A gripping WW II war memoir from the author of "My Life So Far"
348391
"The war was like a leaden weight, slowly but surely pressing down on the froth and folly of our lives, sometimes making them seem like a dance of death. It was coming, it was horrible and it was going to take me, and a million others, into its maw."

One of my favorite '90s movies is "My Life So Far," now available in the&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/British-Cinema-Collection-8-Acclaimed-Films/dp/B0080QOL10/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">British Cinema Collection: 8 Acclaimed Films</a>&nbsp;and based on Sir Denis Forman's memoir of his Scottish childhood, originally published as&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Son-of-Adam/dp/0708849903/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Son of Adam</a>, later retitled&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/My-Life-So-Far/dp/0349110271/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">My Life So Far</a>&nbsp;and available here under both titles. Much as I loved the movie, I loved the book even more. But it was re-watching that 1999 movie recently that got me wondering what had happened to that smart, funny, delightful little boy.

Eventually, it turns out, he would become a major figure in the world of British film ("The Jewel in the Crown") and television ("Coronation Street") and then deputy chairman of the Royal Opera House. He'd also write a book about opera, appear in a YouTube video talking about Mozart with Murray Perahia. And reach the age of 95...so far.

But before all that came Cambridge, then service in Italy in World War II as a Major in the 6th Royal West Kents--a story he would wait some 50 years to write about. "To Reason Why" is not only a warm, sometimes funny, character-driven, battle-filled nail biter of a war story and sequel to "My Life So Far," it's also--perhaps even mostly-- a tribute to the author's late Battle School mentor and colleague in arms, Lionel Wigram, "the bravest and most brilliant soldier it was my lot to encounter throughout World War II," someone he wants you to know and, now that I've read it, so do I.

Note: This is a duplicate of the review I wrote for this book which I bought from Amazon under its other cover.
4635097
This is a compilation of the memoirs of a Coastal Command navigator, whose plane attacked a German battleship and was badly damaged by anti-aircraft artillery.  After crash-landing a badly damaged bomber in the cold and wave-swept Atlantic Ocean and losing a crewmate, Hunter and his pilot were picked up by the Germans and became POWs for the duration.

Hunter goes on to describe the boredom and monotony of POW life, punctuated by constant hunger and the rare excitement of escape.  The work also includes a first-hand description of the "Death March" of Jan/Feb 1945, when the Nazis evacuated POW camps in Poland and marched all the remaining prisoners westward, ahead of the advancing Russian armies.  Enduring bitter winter weather and an almost total lack of food, the narrative is frighteningly real and painfully sad.

While Allan Hunter has done a masterful job of editing his late father's wartime diaries, one of the best features of this book is the original color POW artwork created by his heroic father whilst a prisoner.  A rare and genuine treat, highly recommended!
1111110
Gerda Weissman Klein's memoir of her life during World War II is harrowing to say the least.  Separated from her loved ones, surrounded by fear and tragedy, Gerda's life is turned upside down overnight and she faces years of anguish, pain and grief.  Despite it all she retains an immense sense of what is right and fair, often putting the needs of others above her own and often putting her own life at risk in order to stand up for her principles.

Although the details given in Gerda's account do not feel watered down by any means, you can't help but think that even though her recollections are horrific, there's much more that she has chosen not to share and can only be stunned by her bravery and determination.  She loses everything - all but her life and her spirit.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the story is the advice Gerda is given by her father to wear her winter walking boots one day: advice that will prove to be lifesaving.  If it had been a novel, it would have seemed like one of those quaint coincidences that ties a book together but knowing that this is an autobiographical tale actually makes this incredibly poignant.  Even though I finished the book a couple of weeks ago, every time I think about it I remember those boots and how her father's last piece of advice would be, literally, life-saving.

It is impossible for me to give All But My Life anything other than five stars.  This is a beautifully related memoir: despite the overwhelming sense of tragedy and pain, Gerda's will to survive and determination to keep not only herself going but others as well is utterly heart-wrenching.  Although I have never been a huge fan of autobiographies, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this.  It is a story that must be told and it is a time that we must never, ever forget.
2526078
This beautifully written book is powerful because it describes the author's own wartime experiences. I'm so glad she chose to share her personal story with the world.
3595103
This memoir reads as though you're eavesdropping on a winding, beer-fueled monologue at the local VFW, or whatever the British equivalent is.

George MacDonald Fraser became an accomplished author in the post-war years, but began his adult life as an infantry man in Burma in the final six months of the Second World War.  He waited a full half-century before penning his reminiscences.  It is highly entertaining, a wonderful portal into common life in the British army, and all told with a curmudgeonly punch, reminding me of Dana Carvey's 1990s SNL character "Grumpy Old Man" (e.g. we marched uphill in the rain under constant mortar fire from the Japs...and we liked it!).

