Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

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A beloved classic since its initial publication in 1947, this vivid, insightful journal is a fitting memorial to the gifted Jewish teenager who died at Bergen-Belsen, Germany, in 1945. Born in 1929, Anne Frank received a blank diary on her 13th birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. Her marvelously detailed, engagingly personal entries chronicle 25 trying months of claustrophobic, quarrelsome intimacy with her parents, sister, a second family, and a middle-aged dentist who has little tolerance for Anne's vivacity. The diary's universal appeal stems from its riveting blend of the grubby particulars of life during wartime (scant, bad food; shabby, outgrown clothes that can't be replaced; constant fear of discovery) and candid discussion of emotions familiar to every adolescent (everyone criticizes me, no one sees my real nature, when will I be loved?). Yet Frank was no ordinary teen: the later entries reveal a sense of compassion and a spiritual depth remarkable in a girl barely 15. Her death epitomizes the madness of the Holocaust, but for the millions who meet Anne through her diary, it is also a very individual loss. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Discovered in the attic in which she spent the last years of her life, Anne Frank's remarkable diary has since become a world classic -- a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit. In 1942, with Nazis occupying Holland, a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl and her family fled their home in Amsterdam and went into hiding. For the next two years, until their whereabouts were betrayed to the Gestapo, they and another family lived cloistered in the "Secret Annex" of an old office building. Cut off from the outside world, they faced hunger, boredom, the constant cruelties of living in confined quarters, and the ever-present threat of discovery and death. In her diary Anne Frank recorded vivid impressions of her experiences during this period. By turns thoughtful, moving, and amusing, her account offers a fascinating commentary on human courage and frailty and a compelling self-portrait of a sensitive and spirited young woman whose promise was tragically cut short.

Customer Reviews:

Anne Frank Revisited..........2007-10-17

As just about every other student, I read The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school, probably during the 6th or 7th grade. I had a distant memory of it, but not much. Well, recently I watched Schindler's List and this got me re-interested in WWII, and especially the Holocaust. I read Night by Eli Wiesel (highly recommended) and decided to move on to The Diary of Anne Frank. Let me start by reviewing the book:

The Diary of Anne Frank is a diary of a young, Jewish girl (as the title obviously states, haha) whom is forced to go into hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of Holland in the early 1940's. During this period, Jews were being segregated and even sent off to concentration camps by the Germans on a daily basis. When Anne's sister's name was next on the list, their father decided to take the family into hiding.

Aided by some of Otto's (Anne's father) former employees, the Franks seclude themselves in a small Annex of a business in Amsterdam. There, they are joined by the Van Daan family and later by an older gentleman, Mr. Dussel. Anne's diary chronicles their plight for the following two years, until they are discovered by the German secret police and ultimately sent to their death in Jewish concentration camps.

Anne addresses various topics, from their daily activities, to her interest in the son of the Van Daan's, Peter, to some of her inner most thoughts, fears, and aspirations. I have to share with you that I was EXTREMELY impressed with Anne's intelligence. I couldn't help but compare her to myself when I was only 15 years old and I am amazed not only at her intelligence but her strength to persevere during such horrible times. This young girl manages to keep faith in God and struggles with maintaining her morality, even as all around her she is witnessing a warped world full of sin, hatred and evil. I cannot say that in her shoes I would've reacted the same.

I encourage any reader to read and/or re-read The Diary of Anne Frank. You will be completely enveloped by her wit and warmth and are surely to fall in love with her.

Ann Frank.......2007-10-05

The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition is the diary Anne Frank a young Jewish girl growing up during World War II and the holocaust. Anne lives in Amsterdam with her mother, father, and sister Margot. When Anne is 13 she and her family must go into hiding to escape the Germans call ups, particularly one for Margot. They hide in the back of a warehouse where Otto (Anne's father) works. There are seven people at the beginning including the three van Daans an Anne and her family.
The diary reminds me of The Breadwinner which is about a young girl growing up in Afghanistan during the Taliban's rule. The main character must dress up as a boy when her father is arrested to earn money for her family. Unlike Anne's diary however this was written in modern day. They both had trouble getting food that they needed and lived in fear of getting arrested. Although they lived in different times the experiences of the girls were similar
After a bit Albert Dussel, a dentist, joins the group in, as it came to be known, the Secret Annex. Dussel became a bit annoying when he starts hiding food when the rest of the group need to get coupon books through the black market and are eating rotten potatoes and other foods. He did however give them dental checkups. Anne shared a room with Dussel when he came (before she shared with Margot) and was frequently woken up when he got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. "Mr. Dussel's Toilet Timetable" is some thing that Anne tacks to the bathroom door. "I might well have added "Transgressors will be subject to confinement!" Because our bathroom can be locked from both the inside and the outside." Is something Anne writes after the timetable.
Anne also makes friends with Peter van Dan and spends quite a few evenings in his attic bedroom because it has the only window that's not covered by a curtain. They become valuable resources for each other.
All in all this is a very good book and I highly recommend it.

Amazing diary of a young woman .......2007-10-01

Anne Frank is remembered for being a sweet young girl that went into hiding during the holocaust only to be found and sent to a concentration camp where she died 3 months befroe her 16th birthday. The time in between these two horrible events is full of fear, fights,learning, and love, basically life. This version of the diary has more material than the orginal, which some people think is too much, but it is what she wrote left alone. It has what she intended the book to be. It includes story from the restrictions put on her while she wasn't in hiding because she was Jewish to her chores that she did quietly in the Secret Annex such as peeling potatoes and rubbing beans. It is not always the most interesting book, but it does provoke thought. It's sad in the fact that you know how its going to end before you start, but Anne does not as she's wrting it. Anne Frank's writing surpass her age, she writes not as a stuborn teenager, but as an intelligent young woman.

