This premier publication is perfect in every way. It contains the most beautiful collection of photographs of Santa Fe's distinguished Warbonnet paint scheme. From its inception in the 1930's to the present day, this book characterizes an American railroad's graphic identity with dramatic detail. But, it does more than that. It is written with dramatic feeling and is distinguished by a prologue from the Hollywood TV and film star Michael Gross. This isn't just a train enthusiast book. It's a small portrait of Americana. The astounding design by Leland A. Knickerbocker still lives today even after the Santa Fe has since merged with the Burlington Northern. Thanks to Dan Pope and Mark Lynn for capturing this timeless part of our history.

With The Confessor, Silva has turned in another fine novel. It was a definite page turner - clearly to put down. In a reprise of Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and sometimes Israeli spy from previous novels, Silva spins a tale of intrigue regarding internecine battles within the modern Catholic Church. Gabriel is called on to investigate the death of a friend and fellow agent. In the process, he uncovers an effort by a powerful group within the Catholic Church at the Vatican to protect a secret regarding the church's complicity with the treatment of the Jews by the Germans in WWII. The core characters from previous efforts are complemented by a new cast of believable characters that come to life within the pages. The story provides action, excitement, intrigue and plot twists up to the very end. The effective inclusion of flashbacks add valuable context throughout the story. There is no question........this is a book worth reading.

In The Confessor, Silva, as in The Kill Artist and The English Assassin, calls on his art restorer/Israeli spy-assassin, Gabriel Allon, to investigate the murder of a long-time friend and fellow spy. As part of his investigation, he uncovers a conspiracy within the Vatican pertaining to the Holocaust, which is where the real plot begins and compelling suspense builds and builds right up to its bullets flying, bodies dying ending. While Silva once again relies on what has become a successful formula for him, The Confessor kept me engrossed throughout the book. However, for me, what really made this book rise to the top of its genre is the very interesting, thought-provoking and controversial perpsective Silva provides on the Vatican's involvement (or lack thereof) during the Holocaust. I've enjoyed all of Silva's books very much and I'd consider The Confessor to be the best of the three featuring Gabriel Allon. Regardless of your personal viewpoint about the controversial subject on which the plot is based, The Confessor is a novel of slow-building but non-stop tension and suspense that will keep you glued to the edge of your seat. Highly recommended!

Unassuming and resourceful hero Gabriel Allon is reprised in Daniel Silva's latest excellent thriller, The Confessor. Allon, Israeli super agent and renowned art restorer is currently working on the restoration of a Bellini painting in a Venetian church. He is summoned by his recently retired boss Ari Shamron former head of what seems to be the Israeli Mossad. Benjamin Stern, professor of European studies at a prestigious Munich university and also an Israeli agent has been found murdered in his apartment. Stern happens to be a good friend of Allon and the son of Shamron.

Allon, in his investigation finds out that Stern had been working on a piece that would implicate the Vatican in Hitler's plan to liquidate the Jews of Europe during World War 2. At the same time Venetian Cardinal Pietro Lucchesi ascends to the papacy, installed as Pope Paul VII. The pope is sympathetic to the revelation of secret Vatican documents which proved that Pope Pius condoned the Holocaust by remaining silent as the Nazis implimented the Final Solution.

A secret and extensive Vatican group called the Crux Vera consisting of powerful dignitaries lead by Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Marco Brindisi and General Carlo Casagrande would prefer that the secrets remain buried. They are prepared to go so far as to assassinate the new pope to accomplish this. They commissioned Eric Lange, known as The Leopard, a notorious and lethal assassin to silence those that would attempt to speak out.

Allon's investigation becomes intertwined with the actions of Crux Vera. He discovers that in 1942 a meeting between Nazi accomplice of Adolf Eichman, Martin Luther and then Vatican secretary of state Bishop Sebastiano Lorenzi took place at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in the lakeside town of Brenzone. There the Vatican policy of silence toward the Holocaust was decided dooming millions of Jews.

Silva is very accomplished in presenting his story in an interesting and tightly wrapped manner. His latest offering confirms that he is without a doubt among my favorite contemporary authors.

