I wasn't really excited about the subject of the book, but I bought it anyway because I've loved everything else that I've read by this author. I could not put it down.
This book is so real, so true, that you feel like these characters might still be alive; like you could meet them and shake their hands and have a conversation with them. And better yet, Watkins gives his characters and stories a moral core, so much so that you want to meet some of these folks and be their friend.
Do yourself a favor and find out why so many people consider Paul Watkins to be the greatest writer of his generation. Start with his acclaimed memoir, "Stand Before your God", to find out about his growing up, then move on to his great novels, like this one.

Paul Watkins is not just the best young writer we have, he may well be our best living writer, period. His first book, Night Over Day Over Night, published when he was just 23, was nominated for the Booker Prize. Since then he has added a series of excellent novels and one brilliant memoir, Stand Before Your God, that have earned him the reputation of a modern Hemingway or Conrad. His work certainly warrants these lofty comparisons and his omission from Granta's Twenty Best Writers Under Forty casts a shadow on the whole list.

Promise of Light opens, in 1921, with Ben Sheridan taking a ferry back to his home in Jamestown, Rhode Island. He has just secured a long sought job in a bank and his whole future seems open before him. But by the end of the night, his fireman father will lie dead as the result of a blood transfusion from Ben, which reveals that Ben was not his son. In fulfillment of his "father's" dying wish, Ben takes his ashes back to Ireland, where he hopes to discover his real parents. But before he even reaches land, he is embroiled in the bloody Irish Rebellion, as it turns out that his father was a legendary IRA gunrunner who, like a figure out of myth, was expected to return one day.

Watkins brilliantly combines Ben's search for his true identity with rousing action sequences, indeed the final fifty pages of the book depict a running battle between Ben's band of IRA gunmen and the dread English Black and Tans as they race to the farmhouse where the man Ben now believes to be his father is holed up.

The comparisons of Watkins and Hemingway are based on both the settings of his novels (in wartime, on fishing boats, in Africa) and the clarity of his prose. Here he describes Ben's reaction to the death, in battle, of a lobsterman named Tarbox:

I knelt with the others, dew soaking through my trousers, and I tried to remember a prayer. But nothing came to mind, not even a song. All I could think of were Tarbox's bright-painted crab-pot floats, bobbing in the water off Lahinch. And now Mrs. Fuller's words sank into me, about whole generations dying out. I saw how it would be. Tarbox's wife would move away and their tin-roofed shack would fold back into the earth. There would be no children to inherit the land and keep the name alive. The faint scratches that Tarbox had left on the earth would be rubbed out by a year or two of wind and rain.

I had not liked him much. If he had lived and I'd gone back home again, I would not have remembered him kindly. But now I cried for Tarbox and for his wife, because I had been jealous of how much they were in love.

The reasons for comparison to Conrad are evident in his description of the brutal fanatic leader of the IRA cell that Ben joins up with:

I couldn't imagine a childhood for Clayton. I couldn't imagine him younger or older or any way except the way he was now. To me, Clayton had begun to make sense. He didn't try, like the others, to live as if the war could be forgotten from time to time in the dark-paneled walls of Gisby's pub or in front of a fire at night. Clayton lived in black and white. He saw no boundary to violence. The war never quit and his instincts for war never rested. he had no other instincts. Everything else had been put away in a warehouse in his mind. he claimed no friends or love of family because he could be hurt by people who hurt them.

Such are the men that Conrad warned us of, time and again.

The other thing that makes Watkins' work exceptional, is a moral core which seems increasingly rare in our society, never mind in our literature and culture in general. His characters recognize that their actions have consequences and behave as if they cared about those consequences. They are capable of making ethical judgments--a quality that seems to be disappearing elsewhere.

I urge anyone who is not familiar with the work of this great young author to remedy that situation post haste.