For students of military history - or the Second World War, specifically - "Quartered Safe Out Here" has several things to offer.  First, it puts classic, narrative military campaign histories in perspective, with Fraser stressing that when you read "X division encountered slight resistance" it may have been the most eventful and terrifying experience of the entire war for some group of young men who engaged in that resistance.  It also shines a light on a forgotten front at a time when most were celebrating the defeat of Hitler and hardly gave the Japanese much thought, further demonstrating that all war experiences at the grunt-level is personal and intimate.  It occurred to me that Fraser would probably strongly endorse the arguments made by Jonathan Shay in "Achilles in Vietnam," a penetrating look at small unit dynamics during extending close combat experience.

Second, the author clearly wrote this book, in part at least, as a response to what he sees as contemporary revisionism on the war and specifically the feelings and motivations of those who fought it.  Fraser, for one, is unreconstructed - and proudly so.  Even fifty years after the fact, he still refers to the Japanese as "Japs" and candidly admits that he doesn't like sitting next them on airplanes and refuses to buy their cars.  Moreover, he feels no remorse or pity for anything the Japanese may have suffered during the 14th Army's roll through Burma, and that lack of war guilt extends to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Fraser seems keen to leave this powerfully written testament for current and future academics to wrestle with the next time they want to reinterpret how "the greatest generation" got on during the horror of the Second World War.

Finally, Fraser writes with rare skill and clarity, especially his ability to capture the tone and vernacular of his unit mates, nearly all of whom were Cumbrian (the author is Scottish and was thus known as "Jock" by the men).  I'm writing this review from southern Afghanistan where I'm serving mostly with British soldiers, so this aspect of the book resonated strongly with me.  In fact, I'm not sure I would have even been able to read MacDonald's phonetic spelling of the Cumbrian patois if I hadn't been immersed in a sea of working class British accents myself.

Depending on your politics, this book may not be for you.  But if you love war memoirs, "Quartered Safe Out Here" is not to be missed.
4444783
A truly  amazing  book - both tragic  and  yet  heroic , especially when one  understands  that it is  based  on  a real life  family  experience  during WW2
42357
A superb, unflinchingly honest memoir by the late Kristine Rosenthal Keese about her childhood in Poland's Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

Kristine was the mother of my childhood classmate Rick Rosenthal; it took her 60 years to confront her own pain before she could put it on paper, but the book is a gift to her children and to the rest of us.

It's a riveting account told from a child's perspective informed by occasional adult interpolations from later life. But  it's not only about suffering. What's notable in addition to her utter and total honesty (she does not disguise her own weaknesses)  is how the individuals -- her remarkably resourceful mother Genia, devoted uncle Jasio, grandparents, and cruelly distant stepfather - come to life. So, too, do small pleasures: like eating something so seemingly mundane as a dish of steaming potatoes which, for a starving person, was an unimaginably delicious treat. You can also see how her early experience left traces on her own character that lasted to the end of her life -- for example a fear that loved ones would not return from a trip.

I've read quite a bit about how Hitler and his band set the bureaucratic wheels of the Holocaust in motion, including Raul Hilberg's masterpiece The Destruction of the European Jews. This is not a substitute for seeing this larger whole -- but it brings to life in a very personal way what it felt like to be trapped and facing an uncertain future. Ultimately, she summoned great courage to survive and raise a family. I wish she had written even more.
2596508
The most honest story of WWII that I have ever read.  It does not dwell on heroics but tells a story as it really happened. The author is brilliant in the way he describes the realities of war and of the fighting man.  The drudgery and treachery of war comes alive in the telling.  The shortcomings of leadership and downright incompetence of some are not spared from the pen.  Respect and even compassion at times for the enemy is unusual in a story of this nature.  Dick Stodghill has made a lasting impression on me.  He is what a real soldier is made of.  He loathed what he had to do, but did his duty for his country.

Abe March
4607638
Finalist in the Epic eBook Awards 2011 !
5 Star Review!
Multi-published historical writer, Kev Richardson, has a way of bringing the history of his homeland, Australia, up front and personal. In his latest work, A WELCOME WAR, I was notably impressed with his astute presentation of a young lads impressions and compulsion to follow the happenings of World War II. From a ten year olds impassioned sense of wonder, to his later assessments, as a young man of eighteen, he recounts his personal translation of the war that changed his life. The book includes many captivating memories from his younger years, and his recorded impressions of the exciting historical happenings of war.
Kev Richardson presents his own bio as a school boy of ten confused by the changing colors on his war map, as countries continued to change hands during WWII. It became his first passionate effort to record history and the war that influenced the rest of his life. Yet A WELCOME WAR also gazes into the heart of a boy growing up to discover the pleasures of scouting, swimming, hiking and girls dancing, and kissing.
This account, which lists accurate dates and war time impressions, verifies this writers dedication to discovering and disclosing the truths in history that have in the past been purposely hidden. This enchanting biography of his own youth is not to be missed.
If you love history, I highly recommend you read all of Richardsons extensive historical writings about the First Fleet, and the men and women who populated the shockingly hidden history behind the penal colony in the beginning years of New South Wales, all available at [...]

