Hallam ptovides us with a wonderful book on the reigns of Henry III, Edward I, Edward II and Edward III. Each of the reigns is examined in detail with a series of essays written by experts in medieval history. The 113 essays cover a wide range of topics and provide the reader with a vivid history of Europe from 1216 - 1377. Contemporary chroniclers tie the book together. This beautiful book contains over 235 illustrations (in color and black and white), five detailed maps and a genealogy chart showing the interrelationships between the English, Scottish and French Dynasties.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in medieval history.

I read the British edition and found it fascinating. This book is for the general reader interested in English medieval history. It is not a scholarly piece of work, hence it is easier to read and more entertaining. Every aspect of the life in medieval England (and a little of France) is covered as well as the rule of the Plantagenet dynasty. There is lavish use of photographs and colorful illustrations which brings all the information more into perspective. I highly recommend it for general reading.

Hugh Trevor-Roper has a reputation as a brilliant and incisive historian. He was not simply an academic historian, but took an active part in the events of his time, the most important of which was World War Two. He was an intelligence officer then, pitted against the Germans, and the insight and personal knowledge gained from this experience proved to be invaluable when it came to writing his first important book, 'Hitler's Table Talk'.

Each of his dozen or so books is an extremely lucid, direct, and unpedantic analysis of people and events both interesting and important. People who have read 'Renaissance Essays' should also read his earlier masterpiece, 'Rise of Christian Europe'.

'Renaissance Essays' is a collection of essays, written at various times, dealing with aspects of that period. The very first essay deals with the republic of Venice with its 'impersonal' and 'mysterious' head, the Doge; we learn of the tumultuous struggles between the proud Foscari and Loredan families for that position; we read of the stupendously vain Emperor Maximillian II and his grand designs; the fame and troubles of Erasmus, the great humanist scholar; the revival of interest in his close and great friend Sir Thomas More and the evolution of his 'Utopia'; we read of William Camden, the first great historian of the 'Elizabethan age', we read of Richard Hooker, the man who gave the then newly-founded but vulnerable English Church a philosophy, a creed with which it could claim its independence and fight off its protestant and Catholic opponents in England and the continent.

There is a particularly amusing and entertaining essay on the letters of the Lisles, on the Paracelsians, followers of Paracelcus, that mad, eccentric, but brilliant physician and philosopher; and on Robert Burton's enigmatic tome, the 'Anatomy of Melancholy'.

The final essays pinpoints the causes of the Thirty Years War.

by Sandeep Rajkumar

Hugh Trevor-Roper is one of the great historians of our time. Here is a historian who is not interested in the petty and obscure obsessions of some modern scholars; he is concerned with the totality, the full picture, the main effect of his subject. His style is inimitable, his prose fluent and crystal clear, his erudition and knowledge plain for all to see.

All these qualities he brings to this book, a collection of essays, written at various times, whose subject is that age we call the Renaisssance. It is a must for any keen student of it, and European history.

The very first essay deals with the republic of Venice with its 'impersonal' and 'mysterious' head, the Doge; we learn of the tumultuous struggles between the proud Foscari and Loredan families for that position; we read of the stupendously vain Emperor Maximillian II and his grand designs; the fame and troubles of Erasmus, the great humanist scholar; the revival of interest in his close and great friend Sir Thomas More and the evolution of his 'Utopia'; we read of William Camden, the first great historian of the 'Elizabethan age', who in fact coined that phrase; we read of Richard Hooker, the man who gave the then newly-founded but vulnerable English Church a philosophy, a creed with which it could claim its independence and fight off its protestant and Catholic opponents in England and the continent.

There is a particularly amusing and entertaining essay on the letters of the Lisles, on the Paracelsians, followers of Paracelcus, that mad, eccentric, but brilliant physician and philosopher; on Robert Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy' and finally culminating in an essay on the Baroque age and its culture.

This book is a great read; it is amusing, entertaining, and enlightening. And all through it, there is the underlying philosophy of a great historian which gives it such unity and effect

Elizabeth Hallam provides us with a superb book on the crusades told through the words of contemporary or near contemporary writers. The chroniclers were chosen to represent the often conflicting views of the crusades from the viewpoints of the Western, Byzantine and Muslim worlds. A panel of leading experts provides short essays linking the words of the chroniclers.

