Is Paris Burning?

Customer Reviews:

fascinating.......2006-02-01

This is a real jem. Well written, fast paced, and a must read for visitors to Paris.
Prepeare to be rivited!

Bob McCallan

No Prior Experience Needed.......2005-10-27

This book accomplishes what many "popular" history treatments do not, in that it leaves the reader much more enlightened on its topic (at least capable of actively contributing to any cocktail party conversation on the topic) without requiring the reader to have had a lot of background on the subject first. This is not a comprehensive, academic-style study of the German occupation and surrender of Paris; rather, it reads like a collection of anecdotes and vignettes (mixed with generally known facts about the events) that weave together to present a reasonably clear picture of what sounds like a fascinating time. You don't have to know a lot about the war, Paris, or military strategy to enjoy and benefit from this book. Another comment: This made the liberation of Paris sound like the world's greatest celebration, and leaves one feeling sorry to have missed it.

Courage and Heroism.......2005-06-28

This is a very moving story of courage and heroism in the face of overwhelming odds. It is evident that the authors did alot of research on the story. It helps that they are both journalists by profession. One thing I would like to see is how the major players lives turned out since. Perhaps in the next edition. I bought the movie on DVD at the same time as this book. Reading the book adds so much to the movie watching experience as well.

One good man in time of war.......2005-06-22

German infantry general Dietrich von Choltitz has gone down in history as the "saviour of Paris." [See the New York Times on his death in 1971.] He was Hitler's military governor of Paris in 1944 and charged with leaving the advancing Allied forces with a city consisting of nothing but rubble. The core scene of the book is one in which a subordinate officer asks Choltitz---as they look out over the city by night--if he really can destroy what lies before them. In the end, he cannot.

Choltitz stalls; he contacts Resistance leaders and advance Allied troops; and he has the latter get a message through to Eisenhower with the plea to liberate Paris and delay his march into Germany. Of course it reads like tightly knit fiction---how could such a thing happen in real life? Except it did. But, then, it almost didn't...

LaPierre and Collins wrote as journalists, from the perspective of the man and woman on the street and the foot soldier. It is not a book about high military intelligence---and those who are wedded to that type may find "Paris" other than expected.

I haven't. It has continued to be a favorite. Choltitz risked not only his own life but that of his wife and child in Germany as he defied Hitler---whom he had finally recognized as being mad. The world needs more men like Choltitz, since the type of the charismatic leader capable of enthralling whole nations and leading them into illogical warfare still exists.

Entertaining but hardly brilliant.......2005-06-07

The liberation of Paris was a coup de grace for the Allies. Paris did not suffer the fate of Berlin or Stalingrad, to name a few cities, in becoming a contested battleground. Nor, as the book pointed out, did the German commander follow Hitler's orders to destroy the city's major monuments, bridges, and other sites. It is interesting to note his actions in view of other German officers' claims that they were "only following orders".

However, this book is written by two journalists rather than historians, so it does not have the academic research nor analytical insight that a serious work might have. Cornelius Ryan comes closer to the style of writing that might have made this a heavier book. This is understandably difficult, in some ways, given the relative sparcity of combat and drama; or so this book would suggest. Again, a better writer and researcher would find more material to include.

Some material that might be considered, for example, are Allied intelligence estimates, Axis intelligence estimates, operational orders, etc. It is not clear to me, for example, how the German commander could fail to execute Hitler's orders in August 1944 when the Gestapo and SS were omni-present, especially after the failed July plot on Hitler's life.

Moreover, good research might show to what extent the Allies knew of Hitler's intentions. The Allies had significant intelligence capabilities, not the least through Ultra. And if they knew of the plans to destroy large parts of Paris, why didn't they send in commandos and special forces to disarm any explosives? Indeed, the French themselves seemed to put a higher priority on erecting road blocks rather than disarming explosives.

This is an easy, enjoyable read; and one of the few on the subject in English. However, it's about time someone else updated and added value to this book.

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Is Paris Burning?
Larry Collins , and Dominique Lapierre
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GS81G6

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True Stories of World War II
Reader's Digest
Manufacturer: Random House Inc (T)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Burning Ground
Tak Paris
Manufacturer: Authorhouse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1420872907

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Is Paris Burning?
Larry Collins , and Dominique Lapierre
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Is Paris Burning?

ASIN: B000AMY2UC

The rise and fall of the Paris commune in 1871; with a full account of the bombardment, capture, and burning of the city. Illustrated with a map of Paris and portraits from original photographs.

