Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

Customer Reviews:

WW II Account Of A Would-Be Ballerina Who Instead Wound Up Working For Hitler.......2007-09-22

First of all I would like to correct a statement made elsewhere that this book was previously published in 1989 under the title Voices From The Bunker. That volume, reviewed elsewhere under its title, was co-written by Pierre Galante, author of The Berlin Wall, Operation Valkyrie, The General, and Malraux, as well as being a writer for Paris Match, and Eugene Silianoff, a one-time Bulgarian diplomat who was working in Switzerland during WW II and who has also contributed to Paris Match.

In their volume they do refer often to Traudl Humps who, at age 22, still dreamed of becoming a prima ballerina, right up to the day in 1942 when she got a job as one of Adolf Hitler's private secretaries.

But this book is HER account of those days, culled from her journal which she began writing in 1947 following exhaustive questioning by the Western Allies and the Soviets, and was co-written with Melissa Muller who provides the background. The name Junge was the result of her brief marriage to one of Hitler's valets, Hans Junge of the Liebstandarte SS, who was killed in action in the year following their wedding.

To the time of her own death at age 81 on February 10, 2002, shortly after the book's launch under its original title of To The Last Hour, she claimed that her appreciation of the momentous and horrendous events going on around her never really struck home until the years immediately following the war. When she started jotting down her thoughts in 1947 she did so from the perspective of one who had no choice but to acknowledge her naivety and who now realized she would have to live the rest of her life with the guilt of actually having been fond of "the greatest criminal ever to have lived."

When she worked for Hitler she'd found him to be a "pleasant older man and a good employer" - was naturally fascinated by this charismatic character - but recalls her duties as being mostly the taking of shorthand and then the typing of non-controversial material, and at times helping to make tea.

There are many who scoff at her oft-stated ignorance of the holocaust and other monumental war crimes during her days as a secretary but, whether or not you choose to believe her claims, her book detailing that part of her life offers a fascinating insight into the day to day functions, and the slow but steady mental and physical deterioration, of one of history's most evil men. It certainly will be the last first-hand account by a member of his inner circle.

In addition to touching upon the powerful people around him, and relating daily routine, she describes in chilling detail the events of April 28, 1945. With Russian artillery shells pounding the outer portion of the bunker in Berlin, ironically being defended by the Charlemagne SS Division made up primarily of Frenchmen, Hitler called her in to dictate his last will and testament. He told her to "make three copies and then come in ... I wrote as fast as I could ... my fingers worked mechanically and I was surprised that I hardly made any typing mistakes."

This is typical of the information imparted in her book and, as such, it's a great companion to Voices In The Bunker. But it's not the same book.

Good book.......2007-03-09

Trauld Junge was a very clever and strong woman but obviously she never indulged herself in asking many questions about the Nazis during her lifetime as secretary of Hitler. Such blindness is confusing but it explains very well why the Nazis succeeded so well in enthralling millions of Germans like Frau Junge. Having said that her "Memoirs" are full of interesting details about how was life close to the Führer. And to tell the truth it was not bad at all although a bit boring notably in the social life at the Berghof. This book makes Hitler almost sympathetic to the reader. It is only at the end that Frau Jung realized what sort of monster Hitler and his henchmen were. This late consciousness of a harsh reality will haunt her for the rest of her life and it will prevent her to be ever again a happy woman. But for the curious reader, this book offers tons of juicy and well observed details and anecodtes and gives a very credible painting of the life within the heart of the Nazi establishment. Fascisnating.

Going through the war with blinders on.......2006-09-26

Traudl Junge's recollection of her services to Adolf Hitler as one of his personal secretaries from 1942-45 proves to be relatively honest and entertaining. While I have read some of her views on Hitler scattered around in many books on Hitler and his inner circle, this volume was the first time all of her perception can be found. It pretty clear by Junge's recollection that Hitler had two totally different personality types. One personality type can be classically called the "Fuhrer" personality and the other one can be regarded as a more "private man" personality. It pretty obviously that Junge mainly dealt with the "private man" instead of the manaical Fuhrer.

