Dense narrative but well worth the read
938799
I may be among the few non-academics who have tackled Craig's Politics of the Prussian Army.  I decided to give it a go since it is cited in the footnotes of innumerable other works on Prussian-German military history.  Craig's narrative flows surprisingly well given the amount of ground to be covered in five hundred pages.

As other reviewers have mentioned, Craig gives short shrift to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, so if you're looking for much on Frederick the Great and his predecessors, you'll need to look elsewhere.  He only starts to flesh things out with the post-Jena reforms.  That being said, Politics of the Prussian Army can be read through once, and then retained as a reliable reference for any era of Prussian-German military history from 1806-1945.
2661649
While it's not the kind of comic you'd crack open for some light reading (though I guess if you wanted to you could skip the "Dossier" parts and just read the comic story) this is a very dense and jam-packed book that makes great use of the "multimedia" aspect of comics Moore played with in other books, especially "Watchmen". It loses a star because it is so narratively slight--it's there more to give info on the background of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen--but when viewed as part of the continuing story of LoEG it's an essential chapter.
4117507
THE TERROR is a long, challenging book to get through, but it's a trip worth taking.

It's length and scope reminded me of other epic horror tales, like King's The Stand and McCammon's Swan Song, but unlike those contemporary end-of-the-world novels, The Terror is a historical, and more adventure story than horror.

Told in multiple points-of-view, this sprawling tale gives us a detailed look at the trials facing two British ships as they search for the elusive Northwest Passage in the 1840s. Hardships are many. Besides the devastating cold, the sailors must contend with scurvy, food poisoning, each other, and a malevolent creature bigger than any polar bear, which is hunting them one by one.

Ultimately, after we spend two years with the doomed crews of HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, it's less a tale about survival and more a tale about progress, colonization, technology, and the futility of fighting vs. accepting.

The detail is exhausting--I'm awed by the amount of research needed to write this book. And the characters are not your cookie-cutter genre heroes and villains, any more than this is a standard genre plot. The setting is a masterwork. You feel the cold, the desolation, and the desperation.

There's some preternatural elements at play here, which I could have done without, and which lead to the unconventional ending which might let some readers down. While I would have enjoyed a Man vs. Beast climax, that would have gone against the underlying theme of the novel; nature cannot be conquered.

I understand that many had to die for one man to learn about life, but we invest so much time with those many that the change in tone is rather abrupt, and it almost trivializes the deaths of the many main characters we got to know and like for almost 800 pages.

Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for something that has substance along with thrills. Simmons is brilliant, there's no doubt of that, and I'm glad I was able to take this trip with him.
451625
This is a dense book, not for your average reader, but if you are like me these are the kinds of books you persevere through because you know you will be rewarded and I was.  It is told in a series of accounts, many taking place at the same time.  The author does a great job of describing and adding insight.  There is a several page glossary that you will be referring to often in order to keep track of some of the names.  You really get a sense of how it felt to be there during that time because of the great writing.
545075
In "Murder of a Medici Princess,"  Caroline Murphy presents an account of the personal and political intrigues that led to the premature death of the beautiful and infamous (in her day) Isabella de' Medici.  It's an insightful, intelligent read that, enjoyable as it is, I found so dense that I had to put it down from time to time.  Murphy seems not to have met a piece of research (including letters, household ledgers and legal documents) that she doesn't love and feel needs to be shared with the reader.  We get meticulously detailed information on culture, fashion, diet, climate, agriculture, architecture etc. etc. -- and ultimately, as fascinating and beautifully presented as this all is, the book threatens to collapse under its own weight.  That it never quite does is a testament to Murphy's skills as a story teller.  That said, while I was never bored, I did find myself now and then looking to see how much longer Murphy were going to drag out her heroine's relatively short history.  (200 pages left?  Yikes...)  I'm not sure what kind of alchemical magic makes Antonia Fraser's biographies jump off the page  -- perhaps having a Nobel Prize-winning dramatist in the house doesn't hurt -- but whatever that is, it never quite happens here.  There's much to enjoy, but also much with which to become frustrated and impatient.
2893458
Jennifer Lauck's "Blackbird" is a compelling and absorbing story of the author's childhood of losses, beginning with the death of her mother, her father's unexpected death when the author was nine and the difficult teenage years at the hands of a disturbed step-mother. There is little stability in young Jennifer's life, and it is perhaps telling that the happiest she ever seems to be is when she is left at a religious co-operative, far from any blood or legal relative. The passsages of Jennifer's life pass by quickly, largely due to the dialogue heavy narrative, and the reader is left with the heavy burden of realizing just how much she has been through.
There are a couple of things that hamper the telling of this important story. One is the self-concious use of the child's voice as narrator. How much more compelling might this story have been if Ms Lauck had included her adult perspective on this series of events? Does Ms. Lauck, now a married mother herself, have any greater awareness of her step-mother now that she is a mother herself? Does Ms. Lauck, an adoptee, ever wonder why a dying woman was allowed to adopt an infant? Does she have adult anger towards her loving, but detached, father? (Perhaps these matters will be solved in the follow-up to this book, but that doesn't excuse the limitations of this book.)
Another problem is the self-pity the author sometimes allows herself to wallow in. Ms. Lauck the person is certainly allowed to wallow in self-pity if she likes. My complaint about this has to do with her choices as a writer. There are any number of passages where the young girl dissolves in tears. The problem with this style choice is that we the reader are already well aware of the girl's circumstances. Being hit over the head with her misfortune makes us less sympathetic readers. A more spare, subtle style might have made this good read an excellent one.
Fans of this book should also read Sarah Saffian's "Ithaka" which deals with similar themes from an adult perspective.
2864350
I really enjoyed this book. The narrative was engaging and the themes that were explored thought-provoking. It is well worth it to get a copy and read for yourself. I give it four stars because, while a quality work, it is clear to me that the writing and storytelling have room to become more refined.
135025
This is a thoughtful and carefully put-together book with a story that touches you on many levels. Its weakness is trying too hard to be literary, and you never really forget there's an author pulling the levers. But it's definitely worth reading.
1813948
Franzen is better than the rest, and Purity is fantastic.  It is a complicated, dense and sometimes plodding work, but in its totality Purity is post modern American fiction at its finest.  The tales in this novel worked well and blend to create an interesting take on our times.  I am sad that the writing is too dense for some, because Franzen's insight into the human psyche and ability to draw out character is something to be studied and absorbed.
4481319
I was recommended this book by a friend who provided no plot explanations or comments on the book other than general praise. This book is a long ride with a lot to talk about and it requires you to ask questions that may or may not be answered. After I finished reading I knew this book would be a mainstay and that I'd be reading it again and again because their is so much packed in this novel. It's dense in terms of it not having any real filler. The physical copy itself is nicely bound in light blue (under the jacket). Like any book though you have to want to read it.
3397291
Note I was provided with a review copy for evaluation, no attempt was made to influence my review

This book covers the time period in the 1980's in South Africa, during this time there were changing attitudes towards apartheid. The story focuses on a group of four people making on documentary about a prehistoric skull they find near to the border with Zimbabwe. These four main characters are quite different in personality and there are some under the surface tensions and connections between these people, some are romantic (two of the group were once in a relationship) and one person "Bucs" all he wants to do be as far away from the problems as possible. Three of the four group members are white, and later during the book there are a number of issues that come to light, each of them has unresolved issues and problems some more obvious than others.

Peter's book is written in a narrative style and during the story you also get some flashbacks from older events. It's certainly fair to say this is quite an intense story, but you have to really pay attention to the plot/story on this book it's not a light read by any means, but in many ways it is rewarding to unravel. I did have to re-read a few sections to make sure I fully understood the story not a bad thing but if you're looking for a casual read this probably isn't for you. My own personal reading take on this book was to cover it in smaller sections otherwise I felt a bit overwhelmed trying to take events in, but hardened book readers will likely have no concerns here. The ability of an author to develop characters that really stand out isn't in question here, he's done a fine job but importantly you "do care" and want to know more about each of them.

In terms of the message it conveys, well the author certainly doesn't attempt to gloss over any issues during this time period which was a difficult one for the country, quite the reverse really this is a gritty no punches pulled novel that delivers a strong plot and story for the reader (this can at times be quite graphic). Overall I enjoyed the book, but would say it's better suited to readers who want something quite meaty to get stuck into, well worth a look if you are into "deep" books.
651345
This is not an easy book to read. The phrasing is peculiar and the sentences are frankly long; it is easy to lose the author's main points.

