The first time I read this book I was living in Germany where it all happened. I was 13 years old and had already experimented with hashish. The book is very real to teenagers in similar situations because there are no frills. Christiane F. tells the story of how easy it is to get sucked into the drug world with such realism. She was there, and she knows where the kids are coming from and where they are going. If you suspect your teenager is experimenting with drugs or if he has friends who may be doing drugs-give him this book. It may save your child, because it is very hard to ignore the story of Christiane F. I am one child Christiane F. saved and I hope she continues saving more. Angela Steven

The story of Christiane F. is the best, I ever read. The book teaches us so much about drugs and the life with them. I live usually in Germany, and so directly, where all this staff happened. And I am reading the book now for the third time. I am 17 years old, and after I read the book for the first time, I think I was about 13 years old, I sweared to myself that I will never use drugs. In my opinion this book should be read in all schools. Christiane didn't mind to tell really EVERYTHING what happened in this bad time, and she writes how she thinks. And I think, you hear so much about drugs today and that you never should take them, but nobody listen to this anymore, it is to common already. But when you read the report of a person, who really had big problems with drugs, then you listen to her. And maybe you will make the same decision as I of never taking drugs. This book is just awesome and I hope many other people will be able to get to read it, too. (don't worry about many mistakes, but I am just in Canada for 3 months, and my english is just improving)

I first read this book about 19 years ago, when I was the same age as Christiane was in the book. Reading that book gave me the most horrific insight into heroin addiction, that I avoided it as I grew older. Although set in the 1970's, it is just as, if not more, relevant today. I would love to find another copy. I loaned mine out to a friend, and never got it back. The irony is that she became a heroin addict herself, and died about 10 years ago. There will always be people on this planet who choose self-destruction, but this book would put most of us off ever living this kind of life. Two decades after reading this book (after seeing the film), I still have vivid memories of how I imagined the scenes described in this book, and I still get goosebumps. I wonder what ever became of Christiane & Detlef.

"The Writings on the Wall" by Terry Tillman is my favorite Cold War book. I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with the author shortly after the book was published and learned that his book is more than just historical - it is about the universal human spirit of loving freedon, life and each other. I commend the book to anyone interested in enhancing international understanding and world peace.

"The Writings on the Wall" by Terry Tillman is without a doubt my favorite book on the Cold War and the breaking down of the Berlin Wall. In graphic pictures and quotes it captures the essence of the times and the humanness of what was going on, not just a factual account.

"The Writings on the Wall" by Terry Tillman is a wonderful book of powerful photographs and pearls of wisdom by various people. The book inspired me to think about many levels of walls that we build, from emotional to the physical, and the power we have to knock them down.

Resistance of the Heart : Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany by Nathan Stoltzfus is a well written book about the unsuccessful attempt by the Nazi's to exterminate Jews who married Germans of the Christian faith. The fact that the attempt was unsuccessful and that the overwhelming majority of the intermarried Jews were never sent to the death camps and survived the war leaves one with a withering feeling of "what if."

The central thesis of the book is that Hitler and Goebbels worry about the reaction of the Christian spouses led them to refuse to forcibly remove the Jewish spouse. They instead resorted to social pressure to force a divorce, so that the Jewish spouse could then easily be sent to the death camps. The social pressure was unsuccessful not because it was not intense, but because the Nazi's failed to give sufficient consideration to the bond between the spouses and the German antipathy toward divorce.

A central part of the story focuses on the attempt to round up the intermarried Jews in Berlin for transport to the camps. After the round up, but before their transport, they were housed in a building on Rosenstrasse. When word of this got back to the Christian spouses they surrounded the building and refused to leave until their husband or wife was freed. Amazingly, the Nazi's who murdered millions of Jews, Poles, Gypsies and others let thier prisoners go free. Goebbels reasoned that it was better to not force a confrontation with Christian Germans.

