Reviews (3)

WHY SOFTCOVER ??
A REAL PITY that this nice re-edition has been published with softcover! Besides that, the book is still the excellent collection of old, unique photos with commentaries of Jewish life on that Empire which was the JEWISH POLAND BEFORE THE HOLOCAUST!
Like a loving obituary.
This book explains the various Jewish societies in pre-Nazi Europe's most Jewish country. I love reading it.Although most of my ancestors are not documented in civil records I could have access to--it helps me see that my family too had a real life somewhere.

A beautiful, necessary key to a lost world
"Image Before My Eyes," a book built around an astonishing selection of photos and linked to an even finer documentary of the same name, is a brilliantly conceived and executed introduction to the history of Polish Jewry and an extraordinarily moving monument to that community's creativity, vitality, and complexity. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th century    3. Eastern Europe - Poland    4. General    5. History    6. History: World    7. Jewish - General    8. Jews    9. Photography    10. Pictorial works    11. Poland    12. Christianity    13. Non-Classifiable   

Subjects:  1. Ethnic relations    2. History    3. History Of Jews    4. Jews    5. Poland    6. Religion    7. Warsaw    8. Warsaw (Poland)    9. 20th century    10. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    11. European history: from c 1900 -    12. Jewish studies    13. c 1700 to c 1800    14. c 1800 to c 1900   

Reviews (27)

precise and brilliant!
I just have good words for this wonderful book. A concise books with just the information you need to know and a story, the real story of this remarkable woman. The life of Marie is kind of sad, but the accomplisment she made, outstanding.This books is also, a good portrait of the story of particles and radioactivity.

Obsessive Genius
Marie Curie tried to lead a private and austere life causing many myths to be formed around her life story.Many revered Curie for her remarkable work as a woman in a male-dominated science community, thereby causing people to see her as the ideal mother, wife, and scientist.Fans at the time went so far as to credit her with curing cancer.In her book, Obsessive Genius, Barbara Goldsmith sets the story straight using such sources as Curie's journal, accounts from friends and families, and old letters.Goldsmith shows the complexity behind the personality of the woman known for her discovery of radioactivity and the elements polonium and radium.
Obsessive Genius
Obsessive Genius a well-written account of both Marie Curie's personal life, as well as her scientific achievements.Barbara Goldsmith makes Marie Curie a real person, with faults just like the rest of us, but still a woman whom nobody should fear being unjustified in idolizing.I feel that is the purpose the author had behind writing this book, learning why we idolize Marie Curie to this day, and whether or not we truly should, how much of it is myth and how much it is truth.The book starts with Marie Curie as the fifth child in a poor family in Poland, who barely knew her mother because of tuberculosis.The book paints a portrait of a woman who had to work non-stop just to go to attend a university, a woman who throughout her life worked obsessively to the point where she would forget to eat.The book also does a good job of portraying how difficult it was for her to work in a community that did not want to accept a woman as a brilliant scientist.So much was denied to her because of her gender, but she worked through it to reach her goals.This truly is an inspiring book that describes a woman's life, her goals, desires, emotions, triumphs, and downfalls. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1867-1934    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Chemistry - General    7. Chemists    8. Curie, Marie,    9. History    10. History Of Science    11. Poland    12. Scientists    13. Scientists - General    14. Women    15. Women chemists    16. Biography: general    17. Chemistry   

Reviews (5)

An unusual holocaust tale
This is the story of a French singer who spent 2� years in a Nazi concentration camp.Saved because of her musical abilities, FF spent her internment as a member of an all-women's orchestra which played for the camp's leaders.It is a strange tale, not especially well or clearly written--essentailly stuff for a holocaust junkey.Compared to Martin Goldsmith's The Unestinquishable Symphony, this book is definitely second tier.

The madness of the camps and the masters spotlighted
The story has been known for many years, but this book puts in focus, by a survivor, the insanity of a lesser known action then the case at Auschwitz. A well told personal experience by someone willing to put down for history something that needed to be said. No matter how many years I've studied, and the many survivors I've known who have shared fragments, this clear telling in print for generations to come is a treasure.

