Reviews (4)

Explosive and Compelling
"Ana Pauker" is an excellent and compelling account that blows old notions of East European communists out of the water.While not glossing over Ana Pauker's serious delusions and often cynical compromises, Robert Levy convincingly demonstrates that Pauker was remarkably resistant to Soviet dictates during the most perilous period of Stalin's reign.Meticulously documented with a massive amount of archival documents and interviews of participants and eye-witnesses, this wonderfully written book is a must-read for anyone interested in communist and East European Jewish history.

Explosive and Informative
"Ana Pauker" is an excellent and compelling biography that blows old notions about East European communists out of the water.While hardly glossing over Ana Pauker's serious delusions and often cynical compromises, Robert Levy meticulously and convincingly demonstrates that Pauker was remarkably resistant to Soviet dictates during the most perilous years of Stalin's reign.This is a fascinating, well-written account based on recently unearthed communist archives and personal interviews of participants and eye-witnesses.Anyone interested in communist history or contemporary East European Jewish history will find this book utterly informative.

A lucid cut in the political life of Ana Pauker
This is a sound and wise biography of Ana Pauker. An exceptional volume. An examination of the Romanian communist system and its leaders was long due--beyond false anxieties. And Levy does it so superbly, blending history with years of archival and interview-based research. A lucid cut in the political life of a controversial Romanian communist leader, Ana Pauker. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1893-1960    2. 1944-1989    3. Balkan Peninsula - History    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Cabinet officers    7. Communists    8. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    9. Europe - General    10. History    11. History Of Jews    12. History: World    13. Jewish - General    14. Jews    15. Pauker, Ana,    16. Political    17. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    18. Politics and government    19. Romania    20. 20th century    21. Biography: political    22. History / General    23. Jewish studies    24. Marxism & Communism   

Subjects:  1. 1926-2001    2. Aerial operations, Romanian    3. Air pilots, Military    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Campaigns    7. Eastern Front    8. Europe - Russia & the Former Soviet Union    9. History    10. Maximciuc, Leonidas Ivanovich    11. Military    12. Military - World War II    13. Royalty    14. Soviet Union    15. World War, 1939-1945    16. Air forces & warfare    17. Biography: general    18. Russia    19. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (6)

Truly outstanding!
This memoir lays out in exquisite prose a touching, insightful journey through a series of challenges that are almost incomprehensible to those of us who have grown up in happier times. As I read I could not help but wonder how I would measure up to the ethical and moral standards set by Professor Balas. His academic excellence and stature are well known to all of us who have worked in any field related to mathematical programming; this book makes it clear that in addition to being an exemplary academic in every way, Professor Balas is also a very great gentleman, in the best British sense of the word. I can only say I am proud to have known him.

Brilliance and bravery saved him
If ever I get imprisoned I'll remember to use a coffee-stained napkin and stale bread to make a chess set. I also learned from Egan Balas that to exercise in a confined space one takes an odd number of steps - else one walks in circles.Algorithmic ingenuity enabled him to successfully take up mathematics in his late 30s, against the conventional wisdom that good mathematicians do their work when young, and become an outstanding professor of industrial administration, applied mathematics and operations research at Carnegie Mellon University. A triumph of the human spirit against all odds
Professor Balas from Carnegie Mellon University is one of the most respected members of the Operations Research community. I am a big fan of Professor Egon Balas, having read his papers on the "Lift and Project" method in solving mixed integer programming problems.Read more

Subjects:  1. Balas, Egon    2. Biography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Communism    5. Historical - Holocaust    6. History    7. History: World    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Hungary    11. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    12. Jews    13. Personal narratives    14. Romania    15. 20th century    16. Biography: historical    17. European history: from c 1900 -    18. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Ethnic Studies - General    3. Ethnic identity    4. Ethnicity    5. Europe - Austria & Hungary    6. History - General History    7. Hungarians    8. Logic    9. Romania    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Transylvania   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - Cultural    2. Archaeology / Anthropology    3. Cluj-Napoca    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. Ethnic identity    6. Ethnicity    7. Hungarians    8. Nationalism    9. Romania    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - Rural    13. Anthropology    14. Ethnography    15. European History    16. Political Science and International Relations    17. Social Science / Sociology / Rural    18. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (3)

72 y o female response
Very hard to read and much technical stuff that I did not understand as I am not an air plane person nor military.

