Average customer rating:
- Skillful intrigue
- The writing doesn't live up to the plot
- Great Alt. Hist. book
- War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength
- Interesting, but flawed
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Hitler's Peace
Philip Kerr
Manufacturer: Putnam Adult
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ASIN: 0399152695 |
Book Description
A stunning World War II "what if" thriller in which the fate of Europe-and of its remaining 3 million Jews-hangs in the balance.
Autumn 1943. Since Stalingrad, Hitler has known that Germany cannot win the war. The upcoming Allied conference in Teheran will set the ground rules for their second front-and for the peace to come. Realizing that the unconditional surrender FDR has demanded will leave Germany in ruins, Hitler has put out peace feelers. (Unbeknownst to him, so has Himmler, who is ready to stage a coup in order to reach an accord.) FDR and Stalin are willing to negotiate. Only Churchill refuses to listen.
At the center of this high-stakes game of deals and doubledealing is Willard Mayer, an OSS operative who has been chosen by FDR to serve as his envoy. He is the perfect foil for the steamy world of deception, betrayals, and assassinations that make up the moral universe of realpolitik. A cool, self-absorbed, emotionally distant womanizer with a questionable past, Mayer has embraced the stylish philosophy of the day, in which no values are fixed. In the course of the novel, his beliefs will be put to the ultimate test.
But as compelling as Mayer is, the key players in this drama-FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Hitler, as well as Himmler, Bormann, Molotov, and Schellenberg (with marvelous walk-ons by Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, and Evelyn Waugh)-are astonishingly true-to-life.
Hitler's Peace is Philip Kerr in top form. With his sure hand for pacing, his firm grasp of historical detail, and his explosively creative imagination about what might have been, he has fashioned a totally convincing thinking man's thriller in the great tradition of Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.
Customer Reviews:
Skillful intrigue.......2007-05-13
Phillip Kerr gets better with each book. The history incorporated is largely accurate and informative up to but not including a literary gimmick toward the end, which has a highly improbably confrontation at a conference toward the end of WWII in Europe. But gimmick included it is a most enjoyable read.
The writing doesn't live up to the plot.......2007-03-12
Kerr puts into play some great alt-history theories in this novel built around a series of curious events from the middle of WWII. I found myself eager to finish the book because I wanted to know how the story ended.
But while curious to see how the story came out, I have to say that the reading itself was a bit of a chore at times. The characters were generally well developed and interesting, but their actions too often seemed totally out of character, overly contrived, or simply not believable. Dialog seemed forced and flat. As a reader I kept waiting for the author to hit his stride, but he never did. He just wobbled and faltered until finally stumbling across the finish line. Fans of spy novels and WWII-based fiction will enjoy, despite writing which is more mechanical than artistic.
Great Alt. Hist. book.......2006-09-28
Great WW2 alt. hist. book. Deals with the Yalta Conference and that neat Hitler/Stalin/FDR espionage stuff. Fast paced and good characters. Evocative of the time. Really like this author, he writes well and does his homework.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.......2006-09-22
The title of Phillip Kerr's latest work, "Hitler's Peace", certainly has an Orwellian ring to it and the very provocative (though counterfactual) thought of a proposed secret peace agreement between the Allies and Hitler's Nazis in 1944 forms the basis of this fast paced thriller.
Kerr wraps his plot around a series of real events from the Second World War, specifically, a series of conferences attended by the leaders of the Allied forces: the Cairo Conference of November 22-26, 1943 (attended by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Chiang Kai-shek) and the Tehran Conference of November 28-December 1, 1943 (at which Roosevelt met with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin).
As the book opens, Kerr wraps these conferences around top-secret peace feelers between the Nazi leadership and the various Allied nations. The powers that be in Nazi Germany (and the question of who amongst these powers are involved is a key element of the book) have decided that a two-front war cannot be won. They believe that a general peace agreement may save the day. Failing that, these unspecified highly placed Nazi officials think that making a separate peace with the U.S. and Britain before the expected Allied invasion of France in the summer of 1944 will allow Hitler to turn all his guns against `the Bolsheviks.'
The story is driven by the key protagonist, Willard Mayer. Mayer is an Ivy-League philosopher, fluent in German and currently an analyst with the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. Mayer lived in Germany before the war and also had some connection to the USSR's secret police, the NKVD. Mayer is asked to assist Franklin Roosevelt in formulating a response to Hitler's proposed peace. "Hitler's Peace" is filled with twists and it is impossible to reveal more about the plot without spoiling the plot.
