5 comments about A Cure for Gravity: A Musical Pilgrimage.

1. I have been a Joe Jackson since his unforgettable video debut on MTV in Stepping Out. This book is about his wonderful career in the business of making and playing music. He doesn't namedrop as often enough. He writes about his upbringing in a working-class family. He aspired to be a musician despite the other kids' cruelty at school. He was accepted and made it into the Royal Academy of Music with fellow classmates like Annie Lennox. Joe writes candidly about his awkward teen years, his budding sexuality, his discovery of girls who only liked him as a friend but he wanted more, and being an outcast. It's something that I can relate too as not fitting in. He writes about his life in Portsmouth and his life in New York City, his adopted hometown. He doesn't come across as arrogant but more or less just honest about his life and that's something I respect him for that. I would give five stars but there are no pictures in the book about his life. Maybe that's the way he probably wanted it. Regardless, it's an entertaining book and I'm going to mail it to a friend of mine trained in classical music and voice who might find it refreshing that Joe Jackson is a Beethoven fan. He should be on the British honors list for his services and contributions to music. He writes quite candidly about his circumcision as an adult and his relationship with his former wife, Ruth Rogers Wright. Jackson seems to be comfortable within himself. He sets a good example for musicians today who are struggling or those who are conflicted with success and fame without losing their identity. I gave a star less because there are no pictures of him or his family or his life.



2. Anybody interested in music should read this book by Joe Jackson. Its a musical autobiography, covering his life in music from his childhood up to the point where he made it as a 'popstar'. I use the quotes around popstar because Joe Jackson was always more than a popstar and if you have an interest in Classical music or Jazz you might also find this book interesting.
   
   Jackson is interested in most forms of music, he talks about Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, the difficulties of playing solo Piano gigs, the many musicians he played with, the madness of being in a band and some of the awful gigs he did. So whether you've played in a pub band, or you play in an Orchestra there is something here that will interest you.
   
   For the musical snobs out there, Joe Jackson studied at the Royal Academy of Music and has letters after his name (LRAM in percussion). This shouldn't be relevent but some people will avoid this book just because he is/was a pop star.
   
   This is well written by Jackson, on occasions funny, and to anybody who who has obssessed about music in the same way as he has you will find it an absorbing read, regardless of what form of music you like.



3. Joe Jackson's music entered my mind in 1978 and has lodged there ever since. He's one of the few pop musicians I followed for more than two albums, because he continally reinvented himself. It was a great discovery to find that he had written an autobiography.
   
   The focus is on his musical development up to the point when his LP "Look Sharp!" made him famous, but it is also informed by what happened afterwards. I enjoyed this book very much, and dusted off the turntable to play his records again. They are every bit as great as I remembered them.



4. Joe Jackson is a very good writer, certainly better than many of his peers in the music business. This book covers Joe's early years, before he even was known as Joe, and works its way through his formative development as a young man and dedicated musician, up until the success of "Look Sharp"
   
   While I am a fan of Joe's early work, especially Look Sharp and I'm The Man, I think this book would appeal to non-fans as well. It comes down to basic writing skill, and Joe's got it. The book flows nicely from start to finish, never bogging down with unnecessary details of rock band debauchery, or getting too preachy. The pacing is just about perfect, with a nice balance of interesting, humorous stories and personal opinions about music, and life in general.
   
   Joe Jackson tells a good story, and for fans, the stories alone are worth the price of admission. In addition to the entertaining stories and a very honest revealing of his life and early development of his career in music, Joe sprinkles in astute observations and opinions about music and the entertainment business along the way. While always remaining true to his passion for music, Joe keeps his ego in check, which enhances the success of the book by making him someone that the reader can identify with.
   
   A better writer than Marilyn Manson, Dee Dee Ramone, and many other musicians; and providing much more insight than your average biographer, Joe Jackson tells his own story with heart, humor, and insight. Pick this up new or used, you won't be disappointed.