What is clear is that the Nazis were extremely concerned about German public opinion and were willing even to ignore their plans for the final solution where it ran counter to the public opinion of even a small part of Germany's populace. The "what if" relates to what would have happened if the greater part of Germany populace had taken the lessons of the Rosenstrasse Protest and attempted to stop the final solution. Certainly the conventional wisdom that they would have been ignored, or worse, must be rethought. In fact, the Rosenstrasse Protest was not an isolated incident, and numerous successful protests altered Nazi behavior. If more Germans, or the Vatican, had learned this simple lesson maybe millions of person would not have perished in the gas chambers of the death camps. It certainly puts to rest the excuse that there was nothing that cold have been done.

The book is very well researched and written. It is well worth reading.

An account of the protest wages by the Protestant spouses of German Jews. Because of the tumultuous emotions of my surviving relatives, so much of this history was never discussed in my home. Now I know that the reason for my grandfather's survival was the protest in which my grandmother participated. This book created a starting point to open discussion with my mother on this part of her life. I found the book so powerful that I am purchasing another as a gift.

This is a remarkable book on an even more remarkable event: the
public protest, in Berlin, in 1943, of the German ("Aryan") women married with Jews against their deportation to the East. A notable history of resistance and courage that saved the life of some seventeen hundred jews by preventing their deportation and by forcing the Nazi leadership to return to Germany a few that had been already deported to Auchwitz.

If you ever thought that paperback novels - even spy novels - were for airports or a quick read on the train home DO NOT READ THESE!
I became seriously adicted to Len Deighton after three chapters of 'Berlin Game' - and you could too! Poetic, ironic, cleverly plotted and evocative, these first three of the nine novel series will have you burning midnight oil and missing meals. Bernard Samson is surely the most clearly realised character from any spy story. His moral struggles to stay true to his ideals whilst everone around him sells out to power or money will have you caring about him as never before. There is never an easy get out or glib phrase. I have read all nine novels five times and still am ready for more. Can you now resist???

In Bernard Samson Len Deighton created an everyman character who is smart, tough, intuitive, and is double crossed by everyone he cares about. Since I've read (and re-read) all 9 of the Bernard Samson nonology, it's hard to limit my comments just to "Game, Set, and Match". In any event, Bernard was betrayed by his wife in several different ways, by his best friend in truly horrible fashion, and by all of his cohorts at SIS. These are great and very readable spy stories, but they also provide a very real look into the dishonesty confronting all of us. That is, one never knows how the world looks to friends and colleagues, and when they are being honest and when they are lying. These are really great books that I would recommend to anyone!

Len Deighton is the perfect antidote for those sick and tired of Tom Clancy novels. In all of Deighton's works, the human is the center of the book, and the dialogue and the characters are outstanding. No thrilling machines or gadgets to get in the way of a good spy novel here. I read all of the Game, Set and Match books when they were published, and then all the following books in the series. I just can't get enough of Bernard Samson, Fiona, Bret, Dickie, Werner et al. These are the most memorable characters I've ever come across in the spy genre. They are all believable, possessing strengths and vulnerabilities that we all have. All are driven by duty, love, deceit, conceit and are capable of treachery. Too bad the Cold War had to end so soon. I sort of wish that the Berlin Wall didn't have to come down so that Mr. Deighton can continue to write about the exploits of Bernard Samson.

The Last Cemetery in Berlin by Tania Wisbar and John Mahoney- In the early 90's, when the Berlin wall was crumbling, I was shopping for wedding gowns. That's why I was so delighted to come across this novel. Knowing the importance of genealogy and family ties, I found the heroine's quest for knowledge about her family, in the context of a great fortune, very intriguing. Some important insights into the sociological difficulties of German reunification with additional fodder on German atrocities during World War II makes this a riveting historical read, giving just enough information to make you sound intelligent about German history. I'll have to conjure up my new found repertoire at the next soiree.

A moving and eloquently told tale that moves your soul and pierces your heart. It is a haunting reminder of the horrors of Nazism framed by flashbacks to the 1930s of Hitler's Germany and then forward to the present.

