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

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.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

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Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

The Hidden Pope: The Untold Story of a Lifelong Friendship That Is Changing the Relationship Between Catholics and Jews: The Personal Journey of John Paul II and Jerzy Kluger

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Catholics and Jews
A Great Story of Friendship
Fantastic Book
Incredible
Excellent for Jewish readers

The Hidden Pope: The Untold Story of a Lifelong Friendship That Is Changing the Relationship Between Catholics and Jews: The Personal Journey of John Paul II and Jerzy Kluger
Darcy OBrien
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0875964788

Amazon.com

John Paul II has made greater strides toward understanding and atoning for Rome's complicity in anti-Semitism than any other pope in history. The Hidden Pope shows how and why this rapprochement is taking place by telling the story of John Paul's lifelong friendship with Jerzy Kluger, a Polish Jew. The text is a fascinating and detailed depiction of John Paul's personal life, but the book's real significance lies in its frank demonstration of the way Karol Wojtyla brings his personal experience to bear on the eternal truths of Catholic theology.

Customer Reviews:

Catholics and Jews.......2005-12-13

This book was so touching that I beg both Catholics and Jews to read it and meditate on the message. I laughed and cried. It is a great book.

A Great Story of Friendship.......2005-05-12

I bought this book a few years ago. The recent death of Pope John Paul II inspired me to take it off the bookshelf and start reading one night. If you are a gentile and think you know the meaning and impact of anti-semitism, think again and read this book. This is the history of 20th century Europe told through the lives and experiences of Lolek and Jerzy, two precocious small town Polish friends whose friendship helped change the course Catholic-Jewish relations after twenty centuries of misunderstanding and mistrust. It was providential that both ended up residing in Rome and worked together to change the perceptions of many people who have adopted anti-semetic attitudes based upon false assumptions and lies. Through their eyes see the horrors of Nazism and Communism as their friends and families are slaughtered by these inhumane political systems. By the end of the book you will feel like you know these two men (Pope John Paul II and Jerzey Kluger) as very very special human beings. It may be profane but they remind me of Pat O'Brien and James Cagney combination in the movie, "Angels with Dirty Faces." One, the saintly but very world wise priest and the other, a wise cracking but trouble prone friend. These two men teach us that at a personal level Jews and Christians are cousins in faith and these ancient misunderstandings should be resolved once and forever. The Hidden Pope would make a wonderful movie about two mensches for the ages!

Fantastic Book.......2005-04-19

I am an Irish Catholic that married a Jewish girl with roots in Poland, so this book took on special meaning for me. I was very proud of our pontiff for making extraordinary strides in Catholic-Jewish relations. His message still hasn't made it down to all levels of the church, but I hope that it will. Many Catholics still feel that Jews are doomed and must be converted/baptized in order to be saved, but the Pope clearly states that this is WRONG. We are all sons of Abraham, and the Jews are our older brothers.

I would like to write to Jurek Kluger and tell him so. If anyone knows his address or email, please forward it to me. Thank you!!

Incredible.......2001-01-20

This is a fabulous book. I am neither Catholic nor Jewish, but I was fascinated by the depth of the man we all call Pope. I had no idea of his personal journey, and the breadth of his goodness. Too many times, we don't look beyond the title and the robes. This is truly a saintly man.

Excellent for Jewish readers.......2000-01-27

This book gives an eye opening view of the current Pope. It shows how his upbringing in Poland led him to have his feelings of friendship with the Jewish people. He is presented as a true "tzadik". The book also briefly relates on how the works of Pope John XXIII and Cardinals Willebrands, O'Connor and Spellman have brought about a better understanding of Judaism in the Church. If their messages could only filter down to the populace...

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Important, Fascinating View of the Russian Empire
The Fall of a System of Government Never Meant to Run a Superpower
a step closer to the mystery of the Soviet Empire ;-)
Transcendent
A Walk on the Dark Side

Imperium
Ryszard Kapuscinski
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 067974780X
Release Date: 1995-08-08

Book Description

The Polish journalist whose The Soccer War and The Emperor are counted as classics of contemporary reportage now bears witness in Imperium to the disintegration of the Soviet Union. This magisterial book combines childhood memory with unblinking journalism, a radar for the truth with a keen appreciation of the absurd.

Imperium begins with Ryszard Kapuscinski's account of the Soviet occupation of his town in eastern Poland in 1939. It culminates fifty years later, with a forty-thousand-mile journey that takes him from the haunted corridors of the Kremlin to the abandoned gulag of Kolyma, from a miners' strike in the arctic circle to a panic-stricken bus ride through the war-torn Caucasus.