The book is divided into seven chapters, starting with the Muslim world before 1096 and ending with the Mediterranean after 1453. Superb illustrations and six maps accompany the beautifully written text. Short biographies of the key individuals involved in the crusades and a glossary enhance the reader's understanding of the period. The bibliography leads readers to 20th century books on the crusades.

Anyone interested in the crusades should add this book to their library!

The title suggests this book is comprised of reminiscing reflections from sadistic, self-satisfied Nazi war criminals. In fact, most of the observations in written and spoken testimonies, diaries and documents, suggest the 'Perpetrators and Bystanders' were appalled. Frequently, however, they were only bothered by the manner of the beatings and executions. Those whose material contributed to this book had to see starved women beg for their lives-- soon to be corpses pulled from gas chambers by hooks on sticks inserted into their mouths to make for easy dragging-- Nazi mass executions of Jews by bullet in which many near dead tumbled into communal graves begged to be shot again, or even crowbar execution beatings by SS-supervised Ukrainians, and so on, before returning to enjoy their privileged lives away from real military action.

In a section on the camps, an SS Doctor, Johannes Kremer, Mengele-like, describes how he 'reserves' certain starving prisoners who are particularly interesting to him medically, for warm disections. On the next entry of his diary he says: "'There was roast hare for lunch'a real fat leg'with dumplings and red cabbage'" His remark, chosen for the title of this chapter: "Food in the officers' mess excellent."

There are a number of photographs throughout the book, which were taken in spite of it being forbidden.

For those of us born after 1945, there is an impenetrable membrane between us and a proper sense of these important recent events. (If you visit Auschwitz/Birkenau you may be struck by how modern everything looks. It was not that long ago.) We may ask how it is possible for civilized people with families to commit and tolerate such affronts to humanity, and then quietly return to their lives with a clear conscience. Hauntingly, there is an even worse question, if I had been born in the right time and place, and had been fed the right propaganda, could I have done it? In some way, am I doing it now?

Such books as this make me mournful and trouble my sleep. I consider this necessary reading for anyone hoping see a little deeper into this terrible odyssey shared by perpetrators and victims.

I also recommend Nazi Hunter, the Wiesenthal File, by Alan Levy, which is by no means similar in style or perspective, but contains a wealth of information.

This book really makes one shiver. I have read a number of books on the holocaust and World War 2 and this book absolute is the rawest of the books covering the genocide. That is not to say the book had a blow by blow account of the methods of killing, but just the history of this group of solders and the off handed way the mass killing was described. The people doing this killing were just normal guys, not unlike friends, family or myself. Wow, it is just amazing to me the way they try to justify what they were in charge of, the crimes against humanity that they committed. That is what was so disturbing to me. It is much easier to think that the mass killing was done by some group of homicidal maniacs let out of the asylum and given guns that that is not the case.

The details you get here are very hard to take once you have finished the book and think about it. This is one of the few books that for weeks after I finished it I would continue to think about it I do not think I can recommend this book enough; it really gives you a feel for the tremendous crime that took place. You will not be able to stop reading the book until you have completed it. I could go on and on. Even if you are not overly interested in WW 2 or the Holocaust you should read this book, there is no way you will not be griped by it.

Read it but be careful! The abyss will look back at you. The reports, letters and diary excerpts... This is really the backside of the nazi grandiose facade. Not forget the Holocaust? This book will never let you forget.

...this really is a monumental work. It is common to say that Gibbon was a great writer but it's best to look elsewhere for the history...if you can swallow, say, _The Federalist Papers_, you will enjoy Gibbon.

...There is still a lot of good history to learn in Gibbon. The important thing to remember is that Gibbon often takes the point of view of conservative elements in Rome, so he inherits a particular agenda that does not look favorably on the decline of Rome the city or the Roman senate, or on the rise of the military dictatorship.

That just means that the punch line is, don't make Gibbon your introduction to Roman history. Maybe start with Michael Grant's _History of Rome_. But Gibbon is still a valuable read from a purely historical point of view, not just a literary one.

Also important to remember is that Gibbon uses "decline and fall" in maybe a different way than we do. He essentially means the drift away from the principles and institutions of Golden Age Rome (that's the conservatism again) over the 1500 years that the Roman Empire (as he conceived it -- rolling the Byzantine Empire into the Roman) existed.