 JoEllen Conger, Conger Book Reviews, USA
1928772
I really enjoyed this book and respect the author. In the first chapter Swofford clarifies that he wrote "what I know", and there is a bibliography of books consulted for facts pertaining to Gulf War combat and Middle Eastern topography. That being said, he honestly and deftly narrates his education about life, warfare and manhood from his formative years as a "military brat" and then as a Marine Corps sniper deployed to the Gulf War. The book alternates between flashbacks, interspersed, tangentally connected incidents (like a friend's death) and the particularities of U.S. military history, artillery and service. There is a wealth of human grist in this memoir to consume for an intelligent reader. The fact that he shared his front-line account of a war should be applauded. The straightforwardness of Mr. Swofford is a trait I wish I saw more of in our world.
107947
To me "Goodbye Darkness" although on one level a memoir of the author's service in the US Marine Corps in the Pacific Theatre during World War II is really a journey of discovery of who the author is and the belief system that formed him during the 1930's and 1940's.  The literary device he uses of revisiting the battlefields where he fought and rediscovering the memories he had suppressed for thirty years makes this one of the most powerful books I have ever read.

The book bears more than a superficial resemblance to another favorite book, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," that is also a journey into darkness to discover the author's shadow self.  Both books are written in first person, both recount a journey each author makes to places he had been before, both describe the memories that each author rediscovers during the journey, and both books end with the startling realization that the younger protagonist of the book and the author are one and the same.  While Pirsig makes a motorcycle trip to Montana to a college where he taught before he had a nervous breakdown and was subjected to electroshock treatments that caused him to "lose" his memory,  Manchester tells the story of his journey thirty years afterwards to the battlefields where he fought and of the battle wound that had made his subsequent memories "unreliable."

There were a wealth of insights from "Goodbye Darkness" but three bear special mention. First, as a member of the baby boom generation (born in 1949), I grew up in the shadow of the "greatest generation" and have tried to understand the historical forces that formed my father's generation - the great depression and World War II.  Manchester's memoir has helped me understand what it was like to grow up as a product of those two defining events of the 1930's and 1940's and why the world they returned to became so different from the one they had left.

My second insight from the book was an appreciation of the strength of the bond Manchester formed with the men in his platoon and the process of group cohesion that formed the bond that would motivate the men in his unit to fight not for their country, not for ideals, but for each other.  It is a truism that the men who returned from WWII rarely discussed the experience they had undergone on the battlefield. Manchester is the exception in his desire and his ability to explain why men fought. By the end of the book I knew each of the men in his platoon and understood the process that made their loyalty to each other so strong.

I had seen the process of group cohesion myself in the 1970's to a lesser degree when I went through an intense fifteen month month training regimen followed by two years service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South America when I formed friendships with my fellow volunteers that have lasted thirty years. I am now at the same age as Manchester when he made his journey to the Pacific that resulted in this book and his memoir has given me the idea of making my own journey back to Peru to revisit the places I served and rediscover the memories that formed me as a young man.

My third insight was the role that their lives in combat played in their subsequent lives.  My special interest has always been the Peace Corps. I have long known that the fathers of the Peace Corps, John F. Kennedy and Sargent Shriver, both saw combat in World War II as did many other "Peace Corps Giants" like Jack Vaughn who fought in the Marines in the Philippines and who, at 85, is now the last surviving member of his platoon.  It was Manchester's service in WWII that gave him the impetus to become one of the greatest historians of his generation. No one hates war more than a veteran and it was because they hated war that out of their sacrifice men like Kennedy, Shriver, and Vaughn sustained institutions like the United Nations and created organizations like the Peace Corps.