Out of passivity and paranoia, ethnic hatred and religious fanaticism that have riven two generations of Eastern Europeans, Kapuscinski has composed a symphony for a collapsing empire—a work that translates history into the hopes and sufferings of the human beings condemned to live it.

Customer Reviews:

Important, Fascinating View of the Russian Empire.......2007-09-28

"Imperium" is more than a mere travelogue of the states comprising the former USSR, although if the book were only visit to far-off spots (like Kolyma, Zabaykal'sk and Nagorno-Karabakh) that very few get to see, it would be worth your time. Ryszard Kapuscinski's masterful work not only describes places within "the Imperium" and the history behind them, it plumbs the very soul of Russia.

The book starts in Pinsk, in 1939, when the author was a boy. Stalin ruled the USSR and the Soviet Army's invasion of Kapuscinski's home city gave the author his first glimpse of the terror of the Soviet regime -- made even more terrible by the utterly arbitrary use of power. The remainder of the first section of the book describes Kapuscinski's travels on the Trans-Siberian railway in 1958 and in the southern portions of the USSR in 1967. Here we learn about the beauty and tragedy of Armenia and are given a feel for life in the "stans."

The second, and longest, section of the book describes the vast areas of the USSR visited by Kapuscinski between 1989 and 1991. Kapusczinski describes Moscow as it was, before Napolean's invasion, Moscow before the Bolsheviks took over, and their transformation of Moscow into a dreary, vaguely industrial-looking city. The symbol of the replacement of worship of God with the mastery of the State is the nearly overnight destruction of the magnificent Temple of Christ the Savior, which was built over sixty years, and its replacement with the Palace of the Soviets. Kapuscinski travels to Georgia, Armenia, and icy Vorkuta. In a chapter on Central Asia, Kapuscinski describes the destruction of the Aral Sea -- another man-made ecological disaster, caused by Brezhnev's order to turn Uzbekistan into a land of nothing but cotton. But the most heartbreaking chapter is on Kolyma, part of the gulag where millions were sent to their frozen, hungry deaths. This is difficult to read, but important.

Whither Russia? When this book was written, more than a dozen years ago, it seemed that Russia was starting to unfreeze -- at least politically and economically. Kapuscinski's outlook at the time was bleaker than most. He recognized the enormous problems facing Russia -- the legacy of terror and repression, the poverty, the demoralization of significant portions of the society and the ecological depredations. He also predicted a confrontation between Christianity and Islam in the border regions.

I wish that the author had been able to return to the Imperium and provide his unique insights into Putin-ruled Russia today. Unfortunately, Ryszard Kapuscinski died this year. This book is part of his important legacy.

The Fall of a System of Government Never Meant to Run a Superpower.......2007-06-18

Russia for all its' history has only worked well when it had a philosopher- king as its' ruler. Peter and Catherine did more to pull the country into a modernized version than all of their predicesors. Ivan III (not the terrible but the venerated) and Stalin had many of the same megalomaniac ideas of how to govern. I.e. Banish or exterminate anyone who doesn't agree with you (both had a son murdered on their orders) and rule by fear.

The one thing that you would have expected the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) to have accomplished in seventy years, was the construction of a massive infrastructure to allow them to better control the population. But the biggest problem in Russia today, is the work that was done during the communist period. Pre-revolutionary buildings (built before 1914) have held up better than those built under Stalin and especially those built after WW2. Russia has never been able to feed its' own people during the twentieth century because of the poor distribution system that exists to this day. It is estimated that half the harvest is lost each year due to a lack of infrastructure to move food from the farms to the cities.

Kapuscinski gives us a background on the ways in which the CPSU controlled the country but never learned to govern it. He begins with his visits in the pre-WW2 era, gives us extended tours during the middle century and an interesting view at the time of the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In his ending section (His Sequel) he is prescient in discussing how he sees the beginning of the failure of 'democrats' to rule Russia and the beginning of the growth of monopolies and dictatorship. Only a strong hand will help Russia survive while it tries to set its' house in order. He saw Putin coming before anyone knew his name.

a step closer to the mystery of the Soviet Empire ;-).......2006-04-26

Ryszard Kapuscinski is a guru to many people in Poland, and his books were always received with unending awe - because he traveled, when hardly anybody else could o anywhere apart from other countries of the Communist bloc, and moreover - he could write about what he saw... I still marvel how he managed to write so many things, which were in principle against the system, and still get published, but it is another question (Polish censorship was maybe not that tight or not that clever, or - most likely - clever enough to allow the chosen one his writing in the name of relative peace???).