5. I am very upset about Mr. Jackson's comment on Workinton, England. He obviously doesn't really know the place. It is where my mother is from, and it is filled with such beauty and warmth. I suggest Mr. Jackson take another visit.

5 comments about Lennon Revealed (Book & DVD).

1. I was hoping that this would fill in gaps left out of other Lennon biographies. It does take some stands on issues such as Lennon's supposed homosexuality (this author votes "no"), but the poor writing and editing hurt this biographer's credibility. Not knowing the difference between "waste" and "waist", and using "compliment" when it should have been "complement" makes the author seems like something less than a seasoned journalist. These are freshman-level grammatical errors that proofreading should have caught.
   
   Books on the life of John Lennon seems to have taken a cottage industry status these days. No single one of them is truly complete, but the lot of them makes a sloppy, overlapping patchwork quilt.



2. As a Beatles and a John Lennon fan, I was looking forward to this book... parts were interesting--but, I guess, it was the telling of it, the very writing itself, that was lacking. It seemed a gratuitous effort of a has-been journalist to slap us in the face with "I knew John Lennon!"... (okay, we get the picture, you don't have to keep mentioning it every other page...)--an attempt to attach his name to a legend through all the typical sensationalist-journalistic machinations... I won't say it's completely irredeemable--it has its moments when it does actually seem to actually be about John Lennon... but I can also see why it so quickly made its way to the discount bin......



3. Lennon Revealed is a MUST READ for every Lennon fan who wants to get closer to the truth about John. I've read everything from Ray Coleman's Lennon bio, to John by Cynthia, May Pang's book, Nowhere Man and even that horrible Lives of John Lennon by Goldman - all of them were good in their own ways [except for Goldman's] but I feel that Kane's book is much closer to the truth because he doesn't place a biased theme on John Lennon - it's like he lets the people he interviews tell the story for us and it is up to us readers to make up our minds about John Lennon through them, while those other books are mostly based on the biased point of view of the writer - The Truth is always somewhere in the middle, so it is best to hear everyone's story before coming down to a decision.
   
   I also likes Ray Coleman's Lennon bio just as much as this book by Kane, but I feel Kane's is more complete because he did add May Pang into the mix. If Coleman only had interviewed Pang's point of view, I would've considered his book the most definitive of all the Beatles bios.
   
   So far of all the Beatles and John Lennon bio books that's worth your money, I can truly recommend Lennon Revealed, The Beatles Anthology, The Beatles by Bob Spitz.