The author and the her editor appears to go out of their way to paint Junge as a naive and clueless young woman. Many of the reviewers also painted her in the same light. But it seem like this train of thought lies in the perception of hindsight and afterthought. Its appears very clearly that Junge, like so many of her fellow Germans (military and civilian alike) spent much the war with blinders on. Its hard to condemned some one like Junge for working for Hitler. Whether we like it or not, Hitler was the legitimate head of the German government and even if Hitler turned out to be the greatest war criminal of all times, I don't think Junge was in the position to judge Hitler or even second guess him during the time of her employment.

From her narrative, it pretty easy to see Junge as a woman who was charmed by Hitler's softer side and her desire to do a good job for a good boss and at the same time, trying to fit into the world she ended up in. Since all this was written back in 1947 while her memories remains fresh and her feeling haven't been compromise by the collective German guilt complex, I would say that what she wrote proves to be a rather honest, true to her conviction of her services to Hitler. Her views on Hitler does show a side of Hitler that should probably frighten any sane historian. A man appears to be truly human in Junge's eyes when most of the world see him as some sort of inhuman monster of alien cruelty.

If there was any weakness to the book, I think Junge didn't go far enough in her recollections regarding many members of Hitler's inner circle. Her descriptions appears too generic. It would have been nice if she could have gotten into bit more detail about her Soviet captivity.

I believe that this should be a mandatory reading material for any one interested in Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. It paints an unusual portrait of Hitler in full account and even if you have read some of Junge's recollections in other books, this book put it all into a singular focus.

If you like to learn about Hitler's everyday life, this is the book you wanted to read.......2006-05-02

This book gives you another prospective on the personalites of Hitler. Some of the information in the book would not be found in any History books. The author also tell you that how Hitler's personalities could affect other people around him.It is a very good book to read. The movie of "Downfall" was inspired by this book, but if you have watched the movie, don't expect they would be the same.

The banility of evil is never far away.......2006-04-23

Firstly let's be VERY clear about one thing here, my feelings about Hitler are based on the fact that if he had succeeded and invaded the UK in the 1940s then my wonderful family would have in all probability would have ended up in the Gas Chambers for on my mother's side there is Jewish blood and on my father's we are Indian and the mixing of races was totally frowned upon by the Third Reich.

So my feelings about Hitler are very anti in the extreme, you don't even want to know what I think about David Irving and other apologists for the Holocaust however to my complete and utter surprise I found myself respecting and even liking Traudl Junge, I saw the film Blind Spot before I read this book and I want to learn more about Hitler's last secretary.

People have complained in some of the reviews that Traudl tried to explain her ignorance about the Final Solution on her youth, however I have both read this book and seen the documentary Blind Spot and not once did she do that, she admitted she was young and foolish but she did face up to the fact that she had been so blind about Hitler's failings which is more than a lot of other people have ever done since the end of the war.

This book actually compliments Blind Spot; it fills in the gaps and expands on a very good documentary and along with the film "Down Fall" which I think does do Traudl Junge justice, I do think she was not a bad person, just misguided and foolish and who in the end had the courage to admit her mistakes and try to make amends by letting history document her part in an era we must never forget.

The book chronicles Traudl's childhood and how she ended up as Hitler's secretary by sheer fluke, she might have not been the most intelligent girl available for the job but I think it is unfair to say that she was taken on because she was a brainless bimbo, far from it, for if she had been brainless she would not have faced up to the fact at a later time in her life that evil is banal and even a person who is basically "good" can be ensnared before they even know it.

I think in order for a person to get a good understanding of Traudl Junge, you have to read this book and it is a fascinating read from beginning to end, watch the documentary Blind Spot, and then see the film Down Fall, in that order.