Having said that, the story is fascinating and worth knowing: how an obscure and idiosyncratic idea born in Athens came to dominate world political thought 2000 years later with nary a single legitimate contender for the title. In particular its rebirth in the late 1700s in the throes of the American and French revolutions is particularly relevant to today's world. The Federalist Papers are discussed in relation to the development of the American Constitution and its specific mode of 'democracy' (ie, representative). The review above mentions one of the author's principal lines of inquiry, the distinction between American-style 'egoism' (ie, individualistic capitalism) and Reign of Terror-style 'equality' (ie, redistribution of wealth).

I found this book exciting and it has inspired me to read more about both the American and French Revolutions, as well as democracy, the American Constitution, and different forms of government.

It's a short book; dense but readable especially the meat of the book after the introduction.
969034
A WOMAN'S WAR is an interesting narrative, especially since it's from the point of view of a mother who's trying to maintain the semblance of a normal life while her twin sons are fighting thousands of miles away.  Rosie includes comments from her husband and neighbors, which add another dimension to our understanding of what life was like for families back home.  This is an important aspect of WWI and, indeed, of all wars, and the Dinans include so many realistic details that I'm sure much research went into the writing of this novel.  My main quibble is that oftentimes the dialogue is stilted and it's difficult to imagine that two people who have been married for 20 years, for example, would talk as though they had just met.  Still, A WOMAN'S WAR adds an important voice which should be of interest to anyone who knows anything about World War I.
681328
An encyclopedic book on the history of time travel seen through the eyes and minds of physicists, philosophers, and entertainers (movie makers, novelists, and short-story writers).  However, because of Nahin's incredible research, it is dense beyond the capacity of the average lay reader.  Although I have a technical education and have read extensively and deeply about time, astrophysics, and time travel, I found it nearly overwhelming.  That doesn't mean I was able to stop at the end; no, I just had to read on into the 60+ pages of "Notes" that are appended. The "Notes" are hypertechnical discussions of the math and physics arguments referred to in the core book.  I highly recommend the book, but you need to enter into it with an expectation of heavy, heavy reading.
1342892
Rather dense reading, but it gave me a lot of insight into why the most recent national election turned out as it did.
2123109
This book presents fascinating details of life in Spain as it writhed with the dynamic of change, much of it seemingly self induced. In many parts the narrative glitters with assembled insight that surely exists nowhere else. In some (to me) it seems to get bogged down in detail that may or may not amuse particular readers. This is not necessarily a problem: Throughout the book, the details are so rich that even if only a quarter of them amuse, the book easily justifies its price-tag. And if time or attention span is an issue, just skip over a section until you find another vein to explore. Highly recommended.
1753960
"Believe and Destroy: Intellectuals in the SS War Machine", by French historian Christian Ingrao, is a dense, scholarly work where he follows a group of eighty young intellectuals who joined Hitler's SS before World War II, through their helping develop plans for the extermination of countless human being (as well as actual participation in these horrific events), to their eventual trials at the hands of the victorious Allies.

All of the eighty were born around the turn of the last century and were too young to serve in World War I.  However, the author shows how this first great modern war, particularly the loss of the war, shaped the group's generation.  They all went to prestigious universities, and were far from the thuggish brutes than popular stereotypes would indicate.  At their universities of choice, the author shows how many/most of them embraced Nazism through student groups, perhaps because it was radical, much the way students of every generation seek a new way to address the problems of the day.  He shows their recruitment into the Nazi Party and SS (primarily into the Sicherheitsdienst, abbreviated as SD, which was the Security Service within the SS), and how they justified their beliefs and career choices.  He tracks them through their part in advocating for war and developing plans for the mass murders of Soviets to help create the conditions for German colonizations of large parts of the Soviet Union.  He also shows that many of these "intellectuals" actually led extermination troops in the USSR.

This book explores and provides great detail on how a slice of this segment of German society willingly participated in the appalling crimes the Nazis inflicted on humanity.  However, note that this book is very much an academic study and is not something you can pick up and casually read.  You should also have much more than a passing familiarity with the Nazi party and government before reading this book.  But unlike some of the reviewers here, I found the translation from French to English to be excellent.

In his introduction, Mr Ingrao writes that he "tried to understand how these men came to believe, and how their beliefs led them to destroy."  I believe he accomplished that goal for the readers.  I recommend this book to serious students of the war and of the era.  Four stars.