This Martin Goldsmith is a multitalented guy . I knew his voice as the host of NPR's Performance Today, and this memoir of his (Jewish) parents' struggles and love in Hitler's Germany shows where he got his classical music genes. It must have taken a lot of courage to write this book -- Goldsmith explains how the Nazi terror was a taboo subject growing up , so we readers are fortunate that he had the courage to tell this beautiful story, and to tell it in such a modest, uncluttered, and elegant way . The chapter about the abortive attempt at escape on the St. Louis is a real cliff-hanger, and his account of the forced march of the jews, including the authors father and uncle, is chilling. Don't miss this one.

Martin Goldsmith takes the reader on an incredible journey that gives a chilling glimpse of life in Nazi Germany and the power of love and the human spirit to survive. After listening to Goldsmith's wonderful voice and commentary for years on NPR's "Performance Today," I could actually hear his voice as I read the words of his poignant stories about his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncle. Everyone should read this book. It would also be a compelling classroom supplement for students of history and music. The story is unforgettable. After I finished reading the book, one line from the song by The Verve keeps popping into my mind: "It's a bittersweet symphony, this life..."

From the first few pages of Martin Goldsmith's brilliant novel, I could not put it down. This book is a highly detailed, fascinating account of a little known piece of history. Although everyone is familiar with the attrocities of the holocaust, the author offers up a haunting account of the events from a cultural perspective, a truly personal account revolving around his own parents lives and how they were able to survive Nazi Germany. I had studied the holocaust in history classes in high school, but none came close to Goldsmith's painstakingly thorough account of the rise of national Socialism in Germany in the 1920's and 30's. Written simply and in a matter-of-fact style, the author pulls no punches and offers the reader a truly engaging study of the events leading up to WWII. But at the same time, the reader is also drawn in by the powerful bond between his mother and father and their love for the beautiful music which they had grown up with. I'm no musician, but was certainly fascinated to learn of all the wonderful Jewish contributions to our world culture. And although I certainly am quite removed from all events of the holocaust, I have never been so emotionally moved by a story before. This is a beautiful book and a must read for everyone.

Herbert Werner's book has been printed many times, a testament to its writing and story. Werner joined the German Navy at the outset of World War II, and was able to rise through the ranks fo this extremely dangerous calling to command his own U-Boats by the end of the war. Werner writes his account from a chronological perpsective, from the early, easy successes to the end of the war and the bleak outlook Germany had ahead of them. Key events like the "Happy Time," the sinking of the Bismarck, the Battle of Britain and operation Sea Lion figure in, as do the attacks on Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the waning days of the war.
Iron Coffins also exudes humanity, finding fault with the Nazi high command and the naval leadership that caused too many losses, weakened morale, and doomed Germany's effort. The title itself refers to Werner's view of the U-boats as floating deathtraps for most of their crews (perentage-wise, German U-boat crews had one of the top positions in any list of potential losses).

Werner was lucky to survive, given his job, and we are luckier still to have his account of U-boat work in World War II.

Reading World War II epics is a hobby of mine, and I can easily say that Iron Coffins is my all-time favorite book. I first read it in 1984 and couldn't put it down. I have read it about 15 times, and each time, it never ceases to captivate me at how Werner survived time and time again while the majority of his comrades met their fate at the bottom of the Atlantic. It is as if it was his destiny to preserve in writing this critical campaign of World War II. It tells you in vivid detail, the other side of the story-all Nazis were Germans, but not all Germans were Nazis. They had men, just like us, who would rather be somewhere else than in the heat of combat, wondering when they were going to get theirs. The vivid descriptions, going from Years of Glory to Disaster and Defeat made me feel like I was right there next to Werner, riding out the brutal storms in the North Atlantic, the ceaseless depth chargings, gasping for air, limping back into port, mauled and beaten, yet still alive. They went to war for their country. Nearly all of them perished. Now, read this tragic true story of one of the few U-boat commanders who lived to tell the tale. The Iron Coffin would not claim Herbert Werner's life. His book preserves the saga of Germany's undersea struggle. A masterpiece!

This is my all time favorite military history book I have read in my life!! Herbert Werner's life story is gripping and compelling with incredible real life accounts of daily life and death struggles as a U-boat commander. Great details of battle actions. This guy truely had "9 lives". How he ever survived was a miracle.

What a visceral impact Tom Childers' Wings of Morning had on me. Unable to put the book down, I read it in two days. Not only does the author vividly describe the training and every day life of a WWII bomber crew, he also makes you feel like Goodner's family, anxiously awaiting the next letter. Not wanting to give away the results of a frantic search to find out what happened to this crew after being shot down over Germany, let me suggest that you buy the book, curl up in your chair, and read as one hell of a story unfolds. Next to Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier", you'll have a hard time finding a better account of the war and the men who fought it. As an aside, Professor Childers has a superb course on WWII available through the Teaching Company. And I encourage all of you to seek it out as well.