"Imperium" is one of my favorites among Kapuscinski's books (NB. I have read the original, so have no idea about the translation, but after reading some earlier reviews I think it must be good too). I have been driven to the mystery of Russia and its acquisitions as well as to the phenomenon of Soviet Union for a long time, and here Kapuscinski gives a lot on these subjects in a concise form.

The book is divided into several parts, starting with the author's earliest memories of Soviet Union, when he was a schoolboy of what is now Belarus, and with his surprisingly acute observations (reminding me of my own, never put into words, forty years later, when everything was already much more relieved, but still the school was mysteriously insane). Then we go through Siberia on the Transsiberian train (still a cult trip for many students in Poland, albeit it must be very different now), and proceed to the other republics of the Soviet Union.

Kapuscinski traveled as a journalist, but always he managed to get something private out of each visit, which had to have an official program and probably nothing more was permitted. He talked to people in the forgotten corners of the Imperium and in the representative places, watched them, saw the ancient rituals and old habits under (and clashing with) the overwhelming, transplanted Russian culture, and wrote about it, preserving the memories and triggering in several generations the urge to see it with their own eyes, managing to capture the atmosphere of each place he got to... He evokes the image of "Homo Sovieticus", at the same time wondering about Russian soul.

The book is full of literary allusions and connections and contains a rich bibliography at the end, which is also recommended. "Imperium", as Kapuscinski warns at the beginning, is a collection of observations and his thoughts, as deep as they can be in this form, but because the subject is vast, everything is treated personally and rather as an encouragement to inflame greater interest, and then more monographic works come in handy (e. g. reading in "Imperium" about the North led me to excellent books by Mariusz Wilk, a longtime resident of Solovki).

I heartily recommend this book - it cannot disappoint!

Transcendent.......2005-12-25

Think of Dante's ability to create entire worlds. Think of Dante's skill at capturing the largest of themes and extracting their essences. Kapuscinski's Imperium is indescribably more than memoir, travel stories, or USSR history. If you relish writing of the highest caliber, read this book. You will be rewarded on every page. Along the way you will also come to know the world that existed behind an Iron Curtain for most of the last century. This is the work of an accomplished master who has distilled 54 years of observations and 36,0000 miles of travels into wisdom, insight, and poetry. I certainly wish that more than 5 stars could be awarded.

A Walk on the Dark Side.......2005-11-01

My grandparents left the territory of what would become the Soviet Union long before the 1917 Revolution. They came to America and I thank God they did. Whenever I read about the USSR, I always realize that only a couple of small decisions saved me from being born there, or more probably, saved me from being wiped out there, since I was born during World War II. Fate has a way of creating circles, though, and I've wound up teaching English to people from my grandparents' homeland. It's curious. Many of them are ethnically exactly the same as I am, but it is always obvious that there is a huge cultural gap. OK, they didn't grow up in America. I have never set foot in any part of the former USSR. I have spent the last 14 years peering into their pasts, constantly wondering why they are predisposed to think this way, act that way. I have thought long and hard about the issue, discussed it with many of my students, read their stories, listened to many more. A book like IMPERIUM goes a long way towards helping me understand that difference between me, "the one that got away" and them, "the ones that didn't".

Back in 1988, in a single week, I read three of Kapuscinski's books in a mad dash of fascination. I'd already spent over six years living in various Third World countries and his writing on Iran, Ethiopia and Angola captured something that no one else came close to, especially because he never sneered, he never condescended. No racist platitudes, no grandstanding for a Western audience for Kapuscinski. IMPERIUM, the description of his travels around the Soviet Union in 1958, 1967, 1989-90 and in 1992-93, continues in his own tradition of inserting himself into the most desperate of situations, visiting places where the most extreme sorts of human behavior have taken or are taking place. I feel that at times he does exaggerate certain events, certain facts may be forgotten or left out. (Plus, if you can't read Polish transcriptions, the names will all look strange to you.) No matter. He arrives at a picture that rings with authenticity; he is able to persuade you that you understand what is happening. (Or that nobody can understand what is happening.) This author can somehow portray the stupidity, the bestiality, bravery, and unconquerable human spirit that suffuses every event in our unhappy human history. He does it with a sense of immediacy, crossing every cultural and racial boundary as if it didn't exist. (Do they really exist ? Much less than most people think, I would say.) He visits the frozen horrors of the gulag archipelago, now fallen silent, crumbling into the permafrost. He describes the petty nationalist hatreds that increasingly suffused Soviet life to the end, the economic disaster, the environmental destruction, the brutality of a government that deliberately let ten million people starve to death, the lack of organizational knowhow, a dispirited despair. It is all a dark picture of a country that devoured so many of its own, shot itself in the foot so many times. He did come up with numerous insights that helped me to understand my own past or, as it were, my own non-past. No delving into party history, statistics, or laws and decrees; he cuts straight to the heart of the matter. If you need a single book that will describe the atmosphere in the former USSR, that will help you understand what happened to people there, choose this one.

