Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Travelers Who Love to Shop (Born To Shop)

Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Travelers Who Love to Shop (Born To Shop)
Average customer rating:

You can do better (and I should have known better)

SUZY IS THE BEST OUT THERE......BAR NONE

Don't bother!

Full of inaccuracies

italian cashmere

Suzy Gershman's Born to Shop Italy: The Ultimate Guide for Travelers Who Love to Shop (Born To Shop)
Suzy Gershman
Manufacturer: Frommers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0764598902

Book Description

For more than ten years, Suzy Gershman has been leading savvy shoppers to the world's best finds. Now Born to Shop Italy is even easier to use and packed with more up-to-date listings and shopping secrets than ever before.

Customer Reviews:

You can do better (and I should have known better).......2007-02-23

Since I'm planning another trip to Italy this year, I got the current edition on a whim. I had bought an old version several years ago on a discount rack when I first started traveling to Europe and I found a fair bit of the information helpful, but this one is a disappointment in several ways. As others have pointed out, much of the information is quite obviously inaccurate or out of date. Furthermore, this is not much good as a shopping guide unless you have money to burn since it is heavily skewed toward the high-end designer market. The author throws in a few snippets from her younger associates about more affordable places to shop but that's not enough. Admittedly, Italy hasn't been a bargain hunter's paradise for many years, even before the currency conversion that has almost ruined shopping in Europe for us Americans, but there really are many affordable options for the average traveler. Just take a look on Virtual Tourist or some fo the other travel forums & you'll find a wealth of advice. From that & my own searches, I've found a pile of good shopping information. Now if I can do that on my own, surely Gershman and her team could have done a better job of research, especially if they have the nerve to charge money for it.

However, my real problem is with Gershman's attitude, which has clearly worsened between the date of my old edition and the present one. The woman is a snob, plain and simple. If you don't catch this from her over-emphasis on designer goods, you'll figure it out from all of her complaining about Italy being overrun with tourists (obviously forgetting that she is one herself)and the Italian merchants taking advantage of this by offering more & more junk. When I read her review of Francesco Rogani, a handbag shop in Rome, I truly wondered if I had been to the same place: she claims that there is a discrepancy between the selling price & the actual retail, the latter of which she claims is too much for sub-standard goods, but what is even more puzzling is her complaint that the clerks have a "less than customer-oriented" attitude. I have been there several times & have never been told of this mysterious difference between prices. Also, I have always found them to be courteous and polite; in fact, on my last visit, they found out it was my birthday & offered to get me a reservation at a special restaurant that I never would have found on my own (it was wonderful and they treated me to the appetizer, dessert, and a glass of liqueur). Now if that isn't "customer-oriented" service, I don't know what is.

Anyone who's traveled abroad even a few times will tell you the same thing: if you act like a typical snotty, demanding tourist, you won't be treated well. The Golden Rule is especially important these days for us Americans, and I assure you that if you are polite, well-mannered and friendly to the Italians or anyone else, you'll have a wonderful time shopping. Talk to the concierge at the hotel and the waiters & shop owners if you want to find out the real bargains - they may not be big-name designer baubles screaming their status, but they will be special, something that a real Italian would own, and more than likely something that you wouldn't find back home.

SUZY IS THE BEST OUT THERE......BAR NONE.......2005-09-22

I have traveled to Europe and Asia with a trusty Born To Shop Guide Book many times and Suzy gives me the best overall advice. Every once in a while a new writer will come on board with no experience and forgot to warn us of the pitfalls of being a "Rich American Traveler"-Suzy has steered me clear of many problems while traveling alone. This is the reason I ADORE her and have even bought the older versions just to compare information. Time moves on and locations change.

Can't wait for the new Born To Shop San Francisco and I just received the new Asian version-try these too!

Don't bother!.......2005-07-27

Don't bother buying this book. First, none of the Born To Shop books get updated much between editions, so lots of information is out of date. Second, Suzy Gershman is totally out of touch with reality. I took a shopping tour to Italy with a company called Shop Around Tours and obviously a lot of us had this book. The tour leader warned us not to pay too much attention to it and she was right. BUT we went to Mantero, which is one of the places mentioned in the book, and it was great. Otherwise, the people that went off on their own following Suzy's wild goose chases were very disappointed. So the shopping in Italy was great, but this book was a waste of money.