Having heard all of Dr. Childer's excellent audio courses available from the Teaching Company, I had very high expectations for this book. I was not disappointed; Wings of Morning is an exceptional book that details the war time experiences of a B-24 bomber crew from their initial induction and training, to their deployment to England as part of the 8th Air Force, through their fateful final mission in the closing days of Word War II. A final mission, incidentally, that the reader can not help but conclude should have never been flown.

Based on hundreds of crewmember letters home, Wings of Morning provides insights that go far beyond the usual combat narrative. The combat experience is here to be sure, but so is the training, off-duty hours, weekend leaves, camaraderie, devotion to duty, exhilaration, boredom, bravery, fear, hope for the future, and the families back home. This book, more than any I've ever read, gave me an appreciation for the near constant tension that these men must have felt. I repeatedly found myself asking what I would have done in similar situations and realizing anew why those who fought World War II are rightly called the "Greatest Generation".

Wings of Morning does not end with the loss of a B-24 crew over Regensburg, Germany, in April of 1945 nor with the War Department notifications to the families waiting at home. Professor Childer's uncle was a crew member on that tragic flight and the final chapters of this extraordinary book detail his quest to reconstruct the final mission of a B-24 known as the Black Cat.

I've read and own many good books about World War II but none has had the impact of Wings of Morning. Thank you, Dr. Childers, for this insightful and thought provoking work...

I would conservatively estimate that I have read 500 books on WWII, and this would rate in the top three. I cannot recall a book that more completely gripped me from start to finish. Childers' unique "first person" story telling breathes life into young men that have long passed from this world. Through dialogue that seems very easy to accept as real, he makes us love and respect these true American heroes, and then causes us to feel the loss (albeit a minute fraction) that their families and friends felt almost sixty years ago. I cannot recommend a book more highly, even if you are not a WWII scholar. If you are, it is a MUST read.

"Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" by Bryan Mark Rigg, is a unique World War II history. He has had access to government archives, private records, and personal interviews that most history buffs only dream about. Indeed, one must have a thorough background in the German National Socialist years and modern military history just to begin to appreciate the level of the research that went into the book.

Apart from the unique breadth and focus of Mr. Rigg's research, his book stands out for its fresh and intriguing perspective. The author explores the various reasons why men who appear to have nothing to gain and everything to lose might find themselves in the German military. Their reasons often included elements of patriotism, considerations of personal safety by hiding in plain sight, desire for personal or career advancement, the hope that a soldier's family might benefit from his loyal service, and a sense of duty instilled by previous military training before the Nazis came to power.

The Nazi German racial laws focused more on ancestry than choice of religion. There were significant numbers of Jews, half-Jews, and quarter-Jews in the German military. Although there were few Jews of pure ancestry, there were substantial numbers of the so-called mischlinge, or people of mixed heritage. Hitler's Jewish Soldiers analyzes the actions and motivations of people who could possess one of two extremely different points of view to explain what really went on in Germany in the Nazi era.

A truly unique case history that Mr. Rigg references in his book is Bernhard Rogge. Rogge began his naval career in the Kaiser's navy, served the Reichsmarine of the post WW1 republic, then Hitler's navy to reach the rank of vice admiral, after Germany fell Rogge worked managing with a shipping company, and finally he retired in the 1960's after serving as a vice admiral in the Bundesmarine. Rogge, as a quarter Jew married to a Jew was considered a full Jew under Nazi pronouncements. In 1939, his wife and mother in law, also Jewish, killed themselves to escape the persecution. Hitler gave Rogge an exemption from the Nazi racial laws. Hitler later personally awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves to Rogge for his military accomplishments. Rogge served with humanitarian distinction in command of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis, sinking or capturing 22 ships and remaining away from port for 655 days without any serious morale or discipline problems. Later in the war, his task group built around the Prinz Eugen supported the epic German evacuation in the Baltic Sea away from the Russian invasion in the east. Nobody will ever know how many German lives were saved. Certainly no Nazi, Rogge is just one example of a man of possessed of two heritages who is remembered for serving his country loyally and decently.

The most common analytical shortcut taken by modern historians is to write of groups of people. Since it requires the collective efforts of thousands, and perhaps millions, of people to wage a modern war, it seems quite reasonable to assume that groups of people acted in accordance with a common goal and a unanimous conviction in their ideals. Although it may make perfectly good sense to approach the history of war and politics as a study of the conflicts among races, religions, and nations, the resulting oversimplification dilutes and obscures the real lessons of history. By exploring the individual motivations of men whose backgrounds fit neatly into neither of two competing groups, Mr. Rigg actually examines the whole concept of why men participate in war.