I am not defending Traudl Junge; she was foolish, she followed a brutal and corrupt system blindly and fell into the trap of being banal, just like millions of other people did, but unlike millions of other people she faced up to her part in the Third Reich and this book is her story, unsentimental and told from her perspective, you cannot help but feel a modicum of compassion for a foolish young woman who would have to live for the rest of her life with the knowledge that she was secretary to a man who helped put together the final solution along with God knows how many other atrocities that have got lost in the annals of history.

Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary

Average customer rating:

The Devil's Secretary
The "banality of evil" personified
Excellent!

Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary
Gertraud Junge
Manufacturer: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0297847201

Book Description

Traudl Junge (then Humps) was 22 years old and dreamt of a career as a ballerina, until the 'opportunity of her life' beckoned. Adolf Hitler appointed this young secretary to his private office and from 1942 until his death she was at his side in the bunker, typing his correspondence, his speeches and even his last private and political will and testament. 'I was 22 and I didn't know anything about politics, it didn't interest me,' she claims. It was apparently only after the war that this young woman began to realise what had happened and the horrible reality began to dawn on her. She was wracked with guilt for 'liking the greatest criminal ever to have lived.' She'd found him a 'pleasant older man and a good employer'. Her journal, written in 1947, recounts her mostly mundane time typing, making tea, until the coldness of the bunker, the building sense of despair and doom as the war progressed. The journal is topped and tailed with a preface and an afterword, co-written by Melissa Muller, giving the background to the story, the rest of Traudl's unhappy life and her feelings of guilt over her naive actions.

Customer Reviews:

The Devil's Secretary.......2006-09-03

The Boss

This is a good book. It is good because it is honest. It is good because it looks through the eyes of a woman at a world dominated and usually described only by men. And it is good because it spreads a thin veil of pudeur over events that are today often shown in all their crass ugliness - such as the charred corpses of Saddam Hussein`s sons.

In her first serious professional position Traudl Junge became one of Hitler`s personal secretaries and stayed with him for 30 months until his death. She tells us about him what she saw. To many of us, this may not be enough, many of us would like to be confirmed in our mental picture of a screaming, violent paranoid, apt at biting his carpet when things got rough - this is, after all, the way he has always been depicted, even long before the Second World War had broken out.

The book makes us imagine him, in the presence of Traudl Junge, as a man with a mission and certainly very convincing when it came to that, but otherwise quite commonplace to the point of being somewhat boring, cloth-cap, muffler, and greyhound, quite literally, except that the greyhound would be a German shepherd, not much of a reader, and no longer in a mood to watch movies. He was able to hide his relationship with Eva Braun quite as efficiently as François Mitterand managed to cover his own liaison. Nothing that Traudl Junge tells us about him would have us think that he was anything of an inhibited Dr. Jekyll who would turn into a bloodthirsty Mr. Hide as soon as the padded doors of his office closed behind him.

When Traudl Junge met Hitler, the tide of the war was starting to run against him. He was beginning to realize that he might not be able to achieve his aims. In this situation, he behaved as most of us would: he closed his eyes - partly so to avoid having to face the facts, partly in an effort to go against the sea-change and muster up all the forces that the German people could still mobilize.

An interesting aspect of Traudl Junge`s book is the fact that it was written down in its entirety within a few years of those momentous events, while her memories were still fresh and unaltered by the post-war political re-education that the Allies brought to bear on the German people. Thus, there was no need to incorporate any belated realizations into her account of what she had seen, no need to imagine behind facets of Hitler`s behaviour events that later might have taken on a particular significance, no need to change her point of view and bend with the remover to remove scenes that she had observed.

Even those things that the author does not express sometimes tell a story. We have been told repeatedly that Hitler loved to view in his private theatre the film showing the execution of the men who conspired against him a year before the end of the war. His secretary tells us nothing about that kind of thing, even though it is highly likely that Hitler - if the story were true - would have rounded up his inner circle to share his gloating pleasure.