A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944-1990

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Kantor is a genius

A Journey Through Other Spaces: Essays and Manifestos, 1944-1990
Tadeusz Kantor
Manufacturer: University of California Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520084233

Book Description

Polish director Tadeusz Kantor, who died in 1990 at the age of 75, is widely recognized as one of the most important theatre artists of this century. Critics have ranked him with such influential directors as Stanislavsky, Meyerhold, Brecht, and Grotowski. Known in the United States primarily for his visually stunning productions, he is also highly regarded throughout Europe for his theoretically adventurous writings. Michal Kobialka, whom Kantor authorized to translate his work, provides us with the first collection of Kantor's essays in English, together with his analysis of the corpus of Kantor's work, both written and staged.

Customer Reviews:

Kantor is a genius.......1999-09-02

This exhaustive collection of Kantor's writing on theater accompanied by an exhaustive biography of his life is a must-have for ANY (I repeat: ANY) person interested in avante-garde theater. His theories about representation and memory address some of the most important issues facing all theater workers. His work has been ignored for far too long.

Breaking Ground: An Immigrant's Journey from Poland to Ground Zero

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Only an idiot can be brilliant at breakfast
Breaking Ground
A riveting summation of Libeskind's philosophies.
An Architect's Unmanly Behavior
Complete Rubbish

Breaking Ground: An Immigrant's Journey from Poland to Ground Zero
Daniel Libeskind
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1594481326

Book Description

More than a memoir. An autobiography of architecture, culture, and people.

One of the most influential architects of our time recounts an extraordinary life-from his childhood in post-war Poland as the son of Holocaust survivors to his controversial and dramatic recounting of the designing of the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center.

Download Description

"The renowned architect introduces his iconoclastic approach to public space and shares his vision for the most important architectural project of our time, the 1776 Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site. Drawing on his uncommon background and global perspective, in Breaking Ground Daniel Libeskind explores ideas about tragedy and hope, and the way in which architecture can memorialize-and reshape-human experience. Born in 1946 to Holocaust survivors in Poland, Daniel Libeskind eventually emigrated to New York City in 1959. A virtuoso musician before studying architecture, Libeskind has designed iconic buildings around the world, including the Jewish Museum Berlin and the Imperial War Museum in Manchester, England. In February 2003, Libeskind was chosen as the Master Plan Architect for the World Trade Center reconstruction. Full of the vitality, humor, and visionary spark that helped win him the Trade Center Commission, Breaking Ground invites readers to see architecture-and the larger world-through new perspectives."

Customer Reviews:

Only an idiot can be brilliant at breakfast.......2007-04-04

Libeskind proves in this personal account of his life that living dangerously has his rewards. He describes his endless struggles with authorities, bureaucrats in Berlin, New York and so on. He tells marvellous tales of taking a stand in architecture, how architecture and good design can add value to a city. But his life in architecture is an adventurous one. He won the commission for the Jewish Museum in Berlin just by good luck and an ambitious wife. Libeskind received too late the invitation to take part in the architectural competition. His wife succeeded by sheer thougness in nominating him for the contest and eventually he won. His struggle for the World Trade Center commission is a tough one. Larry Silverstein is his main opponent. Libeskind can never be confident about the outcome of this fight. Why insist on theoretical books on architecture when such personal accounts are available? Libeskind pleads for architecture with heart and soul. I liked this book tremendously and would like to recommend the book to every student of architecture. Just to learn that architecture is about winning competitions as much as about designing. Libeskind cites Einstein: Only an idiot can be brilliant at breakfast. Libeskind could have written this beautiful book during breakfast.

Luuk Oost

Breaking Ground.......2007-01-10

Daniel Liebskind designed the new wing of my local (Denver) art museum, and to coincide with its opening, my book club chose to read "Breaking Ground." In reading the book I was expecting to gain a little insight into who this man is and possibly how he came up with some of his ideas. But I never expected to find that he is a very good writer, incredibly well-read, and to learn of the amazing thought processes behind his designs (e.g. the Twin Towers Memorial among others world-wide). It was a wonderful surprise and a book I will read again some day.

