I found this book to offer a different view
of von Manstein and von paulus than people
are used to. Written by someone who was
in the pocket of stalingrad, it offers
a first person view of the battle. For fans
of von manstein, the book offers a critical
and i thought a fresh view of the man, who is
held in high regard by most historians but not
so high by this officer in the sixth army.I found
book to be fast read. You'll enjoy it

Written from the perspective of an Intelligence Staff Officer, this book offers an outstanding blend of the perspective from the top as well as a more junior officer. Specific sections on von Manstein, von Seydlitz, and Paulus are also quite insightful. No matter what other fine books you have on Stalingrad, i.e. Beevor, definitely add this one to your collection.

There were Nazis with far more blood on their hands the the bumbling foreign minister Joachim Ribbentrop (he "purchased" the noble title "von" in an act that caused him much scorn and derision). But few were more mediocre or more completely dedicated to Hitler. Ribbentrop's stunning ineptness was quite apparent long before he assumed the foreign ministry portfolio. He was so heavilly mocked by the British when he served as Ambassador to London before the war (once even giving the "Hitler salute" to the the King) that he developed a fierce hatred for the country whose language he spoke fluently. Bloch scarcely conceals his utter contempt for the man who may be the most fascinating Nazi other than Hitler. That such a buffoon could rise to such heights and literally stumble his way into becoming a major war criminal would be humorous if it were not in fact so terrifying.

One thing is for certain: you won't read very many books that tackle a topic such as this one. Leopold von Sacher-Masoch ended up lending his name to the sexual fetish known as S&M, due mainly to this book. "Venus in Furs" is a fictionalized account of Sacher-Masoch's own sexual peccadilloes. What is surprising about this book is when it was written. It was penned in the late 19th century, although the subject matter would seem more appropriate in our own decadent age.

The book introduces us to Severin, who has an unusual sexual proclivity. He likes to be dominated by women. He wants to be an "anvil" to a woman's "hammer". This fetish involves becoming a slave to a woman, a process that is actually consummated by a written contract. Severin meets a young, gorgeous woman by the name of Wanda von Dunajew. Dunajew is a wealthy widow who quickly becomes attracted to Severin's intellectual abilities, and the two strike up a relationship. Severin immediately tries to get Wanda to indulge his fantasy, and most of the book details the evolution of this relationship. Severin becomes Wanda's servant, even taking the name Gregor at Wanda's insistence. Severin is forced to dress as a servant, and must take care of Wanda's needs at all times. Interspersed with Severin's hardships are episodes of kicking and whippings, as well as sexual relations. Severin can think of nothing more pleasurable than to be tortured by Wanda, not only physically, but mentally as well. When Wanda strikes up relationships with other men, Severin is thrust into the pits of despair/pleasure, as he is afraid of losing Wanda to somebody else. I won't spoil the ending for you, but it does involve some twists and turns that are somewhat interesting.

The most important part of Severin's fantasy is that Wanda must wear furs while she tortures him. Why does Severin insist on furs? I suspect that it has something to do with the raw power of the animal world. In short, fur symbolizes natural power. This is what S&M is all about anyway. Love must be reduced to a power relationship, and some people really get off on that. If Sacher-Masoch were alive today, his Wanda would most likely wear Nazi paraphernalia or leather, which is the modern equivalent of the sort of power that Sacher-Masoch found in animal fur.

Overall, this book really isn't my cup of tea. I'm not into S&M, so that part of the book doesn't appeal to me. I did enjoy the numerous descriptions of Wanda, with her red hair and green eyes. I love women with red hair and green eyes! This is a quick read at a little over 100 pages, but certainly not a book for everyone.

A well thought out erotic tale.

Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch's 'Venus In Furs', is interesting though eccentric, and perverse though compelling. Besieged in wonder and suspense, the love affair between characters: Severin von Kusiemski and Wanda von Dunajew, becomes a roller coaster ride of desire and emotion.

The obsessive fantasy to be enslaved and brutalized by the woman he loves becomes a cruel reality for poor old Severin. As beautiful Wanda slowly becomes thrilled and captivated by the notion of fulfilling her role in his fantasy, a role that previously made her shrug and laugh, she eventually transforms herself into the controlling dominatrix of Severin's dreams--by becoming more ideal at the sadomasochistic lifestyle than he had ever dreamed was possible. As Severin becomes the ever so content and happy slave, this tug-of-war between self-esteem and power begins to twist and turn with the innocent and deadly psychological games played out between the two.

