Article first published as Book Review: Bombing Hitler: The Story of the Man Who Almost Assassinated the Führer by Hellmut G. Haasis, Translated by William Odom on Blogcritics About: Bombing Hitler: The Story of the Man Who Almost Assassinated the Führer by Hellmut G. Haasis, (translated by William Odom) is the true story of Georg Elser and his failed attempt on Hitler’s life. 240 pages Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing Language: English ISBN-10: 1616087412 My rat­ing for Bombing Hitler— 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: Bombing Hitler by Hellmut G. Haasis tells of Georg Elser’s decision to assassinate Hitler in a Munich Beer Hall. Elser’s said that he simply wanted to” prevent even greater bloodshed through my act”. Elser, a blue collar worker, worked and planned for months in order to plant a bomb in a pillar which supports the roof of the beer hall. The bomb worked, killing eight people, but missing its intended target who had to leave early for Berlin (cutting his speech from 2 hours to a mere hour). The book is a well researched document, using interviews from first hand sources as well as historical documentation, the author…

Arti­cle first pub­lished as The Book Theif by Markus Zusak on Blog­crit­ics About: The Book Thief by Austrian author Markus Zusak is a novel taking place in Nazi Germany. The book was published in 2006, since then it has won many awards and spent over 230 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller list. 576 pages Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Language: English ISBN-10: 0375842209 My rating for The Book Thief – 4 Buy this book in paper or in elec­tronic format* More Rec­om­mended World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: She was a girl. In Nazi Germany. How fitting that she was discovering the power of words. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a very popular novel, mainly among the YA crowd, and I can certainly see why. The book celebrates the power of the written word, of language, encourages people to read has an interesting twist in the narration. The book approach to the Holocaust, not straight on but looking from the sidelines, will appeal to teens as well as adults. The young heroine, Liesel Meminger who is a feisty girl who navigates through the claustrophobic and schizophrenic world of adults in Nazi Germany is both smart and tough, with…

Joining the Army to get away from the depression, 25 year-old Felix Spars arrives in Italy as a captain in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division – the Thunderbirds. Sparks proves to be a natural leader and a man of high intelligence, moral and respectability leading his men in 4 amphibious invasions, through the rough mountainous terrains of Italy and France and winter combat against the SS on the German border.

Article first published as Book Review: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller on Blogcritics. About: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller is a German novel taking place in a Soviet forced labor camp at the end of World War II. Ms. Müller won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Literature. 304 pages Publisher: Metropolitan Books Language: English ISBN-10: 080509301X My rating for The Hunger Angel – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format* More Books by Herta Müller Check out this & more World War II books on Man of la BookStore Thoughts: The Hunger Angel by Herta Müller takes place in 1945, when the Soviet Union demanded that all Romanian Germans who are 17 to 45 years of age be relocated to forced labor camps in order to help rebuild the devastated nation. According to the author’s note at the end of the book, she spent many hours talking to poet Oskar Pastior who suffered under the decree. Müller filled four notebooks with Mr. Pastior’s testimony until 2006, when he suddenly passed away. This is an extraordinary book about the hardships the German people faced after the war, as Leo Auberg, the protagonist states: “To this day, the hunger angel speaks out of your mouth. But no matter what he says, this…

Flags Over the Warsaw Ghetto: The Untold Story of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Moshe Arens, former Ambassador to the U.S., Israeli Defense Minister and Foreign Minister, tells the story of the uprising in Warsaw Ghetto which the history books have missed. Interestingly enough, the uprising started on the eve of the Jewish holiday of Passover, a holiday known as celebrating liberation.

Feeling frustrated against the Nazi machine they decide that they must act in defiance. However, acting in defiance is a sure death sentence.

About: The Silent Oligarch by Chris Morgan Jones is a fictional book about those in the shadows which hold the strings of power. Article first published as Book Review: The Silent Oligarch by Chris Morgan Jones on Blogcritics. 336 pages Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The ISBN: 1594203199 My rating for The Silent Oligarch – 4 Great price on this book in paper or elec­tronic for­mat through the Man of la Book Affil­i­ate Account Thoughts: oligarchy 1: government by the few 2: a government in which a small group exercises control especially for corrupt and selfish purposes; also : a group exercising such control 3: an organization under oligarchic control The Silent Oligarch by Chris Morgan Jones is an interesting book filled with great detail about London, Moscow and Berlin as well as the lifestyle of rich Russians. The story is filled with interesting atmospheric nuances about the new Russia. The book is somewhat complex, reading it was like walking through a maze and the reader had to pay attention. Jones writes like an insider, not only in the complex details of shell companies but also into the mindset of those who control them and those who are being controlled. The reader can feel the boss’ is…

Three Days of Terror in November How Kristallnacht Continues to Haunt, and Instruct, Us Today ===================================================== Mr. Reisfeld has kindly made available the following books for giveaway (enter at the end of the post): Two (2) Signed paperback copies of The Last Way Station Two (2) eBook copies of The Last Way Station One (1) eCopy of Jerusalem Imperilled by Harry Freedman ===================================================== As night fell over the Third Reich on Wednesday, November 9th, 1938, Nazis at all levels of government launched a vicious, organized, national pogrom against the Jews. The attacks, unprecedented in their scope, brutality and brazenness, lasted for three days, during which time squads of sledge-hammer-wielding ‘brown shirts’ took the lead, savaging, looting and, in some cases, leveling Jewish businesses, homes and houses of worship. By the time the rioting stopped, organized mobs had ransacked and destroyed 267 Jewish synagogues, setting most of them afire. They had wrecked and plundered an estimated 7,500 Jewish storefronts and shops, desecrated Jewish cemeteries, and vandalized and looted countless Jewish homes. Many Germans welcomed the violence. Eyewitnesses described mothers lifting their children up over bystanders’ heads so that they, too, could see the destruction of Jewish property, while their parents cheered on the…

After the war ended, Brenner has accidentally taken on a new identity and becomes a janitor in the courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials are being heard. Trying to heal is conscious, Brenner writes a letter to his wife which set up each chapter of the book.

Solomon Kugel moved is family to Stockton, New York, a town famous for nothing which is why Kugel likes it so much. Kugel hopes to begin again. However, Kugel gets something he didn’t bargain for, an elderly, foul mouthed Anne Frank living in his attic writing a sequel to her book and a lunatic burning down old farmhouses.