Into That Darkness: An Examination of Conscience

Book Description

Based on 70 hours of interviews with Franz Stangl, commandant of Treblinka (the largest of the extermination camps), this book bares the soul of a man who continually found ways to rationalize his role in Hitler's final soulution.

Customer Reviews:

Franz Stangl (Sobibor and Treblinka Kommandant); Jew and Slav Extermination; "Polish" Killings of Fugitive Jews, etc. .......2007-06-02

Sereny interviews Franz Stangl and other Nazis such as Franz Suchomel, Jewish escapees from Treblinka, and a member of the Polish Underground. There are many contradictions between different accounts, which she explains as follows: "This is less the result of failing memories or deliberate manipulation, than because most people now represent these events and their part in them with a view to seeming--to themselves even more than to others--what they would have liked to have been, rather than what they were. And this applies to Germans as well as Poles, Christians as well as Jews, West as well as East Europeans." (p. 171).

Polish authors have commonly been criticized for not portraying Polish Jews as Poles. But the shoe is also on the other foot. Sereny comments: "Polish Jews always refer to non-Jewish Poles as `Poles' and to themselves as `we' or `Jews'." (p. 121; see also p. 199).

To her credit, Sereny recognizes the fact that Poles had nothing to do with the German death camps built on their soil (p. 100), and that Poles faced the death penalty for the slightest form of aid to Jews (p. 117).

There were no windows in the Sobibor-bound trains (p. 122). This helps refute the myth of doomed Jews looking out and beholding throngs of indifferent or hostile Polish onlookers.

There is a fascinating interview (pp. 149-156) with Franciszek Zabecki, a member of the Polish Underground who was also the traffic superintendent at the Treblinka railroad station. He points out that there was limited Underground communication between different regions of German-occupied Poland (p. 151). Consequently, the events unfolding at Treblinka were not immediately related to those at Belzec and Sobibor. (This may address David Engel's accusation of the Polish Government in exile's "tardy" report on Jewish deaths). Zabecki kept a tally of all the trains arriving at Treblinka along with the numbers written on each train. From this, he arrived at a death toll of 1.2 million (p. 250) which, if correct, would cause Treblinka to surpass Auschwitz-Birkenau as the world's largest Jewish cemetery.

Ukrainian collaborators played a central role in the operation of Sobibor (p. 122, 124) and Treblinka (e. g., p. 148, 166; see especially p. 224). Lithuanians (p. 155) and Russians (p. 164) were also involved. So were Jewish Kapos (p. 123, 158-159)--the depravity of some of whom rivaled that of the Germans and Ukrainians (p. 188).

Treblinka-escapee Berek Rojzman commented: "We got to know from people around that the Germans were sending Ukrainians who pretended to be partisans, into the woods to look for Jews." (p. 243). How often was the "Polish" participation in German posses, "Polish" killings of fugitive Jews in forests, etc., actually the work of Polish-speaking Ukrainian collaborators (not only around Treblinka, but also elsewhere in otherwise Ukrainian-free regions of Poland)?

Stangl rebuts Holocaust-uniqueness arguments (that posit that ALL Jews were targeted for extermination) when he alludes to certain deliberately-protected Mischlinge and full-blooded German Jews: "That racial business," said Stangl, "was just secondary. Otherwise, how could they have had all those `honorary Aryans'? They used to say that General Milch was a Jew, you know." (p. 232).

To the extent that the Vatican had been "silent" on Jews, it had also been "ineffectual" in its occasional statements on murdered Poles (pp. 278-279).

Not content with maintaining an exclusively Judeocentric focus, Sereny examines the planned extermination of Slavs: "Historical records in the public domain prove beyond any doubt that the Nazi extermination of the Jews, and concurrently of large numbers of Gypsies, was intended as only the first step in a gigantic programme of genocide of all so-called `inferior races' of Europe. A beginning was made both in Russia...and in Poland..." (p. 93). Treblinka-escapee Richard Glazer adds: "This is something, you know, the world has never understood; how perfect the machine was. It was only lack of transport because of the Germans' war requirements that prevented them from dealing with far vaster numbers than they did; Treblinka alone could have dealt with the 6,000,000 Jews and more besides. Given adequate rail transport, the German extermination camps in Poland could have killed all the Poles, Russians, and other East Europeans the Nazis planned eventually to kill." (p. 214).

