papablues050164's reviews
136 reviews

This author spent ten years tracking down the last survivors of a horrific and largely forgotten war that fundamentally changed not only how we fought our wars, but how we perceived war as well. Rubin not only talks to men and women from a variety of services, including neglected ones such as the Navy, the Yeomenettes who came before WWII's WACs, the Polar Bears who fought in Russia even after the armistace was signed, and a Harlem Hellfighter; he also puts their stories in context, giving a broader perspective on the war than we've had in a long long time. Highly recommended.

One of the best books ever, if you want to understand how this war came about. All the alliances and folly are put into context in an engaging style that never lets go. Puts you right into the minds of all the participants. Highly recommended.

I've had days I never wanted to get out of bed, but I never had the depression level of Paul after the Beatles broke up. From the sad days where one dream ended, this book covers the years where Paul struggled to make his own name in the world with his band Wings. He had his missteps--witness his "Mary Had a Little Lamb" single-to the highs of 'Band on the run' and the Wings Over America tour. I think we all thought Paul was a pretty clean-cut guy who did a lot of soft rock. But it appears he was just a big a stoner as everybody else, and Wings was a band often held together with sticky tape. Tom Doyle seems to have had a lot of frank conversations with Paul, especially his hot-and-cold relationship with John Lennon. Be interesting to see if Doyle can follow up with a book on Paul's later years. Highly recommended.

The only reaction one can have when reading this is "WHAT THE F---?" Who would possess anyone to do something like this? Through a twisted warped looking glass, indeed. The heroes you all know and love devour the world in the ultimate Zombie Apocalypse scenario. Not surprising perhaps since it sprang from the mind of Robert Kirkman, the same joker who gave us The Walking Dead comic that the TV series is based on. Giant Man himself has gone from a selfless brilliant scientist to a duplicitous back stabbing fiend. And this is only the first series! my favorite part is the panel where Spider-Man finally gets his revenge on J. Jonah Jameson. Just desserts. Surprisingly enjoyable, very warped, very perverse, I leave to the reader whether this is your bag.

If you ever had doubts about the war in Iraq, take the word of someone who was there. Not me, dummy, the author. A first-hand account of Army Interrogator Lagouranis, he shares his personal descent into darkness and revulsion at his own actions, and the discomfort he feels at well-meaning people who've "thanked him for his service". A compelling and disturbing look into the soul of a man literally on the inside. Highly recommended.

This is a rare aspect of the Great War, from the viewpoint of a young soldier in the Royal Hungarian Army who fought the Russians on the Eastern front. I got the impression that this was a privileged man, but he draws you into his narrative, painting a bygone world with words. The war unfortunately is democratic in how it dispenses it's pains; on his first day of battle he loses friends and receives a head wound.

This memoir unfortunately is incomplete, but his grandson does an admirable job translating. Funny how it is when the holidaymakers who'd all been mingling before the war was announced, suddenly sorted themselves into their own nationalities; and all the socializing that'd gone on before was stopped cold.

Highly recommended.

It took a while to read, and it does read like the study it was intended to be. But it's still an informative book on a little-known and forgotten chapter on the contribution of women to winning both World Wars. Women were often used for patriotic purposes; once they did get out to the farm they were met with discrimination and derisively called "farmerettes" in the US. Both politicians and womens-rights advocates used this to their advantage. Good look at women's role in the old saying "Food Will Win the War!"

They must have very different ideas of what constitutes a young-adult novel in Europe. Perhaps I'm wrong in thinking it's because the author is Belgian and he saw no reason to whitewash the war that ravaged his nation. Its a very intense and graphic short novel. The author succeeds in impressing on the reader the tragedy of war as well as the camradie of the troops.

How does one live with the fact that their father was a member of the Nazi party. Ingeborg Day faces up to a hidden and very disturbing past that her parents will never talk about. Day draws you into her narrative as she meanders between past and present, having many awkward conversations with friends who confront her with their own preconceived ideas. Austria is little talked about in the context of both World Wars, people generally focusing on the sins of past German regimes, and I like to get into these different perspectives. Short and highly recommended.

A startling indictment of the hostility ranged against unionized workers at the turn of the century. Its frightening that Big Business--and the public in general--was prepared to murder our union brothers to keep them down, and often they did. Except that it was the Union people who most often faced prosecution. What's most frightening is that our country only enjoyed the benefits of unionization for 40 years at best, before corporate bloodsuckers put their boots back on the necks of American workers. And we're going to have to fight for what we won all over again.