Reviews (2)

not much more than a train reading
this a very modest summary on brancusi's works. it's rather superficial and at times it's wasted on tangents of little value--such as the reference to brancusi's sexuality. Not much meat to this book.
I was looking forward to receiving this book but was disappointed.It did not provide any more than a few visual cues on the artist's best known pieces.I had hoped for notes on his start, inspirations, and other lessknown pieces of artwork. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1876-1957    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Brancusi, Constantin,    6. Catalogs    7. Individual Artist    8. Sculpture    9. Art / Sculpture    10. Brancusi, Constantin    11. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    12. Individual artists    13. Romania   

Reviews (1)

a superb historical tale
This is a wonderful book, continuing the tradition of very high quality output from the Center for Romanian Studies.It tells the story, in great and fascinating detail, of the rise of fascism and official anti-semitism in Hungary and Romania betweenthe World Wars.It is a story of the consequences of Versailles -- Hungary got a much worse deal there than the much better known raw deal received by Germany -- of the consequences of different paths of economic development -- both Hungary and Romania suffered from their different histories of economic stratification and (especially in Romania) rural underdevelopment -- and of the consequences of the actions of important individuals -- Admiral Horthy in Hungary, King Carol and Marshall Antonescu in Romania, and the various leaders of fascist movements in both countries.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1897-1946    2. 1914-1944    3. 1918-1945    4. Balkan Peninsula - History    5. Europe - General    6. Fascism    7. General    8. History    9. History: World    10. Hungary    11. Politics and government    12. Public Policy - Social Services & Welfare    13. Romania    14. Szâalasi, Ferenc,    15. European history: from c 1900 -    16. Fascism & Nazism    17. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    18. Political activism    19. Second World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (6)

A Christ-like Example
This is an awesome book which gives the account of Richard Wurmbrand, a Jewish, Lutheran pastor, who endured suffering and torture in a Communist prison while being a Christ-like example to the many people around him. This book will inspire you (as it did to me) to walk closer to the Compassionate and All-loving God who used Wurmbrand to lead many prisoners to Christ and the grace that flows freely from the Cross to ALL who will accept it.

One of the most unforgettable biographies ever!
This book touched me and changed my whole view of the term 'martyr'.I have since become a great fan of Wurmbrand, his books never fail to stun one into a deep, reverential silence.

An amazing testimony to Christ's presence
No matter your (ir)religious beliefs, you will be astounded by this account of life, endurance, perseverance, faith, and love in the worst possible conditions and suffering. An astounding witness to the strength and love the living Christ imparts, and an indictment of the horror and hollowness of atheism. Not for the faint of heart or closed of mind, and brimming over with insight and depth of thought; especially fascinating are his theological and philosophical conversations with a myriad of colorful characters, from (formerly) powerful politocos and military figures, to "lowly" farmers and thieves. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Clergy    4. History    5. Lutheran Church    6. Persecution    7. Political prisoners    8. Romania    9. Wurmbrand, Richard    10. Christianity   

Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. Antisemitism    3. History    4. Nationalism    5. Philosophy    6. Politics and government    7. Romania   

Subjects:  1. Anthropology - General    2. Biography    3. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    4. History - General History    5. Political Repression    6. Romania    7. Samuelli, Annie    8. Social Science    9. Sociology    10. Women And Politics    11. Women political prisoners    12. Women's Studies - History    13. Biography: general    14. Political Science / General    15. Political imprisonment    16. Prisons   

Reviews (1)

A useful but superficial retelling
I picked this up when the 15th anniversary of the overthrow of the Communist governments of Eastern Europe went almost unnoticed in the media, and I was curious to recall the events of that tumultuous year. This book is intended for young adults and is a nation-by-nation retelling of the quiet cataclysm that changed Europe. Hastily written, it runs only as deep as a newspaper article--there are no interviews, either with political figures or the man-in-the-street, or, as far as I can tell, any original research. In so short a book it would be impossible to really treat the subject as it deserves, but if all you want is to recall what happened in 1989, without an investigation of their root causes or a deeper understanding of the cultures of these countries, this would do the job. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1989-    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 People & Places    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Eastern Europe    5. Europe, Eastern    6. People & Places - General    7. Politics and government    8. European history: from c 1900 -    9. Juvenile Nonfiction / People & Places / General    10. Politics & government    11. c 1980 to c 1990    12. c 1990 to c 2000   

Reviews (5)

A MUST READ!!!
If you could read only 1 book on the Holocaust - this MUST BE READ!!!I couldn't put this book down.It is so perfectly engaging, so well written, from start to finish.You don't have to be an expert on history, culture or the Holocaust to appreciate this book.Shevlowitz delivers a masterful writing filled with enough detail to make you feel as if you were actually there watching, feeling and experiencing this real, human story.This story was so well crafted I actually experienced sadness when I reached the last page - not only for the tradegy of it all but also for the realization that the book was coming to an end and I would miss reading such a beautifully told drama.