A Powerful and Intimate Portrait.......2007-09-30

You know the storyline - a Jewish girl, her family, and some friends go into hiding for two years during the Nazi regime in Holland. Said girl writes her thoughts and observations of her life during this time in a diary, which is found and published after her death in a concentration camp. It has become a classic, and it was written by a young teenager.

My favorite aspect of this book will forever be Anne's powerful narrative voice. Her words speak, and more than that they smell and taste and touch. She gives her diary, "Kitty," an intimate portrait of life in the "Secret Annexe," both public and private - of the ups-and-downs of people's relationships, of her inner struggles and growth, of her love. Reading her diary is like looking through the window at the war from two perspectives - one from the outside in, at the life of a girl and a family who were sucked into the Nazi vacuum through no fault of their own; and the other from the inside out, at the crazy world war swirling around the epicenter of one fourteen-year-old girl.

Book Report: Diary of a Young Girl.......2007-09-30

This book tells an amazing story of a young girl living in Germany in World War II. And to think it was all a journal is amazing. Anne Frank, a brave young Jewish girl, spends two years hiding in the secret annex from the Nazis. Anne Frank started to keep this diary on her thirteenth birthday. She called her diary, Kitty. At the start of her diary, Anne describes fairly typical experiences, writing about her friendships with other girls, her crushes on boys.
Later, the Franks had moved to the Netherlands in the years leading up to World War II to escape persecution in Germany. They were forced into hiding with another family, the van Daans. There, they listened closely to the radio and everything that happened during the war. Anne kept up with everything that happened while she was there. It was very hard for her because she was separated from all her friends and her normal life style.
I suggest this book for all ages. It is a very inspirational story. It gives a different perspective on life.
-Hayley Robertson
6th period
10/4/07

Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance

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non-scientists beware
Captivating read on Amelia's Misadventures
Amelia Earhart on Fantasy Island?
Finding Amelia
Clarification on Amelia

Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearance
Ric Gillespie
Manufacturer: US Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1591143195

Book Description

In the seventy years since the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan during a flight over the Central Pacific, their fate has remained one of history's most debated mysteries. Dozens of books have offered a variety of solutions to the puzzle, but they all draw on the same handful of documents and conflicting eyewitness accounts.

Now a wealth of new information uncovered by the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) allows this book to offer the first fully documented history of what happened. Scrupulously accurate and thrilling to read, it tells the story from the letters, logs, and telegrams that recorded events as they unfolded. Many long-accepted facts are revealed as myths.

Author Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director, draws on the work of his organization's historians, archæologists, and scientists, who compiled and analyzed more than five thousand documents relating to the Earhart case. Their research led to the hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan died as castaways on a remote Pacific atoll. But this book is not a polemic that argues for a particular theory. Rather, it presents all of the authenticated historical dots and leaves it to the reader to make the connections. In addition to details about the Earhart's career and final flight, the book examines her relationship with the U.S. government and the massive search undertaken by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy.

For serious students of Earhart's disappearance, an accompanying DVD reproduces the documents, reports, and technical studies cited in the text, allowing instant review and verification of the sources.

Customer Reviews:

non-scientists beware.......2007-09-11

This highly technical read is not for the mere curious reader or fan of this great American woman. This book contains a vivid picture of the search for America's sweetheart of 1937,Amelia Earhart and her navigator ,Fred Noonan. An intricate compilation of radio transmissions provides a picture of an overwhelmed search party, miscommunicated information and an under skilled pilot. This is not the whole picture and if one seeks a glimpse into the woman behind the incident this is not the book for you

Captivating read on Amelia's Misadventures.......2007-08-17

"Finding Amelia: the True Story of the Earhart Disappearance," Ric Gillespie, Naval Institute Press, Maryland, 2006, ISBN 1-59114-319-2, HC 242 pges., Notes 44 pgs., Index 8 pgs., Content & Forward 10 pgs., plus 40 B/W photos, map & DVD (for computer) to access photos, maps, logs of the Earhart misadventure.

A captivating narrative & chronicle of the flying life and times of pilot Amelia Earhart, both researched 18 years and written by Exec. Dir. of TIGHAR, an Internat. Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. We are provided detailed accounts of Earhart's two world flight attempts, neither successful, with the aviatrix's last contact being July 2, 1937 while enroute to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea and thence to California.

Glimpses are given of Amelia Earhart's quest for notoriety during her earlier years which found her intrigued by flying machines, seeking adventure, finding celebrity status & desiring increased role for American women. But, it is not a bibliography or even a book about Amelia. It is a book of Amelia's monomaniacal attachment to flying, her aeronautical skill confines, that emphasizes her attempts to encircle the globe, imprima her 2nd attempt going Eastward, departing Oakland, California on May 19, 1937 accompanied by navigator Fred Noonan in her Lockheed Electra 10E twin engine aircraft. There is detailed & documented accountings of the massive search by US Coast Guard and Naval ships & planes and detailed reference to ships' logs of communications, etc., and interviews with Ham Radio operators who credibly appear to have identified her signals. The many B/W photographs, maps and the DVD are commendatory to this scholarly study. A few readers may find the detailed readings, etc., of the ships' logs and radiocommunication transmission times and references to frequencies and harmonics confusing & tedious, but the author's intentions to present the factual data is preserved.

Amelia Earhart on Fantasy Island?.......2007-06-29

I have followed Mr. Gillespie's search for years, and it is, sadly, largely based on wishful thinking instead of facts, such as the fuel capacity of Amelia's Lockheed 10E Electra. Simply put, there is NO WAY it could have reached where he claims it is. The book is an interesting read, and reasonably well done, and there are some opposing viewpoints presented. Factually, though, it is an illusion (one that has paid Mr. Gillespie quite well for a long time). An entertaining read, but not historical research-just a flight of fancy--

Finding Amelia.......2007-03-19

The book is a good chronicle of the last flight, and what is (and isn't known). While there isn't anything really new that hasn't been covered before, the book is a good compliment to others previously published on the Earhart story. The focus on (mis)communications highlights the thread of errors that lead to the tragedy. The inclusion of the disc (a nice touch!) containing the source data allows the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Clarification on Amelia.......2007-01-10

Excellently written. Very informative. I think this book clears up why Amelia dissappeared. It is no mystery any more.

