los refutan mostrando que éstos son precisamente los pecados de los mismos burguesas: por ejemplo, denunciaron a los comunistas por buscar establecer una comunidad de mujeres, pero ¡es el capital que las obliga a vender sus cuerpos! Entonces son los comunistas que podemos abocar para la liberación de la mujer, no el flamante mercado libre.

Este es la edición más útil de la obra clásica de 1848 de Carlos Marx y Federico Engels, fundadores del movimiento comunista internacional. La exposición del método científico de analizar la historia y los crisis del sistema capitalista, la perspectiva de lucha de los trabajadores para tomar el poder político y forjar una nueva sociedad, el socialismo; la discusión de consignas y medidas prácticas para la organización del movimiento de los trabajadores, todos son cuestiones imprescindibles para nosotros al comienzo del siglo XXI. Incluye los prefacios de Marx y Engels a las ediciones de 1872 y 1890.
La edición de Pathfinder es la más importante porque incluye un artículo escrito en 1938 por León Trotsky, quien junto con V.I. Lenin fue dirigente principal de la revolución rusa de 1917. Trotsky explica que "el manifiesto comunista" sigue siendo de suma importancia hoy en día. También analiza los cambios en el mundo capitalista desde 1848, incluyendo el desarrollo de los monopolios económicos, el papel del estado, las relaciones entre las distintas clases sociales, y la creciente unidad de condiciones de luchas de los trabajadores y agricultores de todos los países del mundo.

El manifiesto representa la mejor manera de abrir los ojos a las generaciones futuras en pro del comunismo y en contra de este modelo neoliberal en el cual estamos inmersos. Una forma lúcida de reaccionar ante las imposiciones imperialistas del NORTE.

This beguiling work opens with the statement, "Hegel is not a philosopher". As we go further we see this is to mean that Hegel is expressing the perspective of Absolute Knowledge, in the echoes of the Hermetic tradition. This book is a bit of a tour de force, although perhaps unsettling to those who inherit the Hegel reshaped in the nineteenth century by the Young Hegelians and others, indeed by the reticent stance of Hegel himself whose interest in Bohme and Eckhart, and early contacts with Rosicrucianism, the Masons, and study of a host of occult and theosophical subjects, tends to be factored out of his biographies. This component of Hegel's philosophic odyssey might never meet the approval of an age of science, yet the context is important to an understanding of Hegel's sources and development, and also on the grounds that much that is obscure clarifies at once if seen in this light. In fact this analysis hits the spot. Too much logical bandwidth is wasted on a sort of logical positivist recoil at the glyphic Hegel. Seen in this light, he is another man entirely and can be taken on his own terms, and with a proper caution that the seeker with a mystic triangle argument stands in ghostly shadows near the dialectician hoping to explicate a law of history (read Left Hegelian, Marxist). It is important to know what you were up to!
Very well documented text, with good historical snapshots of this side of Reformation history, made to disappear from most philosophic treatments of Hegelian subjects.

Professor Magee has added a crucial dimension to our understanding of Hegel by showing in abundant detail the deep and life-long influences of hermeticism, alchemy, the Kabbala, and various forms of theosophy (the ancient wisdom) on Hegel's metaphysics. He quickly dispatches the absurd idea that Hegel was primarily a hermeneute and that he was not 'really' interested in hard-core metaphysics, and he further distances Hegel from the postmodern displacement that would reduce him to a negative genealogist of finite self-consciousness (e.g., in Julia Kristeva's reading of "negativity" in Hegelian consciousness via the later Freud). Combining close historical studies with internal categorial analysis, Magee exhibits the power of Swabian mysticism and its correlary, local pietism on such Hegelian ideas as: 1) the self-return of the absolute from its own concentration and condensation in the realms of finite reciprocity, 2) the reconstructed Aristotelian idea that all selves contain potentia of the fullness of absolute Geist in a mirroring relationship, and 3) the doctrine of dynamic internal relations that permeate the manifest cosmos. The "Phenomenology of Spirit," so often seen as a detached "we" consciousness of the regathering of shapes of self-consciousness (gestalten des Selbstbewusstsein), is thought theosophically as an initiation ritual in which the individual self shatters its provincial illusions and prepares to become a true Adept on the edges of absolute knowing (das absolute Wissen).
Hegel scholars will especially appreciate Magee's detailed treatment of the way the concept of "aether" functions in Hegel's "Philosophy of Nature" as a primary background meta-material substance (hints of Paracelsus and Bohme here), which has dynamic and life-generating potencies in the four elements (earth, air, fire, and water understood in the classical Greek sense). Further, Magee's analysis of the "Earth Spirit" opens up a dramatic vista on the mythos underlying Hegel's understanding of messmerism, telepathy, and the earth-like unconscious (shades of Heidegger's earth/world struggle).
For those who came to Hegel through French phenomenology, Protestant theology (e.g., his conflict with Schleiermacher), analytic philosophy ("what was Hegel's epistemology and did he really beat Kant at his own game?"), or Heidegger's destructuring of the opening gambits of the "Phenomenology," Magee's hermetic approach will provide a far more historically accurate and balanced perspective on the mystical and robustly metaphysical heart of Hegelian dialectic. The rose in the cross is an image that Hegel uses in "The Philosophy of Right" to balance his reconstructured Lutheranism with his commitment to the pansophia found in the Rosicrucian Movement (toward which he had friendly relations). Magee gives us a Hegel that Hegel would have recognized on the spot, and we are much in his debt for his doing so.

