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Book reviews for "Wittenwiler,_Heinrich_c." sorted by average review score:
The Safety Net
Published in Hardcover by Knopf (1982)
Author: Heinrich Boll
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the terrorists always win
Boll weaves an interesting story of a man in the public eye, who, along with his family, needs to be protected at all times. Security guards make a normal life nearly impossible for the family, which is rather fractured anyway. Throughout the book, Boll makes it clear that whether or not anyone will be assassinated, the terrorists have triumphed by forcing the family into isolation behind a sadly penetrable wall of "security". Not as sensitively written as some of Boll's earlier works, The Safety Net is still worth reading.

Sieben Jahre in Tibet: Mein Leben Am Hofe Des Dalai Lama
Published in Paperback by Ullstein-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Zweigniederlassu (1999)
Author: Heinrich Harrer
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a real "Indiana Jones"
This is a truely fascinating autobiography. His escapes from the prisoners' camp during the war and the adventures on the way to the forbidden Lhasa by foot really match an "Indiana Jones" fiction, just that it is real and only happened 50 years ago. Harrer has a very ofjective style of writing, although the German he uses is a little bit old fashioned and as he is not a writer, his style is not very poetic. Nevertheless, for someone interested in Tibet, it gives an authentic and unmystified picture of what this country looked like before the occupation. Read it as an amazing lifestory and insight in a unique culture.

The Sioux Uprising in Minnesota, 1862 : Jacob Nix's Eyewitness History
Published in Paperback by German Amer Center & Indiana (1994)
Authors: Jacob Nix, Gretchen Steinhauser, Don Heinrich Tolzmann, Eberhard Reichmann, Max Kade German-American Center, and D. H. Tolzmann
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A good "first hand" account of a tragic war.
This is a good reference book for anyone studying the Sioux Uprising (Dakota War) of 1862.

Mr Nix was one of the settlers from a small town in Minnesota called New Ulm. Mr. Nix and other New Ulmers succesfully defended their city against two separate Indian attacks during the height of this war (he was shot twice, but survived.)

The English portion of this book was translated from the original German document written in the late 1800's, so the verbage is a little dated. The author still had strong prejudices against the Native Americans when he wrote this testimonial, and frequently refers to them as "Red Devils" and "Red Scoundrels." This book is hardly objective.

This is a good glimpse at one man's viewpoint of the war, but should be examined as just that, one man's viewpoint.

SS-1: The Unlikely Death of Heinrich Himmler
Published in Hardcover by Fourth Estate (2001)
Authors: Hugh Thomas and W. Hugh Thomas
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very interesting
Great describtion of the end of the Third Reich from the perspective of Himmler and Schellenberg.

It defines a conspiracy and proves it very well. Some of the negotiations at the end of the war in Sweden were known but the extent of the involvement on all sides is truly scary. Specially the financial side of this book between Butler, Dulles and Schellenberg are simply incredible. Did Himmler survive the war, after reading this book I would guess yes.

Threshold of War: Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Entry into World War II
Published in Paperback by Oxford Univ Pr on Demand (1990)
Author: Waldo Heinrichs
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Review of Treshold of War
Waldo H. Heinrichs is currently a professor of hisory at Temple University. In addition to writing Threshold of war he wrote the highly regarded American Ambassador. Joseph C. Grew. Threshold of war is regarded by many historians as one of the first modern comprehensive reviews of America's entry into World War II. In addition to looking at our entry into the war Heinrichs looks at American foreign policy and history in a broad global context, that examines both Asian and European diplomatic pressures and military strategies. Heinrich wrote his book because he believes that there are many views on how America entered World War II, but that a better understanding, and a more comprehensive look was needed. Heinrich also has a differnt view on how and when America became involved with World War II. He claims that the War actually started before Pearl Harbor with a string of events, starting with the stock market crash of 1929 and ending with Hitler's violation of the Munich agreement, and Japan's invasion of Indo China. Heinrichs also portrays Roosevelt in a very good light in his book. Heinrich uses a narrative writing style that is obviously directed towards the non historian. He presents both his views and his facts in an easy going style that was very enjoyable to read. One draw back however, in my opinion, was that he jumps from one event to another. Over all the book was well written, well researched and very enjoyable. Heinrichs does an excellent job at portraying the tension and problems Roosevlt faced in the months leading up to War. The bibliography is also a wealth of information for history students.

