This book is written in a style similar to a series of short stories. Colonel Podhajsky passes along some of the lessons he has learned from his four legged teachers that any horse person can understand. It is like listening to a friend speak of his experiences rather than studying a textbook. This makes the book both entertaining and educational. What a pleasure to read!

Have you ever wondered what happened to the Spanish riding school when Hitler matched across Europe? Without this man the riding school might not have survived. An under rated horseman. His explainations on dressage are insightful. A very useful book, absorbing even if you don't ride. The photos sometimes leave something to be desired but in somecases they are 80 years old. Wonderful book a pity the rest of his books aren't still in print.

Highly recommended! This guy is the Tom Dorrance of the classical dressage world. I think everyone involved with horses should read this book.

At first I thought the book, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis by Elena Makarova and Regina Seidman Miller, was just a beautiful exhihibition catalogue.There are hundreds of color plates of paintings so rich in imagination and expressive beauty, and there are designs for theater and costumes as well as plans for houses and rooms. She brought her unique inspirational creativity to every aspect of her life--creating order out of chaos. This was wonderful in itself,but as I read it I realized it was an inspirational biography, the life story of a creative, artistic spirit who despite the most impossible circumstances, which grew more and more intolerable, continued to work creatively and what's more, to teach others--children whose lives had been devastated. For those who managed to survive-- their memories of her are recorded here too. They were forever changed by having been influenced by her and the invaluable medicine she provided. The book offers insight into the influences on her own art education and the development of her approach to inspiring the creativity of children, a wonderful guide for anyone working in an artistic capacity with children. There are so many revealing letters and photographs of hers, and her friends, and from the children she taught which capture so much about this mysterious, irrepressible woman. The book is a treasure, a reassurance. I feel I must hold it close to remind myself that despite the evil in the world there are human beings have wonderful spirit and creative talent, and it will endure despite everything.

It is hard to believe that this woman, artist, inventor, and heroine is not better known in the eyes and hearts of the world. As an educator and member of the Jewish community, I am shocked that I wasn't even aware of the remarkable contributions made by Friedl Dicker-Brandeis. The works portrayed in this book, the heartfelt letters she wrote, and the historical expose of Friedl's life were enriching. She has brought inspiration to many and should continue to be revered as a talented saint. Thank you Regina Seidman Miller and Elena Makarova for opening our eyes to such a remarkable woman of our past.

This is a book I intended to glance over just to look at the art, but ended up reading it cover to cover until 3 in the morning. It is a in depth look at this amazing woman's life, as well as the beautiful art she created. This is a must read for anyone wanting to learn about history, and how people cope with major events in their lives.

I'm really impressed with Dr. Kluger, and this book has affected me greatly. I first heard Dr. Kluger on NPR (Terry Gross' "Fresh Air," I believe it was), and I was struck by her honesty and unpretentiousness (just like how Still Alive: A Holocaust Girlhood Remembered is). Even though she is a Jewish woman who was a child during WWII and I am a Korean American born a few generations later, we have a lot in common. Dr. Kluger mentioned on the show that she is an atheist who believes in spirits; I was happy to finally find someone who has the same beliefs! That made me want to read this book.

Although I didn't have to go through anything as devastating as the Nazi concentration/labor/death camps, I could almost empathize with what Dr. Kluger was able to survive. Her book does not sentimentalize in the way that Schindler's List or even The Diary of Anne Frank seem to do. Although those two works were very well-done to say the least, I still didn't have a good idea of the individual's Holocaust experience until I read this memoir. I thank Dr. Kluger so much for sharing her life in such a straightforward, candid, and unique way. I really like the way she writes; as she did in her life, her prose seems to defy convention.

There have been many, many memoirs about the Holocaust. So why read another one? Because it's one of the best, that's why. This author absolutely refuses to indulge in cliches. With her, you do not get anything that is familiar or comfortable. Nor do you get the dramatic emotion and catharsis that she rightly says belongs to the theater, not the concentration camps.

Because she observes life sharply, and comments on it rationally, in fact is a rational voice in a profoundly irrational world, she forces the reader to view her as a person, and not the generic persecution-victim symbol, a view she detests...