Average customer rating:

Great book
Biography of a True Christian Heroine
Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith
GRIPPING and inspiring!
Amazing novel

The Hiding Place
Corrie Ten Boom , and John Scherrill
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0553256696
Release Date: 1984-10-01

Book Description

Corrie Ten Boom stood naked with her older sister Betsie, watching a concentration camp matron beating a prisoner."Oh, the poor woman," Corrie cried."Yes. May God forgive her," Betsie replied. And, once again, Corrie realized that it was for the souls of the brutal Nazi guards that her sister prayed.

Here is a book aglow with the glory of God and the courage of a quiet Christian spinster whose life was transformed by it. A story of Christ's message and the courageous woman who listened and lived to pass it along -- with joy and triumph!

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-10-09

I bought the book The Hiding Place because I had the lost the one I had. I greatly enjoyed the book. It is well written, and Historical. Her story is one that should never be forgotten. The book was in great shape when I got it.

Biography of a True Christian Heroine.......2007-08-08

This is the first book you should read to get to know Corrie Ten Boom, a woman whose life took a dramatic turn when her family was caught up in a turbulent and tragic time when the Nazi's occupied Holland. Corrie, her father and sister were morally convicted to harbor and hide Jews who were facing arrest and deportation. After being betrayed, they were sent to jail, and eventually Corrie and Betsie were sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration/death camp. Throughout her life, Corrie held onto her Saviour Jesus Christ, and found out that there is no pit too deep that God is not there to pull you out.

Corrie is completed honest and transparent in describing her life. She does not sugarcoat her own mistakes, and the bitterness and hatred she harbored in her heart. She does not make herself out to be a saint. But as a real human being experiencing the depravity of human sin, she in her own power could not forgive or love her enemies. She was incredulous upon hearing her sister Betsie pray for the Nazi's, and as Betsie got physically weaker and weaker, she was strengthened spiritually, encouraging Corrie to let go her hatred, and to spread the word of God's love through the most horrible circumstances. Betsie, before she was set free (passed away), also inspired Corrie to open a home for displaced people after the war. Miraculously Corrie was set free and able to make her way home. She fulfills Betsie's dreams of opening a rest home, and ministering to people who had suffered so much at the hands of evil.

The book ends in 1946. To find out about Corrie's return to Germany and her ministering to former prison guards, make sure to read "Tramp for the Lord."

Amazing Love, Courage, and Faith.......2007-08-06

Corrie Ten Boom and her family exhibited true Christian love. They did not shrink from their duty to hide the persecuted Jews, nor did they lack courage as they were arrested and placed in concentration camps. Several family members died, with only Corrie surviving due to miraculous intervention. Did she harbor bitterness? Yes. But her faith in the Lord God Jehovah sustained her through this difficult time. She came to the place in her spiritual life where God changed her heart, enabling to forgive her captors. This is truly a story that will warm your heart and point you to a personal Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves and cares for His children. Read how God directs their paths, even when imprisoned, and blesses them mightily despite their circumstances.

GRIPPING and inspiring!.......2007-08-04

I really tried not to read this book right before bed b/c of the tough content, but I just couldn't put it down!

The voice is delightful--warm, genuine, matter-of-fact--appealing neither to sentiment or false piety. Corrie shares her story honestly and so pleasantly that you feel you are sitting with her over a cup of tea. She makes no pretense about her own bravery, but humbly shares her own struggles and how the Lord faithfully sustained her. The lessons on forgiveness are timeless and unforgettable. Be careful; you're likely to feel conviction to apply these truths to your own life! =)

I would not recommend this book for small children; anyone under the age of 10 might be too upset by some of the content (her sister's death, their cruel treatment in prison)--but I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book to anyone who has ever wondered:
--would they have courage to stand up for their faith if put to the ultimate test?
--why does God allow bad things to happen to "good" people?
--when should one fight back and when should one humbly submit
--is it safe to trust God in absolute surrender?

May God bless you as He blessed me in reading this book!
CM

Amazing novel.......2007-07-17

This is a beautiful novel about one woman and her family's journey as they smuggled Jews in their home and other "safe houses" in war torn Holland during the 1940's. Corrie and her family ended up in jail and finally a concentration camp because of her willingness to protect God's children during the Holocaust. Her faith and God's truth ring out clearly in her writing and remarkable story. It really pushed me to think of a more Godly perspective instead of one of this world. This is an excellent novel.

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe

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All Over The Map
Better Items Available
Enjoyable overview of the Middle Ages & how they formed us
An Engaging Writer but Superficial and Wrongheaded History
Haven't finished reading it yet...too soon...

Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe
Thomas Cahill
Manufacturer: Nan A. Talese
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0385495552
Release Date: 2006-10-24

Book Description

After the long period of cultural decline known as the Dark Ages, Europe experienced a rebirth of scholarship, art, literature, philosophy, and science and began to develop a vision of Western society that remains at the heart of Western civilization today.

By placing the image of the Virgin Mary at the center of their churches and their lives, medieval people exalted womanhood to a level unknown in any previous society. For the first time, men began to treat women with dignity and women took up professions that had always been closed to them.

The communion bread, believed to be the body of Jesus, encouraged the formulation of new questions in philosophy: Could reality be so fluid that one substance could be transformed into another? Could ordinary bread become a holy reality? Could mud become gold, as the alchemists believed? These new questions pushed the minds of medieval thinkers toward what would become modern science.

Artists began to ask themselves similar questions. How can we depict human anatomy so that it looks real to the viewer? How can we depict motion in a composition that never moves? How can two dimensions appear to be three? Medieval artists (and writers, too) invented the Western tradition of realism.