4. I couldn't decide whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars,but I really did enjoy reading it,and I would recommend it to anyone who is facinated by John and wants to know as much as possible. There is new info. to be found here,hence the 4 stars. However,I do have a problem with Larry Kane: first,his writing style: He repeats the same words constantly,like in the forward about Dec.8th 1980,he uses the word "fateful night" so many times that it begins to feel like a school report by a 14 year old. Someone buy this man a thesauras! Hey, I hear computers have them built right in now,Larry! His writing is very amatuerish. My second problem with Larry Kane is that he seems to have an agenda: his use of phrases like,"John Lennon and the Beatles" instead of what they were really called,uhh I think it's The Beatles. I love John too but I've never seen anyone who loves one member of the group so much that he reduces the others into almost non existence. It is down right creepy. The Beatles were an ensemble. They weren't Buddy Holly and the Crickets or Elvis Presley and the Jordinares. One reviewer said it very well: 'Larry gives the other Beatles such short shrift that if you didn't know better you would think that almost everyone else was more important in his life than the 3 men who's lives were entwined with his daily, for 2 decades.' Yes at the end of the book this is rectified but the damage is already done. Which brings me to Stuart Sutcliff and his sister Pauline. As others have said,Larry gives her way too much creedance in his book and I don't think that was a good idea because Pauline has an agenda also. She wants people to beleive that her brother was more important than he actually was. She tells Larry that John and Stu spent every waking moment together every single day. Paul?...Paul who? What about all those days spent at 20 Forthlin Road writing all those Lennon McCartney originals? What about the bond between John and Paul over the loss of their mothers? None of that is mentioned. I'm not saying that Stu wasn't important to John or that he wasn't ONE of his best friends. But Larry has the audacity to describe Stuart as one of the four loves of Lennon's life along with Cyn,Yoko, and May Pang. C'mon! The idea of a homosexual relationship isn't even the issue. Maybe John and Stu were physically close. After all John was open to experiment. But love of his life? That's just silly. And why does Larry keep referring to John as "the artist". So pretentious. He even claims that John was really meant to be a painter,not a musician!!! He devotes quite a few pages to this. Enough to make you throw up. However,once you're finally past the chapter on Sutcliff,(whew!... and yuck!) the book gets better. I enjoyed the chapter on May Pang and I have heard that Lennon was in love with her. I've also heard that he wanted to leave Yoko for her,but Yoko had such an inexorable hold on John,that he couldn't do it. A VERY complicated man. It seems that May provided the caring closeness that he (and most men) crave from a women, but Yoko was that omnipotent Mommy Boss that he couldn't get away from and seemed to need also. I loved the chapter at the end,where fans share their feelings about John. That was a very nice idea and it should be in more books like this. It's facinating to read what other fans have to say about someone I've loved and admired since I was 10 years old. I agree with another reviewer that Lennon, by Ray Coleman is a much better bio.,at least from what I remember. I read it years ago but I do remember it being better written, but there's nothing in it about May Pang which is wrong. In order to write a complete bio, you have to include all important relationships. I suggest reading Lennon, by Ray Coleman, John, by Cynthia Lennon,and this one. There are many others also but don't waste your time on The Many Lives of John Lennon. That one is tabloid fiction. Oh wait! I forgot to tell you about the DVD that's included! A facinating Larry Kane interview with John and Paul. It's notable how John dominates Paul, very seldom giving him a chance to speak. Facinating if brief,look at their personal relationship at the time. John seems uptight as it's been said he was at that time (May 1968). Paul seems very uncomfortable, but about what, it's hard to say. The change in John? Nervousness about the launch of Apple? Discomfort talking to Larry Kane? Maybe all of the above. Nice addition to the book though.



5. I was interested in many of the details - conversations and public appearances that garnered little fanfare "in the day". I was looking for a less sycophantic and more honest account. According to the dewey-eyed Kane, John really wanted to be a great father, but... He really loved Julian, but... He really wanted to do right by Cynthia but... There is no but, according to Kane. John was just Wonderful John, with a license to hurt, ignore, brutalize and abandon his original family (and others) because he's, well, Wonderful John. It reminds me (with some irony) of John's own lyrics to "Bungalo Bill", where the children ask if it's wrong to kill, to which his mom (or Kane) answers "Not when he looks so dear". This book reads more like it was written by an adoring groupie than an experienced, balanced journalist.
   I loved John's music, his humor, his genuis. I can take the truth though. I don't need to beatify him. He had some rather serious flaws, and they shoud be acknowledged honestly, or it shoud be stated in the foreward that "this book is by an ardent admirerer who wants to paint a picture with no rough edges". I can't help but think that John would verbally tear Kane a new one if he read this harmless, suck-up account.
   Get the other half by reading Cynthia's book. Don't miss the forward by Julian.

5 comments about Hidden Agenda: How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies.

1. You attempt to contribute to the cover up for Edward VIII of England.
   
   He certainly thought it more important to marry a divorced American
   
   than remain King of his country in time of crisis. He also violated the
   
   integrity the Church of England of which he was the official head and
   
   protector.
   
   What about Lord Halifax and George VI in the early going?
   
