I was amazed at the FASCINATING life of David Ben Gurion. He was a man w/ a mission that burned in his heart from the time he was a young boy. He suffered danger and privation to persue it. No risk was too great for him to suffer but to achieve his goal. He emmigrated from Poland to Israel when local Arabs had carte blanche for murder and destruction. He persevered to be instrumental in the founding and protection of the new state of Israel. He molded the new government, chose its leaders and helped to carve the nation into an international entity. His legacy lives in the vibrancy of its people, its government and its economy. Oh for more leaders like Ben Gurion!

This is the most outstanding study of human folly. It describes in depth the events that took place and the processes and results of decision making that eventually lead to the most devastating split second single event that was ever caused by mankind to mankind, the dropping of an atomic bomb on a vibrant city. It is saddening to observe how professional advisers are so powerless to avert the eventual outcome, i.e. the bomb dropping, in the face of decisions made by leaders bent on achieving a goal that is absolutely ludicrous for there own selfish and egoistic reasons. It is sad to see how a leader is so ensnared in a system created by his own subjects that he can not make the slightest change to avoid the obvious looming catastrophe. Could it happen again?

I have read several of Mr. Kurzman's books, The Race For Rome, Left To Die, Fatal Voyage and now The Bravest Battle 28 Days of The Warsaw Ghetto uprising. In all of them I felt that more research would have made for a better book, to be fair that could be said of any book. This is a fabulous book if you are looking for stories of bravery, it is not such a good book if you are looking for an in-depth examination of the battle such as Ryan's the Last Battle about Berlin or Beevor's Stalingrad. Mr. Kurzman seemed to rely almost exclusively on the Polish-Jewish side of events in writing this book, there are very few references to what the Germans were thinking and doing at the command level and no German order of battle. Some of the more well known stories are left out, the book bound in human flesh and given to an SS Commander as a battle momento is not mentioned, there is no mention of the German use of gigantic seige mortars and artillery to lay waste to the ghetto. This book is filled with so many fantastic stories that Steven Speilberg could make several movies from it...underground battles in the sewers as poorly armed civilians fight it out with one of the most professional armies of all times. Poor Jews dupped into working as a ghetto police force, turning in their friends and family only to be taken to a wall and shot when their usefulness is finished. Nazi's bringing in special dogs trained to smell for humans hiding under ground, acoustic listening devices being employed to find the sounds of humans in hidden bunkers. The horrible poison gas attacks when Jewish bunkers were discovered. Non-Jewish Poles refusing to help their Jewish countrymen. Pleas to the outside world to help that fall on deaf or indifferent ears. The core of these Ghetto Fighters were very young, to be in your late teens/early 20's and facing a fight for survival like these people did is incredible. Mr. Kurzman explains the Ghetto structure of Warsaw very well, it was broken down into different sections like the Productive Ghetto which the industrialists begged the Nazi's to not destroy, there were several times in the battle when the Nazi's would ask factory owners to go into the ghetto and announce that anyone who turned himself in would be given safe passage to eastern relocation work camps, sadly sometimes it worked. The Nazi's were masters of deception, it is scary even today to look back at how effecient and organized they were about the whole thing. Those who saw the movie Schindler's List will recognize many of the same tactics of genocide in this book. Being called to the train platform for re-settlement, rumors of death camps, stories from camp escapees. The description of the 1st ambush of German troops entering the ghetto will have you spellbound...one could only hope to be so brave if placed in such an impossible situation. This book is worth a read.