This book puts you there, experiencing it all, the heartbreaking anguish, life, death, and always the love which surpasses all.

A wonderfully amazing read.<...

The Last Cemetery in Berlin by Tania Wisbar and John Mahoney- Families ruined by the Holocaust are not new but family rediscovered by one woman's determination to fulfill her mother's dying wish is made novel in this intriguing historical fiction set in Berlin in the 1930's and early 1990's. For those of us too young or too oblivious to have experienced either, this is a must read about a wealthy Jewish family torn asunder by the war and the surviving heiress to a great fortune whose mixed heritage affords her a rare understanding of what it means to be German and Jewish.

There can be no more powerful telling of the history of slavery in the United States than to read it and hear it from the slaves' own mouths. Their recollections are, for the most part, graphic and chilling, but the diversity of these life experiences are also rich with good stories, too....slaves bonding together, looking out for one another and at times outwitting their masters and overseers. While the general knowledge of salvery has been known to many Americans for years, it is the actual detailed accounts of day-to-day life that make this book come alive. I hadn't known, for instance, that slaves were required to have passes in order to travel off the plantations or that Christmas and New Year's were largely times of rejoicing for both slave families and their master's families. Yet for the rest of the year the hardships and conditions that most slaves witnessed was incredible....beatings often for no reason, no shoes or lack of other clothing during the winter cold and often not nearly enough food. The clarity with which these former slaves recall their life 80 years or more before is an indication of how etched in their young minds life had been. The accompanying audio cassettes were the main reason l bought the book and they simply added a human dimension to the whole story. l had only two small disappointments with the audio segment....l would rather have had none of the actors read the transcripts...(the actual slave voices are far more powerful) and l wish that photos of the slave speakers could have been provided.... while there were many photos of the former slaves in the book they were not the photos of the slaves who made the audio tapes. In a time where revisionist history seems to be the rage it is, in a strange way, rather comforting to hear these stories told by the people who lived them. How these men and women suffered under bondage and lived for so many years afterward to finally tell about it is a tribute to their spirit and courage.

I am currently a high school student that read part of this for a Civil War class and let me say this is one powerful book. With people who were the slaves themselves tell you their stories, you learn alot about the antebellum period. I would recommend this book for any mature person due to the fact that some of these stories show the true horror of slavery.

For several years I've been reading powerful thought-provoking slave narratives. This is probably the most moving due to accompanying tapes of slaves discussing their thoughts and conditions when they were slaves. This book and tapes should be used in every high school American and World history classes. I recommend this book to everyone above the age of twelve. If you want to begin educating your children earlier about American history, specifically slavery have them read K.J. McWilliams books; The Journal of Darien Duff, an Emancipated Slave, The Diary of a Slave Girl, Ruby Jo, and The Journal of Leroy Jones, a Fugitive Slave. They are based on slave narratives such as this one and include many interesting photos as well as additional information.

The Last Battle, the second book of Cornelius Ryan's World War II trilogy, is a vivid and haunting account of the last days of Hitler's Third Reich and the fall of Berlin. As in The Longest Day (1959) and A Bridge Too Far (1974), Ryan weaves his narrative tapestry with meticulous research and eyewitness accounts of military and civilians on all sides who were caught up in the cataclysmic events of that terrible spring of 1945.

It is April, 1945, and Germany is tottering at the edge of defeat. On the Western Front, General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Allied armies have crossed the Rhine, the Reich's last natural defense against invasion from the west. Now, sensing that victory is near, American, British, Canadian and other Allied divisions are racing for the Elbe River and beyond - with Berlin as the long expected prize.

In the East, millions of Soviet soldiers have swept into Germany from the Baltic states and Poland, storming into the Nazi heartland with blood and fire. Urged on by their thirst for revenge and the orders of Red dictator Joseph Stalin, the Soviet Army also races west toward the German capital. Here the dying Third Reich will stand or die in its last battle.