GRADE: A+

a great book for every serious scientist in the field of sports medicine.In next edition i would be pleasure to see more
photos and details in dynamic stabilization exercises in real situations and criteria for advancing in the rehabilitation
program ,especially for elite, Olympic level athletes in gymnastic.
The spine in sports open new horizons in philosophy and research on spinal disorders with safe return in sports.

an excellent guide for treating spinal disorders in the field of almost all sport situations. In next edition i would prefer to see more photos and details from rehabilitation in real
situations,on dynamic stabilization exercises and criteria for advancing in the program for elite athletes especially in gymnastic.This book open new horizons in the philosophy of rehabilitation spinal injuries in sports.

I decided to read six Paul Watkins books in order of publication date. Night over Day over Night was the most satisfying. Tightly written, it builds to a shattering climax that is as believable as it is horrifying. A truly great war novel written from the perspective of young German boys caught up in the absurdities of their training and the conflict itself. Sebastian is a character who should be studied by generations. The other books in order of preference are: In the Blue Light of African Dreams; Calm at Sunset, Calm at Dawn; The Story of My Disappearance; The Promise of Light; Archangel

I've read Night Over Day Over Night dozens of times, and every time I appreciate it more. Sebastian transforms from a good natured yet slightly jaded high school student to an emotionally dead battle survivor in such a natural and believable manner, and the development in many characters is beyond that found in most novels. It always astonishes me to think that Paul Watkins was but 21 when he wrote the book. Everything about it has an authentic feel; it's hard to believe that Watkins did not live in WWII Germany. The scene between Sebastian and Breder in the woods, and the one where Sebastian is carrying the dying Schwerin on his shoulders, are two of the most memorable I've ever read.

Sebastian enlists in the SS less than a year before the war will be over. He goes through basic training, an ordinary soldier in ordinary training, doing ordinary exercises, with ordinary hopes and fears. But of course, there's nothing ordinary about any soldier in any war.

The story follows him from country innocence to the evils of war, from hope to damnation. With clear and simple prose, written with such simple artistry, Watkins again delivers an outstanding novel with fully realized characters.

The day will come when people stop saying he follows in the footsteps of Hemingway and admi that Watkins surpasses him.

This book was so good, and what I needed for a laugh. I learned of Mr. Watkins when he came to my high school last year for a creative writing festival, and I had the pleasure of listening to him speak, as well as converse with him about his writing. He has lived up to everyone of my expectations. I cannot wait to read another one of his books!

I have read few books in my eleven years as a bookseller that have moved me as much as Paul Watkins' coming-of-age memoir. There are only three that I have read more than once: THE SECRET HISTORY, A SEPARATE PEACE (which I have read twice a year ever since high school), AND STAND BEFORE YOUR GOD.

Watkins' ability to take everyday events and anxieties and turn them into the stuff of revelation is a rare gift. His writing is clear, incisive, and, in spite of the unusual circumstance of an American attending the most exclusive of British prep schools, universally telling. I read the book thinking of my numerous perusals of A SEPARATE PEACE and my own cherished memories of attending a small private college in the rural midwest. I read the book with a pen in hand, underlining his most illuminating thoughts about Eton, and writing "Yes! YES!!!!!" in the margins when his own epiphanies bespoke my own. I read the book wide-eyed, knowing that, alone in my living room, I was in the company of genius.

I have recommended the book to many of my customers over the years, employing both of my most heartfelt evaluations: "Oh, but you MUST!" and "Trust me on this one!" They have, all, thanked me profusely for the recommendation. In this extraordinary collection of tales that make up a short time in a still remarkably short life, we find images of ourselves, and marvel that a stranger can know so much about us.

Seek it out. Read it. Cherish it. Oh, but you must! Trust me on this one!

I first read this book my senior year of high school when it was recommended to me by my English teacher. At the time, Watkins was the writer in residence at another boarding school in the area. I was captivated from the moment I opened the cover until I put the book down. Watkins' shameless honesty about the awkward moments of childhood makes it easy to laugh not at him, but at similar events in your own embarassing past. From his mischevious antics at the Dragon School to his studies at Eton, Watkins helps us all to remember the silly things we once did and of which we are now ridiculously ashamed. His utter familiarity with the reader allows the reader to open up and re-expose her memories to herself! While hilariously funny at times, this book also takes on the task of embracing nostalgia as memories seem to slip away. As the young Watkins ages and changes schools and confronts more "serious" issues, any reader can see how growing up happens to us. There is no avoiding it. As much as we might like to live as Peter Pan and daydream about pleasant memories, we are changed by the people we encounter and the places we go, and we just can't help it. And why should we?Watkins allows the reader to confront the bittersweet loss of childish innocence while smiling and embracing what has gone and what will come. This is not a sentimental journey, but one that is pleasantly real in a non-sappy or melodramatic way. Watkins shows the reader how to laugh at life and love all that it can throw at you.