A special praise should go to Melissa Müller who helped Traudl Junge with this book and who wrote an accompanying text that shows a high degree of empathy for the author and the times she describes.

This book is not an account of what Hitler really was like", but it does show us what he could, at times, be like - at the hour of his death, for example.

The "banality of evil" personified.......2006-02-17

For any reader interested in Adolf Hitler as a person, not just as the ranting and raving dictator, Traudl Junge's account is the best resource available. Junge (nee Humps) was one of Hitler's private secretaries from the tenth anniversary of Hitler's coming to power to the dramatic fall of the Nazi regime just two and one half years later. During much of this time, Junge's duties were primarily social. Junge accompanied Hitler for meals and relaxation almost daily. She observed him in a way very few people did and was one of a minute number of Hitler's companions who survived the war to tell her story. She wrote her memoirs in 1947 and they were later published in Voices From the Bunker. I have read that book about four times and this edition once. Her account is as fascinating now as it was the first time I read it. Voices From the Bunker is one of my all-time favorite books.

If you already have Voices From the Bunker and are wondering if this book is worth owning, I would say it is only if you are interested in Junge beyond her experiences with Hitler. This book includes more background information on her pre-Hitler life (I had not read before that her father had taken part in the 1923 Beer Hall Putsch) and a 30-page chapter written by Melissa Mueller in 2001 that follows Junge's post-war life chronologically. It would not be until the revisionist 1960s when people took an interest in her story. Otherwise, the bulk of the work is the same 1947 account in Voices. I've compared sections between the two books and, although they are not the same verbatim with a few minor details added or omitted, the account is basically the same. I like the way Voices is divided up better, with more chapters separating the story (i.e. The July Bomb Plot). It is more useful for looking up information than Until the Final Hour which is mostly one long chapter. Voices also includes accounts of Hitler's aides-de-camp Otto Guensche and pilot Hans Baur which this book does not offer. Until the Final Hour does have very interesting end notes with side tidbits and brief biographical information on many of the people Junge mentions.

Junge died February 10, 2002, soon after the first German publication of her memoirs. Her memories were controversial in her homeland because her experiences with Hitler were pleasant. She knew him as a polite host and gentle father figure who showed compassion and human emotions (i.e. when he offered condolences to her after her husband died at the front). Only in brief snippets does she hint at the harsher side of the dictator. Hitler tries to hide his emotional explosions in meetings with his military officers. Frau von Schirach (wife of the head of the Hitler Youth) was no longer invited to be Hitler's guest after she voiced concern to him about trains full of deported Jews headed for Amsterdam (p. 88). Junge would finally become angry with Hitler when he gave up on the war and was accusatory to the end (Junge typed up his last demands and will). She, of course, kept such feelings of disappointment to herself. Her viewpoint is, admittedly, from an isolated world with one set of beliefs and a "puppet master" who controlled the day-to-day lives and thoughts of those around him. She describes Hitler's demeanor and routine at the Wolf's Lair (Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia), at the Berghof (his mountain retreat), and finally in the bunker as Berlin was being surrounded. She offers a unique perspective on many aspects of the dictator's life: his dietary habits, the attention he gave to his dog Blondi, his outlook on the war, his after-dinner small talk with such intimates as Eva Braun and important visitors like Albert Speer, Josef Goebbels, etc. Her account of the final days in the bunker with the Russian army drawing near is very moving. You almost feel like you were there.

Excellent!.......2004-06-16

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to get the collapse of the Third Reich from the perspective of a woman who was there...trapped in the bunker below the Reichs Chancellery as Berlin was being surrounded by Russian troops. Mrs. Junge's memoirs paint the distinct picture of a dying empire....and her memoirs go hand in hand with Joachim Fest's outstanding volume INSIDE HITLER'S BUNKER.