Full of inaccuracies.......2005-03-31

Suzy Gershman needs to retire already. All of her books, including this one, are full of inaccuracies. Each edition is barely updated, so there's no need to buy the new version if you have an old one. It's time Frommers dropped Gershman and hired someone under the age of 70 to update these books that shops NOW and knows what they're talking about. These Born To Shop books are an amusing read but a complete waste of money if you're looking for current information.

italian cashmere.......2004-11-24

we visited a new lisitng in your book (near to siena although listed as Florence): a real cashmere goat farm run by an American woman from Long Island!

the utterly spectaclar view was on a par with the hand-woven cashmere they sell on their farm - sublime!!!

definitely top quality in every way, and their goats milk skincare products are superlative

couldn't have been better

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? (Who Was...?)

Average customer rating:

Great subject for a children book.
i can't wait to get the whole series

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? (Who Was...?)
Roberta Edwards
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0448443015

Customer Reviews:

Great subject for a children book........2007-03-25

Great subject for a children book. I got this series of books for my daughter and she really enjoyes reading them. Great read and educational too.

i can't wait to get the whole series.......2006-09-14

This is one of the best biographies aimed at children that I have ever read. The main narrative is interspersed with sidebars about different historical explanations about relevant topics such as the invention of paper, ranking of workers within the guild system, Copernicus, The illustrations by True Kelley are light-hearted, accessible, and they carry the text. How else do you explain a painting?

Average customer rating:

a very impressive book
Is the world flat ?
Pure Imagination
A Superlative Read!
A thrilling story and a great art book

M: The Man Who Became Caravaggio
Peter Robb
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Caravaggio
The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece
Caravaggio
Caravaggio: Painter of Miracles (Eminent Lives)
Midnight in Sicily

ASIN: 0805063560

Book Description

A bold, fresh biography of the world's first modern painter As presented with "blood and bone and sinew" (Times Literary Supplement) by Peter Robb, Caravaggio's wild and tempestuous life was a provocation to a culture in a state of siege. The of the sixteenth century was marked by the Inquisition and Counter-Reformation, a background of ideological cold war against which, despite all odds and at great cost to their creators, brilliant feats of art and science were achieved. No artist captured the dark, violent spirit of the time better than Caravaggio, variously known as Marisi, Moriggia, Merigi, and sometimes, simply M. As art critic Robert Hughes has said, "There was art before him and art after him, and they were not the same."Caravaggio threw out Renaissance dogma to paint with dazzling originality and fierce vitality, qualities that are echoed in Robb's prose. As with Caravaggio's art, M arrests and susps time to reveal what the author calls "the theater of the partly seen." Caravaggio's wild persona leaps through these pages like quicksilver; in Robb's skilled hands, he is an immensely attractive character with an astonishing connection to the glories and brutalities of life.

Customer Reviews:

a very impressive book.......2007-09-03

Even though the historical part of the book seems to be disputable, the part devoted to M.'s paintings is extremely well written. The broad public needs more books like this one. The book was written with skill and true passion.

Is the world flat ?.......2006-09-29

It might have appeared so in Carravagio's day but like Robb, he was not intimidated by so called dusty 'scholars' and 'fusspots'. Carravagio's 'style' and his rejection of the establishment are what make his work so interesting today. There is no doubt Carravagio's work was wildly controversial in his time. Robb dissects the evidence, such as it is, and invites conclusions in a direct manner from the reader. The fact that Robb's book has drawn a response from `noted historians', 'grammar nerds' and other sundry 'desk polishers' is a credit to the work. Carravagio, if he were around today might give a wry twinkle of a smile to one of his subjects.

Robb includes well-selected and compelling illustrations in the book to aid his view. He does not mess around. Robb goes straight for the aorta of the reader. Carravaggio wasn't popular with his recklessness and Robb has a get there quick style that leaves the scholars and critics in his dust.

Hitler said, " A man with no sense of history is a man with no ears". Robb has a sense of history in spades. So called 'historians' and flat-earthers will no doubt continue to criticise, like the Vatican in Carravaggio's day. Gallileo had imagination, so does Robb. The earth was not flat. Gallileo was right. The Vatican and its legions of scholars, scribes and `dust collectors' were wrong. Read the book. Ignore the pseudo intellectuals. *****

A Masterpiece.