On a side note, check out Roald Dahl's "Boy". It may be a children's book, but it is well worth the read.

After Archangel, The Forger and Night Over Day Over Night I liked Watkins but felt each book somehow just missed. This one did not. Simply one of the best books I have ever read.

Watkins writes with a grueling sensitivity that is unparalleled. He writes realistically of the hard, dirty, unrelentingly difficult life of a fisherman with a sensitive hand but without maudlin sympathy. Watkins' succinct writing style adds to the tone. You get to know his main character without really understanding him. Indeed, it is clear he does not understand himself. It would be unfair for the reader to do so.

A book of dreams clashing with reality - a place we have all been, especially when youth is meeting adulthood. This is a book you truly will not be able to put down.

Paul Watkins is the best fiction writer alive. Like his other books, "Calm at Sunset" showcases his ability to create true to life characters with a journalist's eye for detail and economy of words. As always, at the heart of his story is a moral core that is absent from most modern fiction. Mr. Watkins writes the kind of book you want to own, to read and re-read, and to pass on to your children.

I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant and earthy novel of contemporary sea life - a modern day classic that wrestles with the angst of adolescence, chronicles the siren call of the sea - it's seductive rhythms, drama and dangers, and addresses the coming-of-age transition of young adulthood with its inherent and conflicting forces of rejection and acceptance. At the heart of the writer's understated style lies a belief in the humanity of man, in the quiet strength and unspoken virtue within, that lends a certain dignity to his characters. Recommended to all who enjoyed the book THE PERFECT STORM.

I'm looking forward to reading more of Paul Walkin's books

A great read. The main character finds peace at the end of his lengthy journey. Watkins posesses a wonderful feel for use of symbolism in flight and the exotic landscape of Morrocco and France. A powerful journey from nothing to rebirth. In the Blue Light...possess great imagery and movement of time.

Never have I thought I could identify with a pilot from World War I. Much like Robinson Carusoe, Charlie Halifax, pushed towards the end of his moral and isolational limits, has estblished a friendship with a foreigner friend, becoming travel partners, like Crosby and Hope. Halifax remained passaionate yet myopic on his goal until the end, finally realizing new horizons lay ahead.

This book is every bite as unique as his Archangel. Also look for Peter Gadol novels.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book --found it an interesting read, though it did remind me, in parts, of The English Patient. The characters were quite well drawn out and I look forward to reading other books by Paul Watkins (which is why I am here at the site to begin with).

You know how sometimes it takes several pages before you really get into a book? Well, this book only needed one sentence to get me nibbling at the bait, and two more paragraphs to have me completely hooked.

In the Newport, Rhode Island bar where Suleika and Paul were going through the death throes of their relationship, a sudden, brutal murder brought back into Paul's life a man who he had betrayed and long thought dead.

The central character is quickly revealed as an East German operative named Paul Wederkind, planted into the RI fishing community, shortly before the Berlin Wall came down. The old tub of a fishing boat he operates with Suleika, the widow of the man he secretly entered the USA to assist, also serves to covertly transport "cargo" to and from Russian submarines.

As the story unfolds, we learn about the machinations of the East German secret police, the war in Afghanistan, the Cold War - all things that normally would not interest me, but the writing is so compelling, I found myself just absorbing the story.

I've long been a fan of speculative fiction exploring alternate history, but in this book, the author seems to create an alternate biography. Partway through the book, Paul Wederkind changes his name to a more Americanised form, Watkins - is this really an autobiography? Well, the book jacket tells us Paul Watkins (the author) was born of Welsh parents and educated at Eton and Yale, so I guess not. Maybe this is his more exciting alternate life - I can associate with that. But he obviously has a Suleika in his own life - the author photo on the jacket is attributed to someone of that name.