Although "Hitler's Peace" was a fun, easy read it was far from perfect. An author faces a very difficult task when he/she incorporates real people into a work of fiction. This is particularly difficult when those real people are famous enough for the reader to have a sense of how a Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, or Roosevelt would have acted in real life. If there is too big a gap between our sense of the person and the book's plot then the natural ability to suspend disbelief for purposes of a piece of fiction gets more difficult. That was the case for me with "Hitler's Peace". Churchill's actions seemed in character as did Stalin's (to a lesser extent). However, and even though I know this is fiction, Hitler and Roosevelt's actions just didn't fall within a `zone of reasonableness' for me.
Kerr was more successful in the cameo appearances made by real life but less famous figures. During the course of the book Mayer runs into characters such as Kim Philby and Guy Burgess, members of the British intelligence elite who later turned out to be Soviet double agents. Mayer also runs into a British officer named Enoch Powell. Powell served in the British and was a Greek scholar of great renown. He later became a Member of Parliament known mostly for his virulently anti-immigration views toward non-Caucasian immigrants to Britain. These walk-on appearances were well done and added a bit of fun to the book.
All in all I liked Hitler's Peace despite the reservations expressed above. The book is fast-paced and each chapter leaves you wanting to find out a bit more before you close the book for the night. I'd say this is a good book to take along for a summer weekend at the beech or a fall evening. I'd rate this at 3 and 1/2 stars.
Interesting, but flawed.......2006-09-18
This book supposes a unique quirk in the history of World War II, particularly concerning events at the Yalta Conference. I found the first two-thirds of the book extremely interesting, with well-drawn characters and a mysterious plot concerning spies and attempted assassinations. My problem with the book came towards the end, when the auther unleshed his "surprise" twist to the story. It was just so unbelieveable that I almost laughed at what was supposed to be a very dramatic moment. Accepting the action the author had begun, I finished the book, but that shock really did temper my enthusiasm for the book as a whole. That's really too bad, for Mr. Kerr is an excellent writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed his Berlin Noir trilogy.
Book Description
Must Christians always turn the other cheek and resist violence? Is it ever justifiable for Christians to retaliate in the face of evil? Philosopher Robert Brimlow struggles with these questions in What about Hitler? The author skillfully integrates meditations on scriptural passages, personal reflections on his own challenges to live nonviolently, and a hard-hitting philosophical examination of pacifism and just-war doctrine. Both Christian pacifists and defenders of just-war theory will appreciate this book. In addition, What about Hitler? will appeal to those interested in Christian ethics and discipleship, including students, pastors, and laity.
Customer Reviews:
Soul-searching, yet incomplete.......2007-10-10
What Brimlow does well is demonstrate the raw honesty in the struggle to be a Christian pacifist. Reading the book left me asking, what is it that I want to believe? How do my own desires influence my position? Brimlow has the courage to say that a consistent pacifist will let the Hitlers win, and leave it to God.
We have an example of an activist Christian pacifism that worked during World War II: the village of Le Chambon, in Vichy France. (See Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed.) Yet, even it worked under the shelter of a war against Nazi Germany. Nonetheless, I don't want to deny the courage or power of a community that takes Jesus' words to turn the other cheek seriously.
The difficulty I have with Brimlow's book is that it doesn't really address the best argument for the "just war": love. I imagine a Rwandan Tutsi asking me, why did we not come and help? How can I respond with "turn the other cheek"? Does not our love for our neighbor demand that we do something about their peril? Though he only hints at it, Brimlow also undermines the use of a state's police powers to restrain evil. Yet, Paul seems to suggest that the state is ordained by God to do just that. If a non-Christian governor is allowed to restrain evil through his/her police powers, can a Christian do any less? Similarly, if a non-Christian is allowed to defend his/her people, should not a Christian do so as well? I feel as if I'm willing to be persuaded to Christian pacifism, but I still need to hear answers to these questions.
I also would quibble with Brimlow's characterization of Augustine, whose experience of evil (the fall of Rome, the seige of Hippo) was far from academic. His monumental City of God was not, in the end, a defense of a church-state alliance, but just the opposite: should the City of Man fall, the City of God continues...history is still in God's hands. That's actually very close to Brimlow's own conclusion.
I recommend this book to all those struggling with pacifism or just war theology in Christian context.