Written more than a hundred years ago, this psychodrama of love, bound by the perverted desires of one and the demon lying dormant within the other, was tastefully and artfully done.

Venus in Furs is one of the most spritual works of erotica I've ever read. Much has been made of its "perversity", to the extent that the name of its author is also the name of a psycho-sexual disfunction. However, I feel that this is a grossly unfair way to treat a book that deals so beautifully with the descent and return of a man through his psyche.

Sevrin's tale is one of submission, slavery, and redemption. It is through the experience of being a woman's slave that he realizes his own worth. To treat this as an epic of laciviousness is puritanism of the lowest kind.

Venus in Furs also reminds us that the difference between hammer and anvil may not be so clear cut. It is Severin who brings out the whip in his lover. He then reaps the whirlwind, and can only ride it out.

This book is recommended for people who can see though the drivel that has been dripped upon it since its creation.

A lucidly written book. Has well balanced background and problems. However, it needs to have more tricky problems that really makes one think deeper though there are some. The book proves a very good assest to the Library.

I am a C programmer and this book was fundamental to introduce myself in the field of computer algebra systems (CAS). It's very well structured and at the state-of-the-art in that discipline. The only remarks is about the strong presence of author's mother-tongue influences in some English phrases.

A good and complete review, a very good bibliography. Wonderfull graphics. A subtle sense of humor.

One of the most difficult tasks for any decent writer trying to write a biograpy of a prominent Nazi leader is to beable to garner sufficient emphaty with his/her subject, to enable us get a deeper understanding of the person in question's inner life, deeper motivations etc. John Weitz does not seem to have set such a task for himself in this biography; he is content to remain within the bounds of a civilized horror at the Nazi phenomenon. Nevertheless, his thorough scholarship, enables us to get a glimpse of the psyche of Ribbentrop as in the quote ot the effect that killing Hitler would have been like killing his (Ribbentrops's) father. It is a pity. It is well known that Nazism was sufffused with a fascination with power and leader. Ribbentrop during his career was caught under the spelll of not one but two such charismatic tyrants, Hitler but also Stalin. Despite the merits of the book, I thnik we stilll need a more psychologically-minded and nuanced biography of Hitler's Diplomat.

Mark Mills' review is right on target. The book offers a basic and repetitive introduction to limited rationality theory, and some primitive insights about behavioral finance per se; the latter seem all the more inadequate when contrasted to books of Andrei Shleifer and Richard Thaler. Notice that Shleifer's greatly superior book is but an 'introduction' to behavioral finance, while this one is 'Behavioral finance' itself. The last John Wiley book that I read had an equally 'unassuming' technical title ('Non-linear pricing', by May), and proved to be an equally (in fact, much, much more) disappointing pretense of a book. What happened to John Wiley's editors? Will I even look at another of their offerings?

Obviously, I didn't like this book, but I'm exceptionally biased. I'll try to make my reaction understandable to those I imagine finding this book attractive.

First,I was offended by the title itself. 'Behavioral Finance' is an important area of economic research. Leading books in the field include The Winner's Curse by Richard H. Thaler , Advances in Behavioral Finance, Thaler (editor) and Inefficient Markets: An Introduction to Behavioral Finance (Clarendon Lectures in Economics), by Andrei Shleifer. The basic argument of Thaler and Shleifer involves what has come to be known as efficient market theory. Advocates of 'behavioral finance' have been attacking the efficient market hypothesis for 20 years without making much headway in academia. Now, everyone knows markets are ineffienct, just look at the ability of corporate America to buy political advantage, but you won't find that taught in 'higher' institutions of learning.

Now, this little book seems to be doing a nice volume of business by usurping the name by which Thaler, Shleifer and others have been working under for 20 years. Does Goldberg offer any credit to the trail blazers? No. This is simply Goldburg and von Nitzsch's personal effort. In the context of previous efforts in Behavioral Finance, the authors ramble on and on without making any useful points. They do not offer any insights to the body of behavioral finance research. They try to talk as if they know something about trading, but at best their experiences are those of an amateur. The book has none of the rigor I expect from the field.

If the book had been titled, 'Psychology of financial agents,' I would have been non-pulsed. The psychology of financial agents is a fascinating field and perhaps the material in this book has respectable insights into psychology. For example, the author's comments on the 'triune brain' seem an interesting insight into human psychology. The authors conclude there are three kinds of investors: the 'gut person', the 'heart person' and the 'head person'. Goldberg and von Nitzsch's take on psychology isn't mine, but it certainly fits under the umbrella of traditional psychology. I just don't think it has much to do with the field of 'Behavioral Finance.'