The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany
Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
  • Beautifully Haunting ...
  • A different Holocaust story
  • A son's voyage of discovery of his parents' nightmarish past
  • A Very Moving Book
  • Wow
The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany
Martin Goldsmith
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0471350974

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Writing this book must have required enormous courage; reading it is overwhelming, especially for anyone personally connected to the events it describes. Martin Goldsmith, best known as the host of NPR's Performance Today, is the American-born son of two German-Jewish musicians who escaped the Holocaust. He anchors the Holocaust to the story of his own family, whom he never knew because most of them perished in Hitler's death camps. Goldsmith accompanies them through their lives in Nazi Germany, with its ever-tightening persecution and repression of the Jews, and on their nightmarish journey to the gas chambers. He follows his parents through their early musical training, their blossoming love, courtship, and marriage--making them seem like a normal, happy young couple--to their miraculous rescue and escape to America.

The book's linchpin is the Jewish Culture Association ("Jüdische Kulturbund"), in whose Berlin orchestra his parents met. Established by prominent Jewish leaders in 1933, after a "purge" of all Jewish Civil Servants, the Kulturbund flourished for eight years, with the permission and under the constant, increasingly repressive surveillance of the Nazis, who exploited it as a propaganda tool. Spreading from Berlin to other cities, its musical and theatrical presentations, lectures, and films offered employment to thousands of Jewish artists and the only cultural oasis to its Jewish audiences. In 1941, Germany's preoccupation with the war and the "Final Solution" rendered it superfluous, and it was dissolved.

But Goldsmith also furnishes the proper historical context for his uniquely individual, human account of the 20th century's most inhuman period. After a chillingly detailed description of the grass-roots rise of Nazism, he focuses on particularly horrifying events: the infamous 1935 Nuremberg Laws and the devastating 1938 pogrom, "Kristallnacht." The tragedy of the 937 refugees, including Goldsmith's grandfather and uncle, who were refused disembarkation first in Cuba, then in Miami, illustrates the world's customary indifference to "other" people's misfortunes. Nobody paid attention when, as early as 1922, Hitler declared that his first priority on coming to power would be the extermination of the Jews.

Goldsmith's factual, reportorial style increases the sickening horror, and he reminds us frequently that he is writing about his own family. Though his story's outcome is never in doubt, he generates real suspense--a measure of his skill, despite his unfortunate habit of hinting at the future. The Kulturbund has been accused of encouraging the Jews to ignore the desperate circumstances outside the theater, and therefore the imminence of their danger. Goldsmith refutes this. For most of them, emigration was impossible because, apart from the natural fear of pulling up roots, leaving everything behind, and starting a new life, they had nowhere to go. Moreover, how could anyone foresee the depth of the impending horror? It was, and still is, beyond the human imagination.

Goldsmith writes with insight and aching honesty about the survivors' guilt and its numbing effect even upon the next generation. But his parents also taught him to love music and appreciate its meaning in people's lives, and he talks about it with real knowledge and understanding. (However, someone should have corrected his opening reference to Siegmund's sword in Die Walküre, which is made of steel, not gold.) This is a brilliantly written, important, unforgettable book. --Edith Eisler

Book Description

Advance Praise for the Inextinguishable Symphony "A Fascinating Insight into a Virtually Unknown Chapter of Nazi Rule in Germany, Made all the More Engaging through a Son's Discovery of His Own Remarkable Parents." -Ted Koppel, ABC News "An Immensely Moving and Powerful Description of those Evil Times. I couldn't Put the Book Down." -James Galway "Martin Goldsmith has Written a Moving and Personal Account of a Search for Identity. His is a Story that will Touch All Readers with Its Integrity. This is not about Exorcising Ghosts, but Rather Awakening Passions that no One Ever Knew Existed. This is a Journey Everyone should Take." -Leonard Slatkin, Music Director National Symphony Orchestra "For Years I've been Familiar with Martin Goldsmith's Musical Expertise. This Book Explains the Source of His Knowledge and His Passion for the Subject. In Tracking the Extraordinary Story of His Parents and the Jewish Kulturbund, Martin Unfolds a Little-Known Piece of Holocaust History, and Finds Depths in His Own Heart that Warm the Hearts of Readers." -Susan Stamberg, Special Correspondent National Public Radio "[A] Strong and Painful Book, Well-Written, Well-Researched, Moving, and Very Instructive." -Ned Rorem, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Composer