   What about the Welsh coal miners who were already loosing too many
   
   lives because of an indifferent government and other English citizens
   
   who were about to put their lives and honor on the line to defend England
   
   against Nazi aggression?
   
   
   
   
   Wendell M Kury



2. Martin Allen`s book „Hidden Agenda - How the Duke of Windsor betrayed the Allies" provides us with an interesting look behind the stage on which the beginning of the Second World War was taking shape. Martin Allen describes in considerable detail the interests of the various parties involved in this conflict - the actors, the observers, and the by-standers, and he adroitly shows how some of the players, at times, would switch from one category to the other.

   The lynchpin of the book is a letter, supposedly written in late 1939 by the Duke. Its purpose was to introduce to Hitler the Duke`s messenger, the Franco-American industrial consultant, Charles E. Bedaux who, in those early months and years of the war, was able to travel quite freely from one side of the „Sitzkrieg" front to the other.

   A facsimile of the letter is shown in the book. Obviously, for a mere reader, it is impossible to say whether the letter is genuine or not. The (German!) text of the letter is, however, just ever so slightly off the track with respect to normal German style, grammar, and vocabulary that it may well have been written by a person, such as the Duke, whose command of the language was good, but not perfect. It would have taken an excellent forger to achieve such a convincing degree of (im)perfection.

   The immediate military results of the Duke`s overtures toward Hitler were twofold. They represent, in a way, each party`s ante in the bargain: the Duke`s information on the French defenses allowed the Germans to turn the „sitzkrieg" into a „blitzkrieg" in the summer of 1940, whereas the German contribution was to hold their panzers back when they reached the Channel, thus allowing the British Expeditionary Force to retreat from Dunkerque with acceptable losses.

   At this point, the book argues more or less explicitly, it would have been possible for some sort of peace deal to be reached. However, the Duke`s position at home had been undermined by internal machinations that had led to his resignation and he was unable to realize his ambition which, according to Allen, was to recover his throne through this admittedly risky alliance with Berlin.

   The obvious argument that comes to mind at this point is that any peace with Hitler would have constituted an abandonment of Poland for whose integrity and protection the Allies had, after all, gone to war. We must realize, though, that at the end of September, 1939, when the war in Poland had come to its rapid end, the Germans had occupied only the western half of that country. The eastern half of Poland was, by then, under Soviet domination, because the Soviets had, on 17 September 1939 (when the victory of their German ally was evident) sent in the Red Army to take over the rest - and to hold on to it to the present day.

   This overt act of aggression did not cause a stir in the Allied camp and voids the argument sketched out above. The value of Allen`s book lies in its exposure of the duplicity of the policy of the Allies. Only five years later, the world witnessed and for the most part, welcomed the complete hand-over of Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe to Stalin who, by that time, had become the West`s most valuable ally in the fight for the ideals of freedom and democracy. It took History a mere fifty years and millions of dead to rectify that situation. One wonders if the price that might have had to be paid to Hitler would have been quite as high as that.




3. This book charges that the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII, gave Allied military secrets to Germany in a deliberate scheme to help the Nazis against his own country.

   The British establishment, the author says, used Edward's love for Wallis Simpson as a pretext to force his abdication because of his pro-German views. Then, he says, that same establishment used Edward to spy on French military installations for Britain--but that Edward simultaneously passed the secrets along to the Germans through Charles Bedaux, a shadowy character with ties to both Edward and Adolf Hitler.

   The book is built around a handwritten letter, in German, from Edward to Hitler, which the author says his father received years later from Hitler's architect, Albert Speer. The book surmises that Edward gave the letter to Bedaux, who hid it in his hat band, or elsewhere, and then personally delivered it to Hitler.

   On the surface the letter is cryptic. Was Edward really trying to hurt Britain--or help Hitler put him back on the Throne? Was he being solicitous, or devious? If the circumstances surrounding the letter are indeed what the author claims, then this book has a real story to tell.