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The rise and fall of the Paris commune in 1871; with a full account of the bombardment, capture, and burning of the city. Illustrated with a map of Paris and portraits from original photographs.
Michigan Historical Reprint Series
Manufacturer: Scholarly Publishing Office, University of Michigan Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

United States | History | Historical Reproductions | Formats | Books
ASIN: 1425562418
Release Date: 2005-12-22

Product Description

This volume is produced from digital images created through the University of Michigan University Library's preservation reformatting program.

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Is Paris Burning?

Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HNJ31C

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The burning fuse;: A Wade Paris mystery
Ben Benson
Manufacturer: M.S. Mill Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007E7DJK

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Burning Paris
Nicholas Blincoe
Manufacturer: Sceptre
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 034073468X

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In Paris Burning?

Manufacturer: simon and schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FOHZKO

Amazon.com

The military history of the Civil War is well known. The political history of the era, and especially of the South, is less documented, a gap that William Davis's Look Away! admirably addresses.

Although the rhetoric of secession was democratic, invoking the ideals of the American Revolution and its classical forebears, Southern politics was directed by members of a small, self-serving aristocracy. And though the Confederate government advanced what then and now might be thought to be radical proposals (for one, that the postal service had to be self-supporting within two years of its founding), it was intolerant of dissent; the South's leaders, Davis writes, even barred a constitutional provision "recognizing the right of a state to secede." The natural result, Davis shows, was widespread resistance, including the development of a peace movement and of political groups loyal to the old Union. At the end of the war, Davis writes, "Confederate democracy had gone and would not be seen again--but the oligarchies had survived." Davis's study affords a new view on the Civil War, and it makes a fine addition to the overflowing library devoted to that crisis. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

William C. Davis, "one of the best and most prolific historians of the American Civil War" (James M. McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom), offers a definitive portrait of the Confederacy unlike any other.

Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, ranging from the 800-odd newspapers in operation during the war to the personal writings of more than 100 leaders and common citizens, Davis reveals the Confederacy through the words of the Confederates themselves. Look Away! recounts all the epic sagas -- as well as those little-known and long-forgotten -- about a desperate government that socialized the salt industry, rangers and marauders who preyed on their fellow Confederates, and the systematic breakdown of law and order in some states. A dramatic, definitive account of one of our nation's most searing episodes, Look Away! shows us a South divided against itself, unable to stand.

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William C. Davis, one of America's best Civil War historians, here offers a definitive portrait of the Confederacy unlike any that has come before. Drawing on decades of writing and research among an unprecedented number of archives, Look Away! tells the story of the Confederate States of America not simply as a military saga (although it is that), but rather as a full portrait of a society and incipient nation. The first history of the Confederacy in decades, the culmination of a great scholar's career, Look Away! combines politics, economics, and social history to set a new standard for its subject.

Customer Reviews:

Political history of the C. S. A........2007-07-28

Well known historian of the Civil War, William Davis, has written a nicely done political history of the Confederate States of America. While, as the author notes (page ix), "The campaigns and battles are here," the main thrust of the book is (page x) ". . .seeks to present a comprehensive view of everything else that went into making the Confederate national experience. . . ."

There is a useful discussion early on of the nature of the Confederate Constitution. My own sense is that this could have been developed better, placing that document in a larger context. Nonetheless, one comes away from the discussion with a reasonable view of the nature of that document--and with an understanding of the importance of slavery for the south.

There is good exposition of the variety of internecine conflicts among the leaders of the Confederacy. President Jefferson Davis' prickly personality scarcely helped out here.

Davis also does a serviceable job of discussing the political economy of the south, from its economic base to the challenges facing its economy as the Civil War unfolded.

All in all, a useful book.

Incomplete, anecdotal, disorganized and inferior........2006-07-23

William C. Davis has done his research; unfortunately, in this case he hasn't balanced it with good organization. The book reads not as a single history or analysis of the Confederacy as a civil government or a nation, but as a series of disjointed essays on different aspects of Confederate life- slavery, civil rights, Unionism, state's rights, the opposition figures in Confederate politics, the economy and the infrastructure. Some of these essays are, by themselves, intriguing- "Cotton Communism, Whiskey Welfare and Salt Socialism" is required reading for any neo-Southron who believes the Confederacy a libertarian ideal. Unfortunately, far too much of the book gives heavy weight to the negatives of the Confederate experiment- hypocrisy, oligarchy, disunion, bickering, inferior industrial strength and disloyalty- and virtually none to the positives.