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars Beautifully Haunting ... .......2007-09-28

My bookclub is entering into its Holocaust Month. Someone recommended this book to me last year and I thought, it sounded interesting enough to read. Interesting just barely describes this book. Haunting is more the word that I think of when I finished this book. Incredibly lucky are two more words.

There are so many books out there about the Holocaust that it can be confusing sometimes to read what. This book definitely should be read simply because it's beautifully moving, tragically sad and not only that, it provides a different viewpoint of what happened during the early years of Nazihood in Germany and before the "Final Solution" was proposed to exterminate the Jews. This happened and I don't recall hearing much about any of this till I read this book. Before Hitler and Goring proposed the death camps and just while trying to get rid of Germany of the non-Aryan blood, they came up with a solution that provides entertainment and music/art/theater productions just for the Jews. This is a place for the Jews to retreat to. They were only allowed to play Jewish pieces written by Jewish artists/musicans. And they were left alone in the 30s and early 40s. Well, not quite completely left alone as they still had to follow the Nazi rules. But it was a place of refuge for the Jews, especially in Berlin.

This book, while devoting a huge portion to the Kulturbund and its orgins, the author writes of his personal family history. His mother and father were musicans in the Kulturbund. And they suffered horrible tragedies as the war progressed over the years. However, they were young, in love and naive like a lot of people were. They did manage to escape Germany but they also managed to leave behind family members which have haunted them and their children even to this day. It is very intense reading at times and with hindsight on the reader's part, it is very hard to fathom their optimism that things will work out ok in the end. Not only that, this book brings up the question of whether or not the Kulturbund was good for the Jews or kept them compliant enough to keep them in Germany instead of escaping to other countries, so the Nazis could gas them too. This book is haunting and disturbing. The questions that the author may have unknowingly stirred are now raised in my mind ... and the answers are not easy to figure out.

This is not your typical Holocaust book nor is it like the other books about the camps ~~ this book simply tells a tale of two musicans who were unfortunate to be caught up in the times that stirred Germany (and the world) ~~ but yet, their love of music has sustained them through the years before they left Germany. Are they heros? Not in the sense that we associate it with. They are more like survivors and like all survivors, they carry a burden of guilt that resounded through the years. But it is a book that honors the memory of those who were left behind in a time of turmoil that even today, still vibrates through the years.

9-28-07

5 out of 5 stars A different Holocaust story.......2005-10-26

MG's story of his family during the early Nazi era is an unusual glimpse into the lives of German Jews during the period from 1933-1941. He writes about the Kulturbund, an organization created by the Nazis to (1) rid Germany of Jewish influence in the arts and (2) provide propaganda coverage of the maltreatment of Jews by the Third Reich.

In my opinion the book is generally well written and seems to be the result of careful research. My one complaint is that MG frequently quotes conversations which I doubt have been recorded in any way. I don't like that in historical writing, but in this case I was willing to overlook it, because of my interest in the story.

5 out of 5 stars A son's voyage of discovery of his parents' nightmarish past.......2004-01-06

What do we really know about our parents' life before we were born? That depends largely, I guess, on how much of an interest we show - and on how much they are willing to reveal. Because in the life of every person there are instances and times they rather wish to forget, and not revive time and again by discussion, even if only among their nearest and dearest.