   Unfortunately, the book's shortcomings as a serious history cast doubt on its conclusions. There is some original research, particularly with respect to the background of Bedaux himself. Most of the text, however, rests either on secondary sources or on no acknowledged source at all. The author does not cite the particular pages of the secondary sources, so it is virtually impossible for readers to evaluate the information for themselves. Worse yet, many highly accusatory and critical passages have no source references whatsoever, leaving frustrated readers to wonder whether the undocumented conversations and events actually happened. The overall tone suggests that the author has let his own animus toward Edward dictate the scholarship, rather than the other way around.

   The author explains that many of the primary source documents have been destroyed, are not available for inspection, or are perhaps even being hidden by the British royal family itself. That, though, is not a license to make critical assumptions that result, essentially, in a charge of treason.

   The letter appears to bear Edward's handwriting, as far as one can tell from the lithographic reproduction in the book. In an appendix the author recounts that a handwriting expert authenticated the letter. Sadly, however, he does not identify the expert, and the glaring absence of the expert's identity further undermines this book's claims.

   Even if the letter is genuine, it does not prove the author's thesis. Edward was not anti-German, and he may well have thought that the Nazis were Europe's best defense against Soviet expansionism. He may also have been careless in his dealings with both Bedaux and Hitler. But that certainly does not mean that Edward would deliberately seek to harm the Empire that he served so long as Prince of Wales, and later as King.

   The overreaching premise of this book makes the story of royal intrigue entertaining, but one should not uncritically accept all of the story.




4. This most biased reflection of Charles Eugene Bedaux demonstrates an underlying bias on the part of the Autoho. Unsubstantiated facts based upon Allen's prejudice are slanderous and if Bedaux were still alive, he would have set the record sttraight and possibly involved many prominent US citizens. Bedaux did much to styme the Naxi operarionf in France and this is totally ignored in this book.



5. This book gets one star simply for its value to take space on a bookshelf! Otherwise, some of the probably accurate conslusions about the Duke of Windsor are rendered suspect by Martin Allen's faulty and obviously ill-researched and biased conclusions regarding Charles Eugene Bedeaux!

   I have studied and researched Bedeaux for several years now. Allen would have done well to talk with the few surviving Frenchmen in and around Tour that knew of Bedeaux's efforts in putting kinks in all Nazi manufacturing ans ship-building production in France under his direction.

   Jim Christy's book, "The Price of Power, The Story of Charles Eugene Bedeaux", more accurately concludes that Bedaux may certainly have courted the Duke for his "star power" of the day and that Bedeaux was NOT a Nazi collaborator but rather worked skillfully to sabotage wartime production in France that could have greatly benefitted the Nazi powers.

   Allen appears more inclined to follow his own "conclusions" that are far from conclusive. It is my opinion that Bedeaux took his own life, probably with some relief by many powerful Americans, and with perhaps aid from his captors. Had he lived and told the entire story, too many powerful US citizens would have become involved.

   Sadly, this flawed tale could have been told better with adequate research and less unproven ideas expressed as fact.

   Find Jim Christy's book for a much better-told tale and much, much more accuracy.

No comments about Lady Caroline Lamb.

5 comments about Diana in Private: The Princess Nobody Knows.

1. I really don't know why some people consider this woman to be a saint. I really think she was probably a caring, giving person
   but lets face it , she was human. How many girls in their teens
   dream about marrying someone famous? Alot I'm sure. In her case
   her wish came true and I don't think she was ready for it. Nobody is really at fault here. Lady Campbell is simply writing
   about what what other people told her. Prince Charles was probably under pressure to marry and like alot of girls at 19
   she was probably INFATUATED not IN LOVE. It's very sad.



2. This book, while not always pleasant, gives yet another dimension to the story of Charles and Diana. Before her death, Diana was perceived as a saint, and Charles, the devil. This book presents them as what they actually were: HUMAN.