This is the first of Paul Watkins' books I've read, and I'm grateful he seems to have been reasonably prolific, so I can enjoy more of this wonderful writing.

What happens to spies whose country seizes to exist? This happened to those Stasi spies who were abandoned in America and elsewhere at the end of the Cold War. Paul Wederkin is just such as spy. The story tells how he came to be there, through his Afghani war experience, his friendship and the death of his friend. However, the real surprise is in the beginning when his dead fried walks into a Rhode Island bar and murders someone in front of him.

This story packs just a little too much action into too small a space for me. Its pace is a bit frenetic. However, the depth of character and prose lyricism remains strong as in all Watkins' books.

To give you an idea, before the story even opens, our hero, the East German Paul Wedekind has been a promising engineering student who has been recruited (coerced) by the secret police to spy on his friend, has served in Afghanistan, has been taken prisoner by the Afghans and has at last come to America as a spy for the Russians. Whew! And before dinner, too!.

But that's only the intro: the real story is about his work in America. The Cold War is over and he hopes he has been forgotten but that's overly optimistic. The adventure is grand and utterly amazing, but that's okay, because you love the story anyway.

His crisp and disciplined prose continues to delight me and I predict the day will come when folks quit comparing him to Hemingway and begin compariing Hemingway to him.

Every time I read a Paul Watkins book (and I've read 'em all!) I am totally amazed at his ability to draw interesting characters and put them in situations that make you examine your own life, even though we may not share the life experiences about which he writes. His focus is on what makes people tick, our motivations as humans. Every page contains a nugget of truth and wisdom that will make you say, "Yeah! I understand exactly! I felt that way when...."

Returning to the fishing boat setting of his earlier novel CALM AT SUNSET, CALM AT DAWN, Paul Watkins has, with THE STORY OF MY DISAPPEARANCE, achieved an even fuller flowering. This one's a winner!

Paul Watkins has displayed a masterpiece of mystery, politics and suspense in his book Arch Angel. Set in the last remnants of the old Algonquin, Watkins takes us deep into the roots of those who populate Abenaki Junction. He tells the story from different perceptions, which allows us to see how diverse ideals lead to very different lives, and how radical actions can be when one is under great pressure. He pushes the bravery threshold of many of his characters, some of which are defending them from death at the time. Watkins is not afraid to attack the topic of clear cutting, which is under great controversy in many parts of the world. If you do not mind gore as well as passion, then read through this heart-racing book, which will keep you turning pages late into the night. Since the topics and ideals can be reached on many levels, this book is targeted at teens and adults. Watkins words will help you see light through a great canopy of trees. A must read for an open-minded person!

Full of action and drama from page one through to page 287, Paul Watkins has created a novel that is perhaps the most reader friendly novel out there. A fantastic tale of mystery, violence and love set in front of a background as perplexing and intriguing as the story itself. A true must buy that is a steal at Amazon.com's low price ...

Eco-terrorism never seemed like an honest moral choice-until now (although in fairness, the young radical hero's actions are more monkey-wrenching than terrorism). Paul Watkins' suspenseful novel is at once character-and plot- driven.
Watkins' books always have a moral core, and that is particularly true of this book. This work is a morality play, with multiple comments and themes on environmental issues, the effects of war, and basic good and evil. I cannot recommend this book enough-for the life of me, I cannot fathom a recommendation of less than 5 stars.

A young American, David Halifax, has arrived in Paris in 1939, when France is mostly ignoring the threat of war, to study art in the atelier of the Russian artist Alexander Pankratov. His study has been financed by a mysterious foundation. He is soon recruited by Pankratov and a gallery owner to forge paintings so that the Germans will confiscate the forgeries rather than priceless originals. The characters in this novel are well drawn and completely believable. Watkins ably conveys their innermost thought, fears, dreams, and aspirations.