The Perfect Book
This is an absolutely incredible book.An already powerful story it is taken to a new level by the constant reminder that this is first hand experience.Read more

Subjects:  1. Auschwitz (Concentration camp)    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Concentration camp inmates    5. Fenelon, Fania    6. France    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. History    9. History: World    10. Holocaust    11. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    12. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    13. Personal narratives    14. Poland    15. Prisoners and prisons    16. Women    17. World War, 1939-1945    18. Biography: general    19. European history: Second World War    20. Fénelon, Fania    21. Germany    22. The Holocaust   

Reviews (2)

A compelling memoir
The main character in this moving book is a teenaged girl, Roma, who is separated from her affluent family and sent to a concentration camp at the age of 16, where she never knows if she will be in the next group of inmates selected to die in the crematorium. Her only solace from the daily horrors is the imagined conversations she has at night, before going to sleep, with her mother. The story of how she manages to survive with her humanity intact and start a new life in Israel makes for gripping reading; I read this book in one sitting. Especially interesting is the epilogue, where she talks about what it felt like to return to Poland nearly 60 years after she left. Adding to the authenticity of the historical details is the fact that Roma'sco-author, her son, is a history professor. He writes about the difficulties faced by himself and his mother in writing about her past. Rather than just telling a story, this book addresses the problem of reconciling memory with historical fact, and what it means to write about your past so many years later.

TREMENDOUS
This is the greatest and most touching memoir on the Holocaust I have ever read. It provides psychological insights into the way the victims felt. Read this!!!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Historical - Holocaust    4. History    5. History: World    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    8. Jews    9. Majdanek (Concentration camp)    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Personal narratives    12. Poland    13. Warsaw   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    4. Collectors and collecting    5. European    6. Exhibition Catalogs    7. Exhibitions    8. Painting    9. Painting, European    10. Poland    11. Techniques - Painting    12. Art / History / European   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Childhood Memoir    6. Historical - General    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust survivors    10. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    11. Jewish children in the Holocaust    12. Personal narratives    13. Poland    14. Biography & Autobiography / Historical    15. History / Holocaust   

Editorial Review

You could start with Chicken Baked with Prunes, prepared in the 14th century for the Bishop of Zeitz. The ingredients include sliced onion, shredded white cabbage, large prunes with their pits, chopped parsley, juniper berries, a large roasting hen cut in half, bay leaf, bacon, ginger, cinnamon, a red Hungarian wine, and a little dill seed. This bakes, covered, in an earthenware pan, and is served on boiled millet refried in oil or butter and accompanied by green mustard sauce. What you would taste, according William Woys Weaver, the editor and coauthor ofRead more

Reviews (2)

Book has a wealth of educational material
This book is filled with a wealth of educational material.This book is comprised of mostly history regarding the culture, the food, and the people.The recipes are well written with measurements in english and metric, temperatures are also given in standard and celcius degrees.Most recipes are from the peasant folk with a few meat dishes sprinkled in.Some recipes are common to today's standards while a few of the others would not typically be seen served in today's kitchen.There are approximately 30 recipes or so in this book.Each recipe has its history in terms of how it was served, to whom it was served, and when it was served.The book is a worthwhile read.

This is a wonderful book with lots of historical tidbits
This is really more of a history book, to my reading.It has wonderfullittle known facts that I would never have learned otherwise.There is alot of research that went into this book, and she obviously worked long andhard to get this book and the history into order.This is a wonderful bookfor anyone who is interested in Poland or Slavic areas, and the recipies,to me, almost seemed as an afterthought, though I do not doubt they arecorrect and proper for Poland.Enjoy!!! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cookery, Medieval    3. Cookery, Polish    4. Cooking    5. Eastern Europe - Poland    6. Food habits    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Medieval    10. Poland    11. Regional & Ethnic - Polish    12. To 1500    13. European history: c 500 to c 1500    14. National & regional cuisine    15. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (6)

KEPT ME UP ALL NIGHT!
I bought this book after talking to Dorit Whiteman at her book signing at the Holocaust Museum and seeing her engrossing presentation at a library.She is an utterly charming and thoroughly knowledgeable individual!Her book expertly weaves together history with the true story of a how a resourceful, clever boy repeatedly gave the slip to German and Russian forces.I stayed up all night reading this book even though I already knew the end!

AN INSPIRING SURVIVAL TALE!
This book expertly combines historical revelations and insights with an against-all-odds survival story!