Finally, Sereny discusses Stangl's flight to Brazil. She contends that few Nazis escaping from postwar Europe benefited from the aid of conspiratorial organizations such as Odessa, whose effectiveness had been greatly exaggerated to begin with (p. 276). And, against the blanket condemnation of the Catholic Church, Sereny shows that aid to fleeing Nazis was given almost exclusively by German and Austrian clergy (pp. 285-286).

Powerfully understated.......2007-04-11

Gitta Sereny's book is as powerful now as it must have been when if first came out. She manages to give the reader a real sense of one of the men who was a key part of the Nazi killing machine - Franz Stangl supervised the killing of at least 750,000 men, women and children but the total is very probably more like a million. What is clear is that he was a perfectly sane, happily married man who allowed himself to be drawn 'into the darkness' and then felt unable to escape when he was eventually asked to supervise mass murder (and historical research confirms that people in his situation were not actually threatened with their lives if they decided to change roles). This shows how easy it is for those in authority to bend others to serve their purposes, especially if their true motivations are dressed up in pseudo-science and a veneer of legality (as was the case with the Nazis). He isn't a monster which makes his story all the more chilling as it shows that it is possible for any one of us to end up doing what he did.

The only problem with this book (which makes it 4 rather than 5 stars) is that Sereny allows herself multiple digressions, some of which do help to better explain background context, but some of which simply distract from her narrative of Stangl's struggle to acknowledge his guilt.

Thought-provoking and Thorough Investigation.......2006-06-07

I want to clear something up ~~ I don't "love" this book (that is what 5 stars stand for) but I do appreciate this book and it is definitely one of the best books I have read on the Holocaust. That is why I gave it a five star rating. It really is a thought-provoking book and very insightful. The author did a great job of following through with loose ends and she writes in a very detailed way that is not dry. History came alive in these pages.

I also appreciate the fact that while she didn't gloss over the horrors of the extermination camps, she also didn't dwell on them. Yes, it happened. Yes, it is horrorifying and too awful to think on, but it didn't need to be a sensationalized case where every single detail had to be graphic. She left it to the imagination of just how horrible this was. She was tasteful and respectful of the dead's dignity.

Sereny detailed everything. She wrote about Stangl's childhood, his demeanor while being interviewed especially when he had to answer questions that he was not comfortable about. She made sure that if anyone contacted her later with a clarification of something, she added it in the book. She interviewed the witnesses and toured the camp. She never stopped asking questions. She covered the Euthansia program that was in effect during the 30s when Hitler first came to power. She queried the clerics in the Catholic Church and Stangl's family members. I don't know how else to describe this other than Sereny really did a thorough investigation to the best of her abilities to produce this book. She brought up issues that I had never thought about. She covered it all.

When I have read about the extermination camps before, I usually got them confused with the concentration camps. I never realized that all of the extermination camps were in Poland. I also never really realized that there were such an Anti-Semitic viewpoint in Poland. Things that I never really understood before was clarified in this book. Not only was this book a historical investigation of the Nazi regime and the extermination camp, it was also insights into different personalities throughout the period, other than Franz Stangl and his wife. There were survivors of the camp and how did they manage to survive. There were underground freedom fighters who witnessed these horrors with their own eyes. A common question among my generation is, why didn't they just get out? This book goes a long way into explaining that.

It is definitely an interesting book. While the main focus was on Franz Stangl, the Kommandant of Treblinka, the largest of the extermination camps, it covered a whole range of issues. It definitely did show the way into the darkness, the darkness of every human soul. While Sereny did her best in answering the question of why he stayed on, it is still unfathomable in its entirety.

6-06-06

An objective look at one man's crimes.......2005-07-13

I used to think anyone who was stupid enough to wear a swastika and call themselves a Nazi, regardless of their actions, deserved nothing less than the most heinous punishments the human mind could ever conceive. While I still believe this is true in many cases, reading the story of Franz Stangl, as revealed though Gitta Sereny's amazingly meticulous journalism, has made me think twice about it.
I dock her one star because of an error she made in reference to Jean François Steiner's astonishing masterwork, Treblinka, which she speaks of with undue contempt. Gitta says that Steiner had written in his book that SS man Max Bleias had a harem of Jewish boys liquidated on a whim one day when he became bored with them. This is not the case at all. In Steiner's Treblinka, the harem was liquidated by order of Kurt Franz only after Blieas' assassination by a prisoner.
Despite my deep and utter hatred of the Nazis I still found myself, as a man, and more importantly, as a human, able to sympathize with Franz Stangl. One asks themselves, "What would I have done in his place?" That should speak volumes about the quality of this book of incredible journalistic merit.