   Despite the book's title, this is NOT an "all Diana" book. There's quite a bit of text on Charles and the Royal Famliy.

   The photo section is a strange mixture of what seems to be photos left over from old shoots (odd angles, the back of Di's head, or her face in shadow) as if the author could only afford second-rate photos. It's a very strange selection of (photo) subjects also. I wasn't sure why the author felt it was important to publish pictures of women Charles dated in the 70s.

   I'll read everything about the royals I can get my hands on so even while I didn't totally agree with everything in this book, I did enjoy reading it. If you're a Di-aholic, you'll probably enjoy it too (especially for the price I just saw it listed for on Amazon!)




3. I read most royalty books I can get my hands on and I like this one. Why? It's not sensationalized, it's frank. The author is a peripheral part of the circles of people of whom she speaks. She is fairly even handed, without "poor princessing" as much as most other Diana books do... and she has marked compassion for the dubiously-perceived Prince of Wales. Maybe she doesn't get everything right -- who can say for sure? -- but I have the feeling she is much RIGHTER than wrong in this chronicle of Diana, and I think we readers owe it to Charles and to Diana herself to attempt to see them in a balanced perspective.

   This book was published in 1992 at the time of the Waleses de facto separation (they separated formally in December of that year) and five years previous to the former late princess's death in a car crash in Paris (August, 1997).




4. I bought this book in 1994 when it first came out. Have just re-read it and find that it is mostly gossip. The author's annoying way of identifying her sources puts me off. Few are named by their real names. It's like reading a tabloid.

   Diana comes across as a spoiled brat, but Charles leaves a lot to be desired also. At this point, do we really care? The Royal Family and their "toadies" in the UK seem so outdated. Their lives are very superficial and pointless according to this book.




5. Where was Lady Colin Campbell, under the bed? Why is it that this "book" only gained notoriety after Diana's death? It was written in 1992! Diana wasn't perfect, she didn't claim to be. She herself admitted to having committed very human sins. Was this right! Of course not, but does Lady Colin Campbell live in a glass house?

   Diana was not raised royal. The stiff upper lip, don't let anyone see you hurting, I'm a royal therefore I will be miserable in silence was missing. I don't see it as such a great loss. I feel incredibly sad for Charles. His royal upbringing not only made him feel lousy but it denied him the tools to nurture an attractive, frightened, YOUNG woman. Diana entered the royal family with the maturity of a 19 year old. Perhaps Lady Colin Campbell had already attained her incredible insight, wisdom and compassion at 19 but most humans still have some maturing to do. To feel alone and desperately need positive support is a human characteristic. When Charles married Diana he vowed to love, cherish and comfort. By far the elder of the pair Charles needed a few lessons on the meaning of the vows he was taking. Diana was not a saint in any sense of the word but she reached out to people and gave of herself despite her own unhappiness. Right or wrong many, many people love her for her humanitarian qualities. Lady Colin Campbell, what have you done for people recently?

No comments about Warrenpoint (Irish Studies).

No comments about Cromwell Our Chief of Men.

No comments about Robert Boothby.

5 comments about Crossing the Sauer: A Memoir of World War II.

1. if charles bukowski (minus all the alcohol intake) had been in world war II, and had written a memoir about it, you probably would have gotten something like this. a fantastic, unpretentious, totally enjoyable book. i wish this author had written more.



2. "Crossing The Sauer" by Charles Reis Felix.
   Subtitled:" A Memoir Of World War II".
   Burford Books, Short Hills, NJ, 2002.
   
   This is a well written personal memoir, written the way all personal memoirs should be written: little on the preliminary training, more on the actual combat experiences. This book begins with action in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in December 1994, the month of the Battle of the Bulge. The author, Charles Reis Felix, launches his story by stating that he was being "shipped" across France in the famous (infamous) boxcars known as 40 and 8s. Shipped like cattle! This iconoclastic attitude continues throughout the entire book. He relates how an Army corporal and two PFCs bilk the replacements out of American money by saying it was against regulations to have American money in France. American dollars had to be traded in for French francs. Welcome to France! Non-coms taking advantage of the new people; ("boots" as we called them in the Navy.)
   