It should be obvious that neither army in a conflict, and certainly no individual soldier, goes into battle with the intention of being remembered as the 'bad guy' in history. Unfortunately, modern writers frequently assume too many things and attribute commonly misunderstood purposes to the German soldiers, and such errors are the result of stereotyping. Many soldiers of Jewish heritage served with valor and were awarded Iron Crosses and Knights Crosses. Individual commanders often shielded Jews in their units. The political and military motivations of leaders and the men who followed them should be revealed so that future generations will actually learn from history. Mr. Rigg's book is a significant contribution to the analysis of an obscure and misunderstood issue.

Bryan Mark Rigg's book 'Hitler's Jewish soldiers' is a fascinating read from both a Political Science and a military history view point. Since 1945 the history of the Third Reich has been portrayed as in a manner that served the political views of the historian. Dr. Rigg avoids this pitfall by not attempting to explain away the bloodiest war in history, he instead take the stories of German veterans of that war and puts their experience into the well documented context of the time. What you end up with is a tragic yet riveting view of people whose lives, careers, and very sense of self are shattered by the racial laws of Hitler's Germany. Though even Hitler could not commit to his narrow racial views as he assigned 'honorary Aryan' status to some, while leaving others to die.
The Zionist view of the Third Reich has been of demonic fascists monolith responsible for the attempted annihilation of an entire race of people. As convenient as this view is for the modern state of Israel, Dr. clearly documents that the truth was far more complex than that. There was not agreed upon 'race' of Jews in Europe. Dr. Rigg documents the shock of people across German society from when the Nazi racial laws when an acted when people who had never even considered then selves Jews where informed at they where by law. Soldier, Officers, Admirals, sailors, decorated war heroes, many of whom went to church ever Sunday, where informed by their government that somewhere in their family tree there was an 'impurity'.
This is not the story of Jews in the death camps who became 'capos' and assisted the Nazis in the Holocaust. This is the story of regular Germans who went off to fight for their country. Some hid their 'racial' background, but many did not. At the onset of the war soldiers with one Jewish parent could serve in the Wheremacht. By the time they where at the gates of Moscow, the bar moved a tens of thousands of the 'Jews' where discharged, only '¼' Jews could then serve.
In reading this book you can not help but develop sympathy for these 'marginal men' not accepted by Jewish community or by the Nazi Government, many found the only place they could be treated as equals was among their comrades in arms, in the Wehrmacht, where they fought and died for a government that hated them and was abusing their families while the one some of their nation's highest awards for bravery.
The Orwellian nightmare where a few fanatics blinded a Christian nation to their diabolical racist schemes that was so essential in the early re-armament of Germany does not find a great deal of factual support in this book either. The facts that Dr. Rigg has uncovered clear show that when Hitler railed against the 'Jews' many heads in Germany bobbed in agreement look to the sprawling ghettos of the East. Centuries on inter-marriage and assimilation lead to fully Germanized, cosmopolitan Germans agreeing in principle to parts, or even, as they understood it, all of the Nazi program, never dreaming that the wrath would be turned upon them.
Anyone who has any interest in the true nature of world war two needs to read this book. It is meticulously documented and thoroughly researched. I don't believe that anyone can read this book and not be profoundly effected.

This is truly a landmark book and an amazing achievement both in scholarship and in humane sensitivity to an excruciatingly difficult subject. The title of the book, while seemingly gratuitously sensational, does sum up the subject of the study: those serving in the various armed forces of the Third Reich, as officers and as ordinary soldiers and sailors, who happened to be of Jewish descent. The chapter titles show how Rigg examines the various facets of the matter:

Who Is a Jew?
Who Is a "Mischling" ['partial Jew']
Assimilation and the Jewish Experience in the German Armed Forces
Racial Policy and the Nuremberg Laws, 1933-1939
The Policy toward "Mischlinge" Tightens, 1940-1943
Turning Point and Forced Labor, 1943-1944
Exemptions from the Racial Laws Granted by Hitler
The Process of Obtaining an Exemption
What Did "Mischlinge" Know about the Holocaust?

Interspersed among the chapters are four collections of (usually personal) photographs of Jewish and 'partially Jewish' officers and men of the Wehrmacht, SS, and Waffen SS, among others.