PUTS A HUMAN FACE ON HISTORY!
This is a extremely engaging and informative book about a long overlooked aspect of the Holocaust.And it's a real page-turner.Whiteman's background as a Holocaust survivor and psychologist shines through her astute observations. Whiteman also gives wonderful presentations on Holocaust-related issues. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. History    6. Holocaust    7. Israel    8. Jarosaw    9. Jaros±aw    10. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    11. Jews    12. Jews, Polish    13. Poland    14. Refugees, Jewish    15. Soviet Union    16. Yaron, Eliott,    17. b. 1929    18. Biography: general    19. Europe    20. The Holocaust   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Armed Forces    3. Collaborationists    4. Europe    5. Europe - Germany    6. Germany    7. History    8. History - General History    9. Military History - World War II    10. Uniforms    11. World War, 1939-1945    12. Land forces & warfare    13. Second World War, 1939-1945    14. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (4)

Rough is right
The only thing rough about this book is that it was allowed to pass a copy editor and onto printing while in rough draft form.This is by far one of the worst travel guides I have ever purchased...way out of date, biased, bigoted.If one ever intended to see the out of the way sights by using this book you may just as well forget it.The maps are unusable, there are no helpful tourists tips ie where to catch a tourist bureau, a restroom, etc.It makes you not want to visit Poland at all.What a shame since getting off into the country side areas, even cities of 10-25,00 people there is no info.Save your money and buy a national geographic subscription.ken gorski, el paso, texas August 16, 2003

Not the whole story
Don't want to sound like I'm shilling for Amazon.com, but if you're going to be in Poland for more than a few days, I would recommend both the Rough Guide and the Lonely Planet Poland guides. Probably the best source
This guide had extensive information on Poland, including coverage of many small towns omitted from other books.It is much more thorough than Lonely Planet.It also includes more information on sites of Jewish interest, which Lonely Planet virtually ignores.Perhaps that is why the other reviewer considered it a negative book.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - Eastern    2. Poland - History    3. Travel    4. Travel - Foreign    5. Travel Guides    6. Travel / General   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. General    6. Genres & Styles - Opera    7. Graphic Arts - General    8. Individual Artist    9. Olbinski, Rafal    10. Opera    11. Opera posters, Polish    12. Poland    13. Poster Art    14. Surrealism    15. Art / Individual Artist    16. Graphic design    17. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    18. Individual designers    19. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000   

Reviews (2)

The history of the Nazis war against the Jewish people
This series of legal documents, decrees, orders, instructions or live accounts describes better than any litterary form the progression in horror which our Jewish parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nevews had to suffer from April fools' day of 1933 when waring the David star was enforced to this community until the end of the second world war in mid 1945. The history of the Nazis war against the Jewish people
This series of legal documents, decrees, orders, instructions or live accounts describes better than any litterary form the progression in horror which our Jewish parents, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nevews had to suffer from April fools' day of 1933 when waring the David star was enforced to this community until the end of the second world war in mid 1945. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1933-1945    2. Germany    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    8. Jewish - General    9. Jews    10. Sources    11. Austria    12. Former Soviet Union, USSR (Europe)    13. Jewish studies    14. Poland    15. Second World War, 1939-1945    16. The Holocaust    17. World history: Second World War   

Reviews (5)

Turnbull should have stayed with the samurais
I have some problems with Turnbull as an author, too often is he careless with facts when he deals with medieval Europe. I do have excellent books written by him, so what went wrong in this book? This volume was unfortunately a bit of a disappointment, even though the overall story is informative Turnbull fails in some details. Especially when it comes to weapons, tactics and other military aspects Turnbull is very hasty in his depiction. The information on arms and armour are too sketchy and simplified to a degree of distortion - for example his only note on the tatars is that "they were dressed in traditional mongol heavy coats and boots". Also the plates by Richard Hook shows the tatars as 13th century mongol light horse archers, whereas the tatars of the 15th century were in fact Turkish (not Mongols!) and they had, in addition to horse archers, numerous heavy cavalrymen in various kinds of turco-mongol armour. The Beginning of the End of the Teutonic Order?
As I'm more interested in political and intellectual history than military history, I probably do not appreciate this book as its target audience, presumably military history aficionados, do. For me this is a double introduction: this is the first of Ospery's 'Campaign' series books I've read, and a rare detailed look into the tormented history of Poland, known to its people as the 'Christ of the nations'. Interesting and Concise History
Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights by Stephen Turnbull is a concise but interesting history of a little known part of European History that had little immediate importance, but significant long term effect.In 1410 the Teutonic Knights of Prussia invaded Polish territory with the intent of expanding their empire.The Poles, along with their Lithuanian allies and a contingent of Czech mercenaries were able to rout the Knights, killing their Grand Master.Because of indecisive moves the Polish/Lithuanian allies they were unable to take advantage of their decisive victory; however, the victory weakened the Knights to such an extent that they eventually became inconsequential in European affairs.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. History: World    5. Medieval    6. Military - Other    7. Battles & campaigns    8. European history: c 500 to c 1500    9. History / Military / General    10. Poland    11. c 1000 CE to c 1500   