One thing that I noticed as I was reading through the book was the complete spell that Hitler held over Junge, even though she was never a part of the National Socialist party or claimed to be a Nazi sympathizer in any way. The sheer magnetism of Hitler's personality and charm sucked her in....and until he died...she was hooked. Another point that Mrs. Junge brought up was how she was pretty much sheltered within Hitler's inner circle. Until the fall of the Reich, she had no real idea of the atrocities that were being committed by the National Socialists. It brings to light the enormity of the German government and the full scope of the empire....and how one department could be doing something so horrible...and possibly another department not even knowing about it. By the end of the war, the National Socialist government had grown into a huge bureaucracy where one could actually do as they pleased, possibly without the big-wigs in power knowing it, if they were extremely careful about it. Not to say that the Holocaust never happened, it most certainly did!, but it is interesting just to observe how Mrs. Junge was probably just one of many who had no idea of what evils were done in the name of their government and their country. This book just further exposes the sad history of a great people who are seduced by an evil genius and the guilt they will have to live with for a long time to come for their being so manipulated.

This book is a really excellent read. It reads quickly and the translation from the German is hardly noticeable. Ms. Muller's introduction and epilogue really help to put Mrs. Junge's memoirs in perspective. Also, it is interesting to see how Traudl Junge came into Hitler's service and what happened to her after it was over. So, go out and read this...it is great!

Average customer rating:
Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary
Gertraud Junge
Manufacturer: George Weidenfeld & Nicholson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORY86G

Average customer rating:

Plain.

Death and carnage at Stonewall

The journal of Rufus Rowe(review) : By Tabatha Denham

My Name Is America: journal Of Rufus Rowe, Witness To The Battle Of Fredricksburg (My Nam Is America)
Sid Hite
Manufacturer: Scholastic Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0439353645

Customer Reviews:

Plain........2006-09-19

"The Journal of Rufus Rowe" I found to be boring. I was looking forward to this book since it comes from the stand point of the Confederate, but I felt it didn't come from either side - but neutral. I think I find author Sid Hite's writing to be bland, as I've yet to find a book he's writing that I like. I felt the journal entries were lacking and history was not presented in an interesting fashion. I do not recommend.

Death and carnage at Stonewall.......2006-06-21

The journal of Rufus Rowe brings the reader into the mind of a young 16-year boy. Rufus witness the horror of war: "I shall never forget the smell of gun power" and "broken windows, furniture in the streets, and houses on fire" and "defeat in war means loss and victory in war means loss". Rufus patriotism and love Fredricksburg and Virginia was replaced by the burdens of carnage, death, and suffering.

Rufus felt and witness the raw carnage of war; the dead horses, the deafening boom of cannon and gun fire, the exhaustion and hunger, soldiers stripping clothes and items off dead soldiers, truces agreed upon too bury the dead, the illogical carnage that resulted from Yankees charging stonewall. Rufus discovered Soldiers consume massive amounts of pork, beans, and gruel. All of Rufus's chickens were stolen. Food became scarce.

The battle of Fredricksburg favored the confederates even though the Yankees number 115,000 and the Rebels 78,000. The Yankees were trapped into a pocket with only one direction of movement, forward. The confederate sharpshooters shot the Yankees with deadly accuracy. In scene, Yankee casualties reached 200 in one charge. The battle of Fredricksburg was a serious Union defeat, but not the end too the war. Union generals and soldiers had an endless supply of replacements.

Many Confederate Generals were involved in the battle of Fredricksburg. The battle of Fredricksburg formed a defense formation from right to left starting with Jeb Staurt, next Gen Robert E Lee, Gen Longstreet, and Hooker too the left. Rufus overheard on fat man brag about Jeb Staurt out whitting the Yankees with a calvery flank move to the right and predicted the war would be over in "six months". The war would last three years.

