De Zayas' book offers a recent overview of a massacre of innocents all-too many Americans would like to forget. Most victims, 2-3 million butchered, 12-15 million deported, were innocent of Nazism (those guys had already fled). The massacre had, sad to say, the understanding of German-haters in the US Foreign Department. In the 1940s and 1950s, people like the Alsatian humanitarian Albert Schweitzer and the Anglo-Jewish publisher Victor Gollancz used to remind Western audiences of this terrible moral lapse that stained their "Good War." Then it was entombed in media silence in the United States. Now, Zayas, an American jurist, looks at this tragedy again. And since the dissolution of the Eastern block, the Eastern countries try to join the European Union. This books explains well one of the stumbling blocks from the past they have to "overcome" first, in the same way Germans had to "overcome" the Nazi legacy, before they can join!

this book told me everything that i wanted to know about george and ira. when i was done i felt that i knew them myself. i totally reccomend this book to anyone with the slightest intrest in either one (or both) of the gershwins.

Until reading this book, I was wholly unaware of efforts by General Motors' lawyers to prevent the publication of Sloan's memoir My Years with General Motors which is generally considered one of the most important business books ever written. McDonald was Sloan's ghost writer (hence the dual meaning of the book's title) and provides a compelling account of how and why the book was finally published in 1963. McDonald suggests that a study in 1921 (discussed in Sloan's memoir) recommended "covering" all prospective buyers of automobiles by designing, manufacturing, and marketing a complete line for various "price steps." In that event, GM lawyers feared, federal regulatory agencies would become involved and seek to dismantle what could be perceived as a monopoly. In 1962, McDonald initiated a lawsuit against GM. He was at that time still employed by Fortune magazine. Almost immediately, Time Inc. "entered the game", fearing loss of GM advertising. It would be a disservice to both McDonald and to those who read this review to reveal what happened next. To my surprise, the book became a "page turner" and remained so to its conclusion. McDonald tells a lively story with colorful characters, a complicated plot, all manner of crises and conflicts, subtle (and not-so-subtle) manipulations, and conflicts of interests while -- along the way -- examining a legal system exploited but which ultimately prevailed. A great read.

In 1954,14 year old Al Beckler was diagnosed with diabetes-the rest of the book deals with his health struggles through the period 1973-1983.He dealt with the total loss of vision,kidney failure and recieved a successful kidney transplant.Quite often no one expected him to survive.His other brothers and sisters and his family supported him through this rough time,even donating organs to save his life.Al dealt with kidney failure,transplant,blindness in that order,a true insperation to the continuing of the optimistic human spirit.When he recieved his final "gift of life" at the books end,the reader realizes that all the aspects of his entire life helped support him through that difficult time-supportive family,caring doctors,helping friends.It made the devastating things that happened to him easier to bear.Anyone who has gone through multiple devastating illnesses needs to read this book,it will lift your spirits.

This book is a beautifully written, purple-prosed account of Oscar Wilde's life from the height of his fame as an aesthete to his tragic death in a seedy Paris hotel. Reilly has succeeded in capturing the style of Wilde in his speaking and in the book's descriptive passages, and his writing gives life to people like Constance (Wilde's wife), Robbie Ross, and Bosie, and their lives seperate from Oscar are shown in interesting detail. Each character is given real depth and motivation. I normally do not like "Fictionalized Biographies," but this one is moving and well-written.

The GONCOURT JOURNALS are by far the absolute best single book you can read about what it was like to be alive in the Paris of Napoleon III. Edmond and Jules de Goncourt were brothers who knew where all the skeletons were buried. They were on close terms with many of the Impressionist painters like Edouard Manet, the nobility (Princess Mathilde de Bonaparte), poets (Paul Verlaine), and writers (Flaubert, Zola and de Maupassant). Although no mean novelists themselves (GERMINIE LACERTEUX), the Goncourt brothers are best known for their journal.

Just a couple of selections to whet your appetite:

"Talk about perfumes led to a mention of the scent of vanilla that hangs around Frederick Lemaitre, who has pods of it sewn into his coat-collars, and who was nearly poisoned as a result of his habit of kissing the hair of the actors he plays with, for he kissed Mlle Defodon, who used to put gold dust in her hair, and breathed in that powdered copper."

"There have been many definitions of beauty in art. What is it? Beauty is what untrained eyes consider abominable. Beauty is what my mistress and my housekeeper regard as abominable."

"A book is never a masterpiece: it becomes one. Genius is the talent of a dead man."

The Grand Boulevards of Baron Haussmann come alive, along with the smells and sounds of that strange seminal time in which so many great talents were beginning their rise to greatness. Dip into this book at any point, and you will only whet your appetite for more.

Hey that's my sister on the cover, so I have to give it five stars. (I would have anyway.) pj

This book is a great read! I was first exposed to it as a graduate student at University of Iowa. The book helps to confirm that theory should not be divorced from history. After all, music theory can be thought of as the history of musical ideas.

I found it very enjoyable to read about some of the teachings (and learnings!) of Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert. The history, criticism, and reprints of some of the masters' handwritten exercises were most informative.

Arranged alphabetically by the individual being quoted, each entry in Great Jewish Quotations: By Jews And About Jews is explicitly annotated, indicating the source and date of the quotation, and where appropriate, explaining its context. Culled from a vast array of sources, written and spoken, this exhaustive and monumental work contains the words of Jews and non-Jews on matters relating to Judaism and the Jewish people. Great Jewish Quotations is an invaluable and handy resource book for writers, public speakers, students, and non-specialist general readers seeking an apt illustration to give better expression to a thought, communique, presentation, or speech.

A pamphlet that gets straight to the point on techniques on how to stop your habit. It reads more on a scientific standpoint and if you're looking for warm and cuddily this doesn't have it, but it doesn't distract from its initial purpose which is to help you break your habit. Helps in recognizing your bad habit before you commit it. So you don't act it out before helping yourself break it.