Why Do People Do What They Do?...remains unanswered........2003-10-21

Gitta Sereny was a British journo who had attended Franz Stangl's trial in 1970, and she had interviewed him in prison in Duesseldorf in 1971. She had also interviewed others, including survivors and keepers of Treblinka, as well as his wife and one of his daughters in Brazil. He was caught in 1967.

But just to be sure that the author's intense interest in this horrible subject left no doubt about her own conscience, she had made it clear to Stangl (and to her readers)...that she... "abhorred everything the Nazis had stood for and done."

It's a well written account of this SS Colonel's life and job, beginning with his involvement of the Nazi's euthanatia program, his first posting to Sobibor, his subsequent assignment as commandant of Treblinka, and his post war escape to Brazil via Italy and Syria. But the author digresses when she devotes 20 pages about the Vatican's probable Nazi sympathies.

We learn that Stangl was clever and practical in getting train-loads of people to shed their clothes and possessions and to walk into large "bath houses," complete with simulated sprinkler heads; and low volume ceilings to minimize the time of suffocation from the exhaust of the camp's 250hp diesel generator engine.

Curiously, we also learn that it took only a handful of real (home country) Germans to make Treblinka tick. The clever Germans in fact had delegated this killing business to this Austrian Stangl. And he in turn had recruited hundreds of Chekoslovaks and Ukrainians. Employed as guards, they would do all the dirty work. But they in turn would select healthy and strong arriving prisoners, called worker jews, and put them to work carrying the asphyxiated dead from the "baths" unto the open pit ovens, and then to shovel their ashes into holes dug into the earth.

The author is obsessed in finding out how and why an otherwise ordinary family man like this Stangl (and maybe all the other living Stangls in the rest of the World, and those yet to be born) could legitimize his conscience in being responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of people and continue to live a relatively normal life. But it's an age old question and it doesn't get answered. Not here and probably not ever. Largely, because it's impossible to get into people's minds.

And for that matter, the author could as well have asked the Colonel of the Enola Gay why and how on August 6th, 1945 he was able to overcome his conscience and nuke Hiroshima, knowingly killing 50,000 mostly innocent men, women and children in 2 seconds.

Even today, we live in a World that has gone mad, but life goes on.

Book Description

This volume – covering the final years of the Peninsular War and the long trek over the Pyrenees into France – concludes the author’s remarkable in-depth study of the army that fought alongside Wellington’s redcoats throughout the Peninsular War. Prior to 1813 it was the Spanish armies that bore the brunt of the fighting and this text – based on primary research in Spanish and British archives which will be new to most readers – fills a large and long-standing gap in our knowledge of those Napoleonic campaigns which have always fascinated English-speaking students of the period.

Customer Reviews:

Buy it for the plates, but ignore the text.......2002-03-20

Rene Chartrande has a habit of not revealing useful sources to readers. Most of his information comes from such obscure sources that it's almost impossible to cross check a reference. This really detracts from the Osprey Books. Chartrande seems to be more interested in cranking out books in quanity rather than quality, which is too bad. The color plates by Younghusband are worthwhile though. The major critique here is that the figures look too neat for soldiers that have been in the field for any length of time. More often than not, soldiers "lost" gear or simply threw it away and the charges be damned. Clothing supplied by crooked contractors wore out or even fell apart, forcing the soldier to use home made or civilian items. The weapons shown don't have any wear and the accountriments look too well cared for. Remember, this was an army on the move !
The BEST plates are done by Mike Chappell, whose figures LOOK like soldiers. Still, for students of the "Spanish Ulcer" this would be a handy source

The plates are worth the price of the book.......2002-01-04

The primary reason I buy the Osprey books are for the color plates. More often than not, the author, Rene Chartrande goes into obscure detail that adds little to the text. Like many of his other works, Chartrande does not reveal enough useful sources. Photographs of exhisting uniforms and equipment are helpful, but if these were in color v.s. black and white, it would enhance these books. Chartrande cranks out numerous books for Osprey, but it's looking more like he's going for quantity over quality. Chartrande should go back to the style and depth of his older works.

An Essential Source for Hispanophiles.......2000-05-17

This series is a must for anyone with an interest in the Spanish army. This is not merely an excellent introduction to the subject, but also a detailed examination of the constantly changing uniforms and organisation of the Spanish army. Chartrand's evident scholarship is well supported by Younghusband's illustrations.