In one scene, the Yankees played "The Star Spangled Banner" and other Yankee patriotic songs, but when the union musicians played "Dixie" a roar of cheers and shouts climaxed on the rebel side. Union General Burnside felt capturing Fredricksburg was a strategic prize. President Lincoln lost confidence in General Burnsides lack of aggression and replace him. The delay in building the bridge had allowed the confederate armies to arrive and anchor into place. President Lincoln was angered by the delay.

The Yankees had to cross the Rappahannock River before gaining access to the interior of the city. The battle was delay for one week until the Pontoon bridges arrived. The Union soldiers received Rebel gunfire while they installed the pontoon bridge necessary for crossing the Rappahannock River. The Union army was able to cross over the Rappahannock River and march into Fredricksburg.

Confederate General Lee ordered the evacuation of Fredricksburg. Civilians departed their homes and many walked out of the city with their possessions. Rufus dreamed he saw a little girl carrying her doll out of the city. The little girl struggled to carry the doll and at the same time keep pace with her party. Rufus prayed for the little girl in his dreams and hope she would be able to keep her doll and exist the city.

Rufus would return home too his mother before the battle was over. Rufus arrived at dinnertime, Saturday dinners were large and he appreciated the food. The prodigal son had returned home and Rufus's mother affection for him demanded she not leave his side. The mother was not to blame. The mother's husband ran off when Rufus was two. Rufus was the man of the house, but when his mother remarried a businessman, whose profession was timber, the man treated Rufus both harshly and cruelly. Rufus despised his stepfather's cruelty and ran away from home and Rufus earned money for food by purchasing merchandise for the confederate soldiers. Upon return home Rufus told his mother about the progress of the battle and the stepfather excused his poor treatment of Rufus by blaming the ailing timber business. Rufus agreed that amends had been given and properly received.

Peg and Evelyn noticed Rufus and provided him a place to sleep, work, and eat; however, Evelyn's father pretended that Rufus did not exists, but allowed him to stay. Rufus friend was a George, one of the house slaves. As the fighting commenced Peg, Evelyn, and her father departed Brompton too live in a neighboring city with a higher elevation. George made Rufus promise he would hide during the fighting; good advice that would save Rufus's life. Once Confederate soldiers shot at Federate Soldiers from the second floor window of the home and bullets sprayed the home and a canyon ball knocked out one of the columns too the home.

Rufus became a friend with Captain Nelson. Captain Nelson provided information about the battle. Captain Nelson told Rufus about causalities and updated him on the progress of the battle.

Major General William B. Franklin attacked from two small divisions - Major General George G. Meade and Major General John Gibbon. Mead's troops broke through but Jackson's men expelled the federals. Burnside launched his attack from Fredericksburg against the Confederate left on Marye's height. Stonewall provided the fortress of protection and allowed the Rebels to move down the Yankees with precision. Not a single Federal soldier reached longstreet's line." Rufus explains that the confederates did not kill in cold blood, if a union soldier was trying to help a fallen comrade, the shots would go high.

"On December 15, Burnside ordered his beaten army back across the Rappahannock. The Union had lost 13,000 soldiers in a battle in which the dreadful carnage was matched only by its futility"

The journal of Rufus Rowe(review) : By Tabatha Denham.......2005-10-20

Rufus rowe ran away from his home in Bowling Green Virgina.
Cause of his step dad his teacher gave him the journal to write in.He starts to write in the journal a month after he got the journal September 22, 1862. Rufus left to go to fredricksburg to were the battle of the Yanks and Rebels will be fighting on october 6, 1862. He also thought that his step dad Mr. Jenkins will be looking for him in richmond cause he takled about moving there. before Rufus left for fredricksburg he told his mom cause he didn't want her to worry. rufus is sleeping in a alley way when he gets to fredricksburg he didn't write in his journal for a week when he gets there cause he has been to buissy looking for a place to live. the day after he wrote in his journala girl saw him in the ally and she offered him a potatoe after she offered him the potatoe she asked him if he had a place to live. She told him to go up togo up to Brompton Hill to where she worked for a rich guy she told him to meet her there the next day. So he takes her offer and he meets her there she said that he can sleep in the barn on the second floor she said she already put hay up there for him. He lives there for a week until he meet a soilder and the soilder ask if he can run a errond for him Rufus took the offer and the soilder aid him that he'll pay him a dollar and fifty cents so he did. after a month of doing that the war started and he had to quit running erronds.