Such, in the lives of author Martin Goldsmith's parents, were the years from 1933 through 1941; so much so, in fact, that Goldsmith likens that time to the massive ash tree in the house of Germanic warlord Hunding, the setting of the first scene of Richard Wagner's opera "Die Walkuere:" Something looming large, yet never openly acknowledged. Because before George Gunther Goldsmith, furniture and home decorating salesman of Cleveland, Ohio, and his wife Rosemary, a violinist with the St. Louis Symphony and the Cleveland Orchestra, became American citizens in 1947, they had lived a whole other life - the hunted life of Jews in Adolf Hitler's Germany. And only years after his mother's death, on a trip to his father's home town of Oldenburg, did Goldsmith catch the first glimpses of what was hidden behind that massive ash tree, and George Goldsmith began to talk about the events which his, the Goldschmidt family had witnessed there; as well as the early life of Rosemarie nee Gumpert in Duesseldorf, the couple's first meeting in Frankfurt, and their later life in Berlin until their lucky escape to the United States. Beginning with this visit, Martin Goldsmith retraced his family's path to the early years of the 20th century, when his paternal grandfather Alex Goldschmidt took residence in Oldenburg, and his maternal grandfather Julian Gumpert settled in Duesseldorf.

How intensely personal this voyage into the past must have been becomes clear in the account of Goldsmith's visit to Oldenburg prison, as a participant in a march retracing the path taken by the Jews - among them the author's grandfather - driven through the streets of Oldenburg in 1938 by Nazi thugs, to later be shipped off (at least temporarily) to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. But although he writes about his very own family, and now in full knowledge of their fate, Goldsmith's narrative is in no way sentimental. With a journalist's detachment he talks about Guenther and Rosemarie, Alex, Julian and their wives and other children; turning a nonfiction account whose outcome is clear from the very start into a heartstopping tale few would be able to believe if presented with it under colors other than that of the plain historic truth.

Prominently featured in Goldsmith's account is the Jewish Culture Association, or Juedischer Kulturbund; as of 1933 the German Jews' only permitted artistic organization, in whose orchestra Guenther and Rosemarie had met and which had formed the center of their life until they finally left the country. One of the most controversial institutions of Nazi Germany, it reunited what was left of the country's Jewish musicians, artists, writers and composers - providing a modicum of shelter in an increasingly hostile environment, but also a convenient tool in the Nazi propaganda machine. Were the members of the Kulturbund instrumentalized to deceive public opinion, at home and abroad, about the true intentions of Hitler's government? By giving their Jewish audience a sense of comfort and "belonging," did they also prevent some of them from rescuing themselves when there still would have been time? The surviving members of the "Kubu" and their families, interviewed by Goldsmith, come down on both sides of the issue; and the fate of the survivors is probably as symptomatic as that of the many who ultimately did perish in Nazi concentration camps - chiefly among those the Kulturbund's charismatic founder Dr. Singer, who not only let himself deceive into returning to Germany after already having reached the safe shores of the U.S. but saw a mark of distinction even in his deportation to the "model" concentration camp of Theresienstadt.

Yet, for Guenther and Rosemarie the years with the Kulturbund were dominated, above all, by the musical companionship they experienced. What does seem to have haunted them most for the rest of their lives, however, was their very escape to America, while their remaining family members were stuck in Europe and, one way or another, died in Hitler's concentration camps - and the feeling that with a little effort they just *might* have saved at least some of them. The letters of Alex Goldschmidt and his younger son Helmut, written to Guenther from captivity in France after their own unsuccessful attempt to flee to Cuba, are among the most chilling testimonials contained in this book; and the decision to translate and include them conceivably cannot have been an easy one for Goldsmith. Indeed, it apparently was the knowledge of his family's fate that, all talent and love of music aside, eventually compelled George Goldsmith to forever retire the flute which, in his life as Guenther Goldschmidt, had been the only item of true importance besides his beloved wife Rosemarie; thus punishing himself in a way no outsider could have done. Yet, the couple's gift for music lives on in their son, who in his own way has brought many hours of joy to radio listeners all over the U.S.