A Challenging Call to Non-Violence.......2007-03-19
Brimlow offers an honest, insightful and challenging look at Jesus' call to Christian pacifism. He begins each chapter with a prayerful reflection on a difficult passage of scripture, and then with a personal story that highlights a specific theme he then develops in the chapter. Brimlow writes with a transparency and honesty uncommon for many writers handling this topic.
I don't want to ruin too much of this book, but allow me to say that Brimlow tackles Just War theory before moving to terrorism and, of course, World War II and "the Hitler Question". Brimlow challenges our assumptions of what counts as successful and the ways in which we're called to holiness.
All in all, this is a fantastic book. I *highly* recommend it.
Brave Work.......2006-11-27
When one reads "What About Hitler?: Jesus's Call to Nonviolence in an Evil World" one is immediately struck by the amount of things going on at one time in this short book. The first thing that is important to note is the sheer honesty of this work. Not a conventional "academic" book, "What About Hitler" is revelatory in nature and takes the form of several "meditations" which usually contain a quotation of a Bible passage, Brimlow's prayer on that Bible verse and an anecdote from Brimlow's life (which are not usually flattering to him). All of this reveals Brimlow's inner struggle with the broader question posed by the book's title, "What About Hitler?"
The question posed by the title is meant to confront the Christian with the ultimate test of the call to nonviolence, namely, nonviolence in the face of ultimate evil - Hitler. On his way to answering to answering this question, Brimlow tackles the doctrine of "just war." In his analysis, Brimlow finds the criteria set forth to justify a "just war" to be too flaccid and easily malleable to justify even the most immoral "unjust" war. Brimlow also finds the theologicial justifications set forth by Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and other theologians as consequentialist which do nothing more than weigh the costs and benefits and advocate an "ends over means" mentality.
Brimlow also addresses Michael Walzer's contribution of the supreme emergency" as a refinement of the "just war" theory. According to Walzer, "supreme emergency" is defined by two criteria: "the imminence of the danger and the second with its nature." For a "supreme emergency" to arise, the danger of the threat must be imminent and the nature of the threat must be "immeasurably awful." If such a supreme emergency arises, moral and philosophical concerns are trumped and man must do whatever is necessary to confront this ultimate evil and the rights of neutrals, innocents and noncombatants can under the right circumstances be overridden. However, in overriding the rights of innocents in the supreme emergency, Walzer asserts, "when we override them we make no claim that they have been diminished, weakened or lost."
Brimlow finds incoherent Walzer's assertion that it can be both right and wrong to kill innocents in the case of a supreme emergency. Brimlow does not do much to rehabilitate Walzer's construction of a "supreme emergency" though one gets the impression by reading the text that Brimlow could easily do so. Indeed, one need only to analogize the "supreme emergency" as a wildfire in order to better understand Walzer's meaning. A wildfire begins in the forest consuming the trees. In order to save the rest of the forest (humanity, civilization, etc.), the firefighters (those responding to the "supreme emergency") create "firebreaks" which consist of chopping down trees to cut the fire off from the rest of the forest. By cutting down the trees (the innocents), the firefighters save the forest.
Brimlow chooses not to rehabilitate Walzer in the way I did above because doing so is inconsequential to his ultimate thesis which is, "we must live faithfully; we must be humble in our faith and truthful in what we say and do; we must repay evil with good; and we must be peacemakers. This may also mean as a result that the evildoers will kill us. Then, we shall also die" (151). Moreover, if a "supreme emergency" arises it is the result of our failure to heed the call to nonviolence; in short (and to modify a line from Billy Joel), we DID start the fire.
There is much that is troubling in this trying work not the least of which begins with the title. If, as the title suggests, we live in an evil world, one is confronted by the probability that evil will continue to triumph over good and one's efforts at living in a way that Brimlow is advocating will likely not have a positive outcome. Brimlow shows that our focus on outcomes is misplaced but in so doing also shows that the call to nonviolence is as much an article of faith as it is an intellectual belief.
Brimlow's work is searching and insightful and is relevant to the events of today. Though it seems like a bitter pill to swallow, there is also a glimmer of hope in what Brimlow has to say. Though I may not necessarily agree with everything that Brimlow writes in "What About Hitler", I hope I am the better for having read it.
Book Description
This illustrated history fully examines the manipulation and corruption of an entire generation at the hands of the Nazis. Explanations include: why the control of youth was integral to National Socialism; how Nazis indoctrinated youngsters to spy on their own families; and the roles of German youth both when war broke out and when they were drafted into fighting units.