   Trained as artillerymen, Charles Reis Felix and his friends are thrown into the turmoil of the ETO just as the Battle of the Bulge was demanding warm bodies. The author and his friends expected to be assigned to the relative safety of behind-the-lines artillery, but, as usual with the Army, the replacement artillerymen were dispatched up front with the infantry ... despite their technical expertise with the 155mm weapon. SNAFU. The author did not identify his outfit by number or name. Personally, I did not check other books to see which outfit was where in the ETO at such and such a time, as I was more interested in the personal experiences of the writer. The author mentions the Army specialized Training Program (ASTP) on page 30.
   
   For a time, Charles Felix escapes actual front line foxholes by volunteering the information that he was able to operate a radio. As a radioman, Felix worked up with certain officers, for whom he has not much good to report. He describes one officer who, with the intention of getting rid of Felix, sends him up to a dangerous front position. All this because the officer had been seen by Felix in an embarrassing position! Then there is the major, (later in the book), who likes to be first into a newly captured German town. The major would prance and dance and strut his stuff in the town square, so the recently surrendered German officials would obsequiously bow down to him. As they rapidly tracked through Germany, the major always wanted to be first into the town so that he could mince about in the part of the conquering American. This all ceased one day when a Hitler Jugend fired a Panzerfaust at the major's jeep. After that, the major was content to sit in his jeep in the middle of the convoy, protected both front and rear. There was one officer, however, who treated enlisted men, and radioman Felix, fairly well. In fact, he tells the author to go upstairs and enjoy some of the food that the officers are gobbling down. Of course, the "good" officer is quickly killed.
   
   As the war winds down, early April 1945, Felix feels sick. An old German woman looks at him and says, "Krank." (p. 183). He WAS sick. Finally, he is diagnosed as having yellow jaundice, sent to the rear, and flown on a C47 to Paris. The war ended for him.
   
   I wonder if he became sick because the U. S, Army had given him an unapproved vaccine against yellow fever. See: "Mapping Epidemics: A Historical Atlas Of Disease" by Brent Hoff, page 34. According to that reference, the unapproved Army vaccine caused thousands upon thousands of cases of yellow jaundice in American troops.



3. The novel Crossing the Sauer is a book based on World War II. You read and learn about the different experiences from a soldier in the war. The man that you read about is Charles Reis Felix himself as he tells you what he encounters being in Europe during WWII. He explains about the hardships he has to face, not only physically but mentally as well. Charley is still young and he is confused on what he really wants in life. When he comes across those "you see your life flash before your eyes" moments, during an attack in Europe, he feels that there's so much more he wants to do with his life but feels trapped now that he is in the army and at war. Charley comes to think that being a soldier you either end up dead, then your life obviously is over with. Or specifically WWII, you spent most of your life over in Europe and by the time you return to the United States you've already missed out on several other opportunities. As he has so much going on in his mind he has to be able to fight the physical challenges and learn how to build up strengths and emotions.
   
   One 9r class reading Crossing the Sauer connects to is mostly The Pearl. In Crossing the Sauer, he learns the value of life and that you need to make the most of it. In The Pearl,
   Kino realizes what's important in life, not material things such as what he could get with the pearl. They each have to learn the hard way, Kino and Juana by losing the life of their child, and Charley being in war and seeing that his life could end in almost any minute when they are attacked or at battle.
   
   Personally I did not enjoy the book as well as some other people might have. I liked the topic of WWII but, they go into great detail on war terms that I didn't understand and made me confused. What was good about this book was he talked about different events that had happened to him and to other people in all different countries. They were interesting because you didn't hear much about them and probably wouldn't expect to. I would suggest this book to adults or teenagers. The language and some conversation may not be appropriate for younger children. I'd especially recommend this to anyone that's been part of the army in any because they might be able to relate themselves tot his book.