It seems to me a measure of the scrupulous, indeed rigorous fairness of Rigg's treatment of this most painful subject that the reader (well, I at any rate) was struck again and again by the unfamiliar sensation of, among other high officials of the Third Reich, even Hitler sometimes actually coming across as human, showing what seems--against that ghastly backdrop, of course--to be real decency and compassion for (partial) Jewish veterans, and indeed others whose special circumstances recommended them to his attention. The easy and in fact almost inescapable thing is to simply demonize Hitler et al. and be done with it. Rigg has given the devil his due.

Not everyone is going to be delighted with the book, but there it is. Pace Keats, Beauty is not Truth, and Truth is not Beauty.
Rigg's examination of the central question of who knew how much when about what is, again, scrupulously yet sensitively handled.

A personal note: Thirty-some years ago, I was studying at a Goethe-Institut in Germany. One of my instructors mentioned one day that his father, whose mother was Jewish, received a phone call one evening in the late '30s from a friend at the local police station, who told him his file had come through for "processing." The friend told him that in a few minutes he would go down cellar to stoke his furnace, and with permission that file--and the man--would cease to exist officially. My instructor's father thanked his friend, and the family hid him in the attic throughout the war. His father's physical and mental health were shattered by the experience.

My instructor (telling his class this in 1969) remarked that when he received his draft notice he could easily have evaded conscription, but in fact he served with Rommel in North Africa. He witnessed a ceremony in which Rommel himself decorated a subordinate who had been in charge of capturing some town and afterward had turned his men loose, allowing them to behave as they pleased for a few days. After pinning the medal on this general, he said, Rommel then made a brief speech about how atrocities reflected on the German Army, the German People, and the German Reich, then he drew the general's sidearm from his holster and executed him, just like that. My instructor remarked, "Unter Rommel gab es keine Schweinerei."

Until reading Rigg's book, I had assumed that my instructor's experience as a Jewish soldier of the Third Reich was very unusual, if not unique. As Rigg makes clear, this misperception was common, even among these soldiers themselves, even well after the war was over.

If you read only one serious nonfiction book this year, this should be the one.

I was terrified by the world that Victor Klemperer brings to life in " I Will Bear Witness ". The diary is a day by day account of a slow descent into the bowels of Hell. In the beginning the reader is pulled into Klemperers mostly mundane day to day life. Klemperer was a well respected and much published professor of Romance Languages at the University of Dresden. As well he was a decorated veteran of World War I. Slowly, starting with Hitlers rise to power in 1933, his entire world is turned inside out. Day by day the situation becomes more strained. Year by year the situation becomes more dangerous. But the brave hearted Klemperers stay on in Germany because they are German and can imagine no other life. I was greatly moved by the scenes that were brought to life by Klemperer. The description of the first household search they were subjected to caused goose bumps to run up my spine. In addition, the narrative of his 8 day imprisonment ( cell 89 ) is in my opinion a classic that will belongs to the ages. His ability to to draw a picture and capture the mood of a situation was truly amazing. I cannot say enough about the courage of the Klemperers as they fought everyday to hold onto their dignity, pride and finally their lives. Thanks to the skill and courage of Professor Klemperer I now have, in some small way, an idea of what the day to day horror of Nazi Germany was like for the persecuted.

This is the most compelling book I have ever read on the subject of the destruction of the German Jewish community. Compelling because the author wrote for himself, with candor and without artifice, about his daily experiences, hopes and fears. I recommend strongly that you buy this book. If you do, you will find yourself, as I did, caught up in the daily life of a German professor who cast aside his Jewish heritage in favor of German culture, only to find, in the end, that his treasured homeland still considered him a Jew by race. I only regret, at the time of my writing this, that the second volume is not yet available. Of all the books I have read on the Holocaust, this one will live forever in my mind, because reading his diary was like living his experience.

Discovering Victor Klemperer's "Diary" is like finding the missing link. It helps to fill in the gaps in our understanding of the German society that became crazy and the Jewish victims who experienced it. Volume I of the Diary, written and edited in journalistic style, gives a dramatic account of the day to day life of a Jewish Professor during the Hitler years. It reveals an all too human, noble, but flawed, character who undergoes dramatic development as the story progresses. The backdrop of historical events turns the Diary into a page-turning thriller. If we consider this true story to be a novel, we can identify with the protagonist, caught in the plot of history; it is great literature at it's best. As documented history, it gives invaluable insight into the holocaust. Every intelligent person will want read it.

Much has been written about the Wehrmacht, discussing strategies, campaigns, results and commanders; less has been written about the common German soldier in W.W.II. In this
extraordinary book, Gottlob H. Bidermann narrates his experience in the 132 Infantry Division on
the Eastern Front from June 1941 to May 1945 followed by surrender and internment in Russia
until the summer of 1948. He was commissioned and received officer training in 1943 but
continued to be assigned to the 132 Infantry Division. Bidermann's memoirs were written for and
distributed to the survivors of his regiment and division, and originally were not for general
audiences. Derek S. Zumbro, a US Naval officer and friend of the Bidermann family, was given a
copy of his memoir in 1985 by Bidermann which Zumbro translated; the memoirs were published
as the book IN DEADLY COMBAT.