Book Description
In the 1930s, as waves of war and persecution were crashing over Europe, two young Jewish women began separate journeys of survival. One, a Polish-born woman from Bialystok, where virtually the entire Jewish community would soon be sent to the ghetto and from there to Hitler’s concentration camps, was determined not only to live but to live with pride and defiance. The other, a Russian-born intellectual and introvert, would eventually become a high-level censor under Stalin’s regime. At war’s end, both women found themselves in Moscow, where informers lurked on every corner and anti-Semitism reigned. It was there that Ester and Ruzya would first cross paths, there that they became the closest of friends and learned to trust each other with their lives.
In this deeply moving family memoir, journalist Masha Gessen tells the story of her two beloved grandmothers: Ester, the quicksilver rebel who continually battled the forces of tyranny; Ruzya, a single mother who joined the Communist Party under duress and made the compromises the regime exacted of all its citizens. Both lost their first loves in the war. Both suffered unhappy unions. Both were gifted linguists who made their living as translators. And both had children—Ester a boy, and Ruzya a girl—who would grow up, fall in love, and have two children of their own: Masha and her younger brother.
With grace, candor, and meticulous research, Gessen peels back the layers of secrecy surrounding her grandmothers’ lives. As she follows them through this remarkable period in history—from the Stalin purges to the Holocaust, from the rise of Zionism to the fall of communism—she describes how each of her grandmothers, and before them her great-grandfather, tried to navigate a dangerous line between conscience and compromise.
Ester and Ruzya is a spellbinding work of storytelling, filled with political intrigue and passionate emotion, acts of courage and acts of betrayal. At once an intimate family chronicle and a fascinating historical tale, it interweaves the stories of two women with a brilliant vision of Russian history. The result is a memoir that reads like a novel—and an extraordinary testament to the bonds of family and the power of hope, love, and endurance.
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
stirring narrative of two courageous and resourceful women.......2006-04-23
This is a great story of how two women survive the unimaginable horrors of WWII. Both are Jews. Ester is from Bialystok, in Poland, a city which would be turned into a ghetto, and whose Jewish residents were rounded up and deported by the Nazis. Ruzya is Russian, and she endures the terror of Stalin's regime, where she is regarded with suspicion. Both women are separated from their parents, sibilings, and husbands at one point or another, and end up meeting in Moscow at the war's end. Masha Gessen weaves both of their stories into a single stirring memoir. It is not free of bias, these are Gessen's grandmothers, and she obviously views them in certain ways, but she is an exceptional storyteller, and takes what they have told her, and merges it with her own research. It is certainly not the only memoir about WWII, but it does offer some fresh insight, particularly in the way it describes the Soviet Union during the war, with vivid imagery that conveys a stunning sense of panic and confusion, words that aptly describe the Soviet reaction to the German invasion. It also conveys pain, loss, and desperation. Overall, a good, easily readable text recommended for any student of history.
Highly recommended.......2005-09-10
A friend lent me her copy of Ester and Ruzya and I liked it so much I bought copies for family members. This book is informative, well written, and deeply honest. Many of us have some knowledge about the Holocaust and what happened to European Jews, but this narrative about the author's family in Russia during WWII and after gives the reader insight about a different Jewish experience. I recommend it highly.
Wow (with a few caveats, of course).......2005-04-29
It's been said of this memoir/biography that it reads like a novel, but of course that's not quite true. Even the most abundantly lively literary creations are still creations, whereas the heroines of the title here are undeniably real. It's a tribute to their personalities, and to Gessen's skill, that they seem so from the first page.
The story--basically that of the twentieth century itself--is of such unimaginably wide scope that Gessen's tight focus on her family makes perfect sense, and she doesn't need to indulge in literary pyrotechnics or crazy stories to justify it. But when picking the perfect one-paragraph vignette, and particularly in the extended section in which she describes the death of her great-grandfather at the hands of the Nazis--told as three completely different tales, based on the multiple reconstructions she was able to piece togeher from survivors' stories--the craft and creativity that went into shaping this becomes apparent.
It's fascinating from beginning to end, marred only by an oocasional brusqueness, as if the hand that elides so much to keep the focus along has become impatient. These moments are often followed by a few paragraphs of florid embellishment, as if to overcompensate. But Gessen need make no apologies: this is compelling reading, and an important resource for understanding the human reality of history.