Pure Imagination.......2006-01-08

As Amazon organizes reviews by date, the sole review (writen by noted Caravaggio scholar David Stone) which attacks this book for its unscholarly tendency to unashamedly make things up is buried deep on the last page. Therefore, I thought I'd add another to make this fact a little more visible to the casual shopper. A few others have noted the appalling grammar and syntax, but the real crime is the baselessness of Robb's conclusions. Does no one care about evidence any more? Do none of you who loved this book find anything wrong with Robb's practice of examining complex, vague, and contradictory sources, choosing the most dramatic answer possible, and presenting it as an irrefutable truth? Caravaggio was an unconventional, brilliant man who lived a wild and crazy life--stick with the evidence and you'll still be amazed.

A Superlative Read!.......2005-09-26

This book has it all - erudition, polemics, irreverence, controversy, intrigue, irony, eroticism, romance, depravity... the list is endless! Meticulously researched and annotated, soundly argued and reasoned, Mr. Robb is a gracious champion to the very complex artist who is historically reduced to a one-dimensional churl who happened to have a way with a paint-brush.

Caravaggio was a pioneer (a very dangerous occupation during the counter-reformation), - the manner in which he approached his subjects, the lighting (or relative lack there-of), his refusal to sketch out a work before painting it, his perspective, his "earthy" handling of religious themes; these approaches became both his claim to fame, and his downfall. A downfall facilitated by jealous contemporaries, greedy art collectors, and Caravaggio's own sexual and social indiscretions.

Not a light read by any means - make sure your thinking cap is well positioned, and your seat belt is tightly fashioned - you're in for one hell of a ride!

A thrilling story and a great art book.......2003-01-11

Peter Robb has managed to achieve a miraculous symphony in this long (500 + pages) book: It's a biography, a detective story (little is known about Caravaggio's life), a social history of Rome, and a definitive art book. As a result, you can read this book on many levels. I read it first as a "beach book" for the story, and then again, when I took a vacation to Rome and tried to see as many of his remaining paintings as I could.

Robb explains how Caravaggio was a breakthrough painter in his use of light, and in his use of recognizable local models (almost all of whom Robb has been able to identify) to express the religious art of the day. Mannerism died at his hands.

Moreover, Peter Robb builds a credible portrait of Caravaggio's brittle personality--it's easy to see why people were out to kill him. At first I thought the title "M" was a little contrived, but by the end of the book, I realized that it's cipher for the real man behind the familiar name. (Calling someone "Caravaggio" after the town is like giving someone the nickname "Boston").

The reproductions are carefully chosen and richly presented. You'll enjoy reading--and re-reading--this wonderful book.

The Pope and the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition
Average customer rating:

The Other Reviews Have It Right

Anachronistic and Ideological

religion and burning people ...

Unfocused and Unduly Light

About the man and his suffering, not his ideas

The Pope and the Heretic: The True Story of Giordano Bruno, the Man Who Dared to Defy the Roman Inquisition
Michael White
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0060933887
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Amazon.com

Giordano Bruno, the subject of Michael White's The Pope and the Heretic, was a thoroughly modern intellect whose fate was to have lived during the late 16th century, a period characterized in large part by the Inquisition, the Church's monomaniacal suppression of what it deemed heretical thought. A "cerebral maverick," Bruno believed in and wrote about an infinite universe--something beyond Copernicus's heliocentric system, the human origins of the concept of the Trinity, and a possible amalgamation of Roman Catholic doctrine with those of ancient religions. His real crime, at least in Rome's eyes, was his belief in "free inquiry." White's biography is exemplary, in no small part because of his concise, crystal-clear discussions of the period's intellectual beliefs, the delicately tempestuous battle between papal and civil authorities, and his detailed, illuminating look at Bruno's trial and subsequent burning at the stake. The Pope and the Heretic is a trustworthy and enlightening entrance into the dizzyingly complex age of the Renaissance. --H. O'Billovich

Book Description

Giordano Bruno challenged everything in his pursuit of an all-embracing system of thought. This not only brought him patronage from powerful figures of the day but also put him in direct conflict with the Catholic Church. Arrested by the Inquisition and tried as a heretic, Bruno was imprisoned, tortured, and, after eight years, burned at the stake in 1600. The Vatican "regrets" the burning yet refuses to clear him of heresy.