Abiding Hope--A MUST READ
An extremely well written story that one will find compelling on many levels.If you are going to read a book on the Holocaust--check-out Abiding Hope!

"Almost" unbelievable
Abiding Hope certainly makes for some pretty darn interesting reading. Not your typical "I'll read the first two chapters, one in the middle, and the final chapter" kinda reading. Shevlowitz uses simple, yet carefully chosen words that evokes emotion and piques one's interest as he shares the stories told to him by Holocaust survivor, Benjamin Samuelson; a laborer of the Nazi death camps. Readers unwittingly relive Benjamin's maddening ordeal, day-by-day. Read more

Subjects:  1. 1925-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Discrimination & Racism    6. History - General History    7. Holocaust    8. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    9. Jews    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Personal narratives    12. Romania    13. Rozavlea    14. Samuelson, Benjamin A.,    15. Sonderkommandos   

Subjects:  1. 1944-1989    2. Balkan Peninsula - History    3. Communism    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. History    6. History & Theory - General    7. History: World    8. Political History    9. Politics and government    10. Romania    11. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    12. Marxism & Communism    13.  Romanian history   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World   

Reviews (1)

Brilliance and Evil often go together
Wagner is the Western Archetype of the Evil, ugly person who creates what is in the opinion of many great Art. Cioran is another example. Carlin Romano in a concise and powerful review of this book which appears in the 'Daily Chronicle of Higher Education' traces Petreu's uncovering of Cioran's Nazi past. She exposes his identification with murderous barbarity even against his own Romanian people.
Read more

Subjects:  1. (Emile M.),    2. 1911-    3. 20th century    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Cioran, E. M.    6. Fascism    7. General    8. History    9. History: World    10. Literary    11. Philosophers    12. Political Ideologies - Fascism & Totalitarianism    13. Romania    14. History / General   

Reviews (2)

The Road to Auschwitz, The road to the top!
A great book written by a Swedish psycologist(Hedi Fried) about her childhood experience in Sighet. She was in this city for a while until she was sent to Auschwitz. She was there with her sis Livi. This is a touching story for those who survived the Holocaust and even kids and grown-ups today. She reflects on how the camps worked and every where she went. They reach Sweden and Make the city of Stockholm there new home. She was separated from her sis for a while and then reunited. Hedi Fried was lost from her parents then finds out they were gased in the gas chamber. One of the greater stories I've ever read. She tells of the pain and inhumanity of the Nazis and their leader Adolf Hitler. This book leads into Schindler's List a little bit. Hedi Fried did a great job!!!

The Road to Auschwitz
A touching account by Swedish psychologist Hedi Fried about her childhood experiences in the Transylvanian town of Sighet and later at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Especially moving is her relationship with her youngersister Livia whom she saves from near death a couple of times. Livia repaysher sister by reviving her during the liberation of the camp. Although agripping story about the nightmares of the Holocaust, Fried has the abilityto look at the lighter, funnier sides of the hellish reality. ReachingSweden, Hedi and Livi have recovered and made Stockholm their home. Friedis now a well-known personality in Sweden, famous for her work withtraumatized people such as refugees and Holocaust survivors and theirsecond-generation children. A documentary film "Little BigSister" was produced following the book with the narration of Swedishactress Bibi Andersson. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    3. Eastern Europe - Romania    4. Fried, Hedi    5. Historical - Holocaust    6. History    7. History: World    8. Holocaust    9. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    10. Jewish Holocaust Personal Narratives    11. Jews    12. Persecutions    13. Personal narratives    14. Romania    15. Sighetu Marmatiei    16. Sighetu Marmañtiei    17. Biography: general    18. Europe    19. The Holocaust   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Modern - 20th Century    6. Modern - General    7. Political Ideologies - Communism & Socialism    8. 20th century    9. ASIA    10. Asian / Middle Eastern history: from c 1900 -    11. History / Europe / Eastern    12. Romania   