Fortress Ploesti - WW II Air War Revisited
A well researched account and easy read of one of the most effective bombing campaigns of WW II. The author places the reader in each combat crew position involved in the raids, starting with the well documented August 1, 1943 low level raid and then picking up the less recognized high level raids that ran from April 5, 1944 until August 1944 when the Soviet Army took over.Stout covers the action from all the angles, that of the B-24 crews, the Romanian, Bulgarian, and German fighter pilots and indivduals on the ground. The Entire Ploesti Campaign, Told Well!
Having read the advance review copy, I am pleased to record my impressions of this title. Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - Aviation    6. Military - World War II    7. Ploiesti, Battles of, Ploies    8. Ploieðsti, Battles of, Ploieðsti, Romania, 1943-1944    9. World War, 1939-1945    10. Battles & campaigns    11. Europe    12. European history: Second World War    13. History / Military / Aviation   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - History    2. European Community    3. International - General    4. International Relations - General    5. Political Science    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Politics/International Relations    8. EU & European institutions    9. EU (European Union)    10. Political Science / International Relations    11. Romania   

Subjects:  1. Textbooks for foreign speakers    2. History    3. Europe - General    4. Europe    5. Language teaching & learning material & coursework    6. Romanian    7. Modern - General    8. English    9. History: World    10. Romanian language   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. History - General History    3. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    4. Peace studies    5. Political structure & processes    6. Romania   

Reviews (35)

An amazing book, an amazing person
This is the most moving book I have read in my life, hands-down.Seren Tuvel's story is heart-breaking, yet courageous.This book is an absolute must-read for everyone.

Very Interesting to Read
This book was well written in that it is a first hand account of what happened to real people in the Holocaust. It held my attention from beginning to end, and that is saying a lot for a book for me, so I do recommend it as a good read on this subject.

Unique compelling account
This is the first book about the Shoah I've read that takes place in Romania (apart from the excerpt from Miriam Korber's diary in the anthology 'Salvaged Pages').All of the other books and memoirs are from places like Poland, Hungary, Germany, France, Holland, anywhere but Romania, which also suffered mighty losses during the Shoah, though not always in the same way as in those other conquered nations.Seren was the third-last child of a huge family, composed of both full siblings and half-siblings, and despite having a strict father and living in a nation with rampant anti-Semitism, even among small children who were taught to hate, a land where Jews were not granted civil rights and civil liberties until 1923, and then only very reluctantly, she always stood apart from others.She was willing to fight back and to be her own person, to leave home at 13 to attend the gymnasium in Bucharest, to strike out on her own after throwing a bottle of ink at an anti-Semitic priest teacher and never going back to the gymnasium.Seren loved being a dressmaker, even designing gowns for members of Romania's Royal Family, though she didn't tell her family for some time what she was really doing and that she'd left gymnasium.
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Subjects:  1. 1918-    2. Bernstein, Sara Tuvel,    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. General    8. Historical - Holocaust    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    11. Jews    12. Personal narratives    13. Romania    14. Bernstein, Sara Tuvel    15. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (11)

Fantastic story of remembrance and hope, wrapped in a shell of exuberant, passionate writing
Survival
Review of "Survival"
I've known Magda Herzberger almost 30 years and during that time I saw in her compassion, a love of life, an intellect and a strong heroic desire to be a voice and tell what happened to 6 million Jews in Hitler's death camps of Auschwitz, Bremen and Bergen-Belsen. She can be that voice because she was there from 1944 to 1945.
A must read for people of all faiths...
This is a must read for Jews and non Jews alike. For Jews, to reinforce the motto "NEVER AGAIN" and for all non Jews so that they may understand. It took only a few years of indoctrination by the Nazis for a people to learn to hate a culture and religion so intensely. They were able to justify the denegration, torture and murder of millions of Jews Gypseys and others. One may wonder how much worse it may become for us, Jews and non Jews alike, in today's world where children are studying the same hateful rhetoric in madrasses (sp)...but for years and years. Enough hate and vitriol so that they are willing to give up their lives in order to murder innnocent people. I had to put this book down periodically because it so clearly illustrated "man's inhumanity to man". I am personally acquainted with Magda. She is wonderful, incredibly resiliant human being. There is a glow in her face and demeanor. Her father's message of "FAITH, LOVE & HOPE...foregiveness and tolerance...no mater what happens" is almost impossible to imagine under those circumstances...but if Magda can do it...maybe...we all can.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Cluj-Napoca    6. Historical - General    7. Historical - Holocaust    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Jews    11. Modern - 19th Century    12. Personal narratives    13. Poetry    14. Romania   

Subjects:  1. Alphabet    2. Balkan Peninsula    3. Foreign Language Study    4. Grammar    5. Grammar, Comparative    6. Language    7. Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy    8. Languages    9. Linguistics    10. Miscellaneous    11. Syntax    12. Albanian    13. Bulgarian    14. Grammar, syntax, linguistic structure    15. Historical & comparative linguistics    16. Language Arts & Disciplines / Linguistics    17. Linguistics | Syntax & Morphology    18. Modern Greek    19. Romanian    20. Southeast Europe   