There are many times when her use of language is so striking that it's really worth rereading this, maybe several times. For example, when she discusses the opposing myths that the camps weren't all that bad vs. they were so terrible that the survivors were no longer human (p. 151). Then she says, "...". That really is how it goes and the perceptive reader will find many shocks of recognition here, and admire the person brave enough to drop the approved cliches and be honest.

In Still Alive, Ruth Kluger while avoiding sentimentality in her words is able to evoke strong feelings from her readers with her thoughtful analysis of her experiences in pre-war Vienna, Theresienstadt, Auschwitz, and Christianstadt. She also includes commentary on her experiences in dealing with those who had not been through the horrors of the Holocaust and concentration camps and sought to understand.

I have been reading personnal narratives of Holocaust survivors for a research paper, and this work was by far the most memorable and original of the recent works I have read. Her languages is precise. She has thought her ideas through carefully and is aware of her own contradictions in some places. This book has the ability to alter a reader's perspective on what it was like to survive the Holocaust and deal with the memories of the experience.

Ah, what can I say about such an important book in my life?

Hans is a poor boy who dreams of riding dressage with the Spanish Riding School of his native Vienna. He attains his goal through hard work and perseverance, by his own merit and against the odds. The book is beautifully written with a flowing narrative style, engaging for both adults and children. The illustrations are the best I have seen from Dennis, at times humorous, at times scholarly, and always precise.

I did my senior thesis on the birth of dressage in the Renaissance, but without this book I would never have even heard of Xenophon, or the passage, or known that the Ancient Greeks rode without stirrups. I illustrated it with my own copies of Wesley Dennis's drawings from this book.

Also highly recommended as horsey history, "Gaudenzia, Pride of the Palio" by the same writer/illustrator team.

If you would like to find out more about Classical dressage please check out Laura Camins's "Glorious Horsemen" and Walter Leitdke's "Royal Horse and Rider," both of which deal with the birth of dressage in the Renaissance according to modern scholarship, and by extension the noble equestrian ballets of which the Spanish Riding school is the last still extant. Did you know that the Louvre's great central courtyard was designed to accommodate horse ballets exactly like those in this book?

When I first read this book, when I was about seven years old, I owned a Lipizzan mare of my own. She was for me what Borina was to Hans, my schoolmaster. She was small and gray, with a wide girth, branded, and very long lived. She would do caprioles as we galloped through the field, I kid you not. Were it not for this book I would not have the words to describe her, to remember her like this, and so I am indebted Marguerite Henry.

To bring one spark of beauty into the world is worth a life's dedication, is it not? Certainly mine.

Read the book and you will understand.

If you have any doubts about purchasing this book, forget them and buy it now. I was given this book when I was a child (20 years ago) and it thrills to me to this day. Ms. Henry writes with such imagery that you find yourself caught up as Hans, the young boy who is captivated by the stallions. Not only is the writing terrific, but so is the artwork. This story is one of my all-time favorites.

This is the story of Hans, a young Austrian boy that wishes more than anything to work with the "Dancing White Horses," the Lipizzaner stallions of Vienna. In the story he is accepted to the Spanish Riding School, the finest riding school in the world, and then the work begins. Teamed with his patient instructors, one two-legged and one four-legged, Hans sets out to achieve his dream and prove to everyone that any goal is possible with dedication. This is my all-time favorite horse story; the characters are believeable, the illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is timeless.

This is a spellbinder of a book that describes in amazing detail the hardships endured and overcome by the author as he escapes the Nazi regime and makes his way to Israel, resettles there, marries and then emigrates once more to the United States. The writing in this book is exquisite and one feels he stands right beside the author as he endures the terrible hardhsips and overcomes mans inhumanity to man. A book not to be missed.

In flowing very easy to read detail "Winds of Life" tells the story of an ordinary boy and then man who was sweep along by the forces of history. From the horrors of a concentration camp to the pulse of life in Palestine one can develop an understanding of this period of history. Mr. Evan writes in a soft non political way that allows the reader to experience his life. This book is a very pleasureable great read.

I had the pleasure of meeting Gershon Evan in his mid-70's,and his wife, Rina, within my medical practice. Evan mentioned that he was trying to publish his story which he felt was worth telling. Not only is it worth telling as a historical parallel to the holocost and the subsequent establishment of Israel, but it was well told; at times Hemmingway-esque in the journalistic details of army life, and at times the sad personal tale of a 16 year old youth displaced from his family and his life.