Ryan deals here not only with the fall of Berlin, but he also explores in detail the very complicated political and military issues behind Eisenhower's most controversial decision of the War: the Western Allies would not cross beyond the Elbe River to capture Hitler's capital. Though Ryan's tone is impartial and he delves deeply into the wrangling between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin, the reader is still left with the impression that the plans dealing with Germany's postwar fate sowed the seeds of the Cold War which followed V-E Day.

The Last Battle, although longer and far more complex than The Longest Day, is a very human story that keeps the reader involved. One feels the suspense of the frantic Allied advance eastward, cheering the "Amis" (as the Germans nicknamed the Americans) on even though it will be the Red Army that gets to Berlin first. The German participants, military and civilian alike, are depicted fairly and without the expected "victor's triumphal" tone that would have painted all the Germans as Nazi villains. Indeed, one can feel sympathy for Berliners who - with the exception of Hitler and his most loyal followers - would rather be at the mercy of the British and Americans rather than fall to the feared Russians. It must be said, however, that although Ryan wrote this book during the Cold War, he is fair and balanced in his reporting of the Soviet advance to Berlin.

Mr. Ryan was the Stephen Ambrose of his time. The books THE LONGEST DAY and A BRIDGE TOO FAR stand as World War Two classics, these books were even made into 2 pretty fine movies. THE LAST BATTLE which was re-released in May 1995 to comemorate the end of the European conflict in WW2 is another of Mr. Ryan's books, it is an outstanding and hair-raising account of the final orgasm of violence involved in the death of Nazi Germany. The author presents all sides to this conflict American, British, Russian and German as the allied armies rush in from all sides to dismember the Reich. The author was able to interview personalities involved from top Soviet generals down to a simple milkman who made his daily runs through the Berlin suburbs which were to become a hellish landscape of slaughter, rape and mass destruction. The Soviets were cooperative in letting Mr. Ryan interview key personalities and view important documents, but I agree with Mr. Ryan that they likely held back several important aspects of their part in the battle such as the existence of The Rape Memo which was an instruction read to Soviet troops encouraging them to put the German in his place and claim the victors spoils by raping German women. There is almost an entire chapter filled with rape stories, horrifying stuff. The meat of the story involves the clash of Soviet and German arms. With the destruction of Army Group Center in the spring of 1945 most German commanders knew that the best thing they could do was to hold off the Soviet onslaught long enough to allow German civilians and then slodiers enough time to escape west, towards the Americans and British, some German commanders even hoped that by buying time in the east the Anglo-Allies would reach Berlin first. What they did not know was that the Anglos were not coming to the rescue, ordered to stop in an amazing chain of events that 50 years hindsight clearly shows as a mistake. In any case Hitler decided that Berlin should be a "Fortress" which was his favored term for a no surrender, no withdrawl fight to the death. Berlin had little protection, the city was never really fortified. The troops protecting it were tired, ill-equiped veterans, old men of the Volksturm or Hitler Youth, the were some well equiped and fanatic Waffen SS formations (several were foreign volunteer groups) in the area but as the command and control structure was destroyed they could do little but local holding actions. The combat descriptions are outstanding, the descriptions of the Soviet build-up for the assualt are particularly chilling, rockets, mortars, tanks even heavy artillery being used as a sniper weapon. There are descriptions of roving SS execution squads, Allied bombing raids, suicides to avoid capture and/or rape. I found the descriptions of the gigantic Flak Towers facinating, these 13 story forts complete with generators, water supply and even hospital were able to house about 10,000 soldiers and civilians. There are before and after photos which I have never seen before. One can almost imagine Hitler pounding his fist on the table "Where is Steiner? Where is Wenke?" I highly recommend the film THE BUNKER to anyone reading this outstanding book, they must have used it to produce the screen play.