Despite my many years of companionship with Jewish friends, and a few stints working at JCC youth camps, my friend's comment was one that I might have made before reading this excellently written and incisive book. Kurzman tells the story of the Jewish resisters in Warsaw during the "Grossaktion"- the final rounding up and extermination of so many Polish Jews. The stories of individual courage, sacrifice, and heroism moved me in a way I could never have foreseen. Yes this book is one-sided (as another reviewer critiqued), but how could it be otherwise? The mercilessness with which the Germans pursued their quarry will never be matched, and an empathy for their motives would almost by necessity ring false. To view the real heroes (who make difficult and sometimes flawed choices along the way that expose them as the humans they are) of this book is to be enlightened about the Jewish history and character that we so rarely have an opportunity to experience through the mainstream media. If you seek an account of the almost impossible ways that people react to extreme oppression and terror, and the incredible resourcefulness that a people are capable of, then you will do well to read this book

This is a marvelous account of the proudest moment in Jewish history. Kurzman's meticulous research and attention to detail add rich layers of atmosphere to his re-telling of the Uprising. Hundreds of participants are named, and the day-to-day account of the fighting is positively harrowing. The actions of Jewish fighters in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto rival those of any other armed uprising in the history of the world in terms of pure heroics in the face of utter destruction. Anyone who reads Kurzman's "Bravest Battle" is likely to agree.

Being somewhat of an avid naval military history fan, I've read quite a few books on WWII sea disasters. This one by Dan Kurzman has become one of my favorites.

There are many WWII naval history accounts out there, but quite a few of them tend to be a little "dry" because they don't contribute enough to the human-interest side of the story. As a result, books like that can become a monotonous succession of ships' names, and who released which torpedo that hit which target. However, when it comes to a story leading up to a major disaster befalling a single ship, it is important to concentrate on the individuals (at least a few of them) who were part of the crew. This book did exactly that.

Kurzman gives us important insights into the lives of a few notable individuals involved in the sinking of the USS Juneau. All 10 survivors are covered nicely, as well as a few significant crew-members who didn't make it, including the skipper, the 5 Sullivan brothers, and the 2 Rogers brothers. Adding personal details prior to the main story of the disaster involves the reader in a significant way. You get to really see these people as individual human beings instead of them being part of the statistics of the incident.

Kurzman is a master storyteller. Once I got started, I could hardly wait to see what happens next. Although not strictly a military historian per se, his account of the naval battles leading up to the tragic sinking were superb. He even tells parts of the story from the point of view of the Japanese side. (Much of these parts were directly taken from Tameichi Hara's "Japanese Destroyer Captain". For those who have never, or never will, read this book, these accounts from the Japanese point of view are essential to the understanding of what happened.)

I highly recommend this work to anyone who's into naval battle history or naval disasters. There is not a boring moment in this book, at least not to me. I have yet to read Kurzman's "FATAL VOYAGE", but "LEFT TO DIE" is written in a similar style to Doug Stanton's "IN HARM'S WAY", which was an excellent book about probably the most well-known WWII naval disaster, the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.

"Left To Die" is one of the most compelling stories to come out of WWII. The story of the USS Juneau, her skipper, and crew is another of the great mysteries of the war. Why no search and rescue mission was initiated until all but 10 of the crew were dead, draws comparison to the later disaster following the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945. The bittersweet tale of Capt. Lyman K. Swenson adds more poigniancy to the story of a gallant crew that was left to the fates. The book also details the lives of the Juneau survivors after their rescue. It also brings to light the bungling of numerous sightings of survivors, which bordered on criminal negligence.

Dan Kurzman followed up his excellent account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis ("Fatal Voyage") with another tragic sinking of an American warship, this time the USS Juneau. The Juneau disaster is probably best known because among the many deaths were five brothers who had joined the navy at the start of World War Two and insisted that they be assigned to the same ship. Only one of the brothers survived the initial sinking, and he tragically succcomed to dehydration and delirium while frantically searching for his siblings on the open ocean amidst the oil and debris from the wreck. Equally compelling is the story of how the commander of The Juneau's task force made a life and death decision to leave the survivors behind in the water lest he put his other ships at risk. As a result only a mere handful of sailors ultimately survived. Their story is as haunting as anything I've read.