I bought this book in order to make a truly unique seat cover for a vintage chair. The photos are great, the charts easy to follow and there is even a list of colors needed in both wool and DMC floss, depending on your preference. The results were fabulous. And this is only the second needlepoint project I've done in my life. I've bought a second book by Ms. Serena called Berlin Work and I'm looking forward to a third with Animal designs. If you're looking for some truly historical designs, this is the book for you. If you can find my website, there are pictures of my chair there. m. LAIUPPA

This book is the best source I have found for original designs. Anyone looking for extremely detailed and diverse designs would enjoy this book. Most of the designs could be used directly from the photos of the charts. This book is magnificent! Truly different than any other needlepoint book I have seen, well worth purchasing. There is enough material to last a lifetime of stiching!

This is the finest collection of charted historical embroidery patterns I have ever encountered. The illustration articles and patterns are of exceptional quality and extremely well reproduced - many of the original painted patterns appear in a size one can work from as easily as the selection of black and white patterns produced for the book. We can only hope that Raffaella Serena will produce more works of this calibre.

I love these books like nothing else! And I read them like there is no tomorrow! I've read this series....well, call me crazy, 3 TIMES! Danzig Passage and Warsaw Requiem are my favorites! I guard my books so jealously that I think my family is going to spite me for it! The Thoene Clan truly has spoiled me for all the other authors and I don't know what I'd do without them!

This series of books has spoiled me for any other author. These stories have taught me about a time in history when I wasn't alive, and have taught me much about the war years. The writing in these books is like none I have ever read. I can't put the books down and think about the people in the stories as if I knew them. Clean, terrific reading. I'm sharing the series with any friend who will read them. Best author I've ever read!!

This was the first Thoene series that I've read and after I've finished this series I've loved evey Thoene book that I've read since then! These books are so tremendously exciting and so very well witten that I've almost convinced myself that the fictional characters really were alive. This series, set against the most frightening time in history,WWII, will take you on a remarkable journey into the lives of many lovable characters like the Lindheims, J. Murphy ,W. Churchill. And the hateable characters such as Hitler, and neutral 'ol Chamberlain. After you have read these books, like me you'll want to read them again and again!

In the first pages of this book, author Frederic Morton reveals the reason he has such an interest in Austrian history. His grandfather died in World War I and his father came to the United States from Vienna. If you read books such as Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, you can't help but hate the Habsburg monarchy that ruled for centuries over Austria and much of Eastern Europe. The Austrians shamelessly mistreated their subjects, using divide and conquer strategies to keep their client states in line. The Austrians also looted the distant reaches of their vast holdings for Austrian benefit. Many of the difficulties found in the Balkans today can be traced to the inept government of the Austrian Empire. That's one view. The other can be found in this exquisitely majestic book. This text is not a panegyric to Habsburg rule, however. Rather, it is a tribute to the fabulous city of Vienna during the waning days of empire, when World War I was looming on the horizon of time.

Vienna is presented as an international city that attracted numerous historical figures. According to Morton, within a period of months Vienna was home to Adolf Hitler, Josef Broz (known to history as Marshal Tito), Uncle Joe Stalin, Leon Trotsky and Sigmund Freud. These characters lived out their own private paths to destiny within blocks of each other. Morton really makes these people come alive with his narrative. We see Hitler in a homeless hostel where he has his own personal chair that no one dares to sit in and occasionally launches into oratorical tirades against Jews and foreigners. Tito works at a car factory and likes to scope out chicks on the weekends (which is much easier to do when you don't have a chest full of medals!). Trotsky indulges himself in French literature and lively debate at the cafes, where he has a brief encounter with a dour Stalin. Sigmund Freud engages in an intellectual war with Carl Jung and writes numerous papers in psychology that would come to form much of what the common man knows about that discipline. Stalin arrives to research a pamphlet before returning to Russia and a three-year stretch in Siberia. What all of these stories ultimately prove is that Vienna was truly a hub of Europe and an important city of the time. It's still pretty neat to think about all of these huge figures moving about in the same city at the same time, though. Morton shows us how almost all of these figures were influenced by their time in Vienna. Hitler talks about it in Mein Kampf and Trotsky wrote about it as well. About the only figure that doesn't seem to be changed is Stalin, who stomps and grumbles about in shabby peasant clothes. It was interesting to learn that Stalin beat Lenin at chess seven times in a row, though!