On visits to the great cities of Europe—monumental Rome; the intellectually explosive Paris of Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas; the hotbed of scientific study that was Oxford; and the incomparable Florence of Dante and Giotto—Cahill brilliantly captures the spirit of experimentation, the colorful pageantry, and the passionate pursuit of knowledge that built the foundations for the modern world. Bursting with stunning four-color art, MYSTERIES OF THE MIDDLE AGES is the ultimate Christmas gift book.

Customer Reviews:

All Over The Map.......2007-09-16

Maybe Cahill's a frustrated stand-up comic. Imagine the author as a stand-up inviting the audience to suggest topics for improvised comedic departure. Someone shouts out, "The Middle Ages!" and Cahill thinks, "Yeah. I can go with that." So we're off on tangent after tangent about Frank Zappa or Osama Bin Laden. Spare us the "cute" writing. Please.

Better Items Available.......2007-09-03

I agree with most of the negative reviewers of this product. The author is condescending and irritating. While he has a fine grasp of the English language, many of his conjectures are not only incorrect they are idiotic. His personal views, which he feels a need to share, detract from the story he is trying to tell in an unavoidable and irritating way. Stay away from this one.

Enjoyable overview of the Middle Ages & how they formed us.......2007-08-12

This is the fourth book in Cahill's "Hinges of History" series, and it is excellent. As others have pointed out it is not in-depth, not scholarly but rather written for people who don't usually read history. He makes it completly enjoyable, ties together main points, major movements, the pivotable people in a sort of quilt of moving shapes and colors that for a moment bring it all alive again. In this book famous and less famous people each are used to illustrate points about an era, and the changes that began in that era, and in fact that person may have been the one of powerhouses of the change, like Abelard, or Eleanor of Aquitaine, or simply a recorder or interpreter of it as Giotto was. Each fingernail sketch of a life in its unique era is memorable. Hildegarde of Bingen, at age 8, was given to the Church by her noble parents, to be interred as an anchorite, a life of complete sequestration, forever. Yet as she grew to adulthood the depth and breadth of her learning, taught to her in her little walled-in cell by a monk, grew to the point that her writings and correspondence was noted throughout Europe and even the Popes knew of her. She was perhaps the best known and best educated woman in Europe in her day and the most influential in the Roman Catholic Church. Made an abbess and allowed to preach and write openly she lived on to age 81, renowned and venerated. Eleanor of Aquitaine, the richest heiress in Europe at age 15, ruler of Aquitaine and other parts of France larger than the remaining lands of France itself was married first to the French king and went on Crusade with him, the first Noble woman known to do so; divorced him to marry her lover the much younger king of England; was the mother of several sons by him including Richard the Lion Hearted, her favorite...from her, most of the royalty of Europe descends. She was a strong, powerful,and free woman for most of her long life. The story of Heloise and Abelard, the great and tragic lovers is retold really well. Dante's story,his long exile due to the great wars of his native Florence and the feuding families at the root of it all reminds one of the Romeo and Juliet story: the "two houses"...But not to miss the point that each life discussed is tied in to a specific time and concept of an age different from us but leading toward us and our time. In fact, as the author points out, the events, the gradual change in thought-- never predetermined-- were how our era as it is now was formed; our way of seeing the world, our political, relgious, cultural and scientific, views were formed from theirs, our immediate cultural forebears.

An Engaging Writer but Superficial and Wrongheaded History.......2007-07-15

Though an engaging writer, Cahill is an appallingly bad historian. He compares the medieval nun Hildegard of Bingen to blues singer Bessie Smith (Hildegard's lyrics display a spiritualized eroticism) and the woman in bondage in The Story of O and refers to Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City in the same passage. ("This was one loose sister," is his characterization of Hildegard.) He compares Dante to James Joyce on the grounds that both were exiles infatuated with their mother cities. He characterizes WWI's Gallipoli as a "confrontation between ... Islam and the West," an appallingly bad summary of a complex military campaign which had little to do with religion and a great deal to do with military matters. Throughout the book, Cahill tramples history into a muddled paste of great figures and exalting moments, ignoring nuance or exception. He concludes with a five-page diatribe against sycophancy and buggery in today's Church. The footnotes don't inform much; the bibliography omits essential scholarship (e.g., R. W. Southern on medieval humanism, Roberto Lopez and Lauro Martines on Renaissance humanism). It is difficult to conceive of an audience that would benefit from reading this silly and superficial book.

Haven't finished reading it yet...too soon..........2007-07-05

but from the first page I have felt as though this is the easiest and most interesting way to experience history.

I don't believe anyone else can make reading & studying history such a pleasure. My method is to jot down notes on a small paper pad with the page number noted, so I can go back & make sure I have absorbed the links that have led to the future. There is such a stupendous wealth of detail.

I have all of Thomas Cahill's Hinges of History books so far and have never been disappointed yet.

Mary H.

Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia

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Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia

Manufacturer: Yorkin Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 078763736X

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Average customer rating:

Very informative..
History made interesting
The perfect storyteller.
Loved this book!
Great account of history

The Six Wives of Henry VIII
Alison Weir
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0802136834

Book Description

The tempestuous, bloody, and splendid reign of Henry VIII of England (1509-1547) is one of the most fascinating in all history, not least for his marriage to six extraordinary women. In this accessible work of brilliant scholarship, Alison Weir draws on early biographies, letters, memoirs, account books, and diplomatic reports to bring these women to life. Catherine of Aragon emerges as a staunch though misguided woman of principle; Anne Boleyn, an ambitious adventuress with a penchant for vengeance; Jane Seymour, a strong-minded matriarch in the making; Anne of Cleves, a good-natured and innocent woman naively unaware of the court intrigues that determined her fate; Catherine Howard, an empty-headed wanton; and Catherine Parr, a warm-blooded bluestocking who survived King Henry to marry a fourth time.