Martin Goldsmith's "Inextinguishable Symphony" - named for Danish composer Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, which sets music, as a parable for life itself, against war, terror and destruction - is as much a personal journey of discovery as a journalist's account of historic facts; seeking to understand rather than to judge. It deals with a time in which morality was thoroughly upset by a profoundly immoral regime, which cannot possibly have remained without effect on anybody who witnessed those events. In applying our own values to those facts, I think we would all do well in being careful to, likewise, make a thorough effort to understand before we judge. Goldsmith's insightful account is a great place to begin such a process.

5 out of 5 stars A Very Moving Book.......2003-09-01

This story was impossible to put down and when you finish, it stays with you for a very long time. Its hard to believe that Gunther and Rosemary didn't make every effort to help their parents emigrate to U. S. What really bothers me most is, not being Jewish, what would I have done in Germany in the late thirties and early forties when I saw these atrocities happening?

5 out of 5 stars Wow.......2003-06-09

I listened to Martin Goldsmith on "Performance Today" (and still listen to his successor, Fred Child) for many years. This man who for years described classical music on the radio -- composers and their life story, pieces and their histories, in accessible, engaging, and lightly humorous ways, and even sometimes tied it in to his love of baseball -- he also has an extraordinary family story. It's moving and well-written, and makes me think about the extraordinary stories that must dwell in the depths of my own geneological past.
The Inextinguishable Symphony A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany
Average customer rating: Not rated
    The Inextinguishable Symphony A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany
    Martin Goldsmith
    Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover
    ASIN: B000J0XKN0
    The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany (Special Edition)
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany (Special Edition)
      Martin Goldsmith
      Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Paperback
      ASIN: B000VVABO8
      The Inextinguishable Symphony, A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany, Martin Goldsmith (345 pp., John Wiley and Sons, HB $24.95).(Review) (book review): An article from: Sensible Sound
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        The Inextinguishable Symphony, A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany, Martin Goldsmith (345 pp., John Wiley and Sons, HB $24.95).(Review) (book review): An article from: Sensible Sound
        Kevin East
        Manufacturer: Sensible Sound
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Digital

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        ASIN: B0008I5KTK
        Release Date: 2005-07-28

        Book Description

        This digital document is an article from Sensible Sound, published by Sensible Sound on June 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1077 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: The Inextinguishable Symphony, A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany, Martin Goldsmith (345 pp., John Wiley and Sons, HB $24.95).(Review) (book review)
        Author: Kevin East
        Publication: Sensible Sound (Magazine/Journal)
        Date: June 1, 2001
        Publisher: Sensible Sound
        Page: 59

        Article Type: Book Review

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        The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany

          Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000H6ALDI

          Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945
          Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
          • Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945
          • read Sol Litmans work
          • A NAZI IS A NAZI NO MATTER WHAT OTHER NAME YOU GIVE HIM
          • They wanted to fight for their homeland
          • Welcome addition to the literature
          Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945
          Michael O. Logusz
          Manufacturer: Schiffer Publishing
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Hardcover

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          ASIN: 0764300814

          Book Description

          This new book is a historical account of the 14th Waffen-SS Galicia Division (also known as the 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army). In 1943/1944 a determined group of young men and women in Galicia volunteered to serve in a combat division destined for eastern front combat. Their goal: to engage and destroy the Soviet hordes menacing their homeland and to counter Nazi Germany's subjugation of their country. Although initially Galicia's Volunteers would serve in a German sponsored military formation, in actuality the volunteers of the Galicia division wanted to engage all hostile ideologies-both from the east and west-in order to secure a free independent Ukraine. The division's history is presented along with a human aspect of what the soldiers endured during the brutal battles on the eastern front.

          , over 50 b/w photographs, 6" x 9"

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945.......2007-01-16

          Tells about Eastern Europe and the Ukraine. The Divisions fought at odds of 8 to 1. Outstanding book. Well written.