The unifying premise of the book is that democracy in the Confederacy was doomed, even without the war, because it was crafted and controlled by a slave oligarchy to defend its own interests at the expense of all else. Unfortunately, the book does nothing to prove this. Indeed, we read again and again examples of how the Confederate government and the state governments within it protected freedom and democracy for whites on paper, but failed to protect it in reality... not because the framework was unjust, but because the Confederacy simply did not have the strength to both fight the Union and keep order on the home front. Failure after failure is traced directly to the weakness of Confederate manpower, Confederate industry and Confederate infrastructure... but at the end of each chapter, without support, we are asked to believe that the failures of the Confederacy were due solely to the structure of the system as crafted by the wealthy slaveholding elite.

Davis writes superior history when he sticks to relating historical facts. In these essays he draws conclusions and tries to support them, and the result in an extremely inferior book.

Bland overview of CSA.......2006-04-28

Davis has done better. Although a thematic, rather than chronological, approach can work in general histories like this, it doesn't work here. There's a lot of jumping around and a lack of coherency at times. Also, Davis used 1/4th of the book just to get to Lincoln's First Inagural. Davis wrote a good history of the origins of the Confederacy, so I don't see why we need 100 pages of detail on that here.

I give it two stars because there's always something to learn from a fine researcher. This one was a big disappointment, though.

Nothing new.......2006-01-18

On the plus side, Davis is a very good writer and his books are always highly readable. This book is also a good political history of the CSA, although it often focuses too much on certain individuals. The reason I give this book just two stars is because while Davis would have you believe that his book is a new look at the Confederacy, this is really just a regurgitation of Emory Thomas' The Confederate Nation. Davis' book may be more mass market friendly and less academic than Thomas', but Davis' book makes all the same points Thomas' book made back in 1979. Both are worth reading, but know that Davis is not breaking any new ground and I'd say Thomas' work is the better of the two.

Reflecting On The South & Its Leaders........2005-10-01

I've been interested in Abraham Lincoln since I did some research on the Rosenberg case. You may wonder how these two could possibly be related. After the Lincoln assassination, the first woman in a federal case was hanged in this country. Ethel Rosenberg was the first to be electrocuted.

An interesting anecdote about this man who could "speak so briefly and say so much" (Gettysburg address), he never joined any church as he was unable to accept the dogmas attached to organized religion. However, he had a profound faith in God.

Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, whose daughter was married to the son of President Zachary Taylor, spent two years in prison -- yet was never brought to trial -- as a conspirator in the assassination, his own role as symbol of Southern determination and sacrifice. Davis was respected, but not loved by his people when he was president. After the war he acquired a degree of reverence almost equalto that felt for Robert E. Lee. In part, no doubt -- author William C. Davis explains -- he never gave up, and never apologized. Unrepentant to the end, his personal resistance to the tides of history spoke for all his people. He bowed to the inevitable in 1865 and afterward (that the North had won), but he never accepted defeat. At that time, most of the South would not recognize Lincoln as our president.

All of this occurred over a hundred years ago and time repeats itself. The Civil War started because of this opposition when the Confederates opened fire on Fort Sumpter in South Carolina on April 13, 1861. Lincoln once said, "The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time."

We can be grateful that we live in a more civilized society today. We have to accept things and situations we don't like and work to make abetter future in the best way we know how. Walter Beal believed that "in the deep unwritten wisdom of life there are many things to be learned that cannot be taught. We never know them by hearing them spoken, but we grow into them by experience and recognize them through understanding.

Understanding is a great experience in itself, but it does not come through instruction." James Russell Lowell wrote in The Present Crisis":
"Count me o'er the earth's chosen heroes -- they were souls that stood alone,
While the men they agonized for hurled the contumelious stone,
Stood serene, and down the future saw the golden beam incline
To the side of perfect justice, mastered by their faith divine,
By one man's plain truth to manhood and to God's supreme design."

Many books have been written about the Confederacy, but this is one of the best. He also wrote JEFFERSON DAVIS, PRESIDENT.

LOOK AWAY: A History of the Confederate States of America

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You can almost smell the gunsmoke
Great fictional account of the war as it might have been!
Amazing
Slow to Start, Rolls at the End-A Harrowing Look at War
Hokey 'brother against brother' story - but it's still good

LOOK AWAY: A History of the Confederate States of America
Harold Coyle
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684803925

Customer Reviews:

You can almost smell the gunsmoke.......2005-03-03

You can almost smell the gunsmoke of the battlefield while reading this book. It's one of my all time favorite novels about the Civil War. I've bought copies and given them to my friends- that's how much I liked it.
Coyle has a gift for making you feel like you are right on the battlefield with his characters. I didn't always know exactly where the action was taking place or why, but that's just about how the soldiers lived it then, I'd say.
Terrific!

Great fictional account of the war as it might have been!.......2004-08-13

Coyle uses documentation of real events and people to create this fictional account of "Brother vs Brother" in the War Between the States. This tale of Kevin and James Bannon, who are both manipulated into fighting by the machinations of their greedy father, is an excellent story of soldiering on both sides of the war as it might have happened. An entertaining read for the fiction fan AND students of the War.