A riveting summation of Libeskind's philosophies........2006-08-29

I purchased this book after attending a lecture of Daniel Libeskind's at my University. Daniel is one of the most sought after architects of the twenty-first century, for good reason. I found his writing style to be intelligent and concise, with moments of sheer brilliance. This book is a quick read for those familiar with Libeskind's work and the famous architects of today. There seems to be a distinct polarity in the reviews of whether one "gets" Libeskind's work or does not. His literal translations of idea and emotion into space are at times discomforting. The projects he has chosen often revolve around tragedy and loss, and much of the substance of his design process is esoteric and abstract to those not familiar with his background. Music, harmony, space and art seem to flow together in his composition with a certain logical order and reason. I recommend this book to any architect or student interested in the intangible qualities of design.

An Architect's Unmanly Behavior.......2006-08-03

You could be forgiven for thinking that `Breaking Ground' was written by a four-year old who had his favorite toy taken from him and has never gotten over it. This biography manages to emphasize it's author's weaknesses and insecurities more than it highlights any positive aspects of the life recorded. Author, Daniel Libeskind, airs many old grievances and seems hell-bent on boastfully proclaiming one-upmanship at any opportunity. He begins by telling a story about beating Itzhak Perlman in a musical competition when both were children. It may be honest trivia, but it sets a tone for the self-praise that is the book's most constant and ultimately most disturbing trait

The enormity of Libeskind's ego is matched only by the scale of his resentment towards everyone else. Libeskind's most severe criticisms are saved for fellow architects, all of whom he holds in especially low regard. In Daniel's mind, he is an architect without peers. Of architect (and Ground Zero competitor), Peter Eisenman, Libeskind says with evident venom that, "No one ever called him (Eisenman), a mensch!" It is a curious comment from Libeskind who is hardly a poster boy for masculinity himself.

In fact, as the book proceeds, it becomes clear that it is Daniel's wife and business partner, Nina, who wears the jockstrap around the Libeskind household. Whenever the going gets tough, and some recalcitrant client or municipality challenges one of Daniel's designs, it is Nina who flexes her biceps and steps in to do the heavy lifting. Daniel pits his mammoth ego against all comers, and might even blubber with rage, but usually he just resorts to "storming out of the room", a tactic he records frequently throughout his book. Unfortunately, the Libeskinds are not about building consensus or about listening to others, so most of their projects becomes embroiled in time-consuming controversy.

Most disappointingly, Libeskind fails to see the humanity of the world outside himself. The Ground Zero commission becomes just another opportunity to do some more bragging and to whittle away at the reputations of people he could have learned something from. `Breaking Ground' never becomes the inspirational memoir that it could have been. If you want a book about a true post-911 hero, you'll need to bypass `Breaking Ground' and try General Tommy Franks' recent biography instead. `American Soldier" is the story of a real man, one who fights his battles face-to-face, and doesn't need to hide behind a pen. And what a difference having some testosterone makes!!

Complete Rubbish.......2006-07-22

I came across a pile of these books remaindered for 10 cents and figured - "Well, you can't go wrong for a dime, Right?" - WRONG!! What a load of rubbish this book is. Pomposity and egotism on every page. Libeskind's love affair with himself is not worth the paper it is written on ... not even at 10 cents a copy! This one goes straight into the recycle bin.

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Response
History or Fiction?
Prejudicial,historically inaccurate, but interesting.
Editorial reviews do Ainsztein justice
This book is a must !

In Lands Not My Own: A Wartime Journey
Reuben Ainsztein
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Reuben Ainsztein fled the pogroms of Wilno, Poland, when he was only sixteen. Matriculating at a university in Brussels, Ainsztein was again confronted with the virulence of anti-Semitism when the Nazis occupied Belgium in 1940. In search of freedom and a role in the defeat of Hitler, Ainsztein applied to and was accepted by Britain’s Royal Air Force. Visa in hand, he embarked on an extraordinary journey across war-ravaged Europe, seeking safe passage to London.

Ainsztein chronicles his stunning odyssey with absorbing detail and luminous reflection on the horrors of war and the unspeakable evil that was the Holocaust. Denied egress first at Calais and then at Marseilles, he crossed the Pyrenees into Spain on foot, and was immediately apprehended by Franco’s guards and incarcerated in Miranda de Ebro, a concentration camp, where he was interned for fourteen months. Miraculously, Ainsztein survived and eventually made his way to Britain and then to Scotland, where he trained for the RAF as a turret gunner on a Lancaster bomber.

In Lands Not My Own is one man’s personal testimony to the horrors that gave birth to war and were nurtured by it. Along the way, cast in spare, elegant prose, are the musings of a poet and philosopher on the goodness of man, the nature of evil, and the moral underpinnings of humanity. With great eloquence, Reuben Ainsztein tells a tale of heartbreaking sorrow, unfathomable courage, and the defiant resilience of the human spirit.

Customer Reviews:

Response.......2004-03-14

I am writing this in response to the reviewer from Bloominton.