          1 out of 5 stars read Sol Litmans work.......2006-05-11

          I read the Intro to this book and realized it was propaganda for the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. They we're not freedom loving soon to be democrats. The first volunteers we're young men from the villages and citys of 'Galicia.' There was also a large number of men who had worked in the Rear Security units that constituted the largest number of war crimes. They we're helpful Police Auxilarys who slaughtered Poles Jews and anyone associated with Stalin and communisim. Even if you judge the Divisions first members, pre-battle of Brody by the typical 'good old fashioned Jew-hating,' of the time; there still disreputable and wrong.

          If your looking for some Ukrainian heros look at the immigrants who fought in U.S. Canadian and British forces.

          Read Sol Litmans work, 'Pure Soldiers or Sinister Legion.' It will change your opinion.

          1 out of 5 stars A NAZI IS A NAZI NO MATTER WHAT OTHER NAME YOU GIVE HIM.......2005-02-25

          See my review of Michael Melnyk's book about the Galician Division of the Waffen SS. They were just as guilty of crimes against humanity as any other SS unit - make no mistake about it.

          It seems to me that there are too many people trying to clear the name of this division, just because none of its members were ever brought to trial doesn't mean that crimes against humanity weren't committed.

          There are numerous accounts of the murder of innocent civilians carried out by the Galician Division - mainly as retribution for perceived collaboration with the Red Army. There were also many atrocities committed by the Red Army for perceived collaboration with the Nazis. As always, it's the innocent civilian that suffers most.

          This Waffen SS Division behaved in the same manner as any other - some indeed may have been fighting for "the homeland" - but many others were merely brutal murderers and rapists, the type of thug that may today be found amongst the ranks of skinhead neo-nazi groups.

          4 out of 5 stars They wanted to fight for their homeland.......2004-10-10

          In "Galicia Division: The Waffen-SS 14th grenadier Division 1943-1945", Michael O. Logusz tells us the story of young ukrainian patriots who were decided to avoid, again, a harsh soviet occupation of their homeland.

          Raised in 1943, it is the second large waffen ss unit made of slavs (the first one was the Handschar). The reason why the german or nazis are allowing ukrainians in their ranks is that they are now fully aware that germany, with its manpower shortage, will not be able to stop the red army without the help of the so-called "slavic sub-humans" (as that ethnicity was considered to be in the nazi terminology). Ironically, it appears that in 1941, Himmler had already refused ukrainian volunteers in the waffen ss (see "the waffen ss" by George H. Stein)...

          The division was named 'Galicia' in order to counter the still strong ukrainian nationalism, a thing that had always worried Himmler... It was in vain : the members of that division were mostly ukrainians and proud of it.

          In spite of the extreme brutality of the german occupation in that country, it appears that nearly 100 000 young men were willing to serve in that unit against a menacing red army. In fact the fear of the soviet regime (which had already killed, by starvation, several millions of ukrainian peasants) was considered a bigger threat than a german oppression by many of the ukrainian nationalists... 14 000 were accepted and 250 of the most capable volunteers were sent in the ss officer academies...

          Not fully trained, the division was sent in the eastern front, fighting in the desperate battles of summer 1944. Acording to serious testimonies, the Galicia division fought well but was nearly destroyed in the brody pocket. Only 3000 of its men managed to join the german lines... The others were killed, missing in action or simply choosed to join ukrainian clandestine organizations like the UPA.

          It was decided to rebuild the division in slovakia with the remnants of brody (several thousands) and recruits from police formations who had previously performed anti-partisans duties. Thus some of its members fought later alongside the german waffen ss "death's head" division with bravery. Later, they were also engaged against the communist partisans in slovenia and helped to crush the slovakian uprising. They finally surrended to the western allies. Moreover, its members were lucky enough to avoid stalin's reprisals.