Customer Reviews:

Very informative.........2007-10-06

Very informative book! Weir manages to give us a detailed description of the personalities of each of these six queens. What makes this book such a success is that its very easy to read making it impossible to get bored!

History made interesting.......2007-09-17

I haven't been a big history buff in the past (no pun intended) but after seeing a glimpse of a documentary on Henry VIII, I was curious. This book was GREAT! I simply couldn't put it down and lugged the big book with me on the bus, on planes, etc. In fact, it inspired me to continue reading up on the Tudors. Highly recommended!

The perfect storyteller........2007-08-24

Impeccably researched, fantastically written, wonderfully enthralling. Anyone interested in British history, monarchs in general, the tudor period, politics, or anyone who just plain likes gossip will love this book. It was really great.

Loved this book!.......2007-08-14

A friend recommended some of Philipa Gregory's books to me. After reading "The Other Boelyn Girl" I decided to try non-fiction. I would have never dreamed that I would enjoy a big, thick, historial, non-fiction book about 16th century England. However, "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" was fantastic! I could not put this book down! I have ordered Ms. Weir's other books about Lady Jane Grey, Henry VIII's court and Elizabeth. After reading this book, you will look at the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Hever Castle, etc. in a completely different way when in London. You have to hand it to the Brits; they have the most interesting and fascinating history of all.

Great account of history.......2007-08-12

If you're in the market for a book that gives a thorough account of each wife of Henry VIII, then this is the book for you. Over 600 pages long, this packs together history and great writing. It's written chronologically, from Henry's days before his betrothal to Katherine of Aragon, up to the death of his last wife, Katherine Parr. It flows together perfectly. It's easy to read, to boot. I think my favorite parts were the quotes taken from personal letters, and hand-written accounts by those closest to the royals themselves.

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe

Average customer rating:

Poor depiction of medieval history
THE FORGOTTEN TALE OF FOUR REMARKABLE MEDIEVAL WOMEN
Wanted to like this one but....
A sloppily written and very bad book
Excellent

Four Queens: The Provencal Sisters Who Ruled Europe
Nancy Goldstone
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0670038431
Release Date: 2007-04-19

Book Description

Four accomplished sisters who rose from near obscurity to become the most powerful women in Europe

Set against the backdrop of the turbulent thirteenth century, a time of chivalry and crusades, poetry, knights, and monarchs comes the story of the four beautiful daughters of the count of Provence whose brilliant marriages made them the queens of France, England, Germany, and Sicily.

From a cultured childhood in Provence, each sister was propelled into a world marked by shifting alliances, intrigue, and subterfuge. Marguerite, the eldest, whose resolution and spirit would be tested by the cold splendor of the Palais du Roi in Paris; Eleanor, whose soaring political aspirations would provoke her kingdom to civil war; Sanchia, the neglected wife of the richest man in England who bought himself the crown of Germany; and Beatrice, whose desire for sovereignty was so acute that she risked her life to earn her place at the royal table.

A compulsively readable narrative, Four Queens shatters the myth that women were helpless pawns in a society that celebrated physical prowess and masculine intellect. A riveting historical saga for fans of Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser.

Customer Reviews:

Poor depiction of medieval history.......2007-08-25

Ms. Goldstone omits a lot of facts from medieval history, particularly surrounding the canonization of Louis IX, his first crusades, his father's relationships with the English king, and the role all 4 sisters played in the political, economic and cultural life of their country. She also does not provide the reasons why Marguerite refused to support the canonization in the first place. She hs completely omitted the relationship between Sanchia and her elder sisters. Sanchia was treated the same way as her younger sister Beatrice, belittled and humiliated because she was not a queen while her sisters were. She fills in the blanks by putting names of relatives, w/o really explaining their roles in history and their influence on the affairs of France, England, Sicily, Provence, etc. After reading each chapter, I constantly wanted to ask "So what?" What was the influence on Boniface of Savoy, Thomas of Savoy and Beatrice of Savoy on the affairs of her daughters' kingdoms? Did they bring any reforms, what was their relationship with the Church? This "dump" of insignificant information makes the book very hard to read. It's overwhelmed with names but lacks explanation of their roles in the lives of the 4 queens and their impact on the history of France, England, etc.

She has failed to explain the kings' relationships with their vassals, There is no mention of the state both King Louis and King Henry have inherited their respective kingdoms. No mention of their relationships with the Parliament or Magna Carta, etc. She has failed to even mention the role of Templars in the Crusades!!!

Ms. Goldstone'language and the choice of words is rather poor, leaving the book disorganized and its chapters badly written. Her constant quoting of Matthew Paris and, sometimes, of Joinville, left me wondering if she has encountered any other contemporaries' notes in her search, for there are plenty.

In the back of the book, Ms. Goldstone mentions sources she used while writing her book. Her detailed description of each source made me wonder if she knew she was unprepared or was lacking enough references, thus making her write explanations of who said-when-what-how-why is this important to mention.

I realize that not everyone has a Ph.D. in history and the lack of it should not prevent individuals from writing a fine narrative piece on a historical topic. However, when you write it - do it like a professional, invest time in your research, learn your subjects/main actors. Otherwise, you will sound like an unprepared middle-school student, who pretends to act like historian.