First , let me correct an inaccuracy. Reuven married Pat after the end of the War (I believe in the late 40's/50's). The cover details are incorrect in suggesting he was married in 1941 but this was simply not picked up at the time. Apologies.

Reuven wrote the story in the late 60's and tried to get it published - we even have the envelope in which it was returned from a prospective publisher. We do not know why but perhaps there was less interest than there is today. When Reuven died his obituary in the London Times (of which we have a copy) makes specific mention on the unpublished manuscript and an excerpt was actually published in the Sunday Times at around the same time.

After he died, no-one tried to get it published and the typescript remained with Pat. Following her death several years, it passed to her niece, Janet. It was only after Janet's death that my wife and I (my wife is Janet's daughter)found the typescript when clearing out the family house for sale. We then contacted a literary agent and eventually signed a publishing contract.

I cannot tell you exactly when each page was written but I can swear that the document we found is the document that was published. We still have the original typescript - it is all on similar paper and on the same typewriter. There is no evidence to suggest anything suspicious at all.

History or Fiction?.......2003-08-10

The value of first hand memoirs is unquestionable. The author's long voyage through occupied Europe and later his service in the British Army elevates this book to a testimony of a hero. Yet, one wants to be sure that it is a true and real testimony.

The first doubt about the book's completeness as a testimony is a fact that the author did not mention his wife throughout the work. Only the biographical note on the cover states, to a complete readers' surprise, that he married Pat Kearey (a British national?) in 1941. One starts wondering in what circumstances was he married and how that marriage influenced his citizenship status in the Nazi occupied Europe. We the readers are left to believe throughout the book that he was a Polish citizen and his only connection with Britain was a letter from a British diplomat in Belgium confirming his intention to join the British army...Another serious doubt in the reader's mind arises when the author tells us about his conversation with a ""young, fairish, slender" German soldier in France (p.54).

That occurrence is simply very hard to believe - Ainsztein was a fugitive not only with false papers but also with a letter from a British consul, and, as he himself says, he looked "unmistakably Jewish" (p.56). Furthermore, looking at the construction of the book, one notices certain changes as the book progresses. The times when the author lived in Brussels are full of detailed information, including last names of friends. Full names disappear completely in the part of the book which talks about the Spanish prison. And then, after the author joins the Air Force, the language of the memoirs changes to the point that to a suspicious reader it looks like a different person writing.

It is possible that Ainsztein kept writing these memoirs over a 30 year period after the war. Unfortunately, the editors don't provide us with even a hint of an explanation what was happening with the manuscript during the 20 years after the author's death. It is somewhat puzzling that Ainsztein has not published this book during his lifetime - after all, he was an accomplished historian with several publications to his credit. But there are also several places in the book that will raise eyebrows of serious historians.

To use one example, already on page 5 Ainsztein says: "by applying discriminatory laws they (the Poles in the pre-war Poland) prevented Jewish youths from obtaining a technical or university education and closed all government, army, state, and municipal careers to them". A brief consultation with works of such historians as Joseph Rotschild ("East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars"), and Ezra Mendelsohn ("The Jews of East Central Europe Between the Wars") shows that 10-20% of all students in Poland before the war were Jewish.

There were also several Jewish officers in the Polish army, some of them decorated with highest honors, or even in the rank of a general. And, there were absolutely no discriminatory laws against Jews or any other nationality in pre-war Poland... Here, the reader is obviously left with a serious neglect on the part of the author, who could have simply done his research before putting on paper statements that have been long proven untrue.

Overall, with all its serious faults, this book is certainly of interest for anybody studying the darkest periods in Western history. Personally, I am left with an impression that there is a "story behind the story" and that it shouldn't be the case...

Prejudicial,historically inaccurate, but interesting........2003-08-05

I found the story fascinating and certainly worth preserving for future generations. After having read many of such publications, what strikes me in this one is a straighforward hate towards anything Polish. Germans seem to rate much higher on the author's personal scale than the Poles. Author's prejudice can be seen especially in those places where physical characteristics of a nation are used to "prove" its moral decay etc. Germans might be more appealing physically to the author than Poles, but it is still them who murdered 6 million innocent people of Jewish origin.
Certainly, the situation of Jews in the pre-war Poland was not heaven, but it was not hell either. Their situation was pretty much the same as that of their fellow countrymen in the United States of that time.
If Poland was such hell, how could one explain that Wladyslaw Szpilman (the hero of the movie "The Pianist") was an official pianist of the Polish Radio and after the war he made a brilliant return to the National Philharmonic in Warsaw?
It is not up to me to judge the author's personal experience. It is only puzzling that he claims to be a historian, and as such he should have taken a more professional stand in these matters.