An engaging retelling of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the end of WWII. Not exactly a page turner because of the plodding style, but it will keep your attention. Can be a little difficult to follow; I wish the author had provided some schematic drawings of the ship's layout, a map of the general area involved, and a table of the various naval hierachies involved. Some more sophisticated background on the physiology of thirst and exposure at sea would have added to the text. Nevertheless the description of men diving down to their sunken ship in the crazed hope of finding fresh water from its spigots is haunting.

The first I had ever heard of the USS Indianapolis was in the movie Jaws. Unfortunately my history classes in school did not cover this subject. Apparently they felt it was not a big enough part of World War II. But this was a tragedy full of mistakes by many. The ship was not noticed missing for days, it was sunk after the end of the war. The sailors faced certain death from dehydration or being eaten alive (sharks) and the Captain was court-martialled for following procedures.

This is an exceptional book that will keep your interest and enlighten you on a subject that many do not know about. I can not compare to other books on the subject as this is the first I have read. But it was well worth my time to read it.

QUICK REVIEW
This book gives a good and very thorough telling of the tragic sinking of a Navy ship, during WWII, and the events surrounding it. Worth reading.

FULL REVIEW
Among the many books that cover this incident, this is a very good one. The entire story is laid out nicely, from beginning to end. The author doesn't go into any part of the story extremely deeply, yet covers every aspect nicely. Readers may find themselves thirsting for more information in parts, if there is one particular part of the story they are most interested in. So the details of all that happens is not exhaustive (not as in depth as it possibly could be) but you get the whole story in exchange. Other books on this tragedy tend to dwell heavier on some aspects of the story than others, and therefore sacrifice telling all angles of the story. Readers, however, get the complete picture with this book. What they also get is an accurate, truthful account of the horror these men faced trying to get off a sinking ship, survive for days in the Pacific ocean and the struggle of life after such an terrifying event. The author does not make up dialogue or pretend to get inside the heads of the non-surviving men. He gives us direct quotes and true testimony. What the readers get is a fascinating true-life story of amazing survival under terrible circumstances. There are some slow parts but there is also riveting action and shocking incidents. This is an amazing story worth reading.

In style and detail, this book is a good read. Its views are somewhat outdated now and Kurzman's suppression of the more unsavory side of the anti-civilian violence from the Zionist/ Israeli side now seems quaint. (Example: he refers in one place to a killing of Jewish workers as raising Arab fighting morale in Haifa, ignoring the fact that this had no effect on morale as it resulted from a worker riot following a random terror bombing of Arab workers by Jewish extermists and was followed by an unmentioned murderous retaliatory night raid by Jewish militia into a peaceful village.) Modern Israeli press accounts reveal that Kurzman deliberately downplayed the massacres of Arab civilians he discovered in his researches in the Israeli archives. This is "home team" coverage and ot an unbiased account. But for useful information and good storytelling, it passes muster. Just don't take it as the final word.

If you want to know what went on, what *really* went on in the 1948 war for Israel, then this book is a must!

Not only is this a historical reference to be used and re-used, but Kurzman writes true stories within the historical facts which makes the book almost like a historical novel.

I can't give enough praise for this book and it is definitely my top 10 book of all time.

I have read and re-read this book many times. I always get new insights each time. It has the feel of a "you are there" historical account - a veritable time machine. This is a fascinating book. Any library, public or private, that does not have it is incomplete.