THE FORGOTTEN TALE OF FOUR REMARKABLE MEDIEVAL WOMEN.......2007-06-05

Historians have long ignored or understated the contributions of women so Nancy Goldstone's FOUR QUEENS, the previously untold story of four 13th century sisters who rose from minor nobility in Provence to become queens of France, England, Sicily and Germany, comes as welcome and long-awaited relief. Marguerite, married at just 13 to Louis XI of France, stood her own in a court dominated by her powerful mother-in-law, Blanche of Castile, and ultimately led her husband and his army home from a disastrous Arabian crusade. Eleanor, wife to the ineffectual Henry III of England, deftly played-off rebellious barons and craftily preserved the throne for her son in spite of the civil war she helped ignite. Beautiful and gentle Sanchia married Richard of Cornwall, the richest man in Europe who effectively purchased the Kingdom of Germany. Feisty young Beatrice, wed to Charles of Anjou, led an army through the Italian alps in her determination to saved her besieged husband and secure him the Sicilian throne. Praised by eminent Princeton historian Theodore K. Rabb as "deeply researched," FOUR QUEENS is written with a light and accessible touch, equally at home on the shelf of the serious scholar as it would be on the nightstand of a harried mom who wants a few pages of intellectual stimulation before falling into bed. Brava!

Wanted to like this one but...........2007-06-04

she continually overemphasizes the political roles of the four daughters of Raymond Berenger V, the Count of Provence, and as a genuine medievalist, she should know better.

A sloppily written and very bad book.......2007-06-03

This is an extremely sloppily written and bad book. It is written in the childish style that some popular historians seem to find it necessary to adopt because they think their audience is too stupid to understand anything else - usually an underestimation of said audience. Moreover, the author has clearly not bothered to do any form of basic research to get her facts right. To take but a few examples: In chapter 7, we are told about Richard of Cornwall's crusade in 1240. He is said to have met Emperor Baldwin II of Constantinople "who had lost his empire" (p74). Actually, the Latin Empire of Constantinople (Baldwin's empire) was around until 1261, which is when he lost it. Three pages later, we are told that "The French, too, had sent an army to retake Jerusalem only the year before," in other words in 1239. Retake from whom? Jerusalem was in Christian hands from 1227 to 1244. She also seems to have no idea of the relative importance of the Kingdom of Sicily within the domains of the Holy Roman Emperor. At this stage, less than a third through the book, I gave up, rather than waste any more time on such rubbish. Zero stars would be a better rating.

Excellent.......2007-06-02

I didn't know much of the story of the Provence sisters, but this filled that knowledge gap. For people interested in the Middle Ages as more than just the time between the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, this is a valuable resource. For people interested in powerful families, you can't go wrong with four sisters who all become queens! Excellent book!

Average customer rating:

Unique
Ho Hum
battle of the hymen
A Historical View of an Important and Immaterial Topic

Virgin: The Untouched History
Hanne Blank
Manufacturer: Bloomsbury USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1596910100
Release Date: 2007-03-20

Book Description

Why has an indefinable state of being commanded the attention and fascination of the human race since the dawn of time? In Virgin, Hanne Blank brings us a revolutionary, rich and entertaining survey of an astonishing untouched history.

From the simple task of determining what constitutes its loss to why it matters to us in the first place, Blank gets to the heart of why we even care about it in the first place. She tackles the reality of what we do and don’t know about virginity and provides a sweeping tour of virgins in history—from virgin martyrs to Queen Elizabeth to billboards in downtown Baltimore telling young women it’s not a “dirty word.” Virgin proves, as well, how utterly contemporary the topic is—the butt of innumerable jokes, center of spiritual mysteries, locus of teenage angst, popular genre for pornography and nucleus around which the world’s most powerful government has created an unprecedented abstinence policy. In this fascinating work, Hanne Blank shows for the first time why this is, and why everything we think we know about virginity is wrong.

Customer Reviews:

Unique.......2007-07-29

I liked how this book reviewed the topic of virginity from 1000's of years ago to the present day. For me personally, it was a wake-up call as to how unimportant virginity really is in this day and age. Not that people should just give it away but this book really proves that virginity was only useful a long time ago because it helped basically with the advancement of family. A virgin could be given away for marriage by her father, which helped to continue with the generations. Virginity was essentially made important by males so he or his family wouldn't be shamed. There are many other great aspects of this book but the topics I mentioned were just a few things that stuck out in my mind. At the end of the book the topic of abstinence is discussed and how essentially it is unreasonable to expect young people to remain abstinent. A point was that we should educate young people how to appropriately protect themselves instead of basically just stifling natural urges. Virginity pledges and the consequential failure of them is also mentioned. The only reason that I did not give this book five stars was because there were a lot of people mentioned that I had no idea who they were. I feel like nobody knows who a lot of the historical people mentioned in the book would be but I could simply feel this way because I just may not be as familiar with them as others for one reason or another. Ultimately, I highly recommend this book.

Ho Hum.......2007-06-07

The bottom line (no pun intended) is that the only reason virginity is valuable to men, as a commodity, is because they don't want to be with women who have the experience that would enable them to critique their performance. Consequently, men have made a religion or a cult or a fetish (and in some cases laws) out of this one male fantasy, based on their own sense of inadequacy or desire for control and ownership, that has resulted in untold suffering for women and children, world-wide, for millenia. Religious and government-enforced virginity results in women being judged only on their value as sexual objects. The discussion of it has become as tiresome as the reality, but hopefully not as futile.