DON'T read these volumes (this 3 volume Modern Library edition is a complete reproduction of the 6 volume text edited by J.B. Bury) if you want to learn about the death of the Roman Republic, because it's not covered (for that and other general history try Cary and Scullard's _A History of Rome Down to the Reign of Constantine_). Gibbon begins (in Vol. 1) in the 2nd century AD and goes (in Vol. 3) to 1453 AD; the Republic ended in the 1st century BC. Trite comparisons aside, it's also difficult to find anything deep or valuable in Gibbon that directly foreshadows the modern American experience. For starters, the grand princples of Federalist America are different from Golden Age Rome, and any decline away from them is fundamentally different (if there even is such a decline).

About ten years ago, as I was growing bored with newspaper reading on my daily trips to New York and back to Philadelphia, I started Gibbon's History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I'd had the 6-volume set for some years, one of many fine, old, numbered sets printed in the last century and bought by me during the previous decade from Bryn Mawr College's used book store. (An aside: none of the sets--I have about ten or so--had been read through. I know this because in each case, after a chapter or so, I had to slit the pages of the signatures as I read.) I was enthralled immediately with Gibbon's history. I believe Gibbon's opening sentence to be among the best of any work. It was difficult for me to get used to the lofty style, but after a chapter or two, I was acclimated. (It's still the case--it takes a chapter or so before my grammar and syntax can power up to Gibbon's level.) As I read I could hear in his cadences and phrasing the Gibbon that Winston Churchill credited with forming his own style. So began a fascinating journey in those fine, old books, one that I have recently begun again. And though I discovered the route by chance, may I recommend it to you? From the Roman Empire through the fall of the eastern empire (Gibbon, 6 volumes) change the scene to Spain, which began to form with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella about the time that the Turks sacked Constantinople. Follow Spain to its conquest of the Moors (Prescott, 4 volumes) to the Conquest of Mexico (Prescott, another 4 volumes), of the Incas (4 again) to the story of Charles V, King of Spain, the low countries, etc. and Holy Roman Emperor (Robertson, 5 volumes--included within the 19-volume set of Prescott's histories); finally to the unfinished story of Charles' son Philip, Elizabeth's suitor, then adversary whose Spanish Armada was defeated by her in 1588. Prescott died before completing his work on Philip, but Motley wrote about him from the Dutch perspective in his chronicle of their 80-year (!) struggle for Independence, The Founding of the Dutch Republic (4 volumes) and History of the United States of the Netherlands (another 3). Finally, move to Macauley's History of England from the Accession of James II, another 50 years in 10 volumes. I hope that first sentence of Gibbon's will hook others as it did me. I have found no modern writer of history who is able to write so clearly and nobly as those I mention above.

Edward Gibbon has set the stage on which hundreds of other successful writers show history, and on which thousands of teachers tell history. From the Age of the Antonines to the reign of the Vandals, Gibbon explains to us just how the government of Rome faltered in a well-balanced tale, measuring external and internal factors.

Gibbon grades Marcus Aerilius Antoninus's successors using the last of the Great Roman Emperors as the benchmark. Each emperor thereafter is respectively a degree away from Marcus Aerilius in ethics, morals and values. Guards, friends or family readily dispatch those that live as the model good citizen. The author, however, keeps his hope in finding a hero. He includes the Empire's adversaries, such as Attila and Alaric in describing wanton virtues for a good ruler.

Written two hundred years ago, the language is far from contemporary. But, if you are serious about learning Western History and Culture, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a must read. Make the commitment and read Volumes 1, 2 and 3. From there, you will gain a better understanding when reading other epics on history, such as The Discoverers by Daniel Boorstin.

More importantly, you may say that you have successfully walked with Gibbon through nearly 500 years of history!

Henry Picker was a young German officer who knew stenography and took down Hitler's Table Talk for a period of four years during World War II. This book was first published in 1951 and has enjoyed many reprints in the intervening years. This edition is expertly translated and has some revealing footnotes which leads the reader to other sources.

Though Hitler is invariably portrayed as a raving madman in American "docudramas," he could also be a thoroughly charming and intensely charismatic private companion in his off hours. A man capable of seducing 65 million Germans and of his monumental crimes, had to possess an elemental force both inexplicable and fascinating. This book provides some clues to Hitler's personality, though in fairness, his mesmerizing mystique had been dulled by drugs and megalomania by 1941. He was surrounded by sycophants, but there were some perceptive and intelligent people in his milieu, most notably Joseph Goebbels. Hitler's secretaries were also articulate and intelligent ladies. However, his chauffeurs and other aides, such as Linge and Schaub, were hardly junior Einstein's.