But Bruno's philosophy spread: Galileo, Isaac Newton, Christiaan Huygens, and Gottfried Leibniz all built upon his ideas; his thought experiments predate the work of such twentieth-century luminaries as Karl Popper; his religious thinking inspired such radicals as Baruch Spinoza; and his work on the art of memory had a profound effect on William Shakespeare.

Chronicling a genius whose musings helped bring about the modern world, Michael White pieces together the final years -- the capture, trial, and the threat the Catholic Church felt -- that made Bruno a martyr of free thought.

Customer Reviews:

The Other Reviews Have It Right.......2006-10-24

Okay, I meant to review this book, but others have beaten me to all significant criticisms. Let me say just one thing in its favor then: if you've forgotten or neglected Bruno all your reading life, this little teaser of a book WILL make you want to know more!

Anachronistic and Ideological.......2005-10-02

This book is far from being either a thorough or balanced biography of Bruno. When its not digressing into the author's sweeping and judgmental generalizations about history - "For such people, everyday life was an agony and the society in which they lived was almost stagnant...all but a few... spent most of their time inebriated" - and his demonization of Christianity, it focuses only on Bruno's arrest and trial and covers only in bad summary or not at all the rest of his life. White rips on Catholicism and Protestantism beyond the facts, yet depicts Renaissance intellectuals anticipating a supposedly true faith of modern scientific theories and method as humanity's salvation. What few and poor citations and footnotes are provided - "Christian doctrine does not evolve; it is based upon cast-in-stone tenets and therefore cannot develop or offer anything radical or original." - are too little to justify the sweeping judgments, and leave one confused as to whether the Hollywood style dialogues between Bruno and his confessor are actual quotes or White's embelishments.

Its no secret that the churches and governments of Europe abused their power severely during the last 1900 years. A lot of the bleakness of situation that White describes is true. But he goes beyond history to paint a black and white picture of a purely evil church and intellectuals martyred for their belief in scientific methods and theories that DIDN'T YET EXIST. The complexity of the historical situation and the intelectual relationships between the Christian clergy and scholars is glazed over; the motives and reasons for the atmosphere of suppresion are chalked off solely to the evil ignorance and greed of every single person of power in the church. The complexity of the crossover identities of European Christian scholars and their struggle to reconcile their faith and observations goes out the window - White has Bruno convenienently seeing the good in everything mainstream science currently cheers, and totally condemning everything it currently despises. His treatment of Bruno's interests is completely anachronistic and belays all the tenets he held to that scientists would balk at, and vice versa.

This book isn't about Bruno's views - its about White's. Like a bad Hollywood movie set against a historical backdrop, this is more about what's going on now then what happened back then.

religion and burning people ..........2005-08-13

It is strange, that religion and burning in the history of mankind frequently lie together so near: momentarily the assassination attempts of Islamic fundamentalists in New York, London, Madrid and elsewhere, or (on the other hand) the million humans, who became victims of the Inquisition of the catholic church in the Middle Ages. Giordano Bruno has been one of the most famous mourners. Because he questioned the Ptolomaei conception of the world of an earth, around which everything circles, and because he tried to replace the earth-centric-theory by an analysis, which postulated a lot of moving solar systems (plausibly spoken from today's view), in which there is no hierarchical order, - therefore he had to accept more and more furious attempts against his person, which wanted to force his obedience. Apparently unteachable he classified the subject not as passive nullity directed of God, but as active, self-constructing substance. The theories of the Vatican of the case of sin and of the predetermination of the fate Giordano Bruno rejected as life-strange. "The general opinion is not always the perfect truth..." Giordano Bruno today is still quoted. Such remarks produced expensive, bitter consequences: On 17 February 1600 he publicly was burned on the Campo di Fiori in Rome after eight years torture and dungeon detention. Hundreds of years the burning of disbelieving people seemed to be the major task of the Christian denomination. However today the Pope-administration gradually makes some steps backwards, remorseful: On February 18, in the year 2000, cardinal Angelo Sodano, the undersecretary of state of the Vatican, expressed the "deep regret" of the catholic church (according to ZENITH NEWS AGENCY with regard to the death sentence against Giordano Bruno) in a letter to the participants of a congress in Napoli, which took place for the memory of this Italian philosopher in the local theological faculty 2000. It was a "terrible death", "a sad episode in newer Christian history". Respect considering the dignity and the conscience of humans, who look persistently for the truth: this is a level, in the present not yet all countries, confessions or population circles succeed to manage. The book of the British science journalist Michael White ("Science editor of British GQ Magazine") was criticized by some reviewers, because it has been written in a teenager-language, less scientific, more thrilling like an adventure-story. But on the other hand it is an easily reading, you can practice before you will fall asleep. Short before snoring you can brood about the fact, that religion (connected with the aim to burn people of "wrong" confession) did not yet disappear as a pattern of acting among the earth inhabitants 400 years later...