My only (small) criticism of the series is that there is some overlap in the text between the time periods described in the titles, so each volume should be read carefully before embarking on a modelling project. Having said that, at this price you'd be mad not to buy all three volumes for your collection.

The Spanish Ulcer.......2000-05-13

I first read a book by Rene Chartrand in 1984. Typically, it was on uniforms. I found it to be excellent-ssuperb color plates and authoritative narrative. Since them, if I find a book by Rene Chartrand, I usually purchase it, especially if it is on the Napoleonic period. I was not disappointed with this superb little work either. It is definitely a work of scholarship, and not only includes those Spanish units that fought Napoleon and the French, but it also covers the Spanish army of his brother Joseph, King of Spain. The plates and other illustrations are accurate, and this book can stand on its own, not merely as a supplement to further research. All of Chartrand's books done for the Osprey series are of this caliber. I purchased four others by Chartrand when I bought this one. This book is highly recommended for historians, wargamers, military modelers, and enthusiasts. It will have an honored place on my bookshelf and will be used without fail.

Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-Arms)

Average customer rating:

Inaccurate

Spanish Armies of the Napoleonic Wars (Men-at-Arms)
Otto Pivka
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0850452430
Release Date: 1975-06-15

Book Description

Despite Napoleon's clear advantage in the Peninsular War, the Spanish Army was never completely destroyed. Wrought by poor leadership and insufficient training, Spain's armies persisted in the fight against imperial France. This book gives an overview of Spain's confused position during the Napoleonic Era, caught between the competing interests of Britain and France. The book focuses primarily on the uniforms of the Spanish Army in the period before 1808 and during the war years as the Army of King Joseph, as well as the infantry uniforms of 1814-15. Numerous illustrations and eight colour plates vividly depict the uniforms of this often-underestimated force.

Customer Reviews:

Inaccurate.......2007-09-15

Mostly inaccurate. Flags completely wrong. Only two Spanish sources used: Clonard's album, now completely outdated; and 1806's collection of supposed drawings on 1805 uniforms regulation. What about military states? All drawings are made from Suhr's plates, on which both 1802 and 1805 regulations are mixed. Uniforms taken from Clonard's album are romantic mixtifications.

Hussar Rocca - A French cavalry officer's experiences of the Napoleonic Wars and his views on the Peninsular Campaigns against the Spanish, British And Guerilla Armies

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Hussar Rocca - A French cavalry officer's experiences of the Napoleonic Wars and his views on the Peninsular Campaigns against the Spanish, British And Guerilla Armies
Albert Jean, Michel de Rocca
Manufacturer: Leonaur Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 184677084X

Book Description

Hussar Rocca. War to the death against the British and the Spanish guerrillas. Hussar Rocca gives an account of the Peninsular Campaign from an entirely different perspective. Albert Rocca was an officer of Napoleon's 2nd Regiment of Hussars. For him Spain was not just alien but totally hostile as well. Where British chroniclers of the Peninsula berate the qualities of the Spanish armies, Rocca knew that his life was constantly under threat from not only the enemy armies but also from a population who would kill an unwary or isolated Frenchman in a moment. This is a riveting account made more readable in this Leonaur edition by reworking a previously clumsy translation.

The Napoleonic Wars: The French, British, Prussian and Spanish Armies (Arms and Uniforms)

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The Napoleonic Wars: The French, British, Prussian and Spanish Armies (Arms and Uniforms)
Liliane Funcken , and Fred Funcken
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0130462365

Spanish Armies Of The Napoleonic Wars...40 Pages..Original Men-At-Arms Series

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Spanish Armies Of The Napoleonic Wars...40 Pages..Original Men-At-Arms Series
Otto Von Pivka
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VJO9RU

Product Description

40 Pages of Text...Original Cover and Series

Duke of Wellington and the Command of the Spanish Army 1812-14

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Duke of Wellington and the Command of the Spanish Army 1812-14
Charles J. Esdaile
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War (War, Armed Forces and Society)

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Viva España!
Viva España!

The Spanish Army in the Peninsular War (War, Armed Forces and Society)
Charles J. Esdaile
Manufacturer: Manchester Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0719025389

Customer Reviews:

Viva España!.......2001-10-19

Charles Esdaile has produced a balanced, well-researched study which brings the Spanish army of the Napoleonic era out of the shadows where all too typically Peninsular historians have condemned it. Clearly and objectively, the author reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the army minus the chauvinism usually found in other works. Esdaile's calm presentation of fact makes understandable Spanish difficulties in coping with Napoleon's veterans. In so doing Esdaile follows in the steps of Sir Charles Oman and David Gates. One should recall that unlike Austria and Prussia, Spain never surrendered despite repeated defeats and horrific suffering. Besides a solid bibliography, Esdaile has numerous appendixes on Spanish army organization and orders of battle. I also recommend Esdaile's THE WARS OF NAPOLEON, an excellent military survey of this era, and David Gates' THE SPANISH ULCER, the best single-volume history of the Peninsular War. Finally, I admit to being one of the few members of the wargaming community possessing a Spanish Napoleonic army!