Editorial reviews do Ainsztein justice.......2003-05-06

The editorial reviews shown at this website accurately summarize the book, and I will not rehash them. I just want to add my strong personal recommendation. Ainsztein's odyssey/exodus was of particular interest in light of my recently having seen Polanski's "The Pianist". I found the book to be compelling reading, and believe that Jewish readers would find it even more so.

This book is a must !.......2002-06-15

In Lands Not My Own is unassuming and modest but all the more powerful for its understated charm.

Ainsztein was clearly a thoughtful but heroic man. His book chronicles a most incredible flights across war-torn Europe. Written with all the elegance of a Conrad novel, this book takes us right into Ainsztein's own personal heart of darkness.

In many, many ways , this book is as important as Anne Frank's diary. It should be compulsory reading on evry high school history, and indeed English literature, booklist.

It is rare to find a historical memoir that is so well written, so well observed and so elegantly portrayed.

Book Description

In 1996 Martin Gilbert was asked by a group of his graduate students to lead them on a tour of the places in Europe that were the stage of one of history's greatest human tragedies. The two-week journey that resulted, with England's leading Holocaust and World War II scholar as its guide, culminated in the powerful travel narrative Holocaust Journey.

Gilbert skillfully interweaves present-day experiences, personal memories, and historical accounts. More than fifty photographs taken over the course of this unique voyage are included, among them shots of Berlin, at the spot of the 1933 book burning; the railway line to Auschwitz; Oskar Schindler's factory in Crakow, Poland; and memorial stones from Treblinka. Together with fifty-five maps, these illustrations add an arresting visual dimension to this powerful story.

Customer Reviews:

Pilgrimage to the sites associated with Jewish life and death in Europe.......2006-10-30

This moving and fascinating book describes the fourteen day journey of historian Sir Martin Gilbert and a group of his students of the holocaust , exploring sites associated with Jewish history both before and during the Second World War.

The group moves through France and Belgium and then on through Germany , onto Berlin , where at Wannsee plans where made , in 1942 , for the anihilation of Euope's 11 million Jews.
Moving south and then east the group moves on to the sites where the diabolical 'Final Solution' was actually put into practise - the death camps themselves - Auschwitz , Chelmno , Belzec , Majadanek , Sobibor and Teblinkla.

Gilbert fills this volume with both horrifying eyewitness accounts and details with his own phenomenal knowledge of Jewish and holocaust history , in this geographic pilgrimage and historical excavation.

We learn about the ancient and mediaeval roots of Jewish communities in Europe and about the rich Jewish life and culture that flourished in thousands of cities , towns and villages before the Nazi inferno destroyed European Jewry. Gilbert details the attacks on Jewish communities in Germany and elsewhere during the crusades and the pogroms , and blood libels through the ages. Gilbert details the specific horrors of the holocaust associated with each location.

We learn interesting and little known historical facts , such as that Spanish leader Francisco Franco protected the Jews , refusing Hitler's demmands to deport the Jews of Spain , who had been marked out for mass murder at the Wannsee conference , and how Franco also gave shelter to thousands of Jews from France who had managed to cross the Pyrenees.

We learn of the plans Stalin devised before his death to mass murder the Jews of Russia and deport the remainder to Siberia.

The horrors in the book which are recounted are inumerable and at times very graphic-sensitive readers should be careful. These are horrific and bloodchilling accounts of demonic inhumanity and cruelty , of unbelievable suffering.
We also read of heroism and survival against the odds.

It is difficult to believe that such a rich Jewish life existed in places where today there are no or very few Jews.
Holocaust survivor Rachael Fraenkel speaks of what for her was the most 'painful reminder' of the Holocaust "was an exhibition in the building in Prague. Burial Society of paintings by children in Terezin. In the majority of cases the only reminder of the child's life seems to be the paintings they had produced. The mixture of subjects from beautiful countryside scenes wretched and and tormented faces was painful to see. To see such horrific scenes from the minds of such young people , must surely reflect their mental anguish. All that went through my mind was "so young , so innocent , so dead."

The origins where in a village in Poland of the Israeli National Anthem-Hatikvah-The Hope.
Israel is the country that arose out of the ashes of the holocaust - the reborn life of the Jewish people.
The international fury against the collective Jewish presence in Israel certainly mirrors the rise of Nazism.
If we can learn anything from the holocaust it is to defend Israel and her people from the hatred that inievitably leads to mass murder.