This new study of Hegel by Glenn Alexander Magee is a brilliant piece of work on numerous levels. Those who have been daunted by the language of Hegel's philosophical system, or who find it otherwise obtuse and impenetrable, will do well to reapproach him from Mr. Magee's perspective. Unfortunately Hegel's name has furthermore been tainted from his later appropriation by the political "Young Hegelians," most famous among them Karl Marx. This has probably caused some to look askance at Hegel as a thinker whose ideas eventually lead to marxoid Gulags (one can see a similar negative type of effect in the world of music, when some folks cringe at the sounds of Richard Wagner, since Hitler was a Parsifal fan).
Mr. Magee's book forces a radical new reading of Hegel, and one that is very much at odds with the materialist or politically motivated interpretations that have been commonplace for over a century. Here the argument is offered that Hegel was, in fact, thoroughly immersed in the Hermetic Tradition, and his "speculative philosophy" is a discourse of mystical conceptions about man's relationship to the divine. The book is clearly written and Mr. Magee states his case with precision and a fascinating wealth of evidence, circumstantial as well as internal. This is not only an illuminating study of Hegel (and you will never look at him the same after having read it), but also an informed explication of the core ideas of Hermeticism, as well as a history of its proponents throughout the centuries, especially in the German speaking lands. Not just a book for philosophy scholars or students of German Intellectual History, it has much of value to offer anyone interested in Hermeticism and its ramifications in the larger world of Western thought.

This book makes a good technical companion to Kahn's historic treatment in 'The Code Breakers'. It covers the technology up through the advent of computers. Its treatment is technical, going into details about how an encryption technique is performed, and how it is attacked. This book is the first place where I've seen the Enigma machine described in enough detail to understand how it works (or they worked since there were many variations and many of them are discussed here), and how to actually build (or simulate) one. It's a big book, and I carried it around for months, sometimes just diving into a chapter or topic. I loved it.

This is an amazing book, and relatively inexpensive; Springer-Verlag has done it again.

Rather than being a dry recitation of encryption and cryptanalysis schemes, Bauer provides a great deal of information about what actually goes wrong when one tries to construct a cipher that must be used under pressure by non-cryptologists, with plenty of historical examples to illustrate his points. And he discusses at some length the ways in which cryptanalysts can hope to unravel ciphers and codes too strong to be broken by standard methods. Much of what he has to say I had never seen in print before; some of it was brand new to me. Perhaps it helps that Bauer is German, and doesn't have to write with the uneasy feeling that NSA or MI-6 is looking over his shoulder at every line he writes. For example, his explanation of how Robert Murphy compromised an American cipher in WW II so badly that the Germans could read it easily is one that I think some American officials would probably still prefer not to have in print.

Despite comments by other reviewers and by Cryptologia, I think it requires a certain mathematical sophistication to absorb much of the material in this book. The math is not hard, but Bauer implicitly assumes a mathematical mindset and a familiarity with the terminology of pure mathematics that most college undergraduates don't have. So I wouldn't choose it as the primary text for a first course in cryptology, but I would certainly use it as a supplementary text. I know of no other book that contains so much material on the practical realities of cryptology.