Understanding Heinrich Boll (Understanding Modern European and Latin American Literature Series)
Published in Hardcover by University of South Carolina Press (1992)
Authors: Robert C. Conrad, Robert C. Conard, and James N. Hardin
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Understanding...
This book helps you understand and learn more about Heinrich Boll and his many pieces of work. I found this book very helpful when I had to do a research project on him. The way it breaks down his work makes it easier to understand to a younger reader like me. (I am 15 years old.) If you love Boll's work, or are doing a project on him, I would recomend this book! It helps a lot!

What's to Become of the Boy?, Or, Something to Do with Books
Published in Hardcover by Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group) (18 February, 1985)
Author: Heinrich Boll
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A remarkable youth in a remarkable time
After almost 50 years, Boll looks back at his teens from 15 to 19, from 1933-37 in Germany, coinciding with Hitler's rise to power. Boll writes about the importance of books and intelligence in his childhood. These are not just the books in class ("Yes, school, I know -- I'll get back to that."), but more importantly outside reading: Dostoevsky, Dickens, Haecker. His family made every effort to provide his reading. Present in this account is his sense of humor (despite the foreboding of Hitler and the Hitler Youth), as well as the fighting of the meaningless bureaucracy; for example bribing to keep his brother from participating in any of the Youth activities. This includes the Boll we see later, watching "Hands in pockets, eyes open, street hawkers, peddlers, markets, churches, museums ...". From classroom efforts to condense Mein Kampf, Boll learned brevity; perhaps the only positive thing about the Nazi's during this oppressive time. Boll stands as an individual against the totalitarian climate. I think we are all pleased that Boll pursued a career of "Something to do with books".

A Year in the Maine Woods
Published in Paperback by Perseus Publishing (1995)
Author: Bernd Heinrich
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Tedious, Read a textbook instead
A combination diary and ecology lesson, A Year in the Maine Woods focuses on trifling details of the author's mundane existence and scientific observations in and around his cabin in central Maine. I'll summarize a typical day: got up early, made coffee, listened to the birds, went out to observe the ravens, went for a run or a walk, drove into town for dinner, bought a six-pack, drove back to the cabin and went to bed. The book seems contrived and 'forced'.

The focus of the author's work is research on the behavior of ravens, to which he continuously feeds bovine carcasses. Through his research, he has acquired a strong attraction to the raven, which the reader is unlikely to share. Lacking the excuse of living off the land, the author's eccentricity is confirmed by casual eating of caterpillars, grubs, ants, and mice. I bought this book because of the title and some favorable reviews on Amazon. I was disappointed, but I did learn a few things and the prose is well written.

Not What I Expected...But Still Okay

This is the second book by Heinrich that I have read. The first, Ravens in Winter, I found very enjoyable. (see review)

Based on the title and a review written on the book's back cover, I expected the book to be about Heinrich's year alone, except for his pet raven, Jack. With this in mind I thought we'd learn about his discoveries in nature and also his understanding into his own thoughts as he pondered life in seclusion.

This was not a book about living in the wild woods of Maine in seclusion. Heinrich often went into town and ate, met with neighbors, had family visit, and at one point he had a number of students over for a couple of weeks. Was this bad...no, but not what I expected based on the review on his book's back cover.

Heinrich has a gift in sharing information about nature. His curiosity and excitement for the natural world is contagious. In this respect I wasn't let down. He did go on quite a bit about the various things he noticed, sometimes sharing too much information, but I would just skip the paragraph and move on.

I think what appeals to me most are the times he is in seclusion and reflects on nature and his own life. He endures an amazing amount of cold...below zero, doesn't have running water, and the inside temperature in his cabin dips down below freezing on several occasions. I would enjoy many of the aspects of living in the location he speaks of but I would do it with a few extras...insulation in the walls, and electricity are two that come to mind!

Overall I did enjoy the book and I hope you do too!

Looking Close
To appreciate Bernd Heinrich, you have to be prepared to slow down and look close. After all, the author himself has taken a year's leave of absence from a fast-paced university job to do just that. He wants to spend time in his beloved woods, study the creatures that live there and see where long rambles will take him. It not the sort of book to begin with an agenda in mind.