Unfocused and Unduly Light.......2004-09-06

I have a bad record of choosing books from the Airport Bookstores. I have made some really attrocious choices. This one is not that bad, but I could not recommend it to anyone. If I would have read the inside flap I would have realised that Michael White was the "Science Editor of British GQ Magazine" --- I did not know that anyone who read GQ would be even interested in Science, but if they are, there taste would be light to the point of idiocy, like this book.

The title is inane enough. It lured me in like a sucker... I was interested in reading the counterpoint of what would be two personalities --- the Pope and Bruno. But the Pope does not even really appear in the book.

The main problem is twofold:

1) Lack of any discernable organisation. The book is a mess. It is hard to put together any discernable record of the like of Bruno after I read this --- was he in Frankfurt first and then Paris? Maybe it was the other way around?

This means that White mixes everything up, chronology, main themes and the roles of people in the book. Ideas are not at all well developed. There is a sometimes peurile feeling about his writing style: when an idea is developed a little he switches to other things --- one feels that he is writing at times for the attention span of a 12- yr-old reader.

2) Weak development of themes inside the book. Scholastic ossification of the ideas of the Catholic Church is a great topic, but White's starts with a description of how Aristotle was always wrong on everything... and vaguely brushes him off as an almost personal hindrance to development of ideas. Such comic-book interpretations really show a lack of mastery of his subject.

White intimates a tremendous importance for the hermetic tradition, although he keeps this significantly nebulous (something that a reader of GQ or Omni might be interested in). As usual his work verges towards veneration for mysticism.

At the end of the day he should have marshalled his forces with more discipline and spent the time on making this into a serious work that it should be, and as Bruno deserves. It appears that he merely cranked this one out. He will pay for this as readers such as I will never buy another of his books.

Back to the Thompson Twins Mr. White!

About the man and his suffering, not his ideas.......2004-03-30

Michael White succeeds in personalizing the heretic monk Giordano Bruno, giving us a more complete picture of the man than we find in other sources. His book educates us about the social, political, and religious environment in which Bruno lectured and wrote. We also feel his suffering at the hands of the Inquisition. Unfortunately, we learn less about Bruno's ideas, which covered a remarkably wide range of speculations. We are given only shorthand versions.

White's writing is very readable, but one sometimes wonders if all of it is based on documented fact. For example, he writes that "A sudden hush fell over the room; the judges sat motionless. Bruno, his confidence clearly ebbing away, his energy almost drained, looked around the room once more, seeing the still faces, the eyes of witnesses quickly averted." How does White know all these details? Passages like this read as if the author were using literary invention to make the dry records of the Inquisition more interesting.

The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide
Average customer rating:

Excellent Book

Fascinating history for the Italophile or Rome-buff in your life

The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide
Anthony Majanlahti
Manufacturer: Pimlico
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Rome from the Ground Up (From the Ground Up)

ASIN: 1844134091
Release Date: 2006-06-06

Book Description

Both history and guide, this fascinating book tells the stories of the noble clans who built the piazzas, palazzos and fountains we see today. Famous sites take on a new significance as the author tells the family histories with all the scandals, intrigues and power grabs.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Book.......2006-06-15

This book brings to life a city I know (or thought I knew) very well, having been a student in Rome for 5 years. Vibrantly written, never short of an interesting insight and delightful detour away from the overknown locations for a vistor in Rome to see. Well done Anthony! What's next?