battle of the hymen.......2007-04-01

I have been looking forward to this book with vivid interest, since I have studied the subject myself in the context of sociobiology and given it more than a passing thought. The author divided her book in two main sections, the first being devoted chiefly to the bio-medical aspects of virginity, the second to its cultural and religious aspects. Both parts are well written and read sometimes as a thriller on a fascinating subject. Since the author limited herself to the Western history of the subject, she can hardly be blamed for incompleteness, but the result is, as a consequence, somewhat biased.
Some examples. The Greek word 'hymen' means 'membrane' in general, but Hymen is also the Greco-Roman god of marriage. I have always found the learned question whether there is a link between the two highly prosaic, but the author seems to agree with the view that there is no relation. Yet, the mytho-poetical transformation of empirical data often splits the meaning of words into different spheres of significance. So, for Hippocrates epilepsy was merely a process within the brain, whereas it was a 'holy sickness' in Greek religion. Hymen, the god, and hymen, the word, both have roots in Sanskrit culture. Such loose ends get lost in a study which limits itself to the Western history only.
The original manuscript of the book had about 1000 pages which the publisher wanted to be reduced to less than 300, so it is hardly amazing that only a selection of the enormous amount of material in the medical literature is included in the publication. The author concentrates on the final 'discovery of the hymen' by Vesalius, but its existence was still denied afterwards, not only by Paré. There was a real ideological 'battle of the hymen', with an obvious division between conservatives, sceptics and libertines. This highly relevant battle, with philosophical parallels, is not adequately expounded. The conclusion of the first part of the book is that the hymen does indeed exist, but has no discernible function, so that its significance in culture is a malleable social construct void of any fundament in human nature. The name Havelock Ellis is mentioned by the author, but his viable conjecture concerning the biological function of the hymen gets no attention at all.
In line with the idea of Havelock Ellis the conclusion of the first part of the book could have been that the probable function of the hymen is to form a barrier against weak, unfit suitors, thus being valuable underpinning for a careful selection of partners in the dialectics of human courtship. This conclusion would have made a real difference for the second part of the book, since it would support a certain conservative concern with virginity. Then the last paragraph, just before the epilogue, wouldn't be a politicised diatribe against conservative campaigns in favour of traditional sexual morality, but probably have been a lot more constructive (without being less critical of patriarchal prejudices).
In spite of this ideological bias I admire the author for having delved into this perennial topic and come out of the mines with a lot of relevant material. She deserves honour for being at the helm of this maiden voyage into a fascinating, almost untouched history. There is much more material to be gathered together, both in the Western world and outside of it.The author considers her book to be a first journey and she is rightly confident that, in spite of our changing culture, 'virginity an virgins will continue to matter profoundly to us all'. There is a selected bibliography and an index. Read this book with an open and critical mind!

A Historical View of an Important and Immaterial Topic.......2007-03-27

A billboard in Baltimore used to read, "Virgin: teach your kids it's not a dirty word." That it could be thought of as a dirty word, and that social forces might pay good money to change this concept, illustrate part of the ambivalent feelings our society has toward virgins and virginity. The ambivalence, at many levels, is exhaustively examined in _Virgin: The Untouched History_ (Bloomsbury) by Hanne Blank. An independent historian (with some books of erotica to her credit), Blank says that she was working as a sex educator and wanted to find authoritative sources on virginity. Despite the medical, historic, religious, and social implications of the subject, she found few. "Even though my interests were limited to virginity and virgins in the Western world, it was rapidly becoming obvious to me that if I wanted to read a comprehensive survey of virginity, I was going to have to write it." Her book is indeed comprehensive, and it is scholarly but far from dry, as she examines the surprisingly complicated topic of what a virgin is, and tries to make sense of why the subject has been on our collective minds for so many centuries.

Just defining what a virgin is is a tough exercise. And it isn't just a philosophical or verbal one: "It is an exercise in controlling how people behave, feel, and think, and in some cases, whether they live or die." The confusion is shown by Augustine, who said that if a virgin resisted rape, then she was still a virgin after rape. The defining emphasis on a potentially procreative act, rather than any other canoodling, isn't because of any inherent biological cause, but seems to be due to social factors, like a father's valuing his daughter's virginity as a bargaining chip in matrimonial negotiations No other animal besides ourselves seems to recognize or value a condition of virginity. Sometimes the explanation given is that humans are the only animals with hymens, but this is not true; lots of mammals have them, and they have hymens that are useful in, say, sealing out water, or only opening up when the female is in estrus. No animal besides ourselves pays the hymen any attention, and this is despite that the human hymen serves no function. There is no accurate test for virginity, although many have been proposed, from the supposedly physiological to the downright superstitious. "The simple fact is that short of catching someone in the act of sex, virginity can be neither proven nor disproven. We cannot prove it today, nor have we ever been able to." Just to show how patriarchal is the interest in such tests, there is always one form of evidence that is universally considered inadmissible in the matter: the woman's own verbal testimony.

"Of all the countries of the developed world," writes Blank, "the United States is the only one that has to date created a federal agenda having specifically to do with the virginity of its citizens." Our federal government is attempting to establish virginity as the only proper sexual status for its never-married citizens. That young people should abstain from sex is the basis of millions of dollars of federal programs; that they do not abstain, and never have, is obvious but makes no difference to those with a pro-virginity agenda. Usually such agendas come from religious groups. Funding, for instance, goes to a program called Free Teens USA, which is run by people with strong ties to the Unification Church of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. The church maintains that any sexual activity outside of marriage is an abomination, and Reverend Moon has advocated that a woman who is threatened with rape ought to kill herself rather than undergo extramarital coitus. Less extreme religious groups may advocate virginity, but the results are poor. Abstinence programs do not reliably lower risky sexual behavior. When the Centers for Disease Control did research into programs that were supposed to reduce such behavior, none of the programs that were successful were centered on abstinence. (Since then, the CDC has discontinued such research and removed the results from its website, and its recommendations for contraception have been replaced by statements of official support for abstinence and abstinence only.) Blank's book is not a polemic, but her enlightening historical review of western attitudes to virginity would be good reading for anyone making governmental policy about our virgins. It is also a call to remember the long confusion of historical definitions and attitudes, and that "losing one's virginity" is probably not one physical, emotional, or psychological event, but a process of sexual development that is different for everyone and ought not be oversimplified as one coital act.

Average customer rating:

Life's Value.
A page-turner and a tear-jerker.
Powerful, Painful, Difficult, Amazing
Good, inspiring, another book on the Holocaust!
Truly Inspirational

All But My Life: A Memoir
Gerda Weissmann Klein
Manufacturer: Hill and Wang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0809015803

Book Description

All But My Life is the unforgettable story of Gerda Weissmann Klein's six-year ordeal as a victim of Nazi cruelty. From her comfortable home in Bielitz (present-day Bielsko) in Poland to her miraculous survival and her liberation by American troops--including the man who was to become her husband--in Volary, Czechoslovakia, in 1945, Gerda takes the reader on a terrifying journey.