Reviews (1)

the inexorable approach of World War II in Central Europe
These diplomatic and political memoirs will be fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in European history between the World Wars and, especially, in the point of view of a small, vulnerable country that watched as all hopes for protection from Germany gradually faded away.Thepost-World War I isolationism of the United States is depicted as thetragedy from which all else follows, and this, combined with the USabandonment of Romania at Yalta, seems ample justification for theresentment that colors the admiration with which Romanians look to the US. Britain and France are similarly unreliable sources of protection as thecrisis deepens.Finally, Romania's longstanding vulnerability to Russia --so well depicted in Florescu's "Struggle Against Russia in theRomanian Principalities, 1821-1854" and Michelson's "RomanianPolitics 1859-71", from the same publisher -- comes to the fore as thecountry finds itself with only Russia and Germany to protect her each fromthe other.Written in the late 1940s, these memoirs close on a suitablybleak note:"Time does not play in behalf of the Democracies.Unlessthey act while there is time, another kind of peace will be the one thatwill prevail:the Pax Sovietica -- the peace of the concentration camp andof the unmarked mass grave." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1914-1944    2. 1944-1989    3. Cretzianu, Alexandru,    4. Eastern Europe - General    5. Foreign relations    6. History    7. History: World    8. Personal narratives, Romanian    9. Romania    10. World War, 1939-1945    11. Biography: general    12. Cretzianu, Alexandru    13. Diplomacy    14. European history: from c 1900 -    15. Inter-war period, 1918-1939    16. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    17. Second World War, 1939-1945    18. World War II   

Reviews (1)

Impressively commemorates bravery and sacrifice
Those Brave Crews: The Epic Raid To Destroy Hitler's Ploesti Oil Fields by Ray Ward is a work of poetry that closely follows American aircraft on their daring and often lethal mission against the crucial Ploesti (Romania) oil fields during bleak and lethal years of World War II. Vintage black-and-white photographs, biographical notes, and dramatic free verse lyrics combine to impressively commemorate the bravery and sacrifice of determined aviators in this unique and unforgettable work. In stormes fast-breaking on the hills/Which lead into Ploesti's field's/Those guns-once there-resound and flash;/And ever on, in test of wills,/That tidal wave of bombers dash./And none may die who therein fly,/Who linger, timeless, in the sky./Nor need is there for shroud or grave/For any man with Tidal Wave. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerial operations, American    2. American - General    3. Campaigns    4. History    5. History: American    6. Military - Aviation    7. Ploieðsti, Battles of, Ploieðsti, Romania, 1943-1944    8. Poetry    9. Romania    10. World War, 1939-1945   

Reviews (1)

A great twentieth-century mystic.
Richard Wurmbrand is one of those rare treasures hidden from view. These essays were written in prison and memorized, then penned upon his release. While prison can break a person's spirit, it can also become a place of meeting. Wurmbrand's essays reflect the challenge and reality of meeting God in the darkest moments. Each essay is a new discovery of God's grace. I read and reread Wurmbrand. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. History    5. Persection    6. Political prisoners    7. Romania   

Reviews (1)

crucial period in development of modern Romania
This highly readable volume details the final, and finally successful, attempt of the Romanian "principalities" -- in this case, only Muntenia and Moldova, not Transylvania -- to unite into a single country,and gradually to increase their autonomy and independence vis-a-vis theGreat Powers, especially the Ottoman and Russian empires.The focus is onthe struggle to create a modern democracy, as attempts at reform(especially agricultural reform) are stymied repeatedly by an electoratethat includes only the wealthy landowners:"in Moldova, a populationof nearly 2,000,000 was represented by only 1,724 voters, while inMuntenia, some 2,500,000 people resulted in 2,072 voters." Complicating political reform further is fear of the growing Jewishminority in Moldova, and the obnoxious political usage to which that fearis put.All in all, a most interesting story. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1820-1873    2. 1821-1866    3. 1866-1914    4. Alexandru Ioan    5. Europe - General    6. I Cuza,    7. Political Freedom & Security - International Secur    8. Political Science    9. Politics and government    10. Politics/International Relations    11. Prince of Romania,    12. Romania    13. Carol    14. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    15. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT    16. c 1800 to c 1900   

Subjects:  1. Eastern Europe - Balkan Republics    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. Holocaust    6. Military - World War II    7. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)    8. Romania    9. World history: Second World War   

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Historical - General    3. Personal Memoirs    4. Women   

Subjects:  1. Culture    2. Folk poetry, Romanian    3. Maramures (Judet)    4. Maramures (Romania : Judet)    5. Maramure÷s (Jude÷t)    6. Maramure÷s (Romania : Jude÷t)    7. Rites and ceremonies    8. Romania    9. Social life and customs    10. Sociology    11. European history (ie other than Britain & Ireland)   

Reviews (1)

The pastor who refused to fall to fear
This book is excellently written. It captivated my attention from page one to the end. It is a first-hand account of the pastor that started the revolution in Romania. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1952-    2. 20th century    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Christian Denominations And Sects    6. Church And Government    7. Clergy    8. General    9. History    10. History: World    11. Persecution    12. Reformed Church    13. Romania    14. Tokes, Laszlo,    15. Tokes, Laszlo