Viva España!.......2001-10-19

Book Description

Why does strife continue in the Middle East? How is it connected to terrorist attacks on Western nations? Dr. Price provides a concise, fascinating look at the problems and the players in the Middle East.

Customer Reviews:

An Important Book for Today!.......2006-06-13

This book by Randall Price along with another book by him called The Temple and Bible Prophecy are two of the most important books that deal with Israel and the fulfillment of the Jewish fate in Bible prophecy. Two other books that you might like are by Keith Intrater entitled Israel, The Church, and the Last Days along with From Irag to Armageddon. Why are these books so important? Simply this, we as Christians, even those of us who trust in Bible prophecy, have placed aside many a times the importance of Abraham and his descendants when it deals with Yahweh's plan for the world. It is vital that we understand Israel and the Jews because without understanding these topics, we fail in our call to follow in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Yeshua/Jesus Christ.

Just as in days of old, throughout the Old Testament time period and now in the New Testament era, the last days, beginning with the resurrection and culminating in the seven years of tribulation along with the Millennial Kingdom and then the New Heavens and the New Earth, Israel and her people have been a vital foci for prophecy and fate of the world. And just as those who are giving this a one star because it shows the truth as to what is going on in Israel and Israel's threat from all sides by radical Islam, there are many people out there who are anti-Semitic and want to see the Jewish people wiped off the face of the earth. We as Christians SHOULD be praying and loving and caring for the Jewish people. Remember! Yahweh curses those who curse Abraham and his descendants just as much as Yahweh will bless those who bless Abraham and his descendants.

This book in particular, I will admit, is somewhat dated, as a lot has gone on since its publishing in 2001/2. The Israel nation faces even graver threats now than she did around 9-11. This book helps you the reader to realize just how horrific the world is growing toward the Jews. Radical Islam does not just want to gain power over Israel, and in particular Jerusalem. No. What they want is simply this. To wipe the Jewish people off the face of the earth. Radical Islam does not want peace. Radical Islam will not settle for anything less than total destruction of the Jewish people. This is not an opinion, this is reality. Not that the Jewish people are perfect, no, no one is, and yes the Jewish authorities have done some damage and there have been kills that should not have been. But. But. The Israelites are fighting for their very existence, not just for simple territory. The Israelites are fighting for their very dignity, not just some ideology.

I firmly believe this book will open your eyes if you haven't already (like the one stars show) decided to be anti-Semitic. We as Gentile Christians who have been saved by the blood of Yeshua, Jesus, have a specific Biblical call to love and to feed and to clothe and to care for Yahweh's covenant people that we have (through Yeshua) been grafted unto. Read this book, learn the truth.

Price Puts Pieces of the Puzzle Together.......2005-09-30

If you aren't quite sure of the whys and wherefores of the complex relationship between Americans, Israelis, and the radical sect of Islam, this is an excellent book for you. Randall Price's knowledge of the history and relationship between these three is astonishing. The book is very in-depth and chock full of details and gives the reader insightful explanations for much of what we are seeing in the news today. Price gives us a diplomat's "bird's eye view" of the very complex and volatile relationships. He also does a great job putting the pieces of the puzzle together for us.

Grossly slanted toward Isreali position.......2005-04-05

This book is disgustingly slanted toward the position of the pro-Isreali's. Each page is becomes more blatent. It's impossible for any book to be completely void of bias, but Randall Price doesn't even make an effort to lay out the facts and let the reader draw their own conclusion. It's just riduculous. I usually buy my books instead of borrowing from the library in order to support the authors; but take my advice and save you money with this one. That is, of course, unless your mind is already made up and you simply want to feel better about your obstinance.

Good but not Great. Very Slow Reading.......2005-02-11

Randall Price is an excellent prophecy teacher but I did not find this book to be his best. (I read his book - The Coming Last Days Temple and found it to be far better.) It's true he does give you information not covered in the news media and he has a wealth of knowledge. But I found the details difficult to follow. As a result, I found the reading to be slow and it took me longer than usual to finish reading the book. It didn't keep my interest.