4. Crossing The Sauer: A Memoir Of World War II is Charles Reis Felix's staunchly honest and unflinchingly vivid memoir of what it was like to serve in Patton's Army and advancing through the German battlefields of World War II. As memorable, emotional, and brutal as the bloodshed and battles of World War II itself, Crossing The Sauer is a compelling personal testimony and a highly recommended addition to Military History supplemental reading lists and academic reference collections.



5. I've been reading WWII memoirs for thirty years. In that time I feel I've "seen" it all. Rarely, however, do I come across a book like "Crossing the Sauer," a book that I can't put down until I've read every page. Somewhat short (189 pp.) but chock full of honesty and realism, Felix's story oozes with gut wrenching confession. Too often things get glossed over and former soldiers leave out the juicy details. Mr. Felix, however, has brought his doubts, reluctance and horror at finding himself (trained in the artillery) attached to an infantry unit at the front to the reader's consciousness. It doesn't get any better than this.

   Smooth, free-flowing prose and an eye for detail kept me riveted. I got some great laughs out of Felix's re-telling of some of his buddies' adventures, especially the sexual ones. We know those things went on but, until recently, the WWII generation has been reluctant to let the public in on their not-so-delicate tales of prostitutes and willing females. We want the whole story, not just the horror of war stuff.

   I was a bit frustrated at not knowing the dates and, more importantly, which unit Mr. Felix served with but these are minor complaints. It would seem that he was with the 5th Infantry Division but one reference mentions the 28th Division, not part of Patton's Third Army, to my knowledge. Maybe he kept these things confidential to protect the participants. The officers, especially, come off looking pretty bad. As a former Marine I was appalled at how they treated the enlisted men. Marine officers and NCOs take care of their men first.

   Evidently that wasn't the case in the WWII Army, especially the front line infantry units, full of replacements/draftees and lots of men who really didn't want to be there in the mud, blood and snow. Barely speaking to the lowly privates at best and sacrificing them for their own glory at worst, the higher ranks had no qualms about eating a fresh, hot meal of roasted chicken and baked potatoes under the nose of poor Felix who, while manning the radio, frequently went days without food. Spending up to fifty-two hours on duty without a break, Felix and his fellow "peasants" were at the mercy of the Army's "upper class," condescending, abusive, vainglorious and impervious to the plight of their underlings.

   If you want to know what it was like to be drafted into an infantry unit during the war, pick up a copy of "Crossing the Sauer." I think, like me, you'll appreciate the author's honesty, insight and very literate tale.

1 comments about Oliver Cromwell (Profiles in Power).

1. In spite of dozens of books and virtually hundreds of articles published in specialist journals and dedicated to aspects of his eventful life, Oliver Cromwell is still one of the least understood figures in English history. As is the case with every person of some historical importance, assessments of Cromwell's political ambitions as well as of his successes and failures came to vary greatly over the years, and every new contribution to the understanding of this many-facetted personality thus has to be welcomed.

   This book by Barry Coward, originally published in 1991, is one out of a series named "Profiles in Power" and consequently mainly dwells on Cromwell's personal traits and the peculiar circumstances that were to shape both his military and political careers. Indeed, the author barely sums up the social and above all the religious issues that dominated the life of every citizen in mid-seventeenth-century England - which is why anyone ignorant of the historical background will probably find it impossible to grasp most lines of thought as delineated by Mr Coward. By contrast, the book contains a wealth of details on Cromwell's life as a political figure and even proposes to present new information on questions related to his actual political eminence compared to the role played by his council of state. The book then ends with a fine bibliographical essay.

   Clearly, this is in the first place a solid introduction to Cromwell the politician, and readers interested in his personal history had better turn to a more comprehensive book.