A Moral Reckoning: The Role of the Catholic Church in the Holocaust and Its Unfulfilled Duty of Repair by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen is a difficult book to read not because of the strong message, but because of the way that it is delivered. Goldhagen central thesis is one that has historical and moral resonance - that the Catholic Church, as a moral force, is culpable as a collaborator, if not an instigator, in the Final Solution. The Church as the self professed embodiment of Christ, participated in creating the climate that lead to the Final Solution through the dissemination of virulent anti-Semitism, and then turned its back on any responsibility in mitigating the effects of its policy or acting as a break on the Final Solution.

This is not a book on the history of the Church's involvement in the Nazi movement, but a moral inquiry into that involvement. Goldhagen message centers around the proposition that the Church is supposed to be more than organization whose purpose is its own perpetuation, regardless of the costs to others. Rather, the Church as the representative of Christ on Earth has a higher moral obligation which includes the responsibility not to encourage hatred of others, nor participate in the genocide of non-believers, as the Church directly did in Fascist Croatia and elsewhere.

The Church has taken the position that it is innocent of all wrong doing, and has attempted to explain away, or at best minimize, any involvement that it did have. Goldhagen writes that until the Church takes full responsibility for its acts there can never be any true reconciliation nor can Church rid itself of its guilt. This is especially necessary given the Church's emphasis on the need to ask forgiveness of ones sins.

There is nothing wrong with Goldhagen's message, although it is unquestionably controversial. However, the way that it is delivered makes it difficult to hear. What Goldhagen takes almost 400 pages to say could more easily be said in less than half the apace. The book is highly repetitive, so much so that the message loses its effect and is difficult to read. It reminds one of the statement by Mark Twain, where he apologized for writing a long letter because he didn't have time to write a short one. The bottom line is that Goldhagen should have turned the book into a long essay.

The autor, a very bright Jewish Harvard scholar, assuming the attitude of a prosecutor more than a writer, makes fierce accusations against the role of the Catholic Church and its institutional behaviour towards the Jews during the course of history since Jesus times in general and over Pope Pius XII obscure rule in particular in the Second World War

It also describes with a lot of detail how the Vatican and the ecclesiastical Catholical hierarchy of almost every European country acquiesced to the horrifying Nazi hunt and deportation of the Jews to the extermination camps, as a mute accomplice, underlying the antisemitic foundations of the Catholic doctrine

There is also a short and concise analysis of the New Testament chapters that allude to the false incrimination of the Jews as Christ killers, a cornerstone of Christian antisemitism

Finally, there is a moral debate originated on basic moral and legal principles about how the Catholic Church should repay all the offenses made to the Jews as moral repair

Though the book exhibits abundant incriminatory evidence, displays interesting photos and provides outstanding complementary information, the language employed turns into a repetitive and tedious monologue that enfeebles the reader receptivity blurring key enlightening concepts product of the author own very valuable research

Goldhagen's book makes no apology for being a polemic, nor should it. The several people who codemn the book here are ignoring the greater truth of Goldhagen's work.

The explicit and implicit anti-semitism of the Christian religion (not merely the Catholic Church) is the great moral failure of Western history. No amount of quibbling about mislabeled photo captions can erase that fact.

The Jewish people as a whole have been exploited, defamed and demonized for centuries under the moral guidance of the "Christian" nation-states of Europe. The "Catholic King" of Spain (that was his title - el Rey Catolico) expelled all Jews from Spain in 1492. The kings of England ("Defender of the Faith') expelled Jews several times over the centuries. The Orthodox czar of Russia banished Jews to the Pale of Settlement. The Pope himself ruled over one of the most squalid and cruel ghettoes in Europe for more than 300 years - which was not liberated until the late 19th century. No other people in the history of Europe were subjected to this degree of harrassment and persecution - which, while stopping short of extinction, often ended in the mass murder of whole populations.

And it is a sad fact that even today defamatory comments about "the Jews" spring easily to many people's lips. While one may have a negative opinion of the actions of individuals who happen to be Jewish, at this point in history is disgusting to hear the same canards being repeated again and again against an entire people.

This is not an easy book for any Catholic to read, but it is absolutely necessary in order to frame the scope of the injustice done to the Jewish people.

Goldhagen has focused a spotlight on the moral void at the heart of Catholicism. That moral void becomes more apparent with each day, as the Church teeters under the blow of sexual abuse scandals. Based on its performance, Catholics of conscience should thoroughly question whether this institution can be entrusted their spiritual well-being.