The text is basically an accurate chronology of the events Bidermann personally experienced on
the Eastern Front. Daily death, suffering and destruction was encountered and the author states
"We tended our wounded, buried our dead and moved forward to the next encounter, knowing
that eventually, we would meet the end of our journey". He later notes "Most of us owed our
lives to the skill and self-sacrifice of other in our company, many of whom were no longer with
us."

It is interesting to read the author's personal reactions to brutal combat. He relates how his
training and discipline gave him life saving split second reactions when face to face with the
enemy. While generally not critical of German combat general officers, many of whom he
admired, like the common soldier in all armies he "called it like was". For example, commenting
on one general "And the highest commander, to whom credit for the catastrophe should be
awarded, was not present to witness what his decisions had wrought. As always, the soldiers in
the field bore the brunt of these mistakes and paid with their lives." In another case he wrote
"When captured" General Shoerner "was wearing a traditional Bavarian alpine costume, for
which he had exchanged his uniform and golden party badge. Only weeks earlier he had subjected
untold numbers of soldiers to summary execution for similar displays of cowardice."

Equally interesting is his attitude serving on the Eastern Front, as his division went from a
conquering army in 1941 to the desperate fight for survival in the Courland pocket. Bidermann
writes "....those who continued to cling to the belief in a "final Victory", now realized the
hopelessness of our situation. That said the will to resist the Soviets, the fighting spirit within the
ranks of the Courland fighters, remained unbroken" resulting in the fact "....the troops in
Courland were .... the only combat units in the German army that were never defeated in open
battle." The author makes the interesting statement "We saw the true sense of our operations in
Courland as having one clearly defined objective: the defense of European culture..." then he
laments that the West ignored what he termed "the tragedy unfolding in eastern and central
Europe. Communism descended on an entire culture...."

The text is dictated by the framework of the German army in which Bidermann fought, by the
nature of the Reich and largely by a set of cultural and intellectual conventions in the army which
differed widely from those of the British and Americans. These factors contributed a cohesiveness
that allowed Germany to maintain front-line effectiveness when units like the 132 Infantry
Division fought the enemy for 3 1/2 years, almost without relief. Amazingly, Bidermann relates
that within the framework of the army there were no plans, policies or training for retreat and a
strategic withdrawal which could have reduced losses and preserved unit strength. When orders
were received to surrender on May 8, 1945 the author writes "The philosophy of fighting to death
had become so ingrained within us during the past years that to surrender, as we were now being
ordered to do, was inconceivable." Although they knew that the Russians liquidated thousands of
Polish officers in Poland and expected possibly the same fate, the culture and strict discipline of
the army did not allow for disobeying orders; Bidermann's division surrendered as ordered.

Throughout the text, references to events at home are noted such as "....our relatives lived in a
daily terror of the bombs...." and "The attempted assassination revealed that the war was lost.
Hitler was nothing more that a dictator in brown." Then finally, "In general, news of the death of
Hitler was received by the troops with indifference; however, it must also be said that some
breathed a sigh of relief."

The Epilogue describes of the brutal life in the Soviet prisoner of war camps. The text states "In
the twentieth century prisoners were often afforded little or no protection in any form and
remained free game for the victors. One could beat them, work them to death, shoot them or
simply let them starve." Bidermann observed all of this in Soviet prisoner of war camps. It should
be noted that the same philosophy was followed in Japanese prisoner of war camps. In contrast,
the author states "In the United States prisoners had confinement vastly different from our ordeal
in the gulags. They were well-fed and in the best of health...."

While the writer did not report witnessing atrocities, neither does he ignore their existence. This
work is refreshing as it narrates the hard, brutal life of a front-line an infantryman in combat with
none of the usual apologies of "we were just following orders." often found in other memoirs.
This is a "must read" for those interested in W.W.II history.

In Deadly Combat is the "Must" read of World War 2. The memoirs of 3 1/2 years of combat on the eastern front, followed by over 1,000 days as a Soviet POW can not be described in any other words except by a man that survived the ordeal. Bidermann's account not only details the destruction and misery brought by the "Gods of War," but offers a very intriguing insight on how he both excelled as a soldier, and leader of men....And, his memoirs offers insight about survival.

The most fascinating aspect about Bidermann's memoirs is "what went through his mind" during a terrible & horrific experience.