Fascinating history for the Italophile or Rome-buff in your life.......2006-06-06

I love anything Roman: books about the city, photos, travelogues -- and I visit pretty often, usually once or twice a year. This book gives you the insight and family history behind all of the locales you'll see while traveling in Rome: the piazzas, churches, fountains, and pretty much anything of historical significance that you remember from your travels there. It's not a photo-filled armchair-traveler sort of book, it's got a lot of history in it. But it reads surprisingly easily for being the historical book that it is -- I expected it to feel more "dense" but it's very accessible. Is it for the first-time visitor to Rome? No. But if you've found yourself going back time after time, you will recognize the names and locations and the maps in the book, and this will definitely enhance your experience the next time you go.

Ruins of Ancient Rome: The Drawings of French Architects Who Won the Prix De Rome 1786-1924

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Ruins of Ancient Rome: The Drawings of French Architects Who Won the Prix De Rome 1786-1924

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Traditionally a critical component of the education of any architect was to draw the ruins of ancient Rome, reconstructing either from ancient sources or, more often, pure fantasy, what the original structures must have looked like. From this training emerged generations of architects imbued
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World History Biographies: Galileo: The Genius Who Faced the Inquisition (NG World History Biographies)

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World History Biographies: Galileo: The Genius Who Faced the Inquisition (NG World History Biographies)
Philip Steele
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Book Description

Galileo made the first effective use of the refracting telescope to discover important new facts about astronomy. His observations led him to support Copernicus's claim that Earth and the other planets circled the sun. This conflicted with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and brought Galileo before the judges of the Inquisition. He spent his final years under house arrest.

Galileo's genius lay in the way he approached scientific problems. He reduced problems to simple terms on the basis of experience and common-sense logic. Then he analyzed and resolved the problems according to simple mathematical descriptions, thus opening the way for the development of modern mathematical physics.

World History Biographies: Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World (NG World History Biographies)

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World History Biographies: Marco Polo: The Boy Who Traveled the Medieval World (NG World History Biographies)
Nick Mccarty
Manufacturer: National Geographic Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Renaissance | Schools, Periods & Styles | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Renaissance | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

World History Biographies: Michelangelo: The Young Artist Who Dreamed of Perfection (NG World History Biographies)
World History Biographies: Galileo: The Genius Who Faced the Inquisition (NG World History Biographies)
World History Biographies: Elizabeth I: The Outcast Who Became England's Queen (NG World History Biographies)
World History Biographies: Alexander: The Boy Soldier Who Conquered the World (NG World History Biographies)
World History Biographies: Leonardo da Vinci: The Genius Who Defined the Renaissance (NG World History Biographies)

ASIN: 0792258932
Release Date: 2006-09-12

Book Description

In a life of ceaseless exploration, Marco Polo pushed out the borders of his narrow medieval world.

Born in Venice in 1254, the young Marco Polo first met his father at age 15, when the elder Polo returned from a trading expedition to the East. The father's tales of the court of the Kublai Khan in China ignited a lifelong passion for adventure in the son.

The Polos set out for China in 1271, traveling through the Middle East, across the Gobi Desert, to Khanbaliq in China. The journey took four years. Kublai Khan took a great liking to Marco Polo, employing him as a spy throughout his vast empire. Marco traveled and observed the cultures of Sumatra, Sri Lanka, and India in this capacity. His notes later became one of the world's great travel books, The Description of the World.

Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe, July 1943

Average customer rating:

Hot LZ
a good solid read.
Don't Pass this one up!
Engaging story of the first major test of the US Airborne
A "must read" for paratrooper buffs

Combat Jump: The Young Men Who Led the Assault into Fortress Europe, July 1943
Ed Ruggero
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

20th Century | World | History | Subjects | Books

The First Men In: US Paratroopers and the Fight to Save D-Day
Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82d Airborne in World War II
Descending From The Clouds: A Memoir of Combat in the 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82d Airborne Division
All American, All The Way: The Combat History Of The 82nd Airborne Division In World War II
The All Americans in World War II: A Photographic History of the 82nd Airborne Division at War

ASIN: 0060088753
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Book Description

The hair-raising, frontline account of the first American airborne invasion of World War II and of the young paratroopers who risked their lives for freedomBy 1943, the war in Europe had reached a turning point. General Dwight Eisenhower was given orders to invade Sicily and head north. To achieve this, Ike had a new weapon: U.S. paratroopers. Their mission was to seize the approaches to the invasion beaches and to hold off German attacks.