An awesome book, chronology.......2006-08-27

While Sir Martin Gilbert is known mostly for his detailed histories of Winston Churchill, WWI, WWII, the Holocaust and so on, his book, "Holocaust Journey," which documents his two-week trip with graduate students to major sites of the Holocaust (starting in Berlin) is gripping and wrenching. He provides both historical commentary for many of the stops, while his colleagues bring first-person stories that add detail. I would recommend it for students of the Holocaust -- and for those considering following his itinerary.

A thought-provoking journey.......2005-04-11

Until reading this book, I really didn't understand the true scope of the Holocaust. As a kid, I learned about Anne Frank and the Jews who were required to wear yellow stars; later on, in high school, when we were deemed able to handle such things, we watched "Night and Fog" with its graphic images of those murdered by the Nazis. These experiences were all somewhat clinical, really. The true human cost of the Shoah takes a while for one to fathom.

Gilbert's book does that through his readings of eyewitness accounts, usually on the scenes of their occurrences, of the unspeakable horrors which the Nazis committed. (Readers who are easily shocked should be warned that many of the stories are indescribably gruesome and will haunt one's dreams, as they did mine.)

But apart from the toll in human flesh which the Shoah exacted, the spiritual cost becomes clear through this book. Gilbert, through his readings and observations, paints a portrait of a country which was literally raped of its vitality and life by the Nazis through the indiscriminate murder of Jews and Gentiles alike. Especially poignant are the descriptions of the pre-war Jewish neighborhoods, alive with activity, commerce, and religion, all completely decimated.

It's fashionable for one to claim they are against anti-Semitism and radical nationalism; it's a much more complicated affair for one to understand why these are bad things. This book goes a long way towards reaching that understanding.

A Rich Vitamin Supplement.......2002-01-21

Although reading Martin Gilbert's book will do no harm if you are just beginning to study the Holocaust, it will certainly be more difficult to appreciate. What you are buying in this book is a detailed travel journal, not meat-and-potatoes Holocaust history. It is a rich vitamin supplement of insights and prepared readings delivered during a 1996 excursion which Gilbert and his students took to former sites of Jewish deportation, genocide, and Nazi occupation. Roughly outlined, the journey starts in London and passes through Brussels, Berlin, Theresienstadt, Prague, Auschwitz, Krakow, Belzec, Sobibor, Lublin, Majdanek, Treblinka, Warsaw, and Chelmno. The travel entries, while thoughtful and considered, do not lack spontaneity and can even be startlingly raw.

While this book has much to offer, how to most benefit from it is something of a conundrum. It is likely best to refer to "Holocaust Journey" after having read about or visited a particular site mentioned in the travelogue. Basic background and history should be gotten elsewhere, as what Gilbert largely documents here are impressions, feelings, and observations. Reading Gilbert prior to confronting these geographic locales ourselves, either in person or via the printed word, may well taint our own first impressions and rob us of a more pristine emotional state from which to experience our own responses. My now-dilapidated hardcover copy of "Holocaust Journey" traveled with me to the Jewish quarters of Warsaw, Lublin, and Krakow, and to the concentration camps and memorials of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and Treblinka in early 2002. When I read Gilbert's book prior to my arrival at a site, I found myself wanting to experience what Gilbert experienced, as impossible as that clearly is. Our responses to the Holocaust are as different as the individual stories which comprise it. On the other hand, having traveled alone much of the way, I found this book a comforting companion and empathetic sounding board after I had visited a site, sometimes even expressing my own feelings, thoughts, questions, or fears.

The readings and brief background notes which Gilbert supplies at each location are extremely well researched, relevant, and poignant. While there are too many to mention in a review, I will remark that those providing insight into the mind and heart of educator and orphanage director Janusz Korczack proved particularly moving. Rather than allow them to meet their fate alone, Korczack chose to be deported along with his orphans to the extermination camp at Treblinka. "Holocaust Journey" directed me to Korczack's memorial stone at Treblinka and the courtyard of the still-present orphanage in Warsaw. For me, a handful of words in Korzac's diary aptly captured the grotesquely distorted existence under Nazi rule. For Korzac daily life had become "a stock exchange quoting the weight of conscience."

Personal Guide Book.......2002-01-10

I took this book with me on the same trip thoughout Eastern Europe in November. This was the second visit to Eastern Europe with American Jewish Congress. This is the book to read before the trip, and then to take with you when you visit these horrible places. Nothing can prepare one to see what was once full of Jewish life, and is now empty of Jewish life. However the personal comments and views of Martin Gilbert explain what was once full of a Jewish life, and is now no more.

Book Description

Like Schindler's List, this is a haunting document for the next generation of Holocaust survivors. Zable travels from Australia to the Eastern European countryside of his parents' remembrance to understand the present-the inner lives of those who, like his parents, survived the hatred but lost every trace of family. Winner of top Australian literary awards.

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