Civil War Journal: The Battles (Civil War Journal)

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A great history lesson
The perfect reference book that I would recommend to anyone.

Civil War Journal: The Battles (Civil War Journal)

Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1558534385

Book Description

"Of more than one thousand battles fought during the war," William C. Davis notes, "a few have risen to lasting fascination and prominence, some even regarded as 'turning points.' The battles included in this book are those that caused the greatest casualties, produced the greatest feats of heroism, and won or lost major campaigns. They decided the course of the war in the East and the West, set the standard for valor and sacrifice, defined who the American soldier was to be in this war and in the future, and established the American military tradition."

This volume presents accounts of five Confederate victories (Fort Sumter, First Manassas, Fredericksburg, Chickamauga, and Franklin), five Union victories (New Orleans, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, and Nashville), and three stalemates (Monitor v. Virginia, Antietam, and Charleston). Also included are chapters on solder life, the steadfast Iron Brigade, and the first volunteer African-American combat troops recruited in the North-the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry. From the first shot in Charleston Harbor to the one-day decimation of the Southern army on the outskirts of Nashville, these pages are colored with the wide range of expectation and disappointment that frustrated the country during four years of war.

Customer Reviews:

A great history lesson.......2003-02-15

This work is so easy to review. It was an absolutely wondeful read. I think it would be difficult for anyone else to compile so much information in such an 'easy to read' format. This book lives up to the expectations you would have after reading "The Leaders." and "The Legacies," the other two books in this series.

The perfect reference book that I would recommend to anyone........1999-03-04

A really good book even if your not really a history buff. The book touches on many different things not just the battles, such things as the foot soldier's life, the Iron Brigade, Gettysburg: the civilians. The book however still talks about many important and significant battles of the war like, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, First Manassas, and Fort Sumpter. Every topic you read about will only be about 25 pages long but it is still indepth enough to give you as much information as you could want out of the topic your reading about. I personally enjoyed reading this book, and even if your not big into the Civil War their are plenty of interesting stories and pictures that will keep your interest in reading. You can hardly go wrong reading this because their are 17 different topics so if you don't like one you can go to the next. This is a great book and it fits in with the two others that complete the series. The History Channel and William C. Davis out do themselves again.

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Pharsalia (Masters of Latin Literature)
Lucan Lucan
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0801481376

Book Description

Lucan's take on some guy name of Caesar crossing the Rubicon to duke it out with a volcano -- maybe I have that wrong, but you'll need to read the book to find out.

Download Description

Lucan's take on some guy name of Caesar crossing the Rubicon to duke it out with a volcano -- maybe I have that wrong, but you'll need to read the book to find out.

Journal of the Indian Wars: Custer at the Washita and Little Bighorn Vol. 1 No. 1

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Journal of the Indian Wars: Custer at the Washita and Little Bighorn Vol. 1 No. 1
editor Michael Hughes
Manufacturer: Savas Beatie
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

The premier issue. "Custer at the Washita and Little Bighorn:" Custer's controversial post-Civil War career is dissected by several noted authorities. Also includes an archaeological essay on the Washita, book reviews, index.

A Diary of Battle: The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright 1861-1865

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One of the Great Civil War Diaries
A Diary of Battle

A Diary of Battle: The Personal Journals of Colonel Charles S. Wainwright 1861-1865
Charles S. Wainwright
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0306808463

Customer Reviews:

One of the Great Civil War Diaries.......2006-06-07

There are many diarries and personal recollections of the Civil War. There are a handful of these that rate as classic writings that can be used as reliable first hand accounts of the war, and this is one of them. Possibly the best diary from the Army of the Potomac. Great detail, well written and very intersting.