Before Stephen Ambrose took center stage as the best current historian of WWII, there was Cornelius Ryan. Mr. Ryan wrote a trio of classic books about WWII: The Longest Day, A Bridge Too Far, and this book. The first two were made into movies, and are commonly known. They cover two of the most important European theatre campaigns that involved the US and British forces. If you have not read either one of those books, I highly recommend both of them.

The Last Battle is the least known book of the trio. None the less, it is a classic. In it, Ryan gives a gripping account of the battle for Berlin. He does an excellent job of introducing the scenario that lead to this truly horrifying and desperate battle. Just like his other books, he weaves a captivating narrative that takes the reader from the planning sessions of the Red Army, to Hitler's bunker, on to the streets of Berlin where the battle was actually fought. He covers this conflict from many angles (Generals, soldiers, civilians, Germans, Soviets, etc.) and gives the reader an accurate account of what happened during this battle. As always, the amount of research and personal interviews he did for this book are quite impressive.

Mr. Ryan does an excellent job of building the battle drama into the fury that erupted when the Soviets finally rolled into the city of Berlin. The payback that the Red Army gives the Wehrmacht, the city, and the civilian population of Berlin is a real eye-opener. If you have never read anything about this battle (like myself), you may be shocked when you learn the details. As Ryan points out, the Soviets saw this campaign as the one opportunity to avenge their losses on the Eastern Front (especially in places like Stalingrad), and they took full advantage of the situation (to include many heinous acts against innocent civilians). Just like when the British and Americans bombed Dresden, the Soviets wanted to teach the Nazis, and the German people, a lesson they would never forget.

I first bought this book because of the author. I had some interest about the battle because I visited Berlin as a young man back when the wall was still in place. Once I started this book I became totally engrossed with it, and finished in a few days. I highly recommend it to any Cornelius Ryan fan. If you liked his other books, you will definitely enjoy this one also. Also, this book is great for anyone wanting to learn about the battle that sealed the fate of the Nazi regime.

I went to Berlin for the first time this year. This book was in my backpack daily. It made Berlin really come alive for me and make sense of this large city - you really get a sense of the different neighborhoods and sights. The lists and practical information at the back of the book also were really helpful.

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Summary:

Every Dorling Kindersley Guide has been a great and interesting book... and delightful to have and use, even if you are not traveling to that location, but are only interested in learning more!

The Guides are well organized in a logical and easy to follow manner. They are beautifully illustrated, well developed with accurate information (it is unusual for hotel and restaurant information to be that accurate), have enough history to help the reader understand the people and cultural background, and have a lot of useful travel information and useable maps in the appendixes.

The really great attraction to this book is several fold; it is:
............Very complete
............Easy to read
............Beautifully and artistically completed
............Good shopping, safety and other tips
............Gorgeous photographs too numerous to list.

Thoughts on Berlin

Berlin is a particularly interesting, if not haunting city to visit, with its many contrasts: Old East Berlin, with some buildings unrepaired since WWII, New East Berlin, with its lavish, and expensive hotels, and apartments, and post WWII East Berlin with the old Soviet Style (stolid) buildings; West Berlin, with its restored buildings and architecture, memorial buildings like the 'Church of the Purple Glass' (destroyed in WWII and left as a reminder of the costs of war), and the fun restaurants, and nightlife. Also, the outline of the Berlin Wall, and the memorial to those killed trying to flee to freedom outside the Richtstadt (Parliament Building).

I highly recommend a trip to Berlin to enjoy all the greatness and tragedy this century and its leaders has brought to the world.

Specifics:

The guides are organized as follows:

How to use this guide
Introduction to Historical and Geographical information
Geographical Regions
............Introduction Berlin
........................Map
........................History
........................At a Glance

........................Through the Year
............Berlin Area by Area, each including:
........................Introduction to street by street area
........................Detailed pictorials of area buildings
........................Architectural drawings, pictures, cut-aways of buildings
........................Specific stops, historical monuments, churches, buildings, etc.

