Book Review: March Violets by Philip Kerr
4 Stars , Fiction , Latest Posts / August 21, 2013

Arti­cle first pub­lished as Book Review: ‘March Violets’ by Philip Kerr on Blog­crit­ics About: March Violets by Philip Kerr is the first in a series of noir novels about Bernie Gunther, an ex-policeman who turned private investigator. March violets refers to Germans who went along with the Nazi violence mindlessly. 256 pages Publisher: Penguin Books Language: English ISBN-10: 0142004146 My rating for March Violets – 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format More Books by Philip Kerr More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: I read a few Bernie Gunther books before this one, but after I read the first one I ran out (meaning inside) to the store (Internet) and browsed (searched) for used copies of the series. Being a single minded Neanderthal, as my beloved wife can attest to, I decided to read March Violets first because… well… it’s first. The novel has a murder/mystery aspect but even more fascinating is the sense of coping with Nazi horrors on a daily base. The sense of the Nazis taking over and destroying souls feels very real in this novel and is an underlying horror which is present on every page. The book’s psychological aspect (intended or not) of just how…

Book Review: The Tenth Witness by Leonard Rosen
5 Stars , Fiction , Latest Posts / August 7, 2013

Engineer Henri Poincaré works hard to try and bring up the frigate HMS Lutine which went down almost 200 years before with millions worth of gold in its belly. As a reward for his hard work, Henri takes a break and hikes at low tide across the Wadden Sea. Henri gets to know his guide, Liesel Kraus who is a director at Kraus Steel and is still haunted by a violent history and corrupting wealth.

Book Review: Rocking the Wall by Erik Kirschbaum
4 Stars , Latest Posts , Non-Fiction / July 16, 2013

About: Rocking the Wall: Bruce Springsteen: The Berlin Concert that Changed the World by Erik Kirschbaum is a non-fiction book about a 1988 Springsteen concert in East Berlin, Germany. Mr. Kirschbaum got the idea for the book in a taxi coming back from a 2002 Springsteen concert in Berlin, when the cab driver told him about the incredible night which changed the country. 144 pages Publisher: Berlinica Publishing LLC Language: English ISBN-10: 1935902741 My rating for Rocking the Wall – 4 Buy this book in paper or elec­tor­nic format* Thoughts: Rocking the Wall: Bruce Springsteen: The Berlin Concert that Changed the World by Erik Kirschbaum is a short book and a fast read. It is especially poignant for those of us who actually remember a place called East Berlin. I call New Jersey my home state, it’s understandable that Bruce Springsteen is a mega star there, heck, I knew people who went to school with him. What’s amazing is that this local boy became a huge mega star not only in the country, but for a while was the biggest rock star on the planet. The first few chapters give an overall, and quick, history of East Berlin and the…

Book Review: The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship by Patrick Bishop
4 Stars , Latest Posts , Non-Fiction / July 6, 2013

Arti­cle orig­i­nally pub­lished as Book Review: ‘The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship’ by Patrick Bishop on Blogcritics.org About: The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship by Patrick Bishop is a non-fiction book about the attempts of the allies to sink the German battleship Tirpitz during World War II. This is a great book for World War II buffs, naval historians or those interested in naval technical developments. 416 pages Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc., An Eagle Publishing Company ISBN: 1621570037 My rat­ing for The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship— 4 Buy this book from Amazon.com* More Books by Patrick Bishop More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: The Hunt for Hitler’s Warship by Patrick Bishop (website) is an interesting book about the allies’ obsession with sinking the Tirpitz even though she was mostly inactive during the war. It seemed to me the Tirpitz’s greatest contribution during the war was to divert huge amounts of allied resources. Mr. Bishop’s book is also a fascinating look at the naval history of the North Sea during World War II. This is a dense and detailed book on a subject I knew very little about and found the dynamics and war politics within the British Navy…

Book Review: Masaryk Station by David Downing
4 Stars , Fiction , Latest Posts / June 25, 2013

This is the final book to an excel­lent series in which the author appraises post World War II Europe in a cyn­i­cal, tired, yet clear man­ner. The book is a won­der­ful intro­duc­tion to the Berlin Block­ade, told through an excit­ing story with like­able characters.

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