This book tries to answer these questions with a personal tone. As I read it I start to get a sense of the writers personalities and tastes, so that I can gauge my agreement with their opinions.

I wish the hotel and restaurant reviews shaded towards the high end a bit more. But I haven't found a series (I also have their guides to Europe and Mexico) that I can trust as well as this one.

ARCO-this book has a short historical review, but the writing style and page format are IDEAL FOR HIGHLIGHTING and
putting in sidenotes. The tests were relatively easy and the "how to take the test" parts are worthless, But this book is
PERFECT FOR GETTING THE BIG PICTURE. The practice essay questions at the end of each chapter had an enormous
impact on my success, but lacked explanations and sample essays; what I did was write the essays and then I had my teacher
look at them.

PRINCETON-this review book has a COMPREHENSIVE SECTION ON HOW TO TAKE THE TEST. The historical
review is more INTRICATE than the ARCO book, but sentences are wordy and is NOT IDEAL FOR HIGHLIGHTING OR
NOTE TAKING. The tests were harder than in the ARCO, and contained detailed explanations. The book helps put together
the pieces of the puzzle, but not as well as ARCO. In addition, a helpful index appears in the back of the book.

REA-This book goes into WAY TOO MUCH DETAIL. I would highly recommend it to those students with die hard teachers
though. For the regular joe, THIS BOOK CONTAINS SIX PRACTICE TESTS. Some questions will make you scared, but
for the most part, the questions are general and straightfoward, just like the real test. The essay questions are great too; sample
essays appear with the answer keys after each test.

I recommend the ARCO book in order to get the BIG PICTURE.
I recommend the PRINCETON book for it's HOW TO SECTION and SEMI-DETAILED HISTORICAL REVIEW.
I recommend the REA book for it's TESTS.

Other than that, its your choice.

Oh yeah, if anyone tells you that the test is hard, tell them that they didn't work hard enough. As long as you put the time and
effort in, you don't screw around in class, and you realize that YOUR GRADE IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY, you'll do fine. I
had a lazy teacher, but I managed to pull it off. ;-)

I am particularly familiar with that subject considering that, in addition to the fact that I am a Buchenwald survivor who was there on April 11, 1945... the day of that camp's liberation... I have also been researching the history of the concentration camps since 1969.

First of all, as far as Buchenwald is concerned, it was not liberated by a unit of the U,S. Army but by the 900 members of that camp's underground organization and was subsequently discovered by a four-man patrol of the 6th Armored Division.

The two "all-black units" involved could not possibly have been there considering that, according to the Morning Reports obtained from the Army Reference Branch of the National Personnel Center, the locations of these units were as follows:

(1) 183RD ENGINEER COMBAT BATALION.-

On April 11, 1945, the locations of the sub-units of the above battalion were: (a) Mommenheim (192 miles from Buchenwald)for the Headquarters and Service Company; (b)Hocheim am Main (183 miles from Buchenwald) for Company A; (c) Loerzweiler (192 and 1/2 miles from Buchenwald) for Company B and (d) Boppard (284 miles from Buchenwald) for Company C.

(2) 761ST TANK BATTALION.-

On the day of Buchenwald's self-liberation, the sub-units of the 761st were stationed at: (a) Hildburghausen (70) mles from Buchenwald) for the Headquarters Company, the Service Company and Companies A and D; (b) Oeslau (79 miles from Buchenwald)for Company B and (c) Rottenbach (69 and 1/2 miles from Buchenwald) for Company C.

Now,as far as Dachau is concerned, some of the veterans of the 761st Tank Battalion have made the ludicrous claim that they liberated both Buchenwald and Dachau, however, the latter camp was liberated on April 29, 1945 by the 42nd and 45th Infantry Divisions.

On the day of Dachau's liberation, the sub-units of the 761st Tank Battalion were located at (A) Straubing (78 miles from Dachau) for the Headquarters Company, the Service Company and Company D; (B)Eltheim (83 miles from Dachau) for Companies A and B and (C) Salching (73 miles from Dachau) for Company C.

The liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau by these two battalions is a fabrication of historical fiction and there is no doubt in my mind that it was concocted for the purpose of improving relations between the African-American and Jewish communities... a worthy cause which should not have been served in such an unethical way.

A particularly disgusting aspect of that charade is that the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum has been supporting and promoting the handful of veterans of those two battalions who have been involved in publicizing that hoax.

Pierre C.T. Verheye Buchenwald Political Prisoner No. 126637 July 4, 2000