A Diary of Battle.......2002-10-28

Gets low marks for editing. The editor has excised parts he thinks are repetitive or boring, but in some cases these clearly dealt with the technical details of handling artillery, and would have been of great use to the reader.

Book Description

From the time of his departure on February 16, 1863, to join the Union Army until he returned home on July 18, 1865, Louis N. Beaudry kept a detailed diary of the day-to-day events of the Fifth New York Cavalry. The unit was a participant in the Battle of Gettysburg, and Beaudry writes of it in great detail. As the unit's chaplain, Beaudry was very observant of those factors that influenced morale, such as fighting, disease, boredom, hunger and weather conditions; his diary is thus uniquely focused on the daily routine of the Fifth New York.

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"Gore, War, and Monumental Verse"
Another version of Lucan

Civil War (The World's Classics)
Lucan
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0192829947

Book Description

Lucan's epic poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, unfinished at the time of his death, stands beside the poems of Virgil and Ovid in the first rank of Latin epic. This newly annotated, free verse translation conveys the full force of Lucan's writing and his grimly realistic view
of the subject. The work is a powerful condemnation of civil war, emphasizing the stark, dark horror of the catastrophies which the Roman state inflicted upon itself. Both the introduction and glossary set the scene for readers unfamiliar with Lucan and explore his relationship with earlier
writers of Latin epic, and his interest in the sensational.

Customer Reviews:

"Gore, War, and Monumental Verse".......2002-01-24

Lucan, the author of the full-throated but incomplete epic the "Civil War", certainly deserves a spot next to the great Latin poets Ovid, Horace, and Virgil, whose epic works mark the pinnacle eloquence and intelligence of Latin verse. The epic was written during the reign of Nero in the first century AD, and it is characterized by its vehement condemnation of civil war and imperialistic sentiments--this possibly caused Lucan's later fall out of Nero's favor. The primary characters in the epic are Julius Caesar, who is portrayed as a destructive warmonger, and Pompey (Magnus), who is described as ambitious and over his prime. The vivid descriptions of the wars in this work are exciting and at the same time sobering since Lucan's narrative never fails to reveal those attributes of civil war which invoke the most disturbing of feelings. For all this, Lucan's "Civil War" is recommended, and also because the Oxford World Classics always present reliable translations, and this particular edition retains Lucan's charming and long-winded verse that courses so smoothly through the hearts and minds reader's who are fortunate enough to come into contact with it.

Another version of Lucan.......2000-07-22

If I had known it was another translation of Lucan, I would not have ordered it, BUT I would have made a mistake. This work has a better translation for the modern reader, and lots of good supporting information. Some of the comparisons I made with other versions make me wish I had this ten years ago. The notes are worth the price of the book!

The Civil War Journal of Billy Davis: From Hopewell, Indiana to Port Republic, Virginia

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The Civil War Journal of Billy Davis: From Hopewell, Indiana to Port Republic, Virginia
Billy Davis
Manufacturer: Nugget Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War : Charleston : Battles and Seacoast Operations in South Carolina (Civil War Regiments)

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Civil War Regiments: A Journal of the American Civil War : Charleston : Battles and Seacoast Operations in South Carolina (Civil War Regiments)

Manufacturer: Savas Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Lucan: De bello civili Book II (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)

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Lucan: De bello civili Book II (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics)
Lucan
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 052141010X

Book Description

This edition offers the first full-scale commentary on the neglected second book of Lucan's epic poem on the civil war between Caesar and Pompey: De bello civili. It pays particular attention to Lucan's inheritance from Virgil's Augustan epic and response to its challenge. The introduction gives a general account of Lucan's life and work, a discussion of his narrative, a survey of language, style and meter, and a brief history of the text. The commentary offers assistance with grammar and translation and aims to provide the political, historical and geographical background to Lucan's epic narrative.

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