Reviews (2)

Superb analysis of a genuinely democratic mass movement
This is a superb book. It is scholarly yet passionate, courageous yet level-headed. The book argues that the Solidarity labor movement in Poland in 1980-81 was created by workers of the Gdansk shipyards rather than by Warsaw and Krakow intellectuals. However, the intellectuals supplied self-serving interpretations of Solidarity, and these were accepted as fact. Goodwyn shows that ever since the failed bread strikes in 1956, 1970, and 1976, the workers of Poland continued to devise methods by which to oppose the communist regime. In 1980, they succeeded: the so-called "occupational strike" in the shipyards made it impossible for the police to disperse the workers, while a system of human couriers allowed workers from various enterprises (as many as 370 factories, at the end of August 1980) to communicate when telephones were cut off by the communists. Finally, in August 1980, the workers presented to the government the centerpiece of all their demands: the demand for free labor unions. This was a move which the government of Soviet-occupied Poland did not expect. Polish intellectuals in Warsaw advised against it. The workers stood firm--and the government yielded. For a year, there was jubilation in Poland. But at Moscow's bidding, the Soviet-controlled government in Warsaw arrested thousands of Solidarity leaders in December 1981. For seven years, Poles lived under martial law. Under martial law, hundreds of people were tortured or "merely" beaten, thousands lost their lives because elementary medical help was impossible to obtain. fantastic & sadly out-of-print
As a student in Larry Goodwyn's social movements class, I have been reading this book to study his philosophy and methodology.It's incredibly interesting and enlightening, and sure to infuriate anyone with a vestedinterest in the convential wisdom about movement building in general andSolidarity in particular.I'd recommend it to anyone who can get theirhands on a copy (& let me know if you can!)... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1945-    2. Contemporary Politics - Europe    3. General    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. NSZZ "Solidarnoâsâc" (Labor organization)    8. NSZZ 'Solidarnosc' (Labor or    9. Poland    10. Politics and government    11. Solidarity (Labor organization    12. Solidarity (Labor organization)   

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Historical - General    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust survivors    8. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    9. Jews    10. Krakâow    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Personal narratives    13. Poland    14. United States   

Reviews (2)

Five Years In The Warsaw Ghetto
It took me a few days to write this review after I finished "Five Years In The Warsaw Ghetto" by Bernard Goldstein. In a day where there's much wrong with our world, you can't help but be depressed when reading of people in the past that's ideals were utterly crushed by the might of state power. Goldstein was a Jewish socialist organizer in the trade unions of Warsaw, and lost his entire community to the Nazi plan of aus rotten of the Polish Jews. Its story, a re-release of a memoir put out in the 1950s when the Holocaust was fresh in the world's mind, leaves you with three things.
"A nightmare without interruption."
Bernard Goldstein, a Polish Jew, was a leader in the Jewish Labour Union known as the Bund. His background as a militant and dissident included fighting in the revolution against the Czar. Some of his teenage years were spent in jail for his pro-labour political activities against the state. He suffered multiple imprisonments and even survived a term in Siberia.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Holocaust    6. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    7. Jewish resistance    8. Jews    9. Persecutions    10. Poland    11. Warsaw    12. World War, 1939-1945    13. Biography: historical    14. European history: Second World War    15. History / General    16. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Subjects:  1. 1917-    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Blady Szwajger, Adina,    5. History - General History    6. History: World    7. Holocaust    8. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    9. Jewish - Ancient    10. Jewish physicians    11. Jews    12. Judaism - General    13. Personal narratives    14. Poland    15. Warsaw    16. Blady Szwajger, Adina   

Reviews (1)

The Jedwabne Massacre of Jews: Germans, Not Poles, to Blame

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Subjects:  1. Atrocities    2. Eastern Europe - Poland    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    8. Jedwabne    9. Jewish - General    10. Poland    11. World War, 1939-1945    12. History / General