          After the war, that unit was accused to have commited numerous atrocities against jews or other civilians... It now appears that these accusations were false because these crimes were committed before the creation of the division. Simply said, the ukrainian volunteers were frontline soldiers (with a clean combat record) and not concentration camp guards or members of german einsatzkommando/einsatzgruppen (who are the real responsible of these ugly things)... They were sincere patriots who fought for ukraine's freedom rather than the nazi regime and had to choose between two evils...

          4 out of 5 stars Welcome addition to the literature.......2004-01-06

          Another unbiased account of the history of the Ukrainian Division Galica. Although not without some historical mistakes these are realtively minor ones (M Melnyk's book, To Battle, corrects many of them). Even so, a useful antidote to the anti-Ukrainian mudslinging of those who want to portray Ukrainians who fought for freedom as an anti-semitic rabble. Those familiar with today's Ukraine will know that monuments to the Division have been set up in western Ukraine, and that Jews are returning to Ukraine (even from Israel!), secure in their civil liberties and human rights, contrary to all the usual allegations otherwise. While many more Ukrainians fought (or had to) in the ranks of the Red Army than in the Division or in the national underground (one excludes the largely non Ukrainian Soviet partisan forces, who were largely ineffective, unsupported by the population and ignored since independence) the fact remains that the Division's members fought for Ukraine's independence, not against it, and are remembered and honoured for that. No allegations of war criminality on the part of the Division have ever been brought forward. Buy this book.

          The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
          Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
          • The Entire Scope of the Space Age
          • It is no wonder that McDougall won a Pulitzer Prize!
          • Thorough and Easy to Follow
          • Up, up and beyond
          • Insightful, Revealing and Ahead of its Time
          The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
          Walter A. McDougall
          Manufacturer: Johns Hopkins University Press
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback

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          ASIN: 0801857481

          Book Description

          This highly acclaimed study approaches the space race as a problem in comparative public policy. Drawing on published literature, archival sources in both the United States and Europe, interviews with many of the key participants, and important declassified material, such as the National Security Council's first policy paper on space, McDougall examines U.S., European, and Soviet space programs and their politics. Opening with a short account of Nikolai Kibalchich, a late nineteenth-century Russian rocketry theoretician, McDougall argues that the Soviet Union made its way into space first because it was the world's first "technocracy" -- which he defines as "the institutionalization of technological change for state purpose." He also explores the growth of a political economy of technology in both the Soviet Union and the United States.

          "Once every decade or so, a book comes along that stands by itself as a remarkable contribution to the literature of a field. Such a work is Walter A. McDougall's... the Heavens and the Earth." -- Technology and Culture

          "[A] boldly conceived, elegantly written, and unfailingly provocative history of the new age of space." -- Science

          "[An] immensely readable and elegant book" -- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

          Customer Reviews:

          5 out of 5 stars The Entire Scope of the Space Age.......2007-05-22

          Phenomenal! McDougall covers the full breadth of the most influential factors, giving insight to the obvious, and depth to the obscure but important forces moving the space age forward.

          5 out of 5 stars It is no wonder that McDougall won a Pulitzer Prize!.......2007-01-08

          Being a so-called 'Child of Apollo.' I read this book expecting few new insights to the space program's formulative period. Gee, was I ever wrong! This book is filled with nuggests of historic information that provides the reader with greater context and historic analysis than any other book on the topic I have yet to read. Any student of history, political science, or space advocate should read this book carefully to be well-grounded in the Apollo Era. McDougall did an outstanding job in relating to the reader details of the context of the American and Soviet space programs throughout the 50's and 60's. Knowledge of the space age would be totally incomplete without having read this book! I highly recommend it. It is no wonder that this book won McDougall the 1986 Pulitzer Prize.

          5 out of 5 stars Thorough and Easy to Follow.......2006-12-24

          This book is fantastic. The book studies, in depth, the the reasons and processes that led to and the decisions that were made during that time. This author does a terrific job of holding the readers attention while explaining the detailed history. I highly recommend this book to anyone.