I read this book in the original German (even though reading in German is still a labor for me), and the effort was amply rewarded. This book is a first course in cryptography, at the upper undergraduate or beginning graduate level. Its competition would be books like Denning's or Beker and Piper or Koblitz' series. Denning's book is still great and worth buying (and Ms. Denning is a wonderful, accomplished, and intelligent person), but Bauer is more modern and complete. Koblitz' books are all first rate, but Bauer stays on the task of cryptology much more exactly and usefully. This is the basis of an excellent course in several German universities, especially in Munich. If I taught another course purely on cryptography (and not as part of a larger math curriculum---where Koblitz' book is best), I would certainly use this as the text. However, even though this is best, I really think everyone should still buy, read, and treasure Ms. Denning's book, Cryptology, too. (A true classic is never actually superseded.) Buy Bauer. It is better than an existing classic. While I don't have the English version yet, and cannot, therefore, vouch for the quality of the translation, I think that Springer Verlag is such a reliable editor that we can both trust that the translation will be good before we even see it.

Hollingdale's biography/analysis of Nietzsche and his philosophy was an unexpected delight. I had already read Walter Kaufmann's translations of Nietzsche's major works when I came upon Hollingdale's volume; expecting little, I was amazed at the additional insights the author offered into Nietzsche's thought and world outlook. I would recommend this book to anyone who is new to Nietzsche - who would like to learn something of his philosophy, but who has held back because they feel Nietzsche, and perhaps, philosophy in general, is too remote or difficult.
Believe me, Hollingdale's volume will usher you, gently, into Nietzsche's world, and make you hungry for more. Nietzsche, himself, in "Thus Spake Zarathustra" had his protaganist announce, "I am the railing by the rushing torrent - grasp me if you can; your crutch I am not!" Like Nietzsche, Hollingdale does not seek disciples -- he explains the basic concepts of Nietzsche's philosophy with cool detachment, and offers them to the reader as a launchpad from which the reader can, if he/she wishes, soar, exploring Nietzsche's world for themselves, drawing their own conclusions. Nietzsche, the enemy of blind adherence, would have heartily approved such an approach. This is the man who said, "if you wish to strive after peace of soul and happiness, then believe; if you wish to be a disciple of truth, then inquire!" Enjoy the Journey!

Anyone interested in a lucid,fair,nonsense and distortion-free overview of Nietzsche's writings and life could do no better than to start here.Hollingdale avoids what the usual crowd of Nietzsche biographers and explainers and interpreters stumble over.Here you will not find the deconstructionist nonsense of Gilles Deleuze or the turning of Nietzsche into a contradictor of his own writings a la Heidegger.Perhaps no philosopher in history has had so many bad advocates and screeching and intentionally misleading and misinterpreting critics as Nietzsche.So much fetid,vapid and idiotic writing has enveloped Nietzsche that it threatens to destroy the philosopher altogheter.The future of Nietzsche scholarship needs many more individuals like R.J. Hollingdale if one of the most profound,original and critically important figures of the modern world is to be given proper justice.More importantly the public sorely needs to have the means to better understand why this philosopher is the axis on which all philosophy of the last century turns.Most of what Nietzsche wrote is still terribly misunderstood and reviled for no good reason.Hollingdale is one of the few,but hopefully the beginning of a flood of well thought out,accurate and sober scholars who will help integrate this most fascinating and courageous philosopher into our public discourse and common knowledge.

this book should prove useful for readers looking for a well-written, intelligent, and accessible introduction to this often very difficult and enigmatic thinker. hollingdale tackles head on many common misconceptions of nietzsche (i.e. that he was a nihilist, an anti-semite, a fascist) through the use of extensive quotes and poignant commentary. we see the development of his thought, from his youthful admiration of wagner and schopenhauer, through to his mature explications of the idea of life as will to power, and the theme of eternal recurrence. for the disciplined student this book proves to be of great value as well, offering insights into the personality of the man himself, through numerous letters and recollections from those who knew him most intimately. this is a great biography, respectful and humane, but also willing to acknowledge nietzsche's shortcomings and possible confusions as to his own state of mind and health.