That said, I found A Year in the Maine Woods a quixotic mix of science and human exploits - a glimpse at the lives of a whole host of insects, birds, mammals and plant life I never knew existed, and a chance to share in one person's approach to learning.

Examples? Let's take Heinrich's penchant for climbing trees. For a full-grown, adult male he really does spend a lot of time in them, and as a result has some interesting stories to tell. There's the day he finds himself scrambling up a tree to avoid a moose who refuses to yield the right of way on a trail, and the time a doe wanders under the apple tree he is sitting in and proceeds to munch away. No amount of noise or movement on Heinrich's part seems to disturb her until he descends from the tree. Then she's off like a shot!

Here's another example. Heinrich loves ravens. He is fascinated by their intelligence, close-knit family systems, their flying ability and survival skills, and is not above combing the countryside for roadkill in order to provide food for them. Heinrich's exploits with a pet raven are both hilarious and revealing. Here is a man who delights in life itself and is willing to put up with a fair amount of discomfort and irritation to learn about it.

If you enjoy learning about special places on our planet, and the creatures that inhabit them, through the eyes of those who have studied and know them intimately, then this book will delight you. If, on the other hand you like your reading to be full of fast-paced action and spine-tingling climaxes, this is not the book for you. Be prepared to read slowly and savor the pictures Heinrich offers.

Gestapo Chief : The 1948 Interrogation of Heinrich Muller, Volume 1
Published in Hardcover by R James Bender Pub (1998)
Author: Gregory Douglas
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The series of books about the intelligence world written
Could it be true that the former head of the dreaded German Gestapo worked for the Americans after the war? Yes. The depth and breadth of the information in this impressively researched series of books, as well as the new Mueller Diaries book, is stunning. Rarely have so many historical details, inside gossip and stunning revelations been published. Each volume of this series builds on the details of its predecessor, which makes reading all four books in the series of paramount importance. While most writers are happy to put forth one or two new piece of information to support their work, each of the Mueller books are packed with more insiders-only intimate details of the inner workings of the Third Reich and CIA than you can imagine. The fact that these books have been in circulation for several years without a peep from the CIA to refute all or any part of them, makes a good argument that the books are true. For those who want history to come alive, these books are a refreshing slap in the face. You must read these books.

A must read to understand both sides
This is an eye opener!

You thought you knew the real history of the Gestapo from high school and college.

Douglas has done a great job forwarding to readers of this text actual transcripts from Muellers interviews that are quite eye opening.

Did Hitler die in his bunker?

What about the dentist and the teeth?

How many people were killed in the Nazi death camps?

Why were htey killed?

Read this book and expand your mind.

"Gestapo"-Mueller and the American Intelligence Network
This is one of four books that have appeared since 1995 on the postwar association of former SS-Gruppenfuehrer Heinrich ("Gestapo"-)Mueller with the American Intelligence community. From the outset, it is well worth having by every scholar or educated laymen interested in the last phase of World War II in Europe and its aftermath. The content is, to put it mildly, volatile, or certainly would be in an age less indifferent to such revelations. The public, particularly the academic public, has a right to be skeptical. Recall, after all, what embarrassment was visited upon the British historian, Hugh Trevor-Roper, when seventeen years ago he pronounced the "Hitler Diaries" authentic. Douglas clearly is not impressed with academics. Perhaps rightly so, given the 1983 fiasco. One recalls Hegel's allusion to the "Hofhistoriker," the "court historians," and all of the ramifications of such a designation. Douglas provides photocopies of documents from the US Army and several Intelligence agencies, all of which, were they fakes, might easily have been refuted over four years ago. That has not happened. People are named whose relatives, where the statements made in this volume and those that followed not true, would most certainly have had recourse to litigation. That, apparently, has also not happened. The revelations concerning Mueller should be seen within the wider context of CIA engagement of former Gestapo agents such as Klaus Barbie (a small fish, in comparison to Mueller) as experts in the West's anti-communist efforts, which reached a fever pitch in the late 1940s. It is, of course, a paradox that, while the Army CIC (Counter Intelligence Corps) continued to search for Mueller as a war criminal, the CIA had already recruited him as one of their top agents, moved him to the Washington area (where he entertained in his home the 33rd President of the United States and became a card-carrying member of the Democratic Party), and protected his identity for decades. To be sure, there is much here that will require greater study by scholars. Few will accept the idea that Hitler left the Reichskanzlei with others on April 26th bound for Spain, four days prior to the day on which he is assumed to have committed suicide in the bunker of the Reichskanzlei. The German playwright Rolf Hochhuth and the French writer Pierre Joffroy will be astounded to learn that the SS officer, Kurt Gerstein, according to volume 1 of this series, was the man originally responsible for the mass slaughter of Jews by gassing in Poland, and not quite the "just man" anxious to expose the crimes of others as which he has been described by Joffroy. If there is anything "troubling" about Douglas's volume and those which have followed about "Gestapo"-Mueller in the interim, it is the fact that no compelling counter-evidence has emerged from any quarter in the past four years or more to contest the material contained therein. The silence is, in fact, deafening.

The Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger
Published in Hardcover by Ayer Co Pub (1972)
Authors: Montague Summers and Heinrich Institoris
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An Unflinching Look at the Past
It is somewhat ironic that of all Summer's works, his translation of the Malleus Maleficarum would become what he is most famous for. Most people who would call themselves occultists in our time would, also ironically, like to see every last copy burned. What fascinates me is not only the fact that the book's survival is now ensured, but that Summers goes to great lengths to actually defend the book and the Inquisition in his 1948 introduction. It is possible that he chooses his translation's second printing for this because that by 1948, the Malleus was no longer history's most infamous book. As to the actual content set down by Kramer and Sprenger, it provides a most interesting look into the minds of fifteenth-century biblical scholars-- and at the time these were considered two of the best. The text, though fascinating, often seems to be endless, but one must understand that this was the style of the time. Though it is doubtful that an actual witch (a better word would be "malefactor") was ever punished with this book's help, it remains a wonderful look into history and I for one am glad it will be around for future generations.

to the reviewer of "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters"
I find this book a difficult one to actually evaluate, but decided to give it five stars on the basis that it is a historical text that accurately documents the beliefs of the Catholic Church during the witch hunt era. (It is important to note, however, that not all Catholics at this time subcribed to these beliefs). This book is very significant in explaining the origin of witch hunts and persecutions of witches throughout history. The text was written originally by two Catholic priests, in which they fabricated evil practices of witches and ways to identify them and eradicate them. On the contrary, in the Pre-Christian era a witch was originally the doctor, spiritual healer, counselor-"everything woman" of her village. She was highly respected as the village's "wise woman," which is the original meaning of the word "witch." When the Catholic Church developed and began to gain more power, its higher members recognized the political power of these women and feared their pagan influence, and so the Malleus Maleficarum was born. Most of the accusations it makes are highly off base and ridiculous. I myself, do not practice Wicca, but am a born-again Christian. Therefore, I was very offended and upset by the comments made in the review entitled "Their Mother's Sons and Daughters," if this was even a sincere review. The reason neo-paganists are so offended by this book is not because it rings true to their beliefs, but because it was used for centuries as the justification for the death and torture of thousands of their predecessors and other innocents. Those who practice Wicca, in particular, do not even believe that Satan exists, therefore would never worship him or use him as a channel for evil purposes. Their religion, although I do not accept it as truth, is fundamentally peace-loving just as Christianity is. The comments that were made in this particular review I speak of and similar prejudices are ignorant, narrow-minded, and no doubt, are part of the reason for the widespread misunderstanding of Christianity in our modern society.

People don't seem to understand this book or its counterpart
This book and Compendium Maleficarum is not written by modern authors. These are reprints of books used in witch hunts in europe, lies created by the pope, and the church, to hunt down many pagans. This was done to help win a religious battle with pagans because many people became pagans instead of christians, due to the celebrations. I myself am not christian, nor am I wiccan, or any other religion for that matter, I am atheist. It doesn't bother me that people give this book 1 star, but their reason isn't the best reason. They say it's filled with hate, which it is, but when a book is written to hunt down and kill people it is going to be filled with hate. This was created by a paranoid church, and it seems some people think it was written for modern times. This book should only be bought for those interested in the witch hunts of europe, and not those looking for a history, or to understand wicca. This book should be read to educate people of probably the most horrific time in the christian church(though there have been many). Not to be taken as a modern work, in how to deal with witches.

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