What Morton succeeds in doing with this book is humanizing history. Today we only see Hitler in old newsreel footage screaming his head off at rallies. In Vienna, Hitler often gave money to his fellow boarders who can't afford food or rent. Sigmund Freud, who always looks so stodgy in those old pictures, loved to hunt mushrooms with his children while wearing outlandish local garb. Even the Habsburgs are painted with a brushstroke of decency. Franz Ferdinand, the sullen heir to the throne who was assassinated at Sarajevo in June 1914, comes off much better here than in most history books. Morton paints him as a dove surrounded by hawks. Franz constantly tries to avert war, especially with Serbia. Of particular note is the relationship the archduke had with his wife, Sophie Chotek. Chotek, who Morton constantly refers to as "morganatic," was not of the right blood to marry a Habsburg heir. She rarely got to share in the royal activities, and when she did, courtiers of the archduke's father, Franz Joseph, belittled her endlessly.

The end of the book shows us the dramatic countdown to war, as the archduke and his wife drive to their deaths and into history. The account of the assassination is very interesting and well worth the read. I feel it rivals the Kennedy assassination in terms of sheer incompetence and idiocy. When someone tosses a bomb at the archduke's motorcade, these morons actually continue the procession! Franz Ferdinand's security detail should have been shot for this action alone. Of course, the procession wasn't stopped and the result was war. The whole mess reeks of conspiracy.

This is an excellent book that can really spark an interest in history. Morton uses lots of sources, such as newspapers, to convey the actual feel of the time. A few pictures thrown in helps to place faces with names. Often, Morton tells us what the weather was like on a certain day before he unfolds the events. This gives the text an insight often missing in scholarly accounts. We can almost see things happening. That being said, this really isn't a book I would use for research. It is more of an interpretative text to provide entertainment. If I were teaching a class on this time period, I would assign this book in conjunction with other, more serious books. Very nice, indeed!

A wonderful book written about the cosmopolitan city of Vienna before the outbreak of WWI. Morton's style of writing makes this an enjoyable read this is not dry history. In 1913 Vienna was host to men who would make an indelible impression on the 20th century. Just to name a few, Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, Hitler, Tito, Freud, and the Hapsburg Royal family all within one square mile of each other. Morton gives a good portrayal of the lives of these men during their formative time spent in Vienna. He also gives a good account of the tension between Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand who wanted to reform the Austro-Hungarian Empire to include the room for nationalist aspirations of the Slavs, and Emperor Franz Joseph who wanted to maintain the status quo. I t makes one wonder how European history might have been different if Franz Ferdinand had not been assassinated and was given the chance to reform the Empire.

As a retired Army officer and political philosopher,I recommend this book to all who are interested in history of WWI or to those who want to learn more about the "gilded age" of Europe.

An excellent and lovely book that reads almost like a novel, it is also an alarming book if you read it, as I did, in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The diplomatic and military blunders that produced World War I seem, at this moment, to provide a kind of blueprint for starting a war that no one really wants to start. Some of the correspondences between then and now are startling--for example, the super-ultimatum given to the offending country with the expectation that the terms cannot be met. Altogether I would rate this book higher than Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August, though, to be fair, Tuchman's book is more of a military history and gives only a tiny look at the opening shots of WWI--the murder of the Archduke who was the heir to the Austrian throne--whereas Morton's book establishes the Archduke Franz Ferdinand as a major character in the narrative, then reveals that the Archduke was (ironically) a pacifist who was trying to avert a war in Europe, and then places the Archduke's story in the context of the larger story of Vienna, Austria and Europe. One of the many pleasures that the book offers is an evocative look at the old, whimisical royalty-besotted Vienna just as it was begetting the new Europe--Freud, Trotsky, and Stalin all figure in the story of pre-WWI Vienna as do a number of other major political and artistic figures. Vienna was a prosperous, beautiful, pleasure-loving city that perversely found a way to start a horrific and self-destroying war.