I have to admit, I found the first part of this book to be rather dull reading, and if I wasn't reading this for research on a book I'm co-writing with a friend, I might have given up! But I stuck it out, and I'm glad I did. Fowler is clever in giving a mock symposium to introduce the development theories of Erickson, Piaget, and Kohlberg. And once he actually gets into his stages of faith development, the book really gets interesting. He provides interesting examples of people at different stages of faith development, and importantly, he does not judge people at the different stages--it would be easy to assume people are "better," or "more faithful" at higher stages. This book helped me understand where I am in my faith development, and helped me see ways I can grow in my own faith. This is not, however, a casual read. It takes quite a bit of concentration, and at times, I found Fowler a little hard to follow, especially at the beginning and the end. Still, I recommend it for anyone who wants to understand their faith journey, whatever faith journey they may be on.

Wouldn't we all love to know how we stack up as lovers, as parents, as 'faithers'? James Fowler offers a framework to help us understand normative faith. I read this book first in 1991, and return to it often. For all those who care deeply about their faith and the faith of others, this will be a meaningful book.

I am taking my Ed.D. on Adult Education at Asia Graduate School of Theology. This book has been helpful in developing my dissertation by linking faith development with leadership culture in the Philippine setting. The contents of the book do not only present the results of the research, but the research mechanisms were also given via the appendices.

It's hard to believe this isn't a work of fiction. This guy is filled with hate and rage and loathing as he watches the German-speaking people descend into madness. Incredible writing, powerful ideas. Get it.

The title is a calumny. As his translator, Paul Rubens, points out, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen was a prophet - not in the vulgar sense of one who predicts future events, but a prophet after the fashion of Jeremiah, William Blake and Dostoyevsky: one who comments on the present from the perspective of the Most High. As such, even when his own death is imminent, Reck most certainly does not despair. Like the three individuals mentioned above, he is angered, disgusted, saddened and horrified by what he sees around him; his journal is filled with images of Calvary, the plague, and the Apocalypse; yet he continually strives to see his own and his country's ordeal as a time of suffering and repentance which must be endured to make way for a new and better world. None of which is to say that his thinking is "mystical" in the sense of being vague or escapist; indeed, the immense value of Reck's diary, both as literature and as a historical document, lies in its brilliant combination of sharp observation and lucid analysis. Although he makes the all-too-common error of lumping in the plotters of 20 July 1944 with the many opportunists who tried to dissociate themselves from the regime as defeat began to loom, Reck's analytical passages offer as clear and concrete a picture of the corruption underlying Hitler's Germany as any historian I have encountered. Telling details of life in the Third Reich - the omnipresent thuggery and tale-bearing, the forced barracks-gymnasium atmosphere, the all-pervasive lies and propaganda - spring out of every page through tartly written anecdotes and vignettes. The peculiar detestability of the Nazi functionaries - frustrated schoolteachers and jumped-up mailmen posing as masters of the world - is described and analysed with perception and admirable loathing. This elderly, conservative, royalist aristocrat - a member of a class who, because they did not support the Weimar Republic, are too often labelled supporters of the Nazis - displays a courage, intelligence, breadth of culture and (I cannot emphasise it enough) a faith which makes his journal as moving a human document as the more famous diary of Anne Frank.

It is true that Reck has a sense of class superiority to the Nazi's but that does not obscure his central point--he knew they were monsters--and he died for that. Counts for something you know. The invective is superb and more over Reck recognizes real resistance like the Scholl's (were they aristocrat?) and damns the generals assisanation plot as a an opportunistic move. Furthermore The Nazis crimes were pandemic--the annhilhation of the Jews, but also gypsies--and if one is making measurements which seems to me silly--the obliteration of 20,0000 soviet citizens. By the other reviewers logic if the destruction of the Jews is the question by which Germans will be judged, then Stalin becomes a heroe for saving the bulk of Soviet Jewry --sending them behind the Ural mountains--I don't think I want to go that route. It also explains why Israel refuses to make Dietrich Bonhoeffer a "rightious gentile" which is a scandal.
No The Nazis were monsters such total monsters that any costly resistance derserves honor. This is the best anti-Nazi book theis Jew has ever read.