Gerda's serene and idyllic childhood is shattered when Nazis march into Poland on September 3, 1939. Although the Weissmanns were permitted to live for a while in the basement of their home, they were eventually separated and sent to German labor camps. Over the next few years Gerda experienced the slow, inexorable stripping away of "all but her life." By the end of the war she had lost her parents, brother, home, possessions, and community; even the dear friends she made in the labor camps, with whom she had shared so many hardships, were dead.

Despite her horrifying experiences, Klein conveys great strength of spirit and faith in humanity. In the darkness of the camps, Gerda and her young friends manage to create a community of friendship and love. Although stripped of the essence of life, they were able to survive the barbarity of their captors. Gerda's beautifully written story gives an invaluable message to everyone. It introduces them to last century's terrible history of devastation and prejudice, yet offers them hope that the effects of hatred can be overcome.

Customer Reviews:

Life's Value........2007-10-11

Every book that I've read on the holocaust contains descriptions of the horrors that man are capable of exerting on fellow man. Simultaneously, each one also differs in very interesting ways that make it unique. I appreciate Gerda Klein's simple writing, and how well she expresses her feelings and experiences.
Books like "All But My Life" help keep the past (however dark) alive. I think that human beings have a lot to learn from such memoirs - politics, society, and human nature - it's all there. Highly recommended.

A page-turner and a tear-jerker........2007-07-18

It's been several years since I last read 'All But My Life' but it's easily the best Holocaust survivor account I've ever read. This was on the curriculum of a class I took on the Holocaust but I was grateful they made me read it. You should be warned this becomes a very vivid, painful story, and I found it difficult in places to stop crying. It's a good illustration of why the Holocaust was so evil, and such a waste. Why did talented, loving people like this have to die? I have also read 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, which was excellent, but nothing I have read has affected me like 'All But My Life'.

Powerful, Painful, Difficult, Amazing.......2007-04-16

This is the amazing and heart-wrenching story of one brave and spirited young Jewish woman's survival of the Holocaust including her imprisonment in slave labor camps and a three month forced march from Germany to Czechoslovakia.

Many of the first hand details of her horrifying experience are unfathomable and difficult to read and absorb; the starvation, physical abuse, murder, death and suffering of so many.

But what is amazing is Gerda's interminable spirit and her dedication to her convictions. She could have done things that may have alleviated some of her suffering but she never compromised her values. There were times it seemed that her choices might bring her to her death.

Also amazing was the fact that she continued to have hope. There were moments when she felt she had lost all hope, but even then she continued to honor the promise she made to her father. At the end, during the death march, she hoped for liberation and continued to encourage her friends to survive. The death march started with 2,000 young women and ended with only 120 survivors. Every morning she would wake to see many who had died during the night.

I recently read The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Saved 1,200 Jews and Built a Village in the Forest and The Net of Dreams: A Family's Search for a Rightful Place both are interesting perspectives but this book has an intensity from the first hand experience that they do not.

I read The Hours After: Letters of Love and Longing in War's Aftermath prior to reading All But My Life and I'm glad that I did. Knowing the end of the story made reading her experience through the horror of the Holocaust a little bit easier but even so this was a difficult book to read.

It made me wonder how Gerda and those other 120 women survived the death march? How did they? Why did they? How were they able to be so strong?And how did Gerda's father have the forethought to make her wear her ski boots when she left home (in June)? They certainly played a huge part in her survival.

An amazing story of survival.

Good, inspiring, another book on the Holocaust!.......2007-01-28

I won't dismay Gerda's experience which was like thousands of others who survived the death camps in Europe. Not knowing her brother's fate which was likely death whether on the fields or in the camps is harrowing. I think it's wise that Gerda writes about the Holocaust as another voice in the camps much like Anne Frank and Simone Liebster and many others who have contributed to the history of the evil final solution. We will never really know the horrors firsthand and even secondhand. Survivors like Gerda are dying every day so it's important to know the history. It's also tragic to realize that Poland before the war had it's share of prejudice on both sides. By the end of the war that still haunts the countryside and the cities of Cracow and Warsaw, life was never the same in Poland again. After the war, communism was an improvement over the fascism that they lived with for six years. Imprisonment instead of murder was communism's answer for discord and disagreement. Gerda makes a point to give back to the world with her organization as well. She and her husband have a romance and marriage that some of us can only dream about. The scars of the Holocaust remains with Gerda but she does not let it define her. She has become a strong, Jewish American woman, a survivor who seeks to help others whether they are Jewish or not. The worst part about surviving is the guilt that one feels for being the survivor. A survivor must feel it's their duty to thrive and succeed in order to justify their fate. Gerda's story will be told for decades to come as well as the others. We can't forget the Holocaust or write it off as a Jewish experience because it's not just one group. The Holocaust proved that evil can destroy innocent men, women, and children and even haunt those who were behind the massacres in the fields, the forests, and the death camps. We must ask ourselves where and when is it happening? Not when will it happen again because that would mean that mankind has learned it's lesson. We don't have to wait because it's happening in Africa. It's happened in Kosovo and in other parts of the world.

Truly Inspirational.......2007-01-05

I find the strength of Gerda Weissmann to be truly inspirational. This is a wonderful book that tells the real life story of a young Jewish girl who survives the Holocaust. I am a 7th grade social studies teacher and I use this book with my students. After reading this book I feel that Gerda is an absolute hero. I have since learned that she has devoted her life to helping others through speaking about her experiences, helping to feed the hungry, and speaking with others who have survived tradegy. In a society where we put people on pillars and give them popularity and monetary success for much, much, much less, Gerda is a true hero who deserves all peoples attention and gratutity.

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