Reviews (10)

Memorable Account of a Legendary Air Raid of WW2
I first read this book in 1964 when I was fifteen & never forgot
A Peek Into Post-War Triumphalism
This work is best viewed not as an objctive history of the event but rather a look into the attitudes of New Frontier America towards the war that America and the Kennedy generation had won. It is to that era and audience to which this work was addressed. The book brims with superlatives and lacks any real criticism or analysis of America training, equipment or tactics at the time of the raid. British and Commonwealth figures who do make it into the text are suitably odd colorful characters such as the RAF squadron leader (major in US-terms) who pops up as a gunnery expert. Germans are stoic and somehow unmenacingly militaristic and certainly not Nazis.
The Best and Most Accurate for the time
I am overjoyed that this great book is once again in print. Dugan and Stewart, both of whom served with the Army Air Forces in World War II and knew many of the participants, were in a unique position that later writers are not. While they were somewhat handicapped in that some of the documents related to World War II were still classified when they were writing, their information was based on knowledge provided by the participants when they were still young men, with the memories fresh in their minds, and less convulted by the effects of the distance of years and their own personal aging. I bought and read the original while on my way to US Air Force basic training in the summer of 1963 and it is still one of favorite books. Although modern enthusiasts attempt to pick it apart, it will always remain the most important book on the Ploesti campaigns.Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. Campaigns    3. General    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: American    7. Military - World War II    8. Ploiesti, Battles of, Ploies    9. Ploieðsti, Battles of, Ploieðsti, Romania, 1943-1944    10. Romania    11. World War, 1939-1945    12. Air forces & warfare    13. Battles & campaigns    14. European history: Second World War    15. History / Military / World War II    16. USA   

Reviews (1)

Wake up Romania!
Mad Forest is a fascinating look at Communist Romania before, during, and right after the revolution.I had the privelage of working on a college production of this play, and, each time it was performed, I found something new or amazing about it.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1944-1989    2. Churchill, Caryl - Plays & Criticism    3. Drama    4. English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh    5. History    6. Plays    7. Plays / Drama    8. Romania    9. Social Science    10. Sociology    11. Women's Studies - General    12. Social Science / Women's Studies   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. Europe - General    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Political History    7. Cultural studies    8. European history: First World War    9. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    10. Nationalism    11. Romania   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. Europe - Former Soviet Republics    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Romania    7. Romanies    8. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Reviews (1)

Great Documentation of Romanian Social and Political Life!
Professor Hitchins has done a wonderful job in describing social issues and political forces that shaped Romania in the 18th and 19th century.Amust for anyone doing research on Romania or interested in pre-20th centuryRomania. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1711-1821    2. 1821-1859    3. 1859-1866    4. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    5. Eastern Europe - General    6. Eastern Europe - History    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Romania    11. European history: c 1500 to c 1750    12. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    13. History / Europe / Eastern    14. History, World | European | Eastern Europe    15. c 1700 to c 1800    16. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Czech Republic    2. General    3. Government - Comparative    4. Intelligence service    5. Internal security    6. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    7. Political Freedom & Security - Law Enforcement    8. Political Ideologies - Democracy    9. Political Science    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Politics/International Relations    12. Romania    13. Slovakia    14. Eastern Europe    15. European history: postwar, from c 1945 -    16. Police & security services    17. Political structures: democracy    18. Security services    19. c 1990 to c 2000   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. General    3. History: World    4. Biography: royalty    5. European history: from c 1900 -    6. Romania   

Reviews (7)

More than a Jewish chronicle
A diary can be as interesting as the person who writes it is and Mihail Sebastian is a complex character. I liked the way he documents his love exploits, the illusions and the hopes he has, his love of music as the ultimate refuge, the detailed account of writing his best novel, "The accident", and his plays, the total sincerity and subjectivity. There are so many nuances in the friendships he keeps - like the one with Mircea Eliade, Iron Guard legionaire and his friend for more than 15 years, like Camil Petrescu, colourful and overconfident writer, and many more.
Great literature, vastly influential in Romania today
First of all, the "Journal" is exquisitly written.

Subjects:  1. 1907-1945    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Diaries    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. General    6. Historical - Holocaust    7. Holocaust    8. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    9. Jews    10. Literary Criticism    11. Personal narratives    12. Romania    13. Sebastian, Mihail,    14. Literary Criticism & Collections / General    15. Literary studies: general    16. History