Dr. Price catches Islam with its pants down!.......2003-11-17

Just a preface to the dissenting opinions towards this book,
there seems to be an ominous ulterior motive behind the negativity towards the book and its author. Just give a quick glance at reviewer "Tara Marshall" and her More about Me section and it will become clear as crystal her bias against this book.
I think it is interesting that a majority of the sources to Dr. Price's credit that are quoted from and accessed are of Arabic background. Dr. Price attempts to offer counter-offenses to the pro-Palestinian side throughout the book. But he wisely shows us, polarized from what the media does, that the true aim
of the Palestinians and their supporters is not statehood. The book gives balance in the admittance that the Israeli response to
Palestinian acts of terror is sometimes an overreation. I can agree! But one thing is clear. Overreacting to the protection of one's citizens is not commensurate to someone murdering innocents
through the macabre act of blowing up body parts of babies via a bomb strapped around your waist. Whenever the United States sees Jews flying planes into skyscrapers, Jews blowing up Olympic contestants, Jews paying 25,000 dollars to the families of "homicide" bombers, maybe then they will have more compassion for the Palestinian cause. Until that day comes I think THE TRUE ASPIRATIONS AND ACTIONS OF ISLAM SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.
I also didnt see any defense by the dissentors against Dr. Price's accusations about specific passages within the Koran itself. Interestingly, can anyone defend a religion that specifically says to kill someone who does not convert or submit to the desires of the cause of one's religion? Anyone?

Dr. Price catches Islam with its pants down!

Book Description

Leadville explores the clash between a small mining town high up in Colorado's Rocky Mountains and the federal government, determined to clean up the toxic mess left from a hundred years of mining.

Set amidst the historic streets and buildings reflecting the town's past glory as one of the richest nineteenth-century mining districts in North America-a history populated with characters such as Meyer Guggenheim and the Titanic's unsinkable Molly Brown--the Leadville Gillian Klucas portrays became a battleground in the 1980s and 1990s.

The tale begins one morning in 1983 when a flood of toxic mining waste washes past the Smith Ranch and down the headwaters of the Arkansas River. The event presages a Superfund cleanup campaign that draws national attention, sparks local protest, and triggers the intervention of an antagonistic state representative.

Just as the Environmental Protection Agency comes to town telling the community that their celebrated mining heritage is a public health and environmental hazard, the mining industry abandons Leadville, throwing the town into economic chaos. Klucas unveils the events that resulted from this volatile formula and the remarkable turnaround that followed.

The author's well-grounded perspective, in-depth interviews with participants, and keen insights make Leadville a portrait vivid with characterizations that could fill the pages of a novel. But because this is a real story with real people, It shows the reality behind the Western mystique and explores the challenges to local autonomy and community identity brought by a struggle for economic survival, unyielding government policy, and long-term health consequences induced by extractive-industry practices.

Customer Reviews:

I hadn't a clue, until i read this book.......2005-06-15

even though i grew up in colorado in the 80's & 90's i had no idea about the complex issues surrounding the superfund of leadville. this book was not as riveting as a novel, but drew me to read it for better reasons. i learned a great deal from this book about leadville and mining clean up in general. this book is the print edition of an educational IMAX film. it is compact, moves along at a good speed, and doesn't get bogged down in explaining too much but isn't completely superfical either.

i highly reccommend everyone reading this book so that they have a better handle of what it means to mine and then to subsequently clean up mining. these are important issues that impact how our society functions and this book is a good way to get some insight.

Leadville shines.......2005-03-23

I loved "Leadville." I worried that a book about toxic waste and
bureaucracy would be boring, but Klucas's book reads like a novel with fascinating, vividly drawn characters I enjoyed getting to know. But besides being a fun read, the book describes an important environmental issue that few know
about, even though it's happening all over the west. Leadville's battle with the government is a poignant, sometimes humorous, story, and Klucas does a great job of reporting all sides of the issue. The unfolding drama carried me forward effortlessly.

Leadville: The Struggle to Revive an American Town.(Book review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association

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Leadville: The Struggle to Revive an American Town.(Book review): An article from: Journal of the American Planning Association
Brian Muller
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of the American Planning Association, published by Thomson Gale on June 22, 2005. The length of the article is 838 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Leadville: The Struggle to Revive an American Town.(Book review)
Author: Brian Muller
Publication: Journal of the American Planning Association (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 71 Issue: 3 Page: 346(2)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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