After my readings of the US combat veteran in WW2, the Korean War, and Vietnam; the perils of 3 1/2 years of continous combat seem momentus compared to the shorter combat tours. Of course, any combat tour must be incredibly sickening, but the realization soldiers of the Red Army and German Army lasted so long boggles the mind.

Finally, Bidermann depicts 3 1/2 years of combat on the Eastern Front in a concise, entertaining and easily read book. His work both as a soldier and author is INCREDIBLE!

Gottlob Bidermann's book of his personal experience on the eastern front was,to me, something that I have longed for for some time. The only other personal account commonly known proir to this time was Guy Sajer's which, though a good read, I felt may not all be true. The time period covered is mid 1941 until the end of the war. Largely a personal narrative, the description of battle in the crimea, kerch, and breaking the seige of Sevastopol were of great interest to me. The description of desparate fighting with the russians and eventually to simply to survive were touching. Little mention is made of the politics of war, which is fitting, for I feel the common landser had little time or energy to expend on this. One can grasp from this narrative the camradery among the landsers and an incredible amount of military discipline that allowed at least a few to survive an abysmal situation. The portion of his story dealing with the surrender in the Courland pocket and subsequent imprisonment in Russia were heart breaking -- to suffer so much in nearly 4 years of war and then to endure this seemed too much for any man to endure. I can give no higher reccommendation for this book for military historians and for general readers the triumph over overwhelming adversity of the human spirit.

From the Germanic Wars to the tyrannical reign of Nero and Domitian, this book covers it all. Donna Gillespie has created an intense book that readers for years to come will enjoy. Her characters, from the beautiful Germanic warrioress Auriane to the highly revered senator Marcus Julianus to the deeply cruel Emperor Domitian, are all so richly detailed the readers feel like they know them. Auriane is such a beautifully drawn character that you want to believe that she once existed. I am now in the midst of re-reading this book for the 8th time and it still holds every bit of the magic of the first time. This book is by far the best historical novel i have yet read and will probably continue to be. This book has something for everyone in it. There's war, romance, tyranny, conspiracy, and so much more. I am very excited for the rest of the trilogy when it is released. If you are looking to immerse yourself in detailed Roman culture and brilliant characters, look no farther than this startling well written novel, I gaurantee you will love it.

As a man somewhat wary of historical novels about female warriors, I have to proclaim my love for this deep rich luscious book. I want to propose to Auriane. Not since Patrick O'Brien has a historical novel so utterly convinced me that it was written in the time it portrays. I can't even imagine how one human being accumulates the collosal amount of research evidenced in every detail and layer of this book. Gillespie is able to imagine everything, at any scale: ancient poverty, grotesque depravity,; gossamer flutterings of interior motivatons to sweeping herd dynamics; the tiny details of mundane to the great issues of politics and religion. You sink your teeth into the carnality; your heart soars with the spirituality. The paganism, the vividly drawn and wide array of characters, the dialogue, the mysticism-- The Light Bearer easily has the sweep and depth and profundity of War and Peace. There. I said it. Cast stones at me if you will. If the Light Bearer does not become a timeless classic, there is no justice in this world. Read it.

One of the finest examples of HISTORICAL fiction I have read. There is a romance component to this novel, but it is very much in the sub-plot category. The characters are complex and developing throughout the book, the setting - including the warring psychology and belief systems of Rome and the 'barbarians' - are wonderfully described. I am still 'haunted' by some of the imagery and marvelous juxtapositions in this book (after a couple of weeks). On the other hand, the historical detail does not prevent this from being a page-turner - and a pretty easy read.

After reading this book, Donna Gillespie has made it high on my list of favorite historical fiction (loosely defined) authors, which includes Margaret George, India Edghill, Edward Rutherfurd, Steven Pressfield, Diana Gabaldon, Ken Follett, Irving Stone, and Sharon Kay Penman. All of these authors have varying styles, but what unites them is portrayal of the paradigms of the times about which they write through well-researched detail. The Light Bearer is a perfect example of this amazing talent. If you enjoy HISTORICAL historical fiction, and some of the authors above, this is a book for you.

The very idea of recognizing the validity of anything an admitted Nazi had to say was anathema to me: A Holocaust refugee who landed in America at age ten.

But, Hitler's Last Courier is making a difference. The message of the book is a magnificent paean to the honesty and integrity of the writer.

Armin Lehmann gives us a picture -- in meticulous, almost overly zealous, detail of how the Nazi machine worked in Germany. Idolatry of Hitler took over, became stronger than any religion, and all participants involved cheerfully allowed themselves to be brainwashed.