Combat Jump tells the little-known story of these paratroopers and how they changed the American way of war. It takes readers on their journey from civilians to citizen soldiers, through training in the United States and later in North Africa, and then shows their daring jump into the darkness over enemy-held Sicily.

By first light on D-day, July 10, 1943, it looked as if the mission would fail. Inexperienced pilots, lost or blown off course, dropped 80 percent of the troopers from one to sixty-five miles from their targets. The American commander, James Gavin, landed so far from his objective that he was not even sure he was in Sicily. Arthur Gorham, commanding 500 men of the First Battalion, encountered two surprises when the sun came up. He and just over 100 of his men were the only GIs -- out of 3,400 dropped -- near their objective. He also discovered that the Germans on Sicily had tanks. The lightly armed paratroopers, with their rifles and hand grenades, were not equipped to take on the forty-ton panzers. But against all odds, they did. The costly lessons they learned shaped the war in Europe, for without Sicily, there might have been no airborne invasion of France in June 1944.

Combat Jump recounts the extraordinary contributions these young men made when their country called them to war, and it tells a classic tale of military action and remarkable courage.

Customer Reviews:

Hot LZ.......2006-05-30

Combat Jump tells the tale of the 82nd Airborne (specifically the 505th Parachute Regiment) as the prepared for and jumped into Sicily in WWII. In the tale, Mr. Ruggero tells of the forming of the 505th, their charismatic young commander (James Gavin), veterans of the unit that made the jump, and the veteran's tales of what happened during their assault on Sicily. Mr. Ruggero gives excellent background information on the different veterans, including their occupations prior to joining the Army, what they did in the Army (including in their time with the 505th), and their remembrances of this event.

The early part of the book is excellently crafted. I was seriously looking at this as being a 4.5 star book, but when the jump was made, several problems occurred with his telling; first, the stories jump all over the map. Mr. Ruggero's following of the invasion of Sicily is as scattered as the 505th was! I really wish he'd followed a little more structure with things. If he had, I'd have found the book much more pleasant to read. Having said that, I really wish he'd had a few maps included so readers were aware of where he was talking about on Sicily. Maps really help with history books (publishers, please pay the extra nickels to have a few maps in the books. It really makes the books more buyable!). Finally, Mr. Ruggero needed to have a nice wrap up of what happened to the 505th after their initial jump. Instead, Mr. Ruggero closes with the unit being relieved...

My rating... as said earlier, I was really hoping for 4.5 stars, however after reading the later parts, I have to rate the book 3.5 stars overall. I rounded it up to 4 stars for Amazon.

a good solid read........2004-06-12

It was a bit hard to believe that this book wasn't written in first-person. The author did an excellent job in writing down someone else's words. Usually, retellings are not as vibrant or as engaging. But this was a pleasant surprise.

Don't Pass this one up!.......2004-05-11

This is an awesome book! I was originally disappointed because based on the title I thought it was about D-Day. Well it's not. It's about the invasion of Sicily. Let me say it was one of the best mistakes that I have made. I could not put this book down. It is fantastic and easy to read. I read 86 pages the first day and I am usually a slow reader. It was impossible for me to put the book down.

Do yourself a favor - buy this if you have an interest WWII and or paratroopers.

Engaging story of the first major test of the US Airborne.......2004-03-26

Ed Ruggero's "Combat Jump" is a wonderfully written and engaging piece of story-telling! Based mainly upon interviews with veterans of the 82nd Airborne Division (most specifically members of the 505th PIR), Ruggero has crafted a real page turner that takes the reader from the initial theoretical ideals of American Airborne forces to the first major combat - the Sicilian invasion of 1943 - seen by the fruits of the imaginative "fathers of the Airborne". Particularly interesting is the description of how initial concepts of the US Airborne Army were brought to fruition, and how a young West Point Captain, James ("Slim Jim") M. Gavin, played into these early events. Gavin is of course central to the entire story of the 82nd as he was a company commander in the 503rd PIR (Parachute Infantry Regiment) during training at Fort Benning, later regimental commander of the 505th PIR on its jump into Sicily and combat through Italy, and finally division commander of the 82nd Airborne (promoted to this post in August '44). While initially not of rank and stature to play a significant role in pushing the Airborne concept into reality, "Slim Jim" was certainly a major player in keeping the Airborne on the map - this is exemplified by his leadership of the 505th in the Sicilian campaign, which is so eloquently relayed here in "Combat Jump". It is the strong and steadfast picture of Gavin as a commander leading from the front that comes shinning through in "Combat Jump". It is no wonder that the US Airborne Army succeeded (in spite of many perceived tactical failures and let downs) with man like Gavin at the helm! Ruggero should be commended for bringing to life again the larger than life character that was Jim Gavin.