Greater Berlin
............Pottsdam
............Three Guided Walks

Travelers Needs - includes full list with rankings and notes
............Hotels
............Restaurants
............Shops / Markets
............Entertainment
............Berlin for children

Survival Information
............Practical
........................Tourist info., Etiquete, Personal Security and Health
........................Currencies, Telephones, misc info.
............Getting to Berlin
........................Planes, trains and automobiles, signs
........................General map, sectional maps with index
............Getting to / around Berlin
........................Maps, tours, currency, etc.
............General Index
............Phrase Book

Discussion:

The book begins with 'Introducing Berlin', including a complete map, a review, the city's history, and Berlin thought the Year - including events, etc.

Areas with an 'At a glance' overview, then has subsections of specific blocks, or forums, then specific locations, churches, historical monuments, bridges, galleries, etc.

Architectural reviews include various views, and cutaways; given greater understanding and better perspective. They are all attractive, if not works of art - honestly.

The travelers' Info. offers good and valid info. on prices, currencies, customs, important words, etc. I used the reviews on hotel's restaurants and nightclubs, etc. and found they were useful and accurate, and helpful with my touring and site decisions

The books are so well thought-out that it has multiple maps, with various lookup tables, and the book's flaps are designed to be used as bookmarks for map pages.

Conclusion:

Each book in this series is a great help, and beautiful collectible resource. As the President, CEO of an International Meeting Planning Corporation we have many resources and techniques to learn about places we have meetings / groups at as well as the cities and sights. But, as a traveler, this book really is top notch and I would recommend it to anyone going on a personal trip, or wanting to learn about a city, or location. We have used some of these books to augment our research to investigate cities for our groups.

Adding to other reviews, I just returned from a visit to Berlin with this wonderful book as my travel companion. The pictures are great, the descriptions wonderful, and there is a lot of good, practical information to help one get around in the city. There are a series of maps in the back which covers the whole city in sections which is also in grids. Sites refer to page number and grid on the map, so one can easily find where it is in the city. The city is divided into sections and color coded, with information about each section, since the city is characterized by the different areas in it. I found this particularly helpful in knowing where I was and where I wanted to go.

The only drawback, if one were to find one for this great book, is its weight. Because it is on heavier stock paper, the pictures are better, but the weight is increased. Overall, though, the extra weight is worth carrying around. I found this to be a great souvenir of my trip upon my return. In fact, I stayed with friends who are now living in Berlin. They found the book so useful, they begged to be able to keep it. I am ordering another copy for myself.

If you were a fan of Dietrich and were allowed to own only ONE book about this woman, then this should be the book to own. To reiterate another reviewer's thought -- it is EXQUISITE.

This is a dream of a book. Full of glorious photos and facts. I highly reccommend this to all Dietrich and film fans. All public figures should be the subject of a book like this.

A delicacy! The best book of photographs I have seen on Dietrich and a compendium of beauty, not only hers but all that was created through and with her. A must have book.

"Voluptuous Panic" is colorful, interesting, and amusing. Its a fast and enjoyable read.

The only negative quality of this book ,in my opinion, is that I always find it difficult to believe in rigid catagories describing people. The lists of different types of prostitutes, transvestites, homosexuals and lesbians are a little suspicious. The terminology is a lot of fun but, I wonder if the actual people of the Weimar era truly used these terms and definitions.

In glorious black-and-white pictures and color plates, Mel Gordon illustrates the splendour that was Weimar Berlin. This book is necessary for any uppity later generations who thought they came up with nightlife, sex and provocation.

Mel Gordon has recreated the powerful erotic imagery of a time and place now gone, and perhaps residing in only a few memories.

The black and white pictures, posters and settings recreate the longed-for but never achieved phantom-like dreams of a little boy in the thirties, who barely remembers the sloe-eyed slinky long legged sometimes stern faces about to enter the eros of barely hidden, furtive and mysterious explorations and invitations to shadowy eroticareal. A real "Noire". All delighfully expressed in this volume.

A must for any serious reader of social-cultural history of the times, but more so for lovers of quality erotica. mooseman01@aol.com