However, this book really dragged in places, with very uneven pacing, epecially the time leading up to when David was recruited to do the forgeries. I thought he would never get started!

Another complaint is that I had expected to read much more about painting--the works, how the forgeries were done, and so on. There was some information about these aspects, but not nearly enough. In my opinion, too much time was spent leading up to this part of the book.

I did learn a bit from this book, especially about some little-known activities World War II France. But I was hoping for a book like Watkins' "Archangel", which gets 5-plus stars from me.

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The forgery of irreplaceable works of art requires key ingredients: a talented artist, knowledge of history and chemistry, a demanding apprenticeship, and the nerve to attempt to trick the experts. David Halifax, an art student, is drawn into this tentative situation while living in Nazi occupied Paris. Once again, the author does a fine job of depicting the locale, and giving his readers insight into the personalities of the characters. This novel earned a spot on the best seller list in the U.K. after its initial release. Several recently published works of fiction have storylines involving the Dutch artist Vermeer(see Art in America, March 2001 issue). The Astronomer, a Vermeer masterpiece, makes an appearance as The Forger tensely moves towards its conclusion. While studying a print of The Astronomer, I can imagine Paul Watkins sitting at his desk, pondering the globe, researching his interests, and determining the setting and content of his next novel. The wheels are always turning...

Although not a sequel per se, this book follows the story of David Halifax (who's father was the main character in Paul Watkins' previous novel, "In The Blue Light of African Dreams") as he travels to WWII Paris to pursue his art education under the direction of the famous teacher, Alexander Pankratov. Like its predecessor, the plot of "The Forger" is very loosely based on actual events.

Perhaps no painter has been as successfully copied as Jan Vermeer. In the early 1940's, Hans van Meergeren, another (less talented) Dutch painter, claimed to have discovered several lost paintings by the master Vermeer. A rare (and valuable) find since only about 35 originals are know to exist. He sold these "lost paintings" to Hermann Goering and was put on trial by the Dutch after World War II for selling national treasures to the Nazis. Van Meergeren eventually proved himself innocent by painting another "Vermeer" in his jail cell.

Paul Watkins' fictional narrative of these events is skillfully told through the eyes of the likable protagonist, David Halifax. He presents his time and place with eerie clarity, capturing the essence of living in the world's most beautiful city during the ugliest time in its history. And he does this while showing us that great forgery is an art unto itself.

Paul Watkins's Stand Before Your God tells the story of his 10 or so years in two of Britain's top boarding schools - Dragon and Eton. This memoir tells of his coming of age in the all male environment of the British boarding school.

By his own admission, Watkins's coming of age did not occur gradually, but the growth came in "jolts, from one suddenly realized thing to another ... It seems that in some years I would stay the same and at other times, I would be jolted four times in a week." (pg. 144) Since his memoir chronicles these jolts that occurred during his boarding school years, there is a lack of smooth flow in the book. That is not to say it is bad in anyway, but it isn't a biography of his boarding school years. It isn't a book about what it's like to attend Dragon or Eton. On many occasions, the reader hardly knows what year Paul is in school. Traditions and idiosyncracies of the schools are mentioned in passing, but rarely explained.

It is a book about what it was like for Paul Watkins to grow up at Dragon and Eton. It is a truly moving coming-of-age story. Watkins demonstrates an amazing memory, and the first chapters (his early years) seem to be spoken by a scared and lonely six-year-old boy. He eloquently describes the events that shaped his life including his father's death from cancer during his first year at Eton.

The one thing I found to be lacking was a conclusion saying where his friends are now. Perhaps that is because Watkins doesn't know himself. Since the memoir is about his coming-of-age, friends and family only appear on the peripheral. I was also left with the impression that Watkins had few close friends. Three, in particular though, were important enough in his life to make an impression on me as a reader. I was left wondering where they might be now. That is a very minor point though and may not have served the book well after all.

That aside, this is a very good book. I couldn't put in down and suffered for that lack of will power the next day. It was not so much that I was engrossed in what was happening, but I needed to find out what was going to happen to Paul. I couldn't wait to find out how he made it through school. I recommend this book.