Little kids judged each others blondness, parents skillfully eliminated any non-Aryan ancestors from family trees. Armin Lehmann omits nothing. He even translates every military and youth-group term into English so that the reader will have a complete picture of the Nazi hierarchy.

As a youngster, it seems that duty and obedience -- part and parcel of many unsuccessful attempts to please his judgmental "SS"father -- were major priorities. And, on he went, to become a teen-age soldier, earning two Iron Cross medals for heroically saving his fellows even when he, himself, was grieviously wounded. His reward, at age 16, was being assigned as Courier in Hitler's final bunker.

So, why celebrate this book, this gray recount of Nazi bureaucracy, of Hitler's propaganda machine, of worship at the Nazi altar? What is there to gain from such an exposition?

In a word, everything!

Because at age 16, when Armin Lehmann was shown the carnage of the extermination camps, the residue of the ovens, the skeletal remains of both the dead and the barely living, he underwent a change that took charge of the rest of his life.

From that moment, he became a fierce advocate for non-violence, for peace, and a dedicated enemy of all hatred. And he has never stopped. He has given his heart and his soul to erasing even the most remote possibility that any kind of hate movement could ever arise again.

He pulls no punches, makes no attempt to deny guilt, fully accepts the karma that has painted his destiny as an activist.

This man is to be respected. Hitler's Last Courier was written for a reason. At this point in time, at this juncture between peace and a possibly deadly World War III, we must all heed the message his message.

This book is for all ages. Every potential skinhead, racist, Aryan Nation member, and homophobic kid on the block needs to read it, learn from it. History, in fact, does not need to repeat itself.

Author Armin Lehmann possesses a sole right to this book's title, both now and forever. He most probably was the last surviving courier lad available in the Berlin bunker to serve Adlof Hitler, "the Führer". Moreover, Hitler (together with his longtime mistress, Eva Braun, now his last-moment wife) was about to kill himself even as the youth, ignorant of that fact, departed on his final, almost certainly suicidal mission.
For Russian tanks rumbled up the street behind him as he ran for dear life, their guns firing after him ...
Such is the essentially final, certainly climactic scene, set in mid-1945, of "Hitler's Last Courier"; whereas Lehmann's memoirs begin with also often horrifying family scenes, dominated by his overbearing Nazi father, dating from the early 1930s.
The whole 15-year span deserves our study and understanding, for only by realizing the bitterness of such a brutal upbringing can we appreciate the realities of its consequences such as the boy's simultaneous hatred of and avid desire to please his father, and his suceptibility to brainwashing and the acceptance of rank misinformation.
Even as young Armin's perspective outgrew his family's heavy influence, there was precious little relief; for now the state's constant oppression, hypocrisies, and lies could simply take over mastery as the dominant theme in his life, leading even to war.
Our word "incredible" is badly overworked, and for someone like myself, born in 1932 and still able to recall both prewar times and the vast changes that swept over us even in Canada from Sept. 1939 onward - for instance, the loss of my dear cousin Leslie over the English Channel in 1940, and those stabs of fear as German U-boats torpedoed ships and killed men right here in the St. Lawrence River - I unfortunately know all too well how tragically credible this book really is.
Buy the work, then, by all means! - together with such overview works as Sir Winston Churchill's compendious non-fiction series (for its broad perspectives as much as anything) and Erich Maria Remaque's war fiction (for its complementary human insights), if you are able.
I do however hope to see a Second Edition someday, providing photos, maps, and a table of major events during the period covered.
The present edition is a marvel; the next will surely excel, although a roomfull of books would be needed to tell the entire tale of such a massive, far-reaching conflict as World War II.

If you've ever wondered how Adolf Hitler could have gotten the cooperation of all those German citizens, then you should get your hands on a copy of "Hitler's Last Courier."

Armin Lehmann will take you through the childhood of an ordinary German boy (his own childhood) and not just tell you, but SHOW you how this happened.

I found it hard to put this book down, (just one more page - and one more page!) and now that I have finished it, I will never think of Germany, or Germans, the same way again. It is particularly chilling to discover that the Germans of the 1930s and '40s were, and are, just like us - and disturbing to think that we could be caught up in a similar situation, and would likely behave much as as the Germans did in the thrall of Hitler.

Lehmann's account of the final days and hours of the Third Reich is riveting. He was holed up in the bunker along with Hitler and his henchmen, and often sent scurrying across the street - with shells exploding all around him - in order to deliver messages to the nearby radio station.

We have in Armin Lehmann a historical treasure: an eyewitness to the final days and hours of the Third Reich. "Hitler's Last Courier" is the kind of book you want to pass along to your friends and family, and make sure your library has a copy. What Mr. Lehmann has seen and lived through shouldn't be forgotten.