          4 out of 5 stars Up, up and beyond.......2006-03-22

          The Cold War between the US and USSR was fought on multiple fronts. One of the most exciting was the Space Race; first to space, first man in space, first woman in space, and of course, the race to the moon. This is the subject of this book. Unlike other books on the similar topic, the emphasis here is on the internal politics within each nation that occurred as a result of this competition. Due to the lack of availability of data from the USSR, this book focuses on the US side, and examines the politics of the Eisenhower, Kennedy and later administrations.

          The book examines the various facets of the US space program, touching on subjects such as the formation of NASA, the space shuttle program, the battle between those who wanted to spend money on NASA and those who did not, the doling out of pork-barrel projects as part of funding for NASA, and the dichotomy between military and civilian control and influence. Overall, a great story book and a great textbook for use in history classes.

          5 out of 5 stars Insightful, Revealing and Ahead of its Time.......2006-03-08

          I purchased this book when it first came out 20 years ago. At the time, it was very controversial. Author McDougall suggested that President Eisenhower actually wanted the Soviet Union to be the first to launch an earth satellite because that would establish the legal principle of "freedom of space." This principle was vital for the interests of the United States, which at the time was moving full speed ahead to develop reconnaissance satellites. Allowing the Soviets to go first would solidify the idea that one nation's satellites could freely pass through the skies of another nation. If the Soviets established such a principle, they would be unlikely to protest when OUR satellites began to overfly their territory. As later books based on newly declassified sources have confirmed, McDougall's analysis of Eisenhower's motives turned out to be right on target. The only thing the President underestimated was the intensity of the American public's reaction to the Soviet's "Sputnik I." Detailed and comprehensive, this book remains one of the best single-volume histories of the early years of the Space Age.
          The Heavens & the Earth: Political History of the Space Age (ISBN:046502887X)
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            The Heavens & the Earth: Political History of the Space Age (ISBN:046502887X)
            Walter A. McDougall
            Manufacturer: Basic Books
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
            ASIN: B000MONDIU
            The heavens and the Earth. A political history of the space age.
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              The heavens and the Earth. A political history of the space age.
              Walter A. ... McDOUGALL
              Manufacturer: Basic
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover
              ASIN: B000ORCG9W
              . . . The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                . . . The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age
                Walter A. McDougall
                Manufacturer: The Easton Press
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Leather Bound
                ASIN: B000O7NH2M
                ...The Heavens & the Earth, A Political History of the Space Age
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                  ...The Heavens & the Earth, A Political History of the Space Age
                  Walter A. McDougall
                  Manufacturer: New York: Basic Books, Inc. 1985
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Hardcover
                  ASIN: B000NX44XI
                  Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.

                    Manufacturer: 0
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover
                    ASIN: B000IBG8QG
                    Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.
                      Walter A. McDougall
                      Manufacturer: McDougall, Walter A. The Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age. NY: Basic Books, Inc., 1985. 555pp. Hardcover. VG / VG dj.
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Hardcover
                      ASIN: B000SJKY2M
                      Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.
                      Average customer rating: Not rated
                        Heavens and the Earth: A Political History of the Space Age.
                        Walter A. McDougall
                        Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
                        ProductGroup: Book
                        Binding: Paperback
                        ASIN: B000M3UB3G

                        Down to the Waterline Boundaries, Nature, and the Law in Florida
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                          Down to the Waterline Boundaries, Nature, and the Law in Florida
                          Warner Sara
                          Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
                          ProductGroup: Book
                          Binding: Hardcover
                          ASIN: B000UEWU22
                          Down To The Waterline: Boundaries, Nature, And The Law In Florida
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                            Down To The Waterline: Boundaries, Nature, And The Law In Florida
                            Sara Warner
                            Manufacturer: University of Georgia Press
                            ProductGroup: Book
                            Binding: Hardcover

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