Hitler's monologues are faithfully presented here and he emerges as a genius in certain areas (his knowledge of architecture and art was encyclopedic), and as a sexist boor in other realms. His believed himself to be omniscient and believed further that he was a messiah selected by Providence to save the German nation. Anyone harboring such delusions is bound to sound arrogant and insufferable on occasion.

This is a must have book for anyone interested in Hitler, his entourage, or his paralyzing effect upon other people. It's chilling that Hitler casually discussed trivialities while Europe was being torn asunder because of one man's twsited ideology.

This is a rather large book, but I devoured it literally overnight. The intelligence Hitler displays in his conversations is almost overwhelming. Even his harshest critics cannot deny what a brilliant mind he had. A self-educated man, he possessed knowledge of a broad range of subjects, sometimes knowing even more about certain things than men who were educated at universities. Before I read this book, I knew he was smart. After having completed the book, I was convinced of his genius.
There are 3 books which I personally consider "essential reading" to students of Hitler's life. The first is an out-of-print masterpiece written by August Kubizek (and the fact that it is out of print in the USA is really an indicator of the general public's blissful ignorance when it comes to matters of the TRUTH about Hitler's early life). The second is "Mein Kampf". Last but not least is "Hitler's Table Talk". I also strongly suggest to all bilingual readers out there to read this book (entitled "Hitlers Tischgespraeche") in the original German, as Henry Picker offers some really insightful remarks on the Fuehrer as a person. Hitler's Table Talk promises not to disappoint!

A fascinating window into Hitler's feverishly powerful,original , jaundiced mind and the two obsessions which consumed him:1.mythic glorification of the Germanic race and 2. "lebensraum" in the vast Russian steppes.One is struck by his cold,steely intelligence but repelled by its rigidity as well as lack of grace & warmth.There is a lot of repetition.He has dogmatic views on almost every subject under the sun, no matter how trivial (eccentric but interesting!).A striking feature of Hitler's thinking is his megalomaniacal fixation on sheer scale and size___he is always planning in terms of CENTURIES,BILLIONS,THOUSANDS (of miles and tonnage) etc etc.Furthermore the quality of these monologues tend to deteriorate,gradually but perceptibly, as we move from '41 to '44.You cannot understand Hitler without reading these table talks.An entertaining read.

This book is a classic in two senses. On the good side, it is well-written, compelling, interesting, and emotionally gripping. It tells - with much detail and drama - one of the most dramatic events of WWII, the life of Hitler and his followers in the doomed bunker in Berlin. This is why it is still read today.

On the bad side, it had been written very shortly after the war, so it is naturally dated and inaccurate in certain issues - although not on any very important issues, and not due to the author's fault or lack of research. Rather, it is due to the fact that new material had come to light since then, especially since the opening of the Soviet archives after the collapse of the soviet union.

It is, in a sentence, a good starting point for anybody interested in the subject of Hitler's last days. Trevor-Roper's description of the main events have by and large stood the test of time and further research. Once you read this highly readable and important book, you can move on to books that include more recent rsearch, e.g. Toland's THE LAST 100 DAYS or Joachim Fest's HITLER - NEMESIS.

A scholarly & well-researched book written by Trevor-Roper who was then a British intelligence officer. Note that this is the 6th edition and there is a 7th edition available in the UK. The reader should also be aware that each edition builds on and revises some of older ones contents, including superseding some portions completely. Readers should also check out "The Death of Hitler" by Ada Petrova.

The review title is actually a quote from The Doors, but it is quite appropriate here to describe Hitler's last few days in the bunker as he says goodbye to his secretaries. HTR's book is very good. Initially, I believed the book was going to described Hitler's last days in the bunker on a day-by-day basis. This occurs only in the last half of the book. The first half deals with Hitler's court (Speer, Himmler, Bormann, Goebbels, Goering, Schellenberg, et.al.) and how they were handling the last days of the war. The last half of the book describes Hitler's last few days - his denunciation of Goering; his final betrayal by Himmler; Hitler's acceptance of the end; his suicide - all make for a very surreal ending when HTR describes Himmler's silly staff meetings just two days before the war's end - incredible. I read the 1947 version so there are a few suppositions which, actually, turn out to be correct - about Bormann's probable death at the Wiedenammer bridge - about Hitler's death and his capture of the ashes by the Russians. Great book.