I agree with other reviewers that this is an excellent book and well worth reading. The author certainly expresses a life-long appreciation of all things American. I understand the comments of others who are relieved that someone has more clearly demonstrated that all Germans were not Nazis. However, I suggest that this story also illustrates how many of the same non-Nazi Germans had little tolerance for immigrants, even those from their own country. When I lived in Germany, I witnessed continuing discrimination against non-German immigrants. While reading the references to horrific acts committed by German and Russian armies, I also could not help but recall the total destruction from allied incendiary bomb firestorms in Dresden, a city that at the time included a mass of refugees. There is a brief reference to this in the book. War is indeed hell. The author has done a very good job of telling his story through the eyes of a young boy. I was particularly taken by his ability to illustrate emotions resulting from the scarcity of basic necessities and the resulting hunger - for nourishment, shelter, warmth, and love.

Colonel Samuel,USAF ret., was born in Nazi Germany to a woman raised in a small town to the north of Berlin and to an officer in the Luftwaffe. German Boy: A Child in War is an account of his life from the age of 10, when he, his mother, and sister became refugees fleeing the advance of Soviet forces in January 1945, to the age of 15, when he emigrated to the United States with his mother and step-father. In between, he lived in both the Soviet and British zones of occupation. This book sets forth Colonel Samuel's vivid, honest, and unsentimental recollection of the devastation, privation, degradation, brutality, and starvation that he and his family witnessed and experienced during those years. It is well written and it takes hold of the reader from the first paragaph and stays with one long after the last sentence has been read.

"German Boy" is an important work. As a history, it relates something about a period of history that is not commonly known -- the horrors of World War II in Europe continued long after the fighting ended in May of 1945. As a personal account, it offers hope. Wolfgang Samuel, like millions of children before, during, and since World War II, directly experienced events through which no child should ever have to suffer. His story highlights the resilience of the individual and illustrates that with the will, the perseverance, optimism, and some luck, one can survive disaster and live a better life. This volume would make excellent supplemenary reading for high school and college history courses.

Those who find "German Boy" to be of interest may also consider reading another excellent book, which is titled, "A Woman in Berlin." The author is anonymous. As the title suggests, the book is a published journal written by a young woman while she was living in Berlin during the weeks before the fall of the city to the Soviets and through the first weeks of the Soviet occupation. It was published during the 1950s and is now out of print. However, it is not too difficult to find and it is well worth the effort.

This book was a present to me because my youngest brother saw much of Samuel's character in me. Some of the experiences Samuel had between 1945 and 1950, seem to universal to all German refugee children. However, some things he relates must have been researched. An example is that when his mother went back to East Germany, she came back hidden in a railroad car laden with coal. I heard that particular story before I was 5 years old. Despite the memories of his experiences (many which I seem to share), this is an excellent look into the life of German refugee families and is well worth reading. I would recommend that the reader reread it to get the full impact of life for MOST Germans during and immediately after WWII.

This book is mandatory reading to anyone interested in the Wehrmacht's campaigns on the Eastern Front. The study has been meticulously researched, is reflective, well written, and evidence that the author is one of the foremost experts of German military operations against the Soviet Union during 1942. The book is a scholarly, detailed study of the Luftwaffe's campaigns during this critical year, yet provides perfect analytical context by explaining army operations, which the Luftwaffe was closely affiliated and therefore necessary for understanding its own activities, and also the strategic/political factors driving the Wehrmacht's overall campaign. It also demonstrates, to often overlooked in most campaign studies, the significant role that individual personalities can, and do, play in war. This book is a MUST read to anyone that is especially interested in the Luftwaffe, joint warfare, dynamic leadership and airpower. All military practitioners, scholars and commentators will thoroughly enjoy reading it.

Recently I ordered 'Stopped at Stalingrad' from amazon.com. It was well worth the puchase, as the book is both a profoundly researched study and an interesting read. It's a scholarly work which, undoubtedly, will become a classic in its field.

Dénes Bernád, Aviation Historian and Author

Hayward believes that German air doctrine was too narrowly focused on tactical air support and ignored strategic targets. In his book, Hayward supports his thesis by stating that during the battle for Stalingrad,the Luftwaffe paid too much attention to supporting the ground forces and not enough attention to interdicting the ferries carrying Russian soldiers across the Volga river. Hayward also criticizes the Luftwaffe for not bombing the Caucasusian oil fields which could have severely hampered the Russian war effort. Finally, Hayward writes that the Luftwaffe was spread out to thinly to support the main thrust at Stalingrad and Manstein's southern advance in the Caucasus. I would strongly reccomend this book to anyone whose interested in the faults of German military doctine during World War II.