Subjects:  1. Calvin, Jean   

Subjects:  1. 1741-1807    2. Art    3. Art & Art Instruction    4. Artists    5. Biography    6. Classicism in art    7. Exhibition Catalogs    8. Graphic Arts - General    9. Individual Artist    10. Kauffmann, Angelica,    11. Switzerland    12. Biography: general    13. History of art & design styles: c 1800 to c 1900    14. Individual artists    15. Kauffmann, Angelica    16. Painting & paintings   

Reviews (2)

Absorbing Description Of Swiss Complicity In The Holocaust!
In this fascinating, well-researched and highly accessible book, journalist Isabel Vincent more than adequately covers the mind-boggling spectacle of the selfishness, inhumanity, and well-organized corruption of the European fellow travelers of the Nazis, who aided and abetted the progress of Germany's preparations for and later prosecution of the Second World War. Far from being the nonaligned neutral countries they claimed to be, Swiss, Portuguese, and other bankers and financers from supposedly neutral countries unscrupulously served the insidious purposes of the Third Reich by dealing with the ill-gotten goods extorted from displaced Jews, the gold bullion of the conquered countries, and the stolen art work looted from all of Europe. One finds it hard to comprehend the degree to which the Swiss in particular deliberately decided to collude with the Nazis in accepting gold in exchange for the hard currency the Germans needed to finance the war effort it began to prepare for in the 1930s. The BEST book on the subject of Nazi gold and Swiss banks.
Isabel Vincent masterfully relates, in an objective and balanced manner,the gripping story of the Hammersfeld family and their quest to recoverproperty stolen by the nazis and their inheritance deposited in Swiss banksby their grandfather, a wealthy Austrian merchant. The story revolvesaround their fight for justice, aided by a young crusading lawyer, amidst aflurry of world events that brought attention to the revision ofSwitzerland's conduct during WWII , and a thorogh examination of the mythsof Swiss neutrality and banking secrecy.Vincent's account is balanced andfair, and she is careful not to blame Switzerland for all the evils of thewar, while at the same time, scrutinizes the scandalous conduct of thebanks towards Holocaust surivors and account heirs over a period of 50years following the end of the war. Vincent also gives an insightfulaccount of the political mileage sought by politicians and organizationsdealing with this issue. Vincent's book is the winner of the CanadianSociety for Yad Vashem prize, and has been widely acclaimed by the press inFrance, Germany, adn Switzerland itself, as a result of its carefullyresearched and balanced account of the events. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Banks and banking    2. Confiscations and contributions    3. Corrupt practices    4. Destruction and pillage    5. Europe    6. Europe - General    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: American    10. Holocaust    11. Military - World War II    12. Switzerland    13. Western Europe - General    14. World War, 1939-1945    15. History / Military / World War II   

Reviews (1)

A Dazzling Book
Large format book with sharp, colorful photos of mountain slopes and peaks in all kinds of light and weather. Amazing from start to finish. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alps    2. Pictorial works   

Subjects:  1. 1807-1873    2. Agassiz, Louis,    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Biology (General)    8. Historical - General    9. History    10. Naturalists    11. Scientists - General    12. Switzerland    13. Agassiz, Louis    14. Biography: general   

Reviews (4)

Salvadoran
After read this book i must say � I am proud to be a citizen from El Salvador � �why? I didn't know that my country make such big contribution to save the live of thousand of Jews.
A lonely hero: a cowboy, a sheriff, an orthodox Jew.
This question always fascinated me when watching westerns and their modern analogs: can one man take on overwhelming odds and win against indifference and bare evil? A common wisdom tells us that such a win is just a wishful fantasy. It is a bright ray of inspiration to find an unlikely cross of the “High Noon”, “Dirty Harry” and “A Frisco Kid” in a story of lonely and smart orthodox Jew winning against the huge murderous system beyond the worst nightmares of the heroes of Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford. How big a “Gold Life Saving Medal” should be awarded to a person who saved 100,000 innocent lives from the gas chambers in 1944? Is there any monument that would give him his due? However, this man, George Mantello, was not only forgotten but maligned. The “delicate” reason for this lack of appreciation was that “all [organizations involved in the rescue effort] were of the opinion that any efforts they were not involved in were not valid” according to a witness testimony quoted in the book. The author provides mountains of testimony confirming Montello’s selfless dedication to the rescue work beyond a common comprehension. The book is thoroughly researched and documented but its subdued narrative reads really well. It is a rebuke to those who did little or nothing, an inspiration for lonely enthusiasts, and a glimpse of hope for the rest of us. Jews did have lonely heroes - Samson, David, before the spotlight shifted to leaders of large groups. Now, thanks to David Kranzler, we know one more such hero �" George Mantello.