Though history has shown that the Nazis were not nearly as close to developing the bomb as was then believed, it does not diminish the impact of this edge of your chair thriller! THe allies, both British and Americans, attempt a series of missions to blow up the German heavy water plant (heavy water is used to make nuclear reactors, a key element in building a nuclear bomb) that was located in Norweigan territory. British glider pilots are unsuccessful and captured and tortured by the Nazis, a second attempt is successful in bombing the plant but does not do enough damage. THe book chronicles these and other espionage efforts to destroy the plant and does so in a quick style that will keep you reading til finished. THis book would make an excellent action/adventure WWII thriller type movie and I hope someone buys the rights to it. AS many of you know, the author, Dan Kurzman has made a career of documenting WWII stories. He's a good storyteller, though not quite as good a writer. If you enjoy this book, then try his story of the sinking of the Indianapolis, the ship that carried parts of the Atomic bomb and saw a large number of its crewman get eaten by sharks. The book demonstrates that there are enough true to life thrillers out there, so why bother with fiction when you can read a thriller and learn something about history at the same time!

Kurzman's book describes a little-known event in rural Norway that might well have changed the course of World War II. Men's heroism, stoicism, perseverance, and sacrifices are generously exposed in this book. A very good reading in general, but may be a little too sensationalistic for historians.

This is a part of history that certainly needs telling, and B&W fills the bill. Written in a non-academic style it tells the story of how the allies crippled Germany's heavy water supply in Norway. It is a fascinating tale of a few heroes who risked, and sometimes gave, their lives to prevent Germany from developing the atomic bomb. Some interesting facts are also given regarding the development of a nuclear weapon. If German scientists had just developed a slightly different mind set they wouldn't have needed the heavy water, and could have built a bomb without it. Good rendering of a small but very important story of World War II.

The Bhopal Catastrophe, or The Gas Disaster as it is more commonly referred to, relates to the sudden release of a highly poisonous gas, Methyl Isocyanate (MIC), from a pesticide manufacturing plant. The plant was managed by an Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation, Danbury, Connecticut. The release of the poisonous cloud from the factory settled over the low lying areas of the city, killing thousands and permanently injuring hundreds of thousands. The night of December 2nd to 3rd, 1984 remains etched in history as a scandalous example of corporate greed and governmental inefficiency leading to a calamity of unprecedented proportions.

Dan Kurzman's book about the disaster cleverly interweaves human interest stories of several people who were directly involved with the disaster. The narrative is brought to palpable life through a comprehensive cast of characters that extends from the top echelon management to the ordinary worker on the factory floor. Besides the personalities at Union Carbide, the author takes us into the lives of other ordinary people, includes the bigwigs in positions of power in Bhopal, the capital city in Madhya Pradesh, a state in Central India. Along the way we get valuable insights into several individuals starting with Warren Anderson, CEO, V.P. Gokhale, Managing Director, J. Mukund, Plant Manager, S. Qureshi, Shift Supervisor, S. Dubey, Control Room Technician, all within the Union Carbide hierarchy. We also meet Arjun Singh, Chief Minister, and several ordinary people living in around the factory, like Chandabee a pregnant tribal, Munnibai a water carrier, Syed Ali the TV technician, etc. We also meet Ram Keshwani, who made prophetic forecasts about the possibility of doom that could engulf Bhopal.

Kurzman eloquently sets the scene and poignantly describes the chaos and confusion after the release of the gas, the mayhem as people start to die in the homes and on the streets and their torments as they try in vain to flee a deadly killer. In the chapter entitled "The Aftermath" the author describes the initial accusation and the controversial denials about the release of MIC, leading to the failure in instituting the appropriate antidote therapy. The frenetic efforts in the disposal of the bodies and the failure of the record keeping mechanisms to properly document the details of the afflicted hordes, ultimately led to the even greater tragedy in implementing relief measures. We also find out about Warren Anderson's plans to visit Bhopal, his subsequent arrest and the political maneuvers at damage control by the governmental bureaucrats and politicians.