 Highly recommended.
1472909
This straightforward, honest personal account of Nazi era events is highly interesting and thought provoking, the best personal memoir of this era that I've read. This book and personal interviews with the author are cited as source materials in Andrew Nagorski's new book, The Nazi Hunters.  As a schoolboy in Dresden in the late 1930s, the author experienced the growing power of the Nazis and its impact on his Jewish friends and acquaintances.  A Luftwaffe radio communications soldier during the war, he was in Dresden on leave when it was bombed.  As a journalist living in Dachau after the war, he covered hundreds of Dachau war crimes and denazification trials including those of Ilse Koch, the Bitch of Buchenwald, whom he interviewed in prison, SS Col. Otto Skorzeny, SS Col. Joachim Pieper, who massacred US Army troops at Malmedy during the Battle of the Bulge and the trial of the commandant of Mauthausen. He became a German lawyer but emigrated to Washington, DC  in 1952 with his young family where he became a successful American lawyer who represented the German government in cases dealing with compensation for Holocaust victims and repatriation of property confiscated during and after the war.  The book is divided into two sections, the first dealing with the war crimes and denazification trials that the author witnessed and reported on and the second, with his school days and personal experiences in Hitler's Germany and Luftwaffe. I enjoyed the second part as much or more because he writes well about the things he lived through. The author discusses "collective guilt" of the German people, the refusal of Americans to believe that not everyone was aware of what was happening in the concentration camps, and offers some provocative insights. (This is not a political book.) There is an interesting discussion of who, after the war's conclusion, was considered at trial to be a real Nazi or Nazi "enabler", many of whom were acquitted. The book contains some German phrases and slang words, which is a bonus if you speak or read some German.  Highly recommended.
3667639
This is a story of bravery, courage, cunning and good luck. There are many of these from WW2 and the quality of the writing varies enormously. What brings this story to life is the quality of the editing and the dialogue added by the editor. It's a superb book and a gripping read - highly recommended!
2516596
An incredible autobiography!! written so well, giving the atmosphere of life as a child after ww2 with a very interesting short stories. i couldn't stop reading. the writing is so fluent. i hope there will be another book to hear the rest of the stories. Thank you!
2253216
This book book arrived is very good conditions as it was said to be.  I have not finished reading it, but as I really love A Still Point in a Turning World, I wanted to also read this book.  From what I have read so far, the memoir is gripping and well written.  I look forward to finishing the book.  I love the author's tangible style and how each scene on the page is vivid, whether it be about the narrator as a child, or an adult.  There is a playfulness about the narrator as a child that softens some of the harsh realities from what it might have been like to be a child who had to lose a leg.
525306
Mr. Fazli and Lt. Col. Moffett have written a compelling, insightful, and exciting memoir of a real "hero's journey" in their book, Fahim Speaks.  The authors relate details of life in Afghanistan with unblinking clarity and honesty, and with a refreshingly objective style, forgoing blame, and instead, letting events speak for themselves.  Mr. Fazli courageously speaks about the harsh realities of life in Afghanistan under Russian authority and the emerging Taliban, and the tolls this life took on him, his mother, father, and siblings.  All responded to the pressures differently, and these events are related with frankness, forthrightness, and self-reflection.  Mr. Fazli traces his journey from anger to compassion, from suffering to gratitude, and from dreamer to man-of-action.

Lt. Col. Moffett lays out the events of Mr. Fazli's early life and escape from Afghanistan with journalistic clarity and an engaging pace, creating curiosity and a desire to find out "what happens next" in the reader.  As the story unfolds in the United States, then opens out into the theatre of U.S. operations in Afghanistan, Lt. Col. Moffett's writing style hits its stride.  Weaving history with current events, the reader is afforded an expertly crafted and easily understandable account of Fahim's experiences as an interpreter to the commander of a company of U.S. Marines in one of the most dangerous areas of conflict in Afghanistan.  The poignancy of Fahim's return to the land of his birth under these circumstances is beautifully and compassionately written, his respect and love for the place and the people palpable.  At least as beautiful and compelling is Fahim's devotion and gratitude to his new homeland, the U.S.

Fahim Fazli followed the call to a new life in a new country and faced the "monsters" of challenges and setbacks, sadness and heartbreak along the way. Through persevering toward his dream, he achieved what he never thought possible as a young boy, embracing his gift as an actor in Hollywood.  Infused with a deep desire to thank his new country, Fahim took the extraordinary step of giving up his sweet home-life with his beautiful wife and daughter for one year, in order to serve the United States in tangible form, in the uniform of the Marine Corps.  The most important part of any hero's journey is that time when the hero must bring his "boon", or gift, back to the community.  Fahim did this, does this, in an amazing, unique and inspiring form.  Rarely do we read such a beautifully written love-letter from a man to his country.  ~~Beth Anne Boardman, PhD
2475222
I am a prolific reader of military history, especially WWII, to the point where I'm finding it harder and harder to find quality reads.  I don't know how I missed this one for so long.  It is a WONDERFUL book (to the extent you can say that about a book that takes such a realistic look at the slaughter that is modern war).  It is in many ways just as good a memoir as Sledge's With the Old Breed, Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow, or MacDonald's Company Commander.  In other ways, it is better than any other war memoir I have ever read.

Do yourself a favor.  Please don't miss this book.