From the standpoint of precision of presented historical facts "Combat Jump" suffers in a fashion not uncommon in similarly presented second-hand "oral histories", such as works by Stephen Ambrose. Mr. Ruggero has no doubt taken the relayed oral histories of veterans at face value (in fact Ruggero essentially conveys this message in the last paragraph of his Author's Note at the end of the book) as historical inconsistencies are present in the text. One glaring example is the common reference to battles with numerous Tiger tanks during the first 3-4 days of battle in Sicily. No doubt lightly-armed paratroopers fighting as essentially as foot infantry without support of mechanized forces and little by way of supporting artillery would "see" any German tanks as the dreaded Tigers. In reality just 17 Tiger 1 tanks were actually present on Sicily at the time of the invasion on July 10, 1943, and were essentially rendered non-combatant by pressing US Naval Gunfire. Moreover, by D-Day+3 ten of these tanks were destroyed by the Germans themselves to avoid their capture (six of the remaining seven met a similar fate in the days that followed). It therefore seems almost certain that many of the "Tigers" fought by the 82nd on Sicily were in fact Mark IV or Panther tanks. This in no way diminishes the valor and bravery of the paratroopers who took on multi-ton armored vehicles, often with little more than adrenalin and a carbine, it merely points out that soldiers fighting in the field seldom see the events historically, but rather from the real perspective of life or death. To the trooper in the field any tank might as well be a Tiger when he was exposed without shelter and on his own. Neither Ruggero nor the veterans relaying their experiences can be particularly faulted for such errors. It is only pointed out here to illustrate the point from a "purity of history" vantage point.

Despite errors in precision of historical facts, "Combat Jump" is a wonderful read and worthy of attention as a tribute to the men who fought with the US Airborne, not just those of the 82nd Sicilian campaign. A solid read, not quite 5 stars but definitely 4 and three-quarters!!

A "must read" for paratrooper buffs.......2004-03-03

I enjoyed this book immensely. Considering that it was not written first hand, it does not seem like much was missed in the story telling. In fact, it was interesting, fast paced, and yet did not omit important details.

The two things that made the book an excellent read were the individual stories and the historical context. Lots of research went into weaving the complicated story of what happened in July 1943 into one cohesive story and including the individual histories as well.

Secondly, Rugerro clarifies the issues and circumstances that made this a historically significant event and not just a few days of battle. As a person who has a love for WWII paratrooper history, this is a must-read book.

Book Description

This exciting interactive book by a renowned children's book author takes readers on a mystery-solving adventure that ties together fact finding, artistic research, and the fabulous world of Leonardo da Vinci's art works.

When readers of this fascinating children's book are presented with an admission ticket to the Museum of Adventure, an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci turns into a rollicking adventure through history and art. Hot in pursuit of two suspicious visitors who have stolen an important document, readers, led by the dog Pablo that lives in the museum, enter the door of a Magic Room and find themselves in the studio of the master himself. Armed with a notebook written in code, readers must solve a variety of riddles, hidden inside the artist's paintings, which will lead them to the ancient stone depository—and ultimately to the secret that will save the museum from closing forever. Illustrated and designed with the curious eyes of young readers in mind, The Museum of Adventures is a magical place where Mona Lisa smiles and waves; Leonardo's inventions come to life; and a charming dog leads youthful sleuths through an interactive educational journey that will leave an indelible impression for years to come.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Book.......2007-02-25

My [...] daughter loved this book. The book is filled with fun facts and wonderful illustrations. The book is very interactive taking the reader along the for the mystery. The book had lots of clues and puzzles to unlock. My daughter had a great time reading it. We also purchased the other two books like this one. They were all highly entertaining.

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