In subsequent chapters, entitled "The Jungle" and "The Snakepit," besides the ongoing suffering of those who survived the gas exposure, additional characters are introduced into the narrative. It includes the high powered Indian scientific establishment which is completely ignorant about MIC, its effects and how to deal with it. The book also reveals details about the arrival of hordes of American personal injury lawyers, who signed up victims with promises of fantastic compensations. There are several others, especially that despicable sub-species of human parasites who thrive on other people's misery, those who demanded kickbacks to issue certificates and documentation, give treatment, and others who siphoned off the relief food and supplies. Not every one is painted a villain, we also read about the Sadgopals, and other activists, who labored under extreme provocation to provide some succor to the people in Bhopal. Subsequently Kurzman exposes details about the deadlock in the judicial proceeding and finally the unsatisfactory settlement.

Kurzman is a skilled craftsman with words and a magician in what he achieves. By a clever sleight of hand he almost manages to absolve Union Carbide Corporation of responsibility for the accident. In this book, Warren Andersen, CEO of Union Carbide Corporation turns out to be an almost Christ like figure, benevolent, benign, paternalistic and caring. Andersen places his own life in jeopardy, in rushing to Bhopal to help render aid and succor to the afflicted denizens. Andersen also agonizes when forced to cut loose the Indian subsidiary from the parent corporation as a protection against damaging litigation and crippling penalties. The books focus is on the chaos and confusion on the streets of Bhopal and the corruption in the corridors of power, Governmental ineptitude and the vulture like frenzy of the personal injury lawyers. Kurzman manages to convert the big bad monster that is Union Carbide into a rather charming, concerned company out to save the world. The poor people of Bhopal have been victimized thrice - once by the poison, second by politics, and then again by the inaccurate reporting in this book.

This major flaw not withstanding, the book is both illuminating and educational. Without getting too technical, the book gives valuable insight into the disaster, and captures the events of the catastrophe, both its ambiance and the cultural ethos. It's just too bad the author could be objective in his assessments, and not critical of the role of Multi-national corporations.

'Miracle of November' by Dan Kurzman is a graphic and compelling account of the stand of Madrid in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). This is the only book that I have read on this particular battle but I have no hesitation is saying that it is a great military account covering the Loyalists forces holding Madrid against repeated assaults by the rebel forces led by General Franco.

The book is very similar in format to Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan-Witts book 'The Day Guernica Died' (another great book on the Spanish Civil War). In both books the authors let the participants tell the story through first-hand accounts. Dan Kurzman, author of 'Left to Die' and many other great military books, tells the story of why and how the Civil War started and then covers the military campaign to seize Madrid with forces flown in from Spanish Morocco.

The story is well told and covers both sides of the conflict, the narrative is fast paced and you find it hard to put the book down. I really enjoyed this book and I found myself reading until late at night wondering what was going to happen to many of the participants knowing full well the final result for Spain. The book was first published in 1980 but I don't think that it has aged and I am not aware of any other book in English currently available on the market.

The author does not fail to tell the terrible story of murder and the retribution carried out by both sides during the fighting for Madrid. I was not aware of the full story in this regard nor of the numerous acts of bravery carried out by ordinary people helping to save their friends although they were on the 'other side'. This is a great book of human courage and bravery against the odds and also of treachery and domination played by the world powers to their own benefit and Spain's detriment.

I have read some of Kurzman's latter writings, so I was surprised by this old book about the politics of the Dominican Republic. Kurzman details the fall of the first democratically elected President of the Dominican Republic Juan Bosch and the American military intervention in 1965. Kurzman goes into great detail about the political situation in the Dominican Republic, so this is perhaps not the best book for the novice reader.
One can get an idea on the difficulty in imposing a free election system into a land which never knew this form of government (similar to Iraq today). The United States faced this difficulty in the Dominican Republic in the early sixties, as now it faces it in Iraq. The transition was not easy in the Dominican Republic, as I am sure it will be difficult in the Iraq.
The Americans intervened in the Dominican Republic because it feared the Communists were taking over the government. Kurzman details in this book that very few Communists were in the revolt. People supported Juan Bosch and not the Communists. The Communists had been corrupted by the Trujillo dictatorship.
Altogether a good book about the DR and the difficult politics of this country during its crisis years.