Book Description
THIS EDITION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEWER EDITION
Average customer rating:
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The Fall of Hitler or Where is Thy Peace
Samuel Solomon
Manufacturer: Vantage Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Criticism & Theory
| History & Criticism
| Literature & Fiction
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Criticism
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ASIN: 0533061628 |
Average customer rating:
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From Hitler to God's Peace
Manufacturer: Cathedral Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FD02AU |
Product Description
This is the story of Dr. Ben David Lew, his life and his ministry. The eents that took place are true, as gruesome as some of them may seem. The story tells of a young Jewish boy and the terrible atrocities of Hitler's Nazi Regime...
Book Description
For the first time in one volume, the New York Times bestselling author presents three tales of paranormal romance.
In "Everything She Does is Magick," a trio of matchmaking witches chooses unsuspecting little Nathan McBride as the perfect mate for their baby niece. The future looks rosy indeed, except for one little catch: they must keep him a virgin!...A lady private eye on the run from some dangerous gangsters invokes a spell of protection in a fit of desperation--and conjures up a dashing musketeer looking for his damsel in distress in "Musketeer By Moonlight."...And in "The Con and the Crusader," Jack McCain jumps into a well-and into the past. Mistaken for a criminal, he's headed for prison, until he's freed-with a wedding proposal!
Customer Reviews:
An exotic, fun blend of romance and intrigue .......2007-01-07
For the first time under one convenient cover come three of bestseller Maggie Shayne's supernatural romances to please leisure readers who look a good blend of paranormal and love. EVERYTHING SHE DOES IS MAGICK tells of matchmaking witches who choose Nathan as the perfect mate for their baby niece; MUSKETEER BY MOONLIGHT tells of a lady PI whose spell of protection conjures up an unwelcome musketeer's attentions, and CON AND THE CRUSADER tells of a man's unwitting journey into the past where he's mistaken for a criminal - and only love can set him free. An exotic, fun blend of romance and intrigue with more than a strong dose of the paranormal makes all these short stories winner.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
3 great short stories........2005-12-13
The first story in this book is "Everything She Does Is Magick" it's a good story. Quick moving and original and I liked the fairy tale references to sleeping beauty. The aunt's antics to keep Nathan a virgin were a amusing as was the banter between Aurora and Nathan.
The second story was "Musketeer by Moonlight" and this was probably my favorite out of the three. I liked Kate's personality and even though bringing a musketeer into the future sounds like a corn plot it was well done. Plus I'm sucker for this kind of story.
The last story was "The Con and the Crusader" it's about a con-man that falls into a well to exscape from the people shooting at him and lands into the year 1890 in the midwest. Again it was good read. Short and sweet.
Usually romance stories can seemed rushed when they're this short, but these don't have that feeling. The romance between the characters aren't the love at first sight deal. They develope over a period of time even though it's a bit quicker than usual but what do excpect in a 95 page story? I recommend these if you just want some quick feel good stories.
three terrific romantic fantasy novellas.......2005-12-07
"Everything She Does is Magick". The Sortilege witches raised their grandniece Aurora from almost the day she was born when her mother abandoned her. The trio believes the newborn will be the mother of the greatest witch ever if she mates with Nathan McBride, who must remain a virgin until he beds Aurora. Now twenty-seven years later and with much interference in Nathan's life, Meriwether, Fauna and Flora believe the time is right to matchmake Aurora and Nathan.
"Musketeer By Moonlight". Mary Catherine Hammersmith, owner of M.C. Hammer Investigations, has a strong reputation as a private eye amongst the city's working women. Her current assignment leads her into danger from gangsters who kill as a way of life. Desperate she chants a protection spell only to conjure up Alexandre, musketeer to the French king.
"The Con and the Crusader". The two cops insist they have evidence to send conman Jack McCain to prison for a long time though his pigeon has been drugpin Arturo. Instead they offer him a deal to forget what they have if he helps them bring down Arturo. However, before he makes any deal to cooperate, Arturo's men arrive on the scene. Jack fleeing in the dark jumps over a wall only to fall into a well. However he tumbles into the past where ironically he is mistaken for a criminal. A desperate Emily Hawkins rescues him by proposing marriage, which he accepts assuming he will find a way out of this fiasco.
Readers will be bewitched, bewildered, but defiantly not bothered by this trio of terrific romantic fantasy novellas.
Harriet Klausner
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Bothered? Bewildered? Bewitched?
Edward Howe , and
Grayson H. Ensign
Manufacturer: Recovery Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Soteriology | Theology | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Theology | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0961318503 |
Books:
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- Little Honey Bear And the Smiley Moon
- Little House in Brookfield (Little House)
- Los ojos de mi princesa / The Eyes of My Princess
- Memories of Midnight
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