Jewish Julie Weiss is 12 and a half and lives a luxurious, comfortable life in Vienna until Hitler invades Austria and the Jews are discriminated. The Weiss family suffers rejection and spite from friends and neighbors turned pro-Hitler, even though they are non-practicing Jews. Nazis come to the Weiss home one night and all of Julie's family BUT herself is taken outside. They come back unharmed but changed. This event forces her older brother Max to leave the country and her mother to later commit suicide. Her father still tries to keep a positive outlook on everything, and says Julie must go to America, where she will be safe with her mother's sister and her husband. In Part 1, Julie's entries are at first mostly about her school life and worries that a girl her social status might have, but are emotional and full of descriptions of violence against Jews. In the beginning of Part 2 she is still afraid, sad and frozen but things get brighter for her in New York, especially when she lands a part in a stage play. Overall a very good read and a big improvement from Mr. Denenberg's other DA books.

I loved this book! Although I am not Jewish, this book reminded me of my family. Julie, or her father's "precious jewel", tells the tale of her life in Austria during World War 2. I never really realized the pain and horror of being there in 1938 before I read this wonderful book. Some of the other books in the Dear America talk about being Jewish during World War 2, but never in the eyes of someone who was young like me.

I suggest that anyone who wishes a tale of heart, acting, pain, terror, and finding happiness in home,read this book. You have my word that you will LOVE this book and it will ALWAYS keep you excited!

The book One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss by Barry Deneberg was overall a pretty good book.
It was about a young Jewish girl named Julie who lived in Vienna, Austria during the Holocaust. She lived with her mother, father, and older brother in a nice apartment. After Hitler took over Austria, Julie's life took a big turn. She escaped the horrors of the Holocaust and concentration camps when her father decided that she was going to go live with her aunt and uncle in New York. She had to cope with the many changes of her new life in America, and had to live without her family, who remained living in Austria. Although Julie missed her family a lot, her aunt and uncle took her in as if she were their own.
Julie's Aunt Clara was an actress who performed in many Broadway productions. While helping her aunt practice her lines for the play she was in, Julie was asked by the director to also star in the play Peter Pan as Wendy Darling. Julie took the opportunity and did so well that her and her Aunt Clara were asked to play mother and daughter again in the Broadway production of Our Town.
All in all, One Eye Laughing, the Other Weeping: The Diary of Julie Weiss was a very interesting book and easy to follow. It is recommend for those who would like to read about a young girl's thoughts and feelings during the Holocaust.

A great story well told -- what more could a reader want? _Play to the Angel_, which takes place in Vienna in 1938, is narrated by twelve-year-old Greta Radky. Greta's older brother had been a promising concert pianist, but now that he has died, her mother is threatening to sell their piano.

Early in the novel Greta tells why the piano is so important to her: "I [played the piano] because it satisfied something inside me, the way a bowl of hot soup satisfied my stomach or a breath of fresh air satisfied my lungs. But the something it satisfied was deeper than my stomach or my lungs. It was the part of me that made me *me*."

Without preaching, _Play to the Angel_ provides a powerful example of a resolute heroine pursuing a dream in the face of obstacles -- in the closing chapters, the Nazi occupation. Greta receives lessons that are valuable to any performer: On nervousness: ". . . you must give the music in you a chance to chase away the fear instead of letting the fear chase away the music." Similarly, Greta is taught about two kinds of musicians -- one, which uses music to present his skill to the world, and the other, which uses his skill to present the music.

Maurine Dahlberg's first novel, _Play to the Angel_ has been nominated for the Mark Twain Award for 2002-2003.

When her brother dies, Greta Radky is left lonely; her mother doesn't love her as much as her deseased brother, her best friend moved away, and her father pulled a disappearing act when she was younger. The one way she finds joy is through the piano, which her mother wants to sell. When a piano teacher moves in across the street, she convinces her mother to let her take lessons and keep the piano. But her teacherm, Herr Hummel is on the run from the Nazis. After her first recital, she finds that Hitler has taken over Austria, and is worried for her teacher.

This book was incredible with a good insight on the war. I liked the plot very much.

I loved this book. I liked it because the history did not have anything to do with the book intil the end. It is about a girl named Greta who is living in Austria at the time of the rise of Nazi Germany. She loves to play piano, but her mother does not want her to play because it reminds her of Greta's deceased brother who was very good at piano. Greta is a very shy girl and not very brave, but that made her a good character to read about.