Rescue ofmany Hungarian Jews
After Hungary left WWII, Germans felt free to round up Hungarian Jews for extermination. The book, based on meticulously researched material, reads as an adventure-mystery novel yet is non-fiction. It shows that rescue was possible to an extent when people,with proper leadership, rose up and protested. Credit here goes to the Swiss people, journalists and major Swiss Theologians and Pastors.Under leadership of outstanding Swiss theologians such as Karl Barth, the Swiss people evinced an extraordinary moral leadership in efforts to halt mass murder of Hungarian Jews. The drive for rescue was spearheaded by a Rumanian Jew named Mantello who worked for the El Salvadoran embassy in Switzerland.The facts give the Swiss people the credit they deserve for helping in the rescue of Jews and show that where there was courage and a will, many were rescued. Anyone with the slightest interest in human courage and dignity, not just the holocaust, should read this book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Central America - History    6. Diplomats    7. El Salvador    8. Historical - General    9. Holocaust    10. Hungary    11. Jewish Holocaust    12. Jews    13. Mantello, George    14. Military    15. Military - General    16. Rescue    17. Western Europe - General    18. World War, 1939-1945    19. Biography: historical    20. European history: Second World War    21. Press & journalism    22. Second World War, 1939-1945    23. Switzerland    24. The Holocaust    25. World history: Second World War   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Asia, Southeastern    4. Asian    5. Exhibitions    6. Geneva    7. History - Ancient & Classical    8. Indonesia    9. Primitive Art    10. Sculpture    11. Southeast Asia    12. Switzerland    13. Art / History / General    14. Art / Sculpture    15. Art of indigenous peoples    16. Bibliographies, catalogues, discographies    17. Indigenous peoples    18. Sculpture & other three-dimensional art forms   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Banks and banking    3. Claims    4. Corrupt practices    5. Europe    6. Europe - General    7. History    8. History - General History    9. History: World    10. Holocaust    11. Jewish Holocaust    12. Jewish property    13. Jews    14. Military - World War II    15. Politics/International Relations    16. Switzerland    17. Western Europe - General    18. World War II - Europe    19. European history: Second World War    20. Financial services industry    21. History / Europe / General    22. Jewish studies    23. Second World War, 1939-1945    24. The Holocaust    25. World history: postwar, from c 1945 -   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. General    3. History - General History    4. Anthroposophie    5. Architecture / General    6. Goetheanum    7. Individual architects    8. Non-Classifiable    9. Schweiz    10. Steiner, Rudolf    11. Switzerland    12. Theosophy & Anthroposophy   

Subjects:  1. Essays    2. History    3. Mountaineering    4. Sports    5. Sports & Recreation    6. Adventure Narrative    7. Everest, Mount (China and Nepa    8. Himalaya Mountains    9. Alps, Swiss    10. Switzerland    11. Description and travel   

Reviews (1)

A Look at Fin-de-Sicele Basel
Over the years many books have been written on the culture of fin-de-siecle Vienna, but no one had attempted a similar study of Basel, Switzerland, a city that blossomed as a cultural center during the Renaissance and then slowly faded over the centuries, as peace and prosperity teamed together to eliminate the tensions that make a city into a center of arts and literature. Vienna was done in by the war, Basel by peace.Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History    3. History - General History    4. History: World    5. European history: c 1750 to c 1900    6. History / Europe / General    7. History of ideas, intellectual history    8. Switzerland   

Subjects:  1. Kippel (Switzerland)   

Subjects:  1. 1896-    2. 1896-1980    3. Biography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Ethics & Moral Philosophy    6. General    7. History and criticism    8. Philosophy    9. Piaget, Jean,    10. Psychologists    11. Switzerland   

Editorial Review

Welcome to the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "five days and six nights of rarefied discussion attended by at least 2,000 gratifyingly important people from 150 countries," with "heads of state, finance ministers, policy intellectuals, Nobel Prize-winning physicists, corporate executives as thick upon the ground as pine needles." Among the 1998 notables: Bill Gates, George Soros, Newt Gingrich, and Helmut Kohl (who, in his opening remarks, informs his audience that the euro is coming and they'd better get used to it, citing the leadership example of his mother, "a marvelous woman, as wise as she was strong-minded, who taught her children to eat the meals placed in front of them on the kitchen table without sniveling objection"). Your guide to this congregation of the international plutocracy is Read more

Reviews (6)

less scathing than expected
and thats a plus. The Agony of Mammon is Lewis Lapham's account of his field trip to the 1998 WEF at Davos. As a book based around a subject as complex as global economics, it is pleasantly short and readable. One strong point of the book, for me anyways, is that Lapham doesn't ever seem to make his human research subjects-the participants of the WEF- into unwitting caricatures of themselves by typing them as selfish monsters who recklessly control the majority of the worlds resources in an effort to achieve domination. That is, until one reads the satirical glossary at the end of the book.
Bill Richardson on Iraq
This book describes the Davos scene in winter. Davos, in case you have not received your invitation yet, is where the elite meet on an annual basis to discuss the mega-issues facing mankind.More precisely, it's where buyers (banks) and sellers (governments) come together to discuss investment possibilities -- risk and reward.That's all fine, and Lapham's description of the event strikes me as reasonably accurate.But here's the reason to look at this slim book.Take a look at the pages wherein Bill Richardson, then the US Secretary to the UN, describes Saddam Hussein and the threat posed.For a minute, forget that you are reading about views expressed during the Clinton Administration.Remarkably consistent argument across Administrations.In Richardson's words, "He's asking to be bombed."

Scathing attack on our anti-democratic rulers
Every winter, some 2000 members of a modern cargo cult make their way to the resort of Davos. They seek, like other supplicants, enlightenment in the high mountains, in their elusive delusive Shangri-La. They confer and network and ruminate, seeking to divine the movements of their inscrutable God. And they search for the seers who will reveal the truth.Read more

Subjects:  1. 1990-    2. Business / Economics / Finance    3. Business/Economics    4. Contemporary Economic Situations And Conditions    5. Economic Conditions    6. Economic history    7. Economic policy    8. General    9. International - Economics    10. Political Science    11. International economics