Amazing.......2001-08-18

Phenomenal. I got so involved with the characters that it was like being a part of history. This novel depicts the horrendous rift that separates two brothers and a family as they pick sides in the American Civil War.

It was emotional, gut-wrenching and beautiful all in one. The second installment was even better, if that can be believed.

This is a must read for all civil war buffs or even everyone who loves a great read. Pick it up, you won't be sorry!

Slow to Start, Rolls at the End-A Harrowing Look at War.......2001-03-23

A few additional thoughts to add to the reviews below. Coyle's beginning is the clear cut weak point in the book. The premise of the book is tried and true: two brothers on opposite sides of the Civil War. Coyle's attempt to create a believeable conflict capable of dividing the two brothers onto opposite side seems forced. I just don't buy the beginning of the book. Additionally, it takes over 300 pages before I felt that either brother had much of a personality. Both James (the Reb) and Kevin (the Yank) are indistinct from each other and seem like rather bland people. The supporting characters are far more interesting.

I would recommend that fans of Civil War literature and/or war stories not be turned off by the beginning of the book (or Coyle's occassional choppy writing style: he switches viewpoints suddenly, for example). Coyle's talents are most apparent when he writes about the various battles and the life in the camps. Here, Coyle's storytelling is terrific. Each battle is told through the eyes of either James or Kevin; truly a first person account of the battles. The result was that I felt as if I stood next to James as he faced down a charge. Some of the battle scenes are so wonderfully described that my hands perspired as I read them.

I believe that the book is probably more enjoyable for people who have a basic understanding of the various policial, social, and military conflicts of the war. Coyle does not spend a large amount of time describing why Lee charged up the middle at Gettysburg, although the troops briefly debate the reason for the charge. Another example is the death of Stonewall Jackson in the Wilderness. Little is mentioned in the scenes after his death other than to mentioned what effect it had on the chain of command.

Colye isn't trying to give a history of the war, so don't expect one. This is a story of the men who fought it the Civil War. From this perspective, it makes sense that the soldiers don't see the "big picture" of a battle.

Overall, I look forward to the next book and would recommend this book to people interested in the Civil War.

Hokey 'brother against brother' story - but it's still good.......2001-03-23

Coyle's storyline is pretty hackneyed - brothers fight over the love of a girl, then one joins the Union as the other joins the Confederacy. The Reb brother hooks up with old Tom Jackson's unit, natch, and sees some of the most interesting action of the war as part of the Stonewall Brigade. And of course the Federal brother gets separated from his unit in the final climactic battle, placing him in the thick of the action - guess who he runs into across the lines?

It's twists like this that makes me think that this book is one plot device after another, rather than a cohesive story. True, amazing coincidences did occur in the Civil War. You'll see lots of them in this book, that's sure, as it moves towards its seemingly preordained conclusion.

In spite of this, "Look Away" is an entertaining read. The book keeps a smart pace and provides an engaging soldier-level view of the action. Coyle renders the battle scenes in particularly skillful fashion, as well as the ordinary dialog between the soldiers while in camp or on the march.

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Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Lynda Lasswell Crist
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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ASIN: B0008GA79U
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on November 1, 2003. The length of the article is 820 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: Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America.(Book Review)
Author: Lynda Lasswell Crist
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2003
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 69 Issue: 4 Page: 916(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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A collection of state-of-the-art methods for epigenetic analysis, including recent breakthrough techniques that have great potential in the rapidly expanding field of non-Mendelian genetics. The authors provide techniques for the analysis of chromatin remodeling, such as histone acetylation and methylation. In addition, methods in newly developed and especially promising areas of epigenetics, such as telomere position effects, quantitative epigenetics, and ADP ribosylation are covered. There is also an updated analysis of techniques involving DNA methylation and its role in the modification, as well as the maintenance, of chromatin structure. Of special interest are potentially revolutionary techniques. These include methods for determining changes in native chromatin, methods of microarray analysis applied to epigenetics, and methylation-sensitive single-strand conformation techniques. The methods are suitable not only for studying fundamental biological processes, but also for investigating possible therapeutic interventions and such diseases as cancer.

Epigenetics: Principles and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology)

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Epigenetics: Principles and Protocols (Methods in Molecular Biology)
David Martin
Manufacturer: Humana Press
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Binding: Hardcover

Genetics | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0896039374

Customer Reviews:

Loving Classics of Popular Naturalism.......2000-04-21

This is a selection of many of the best known essays of Enos Mills, who's regarded as the spiritual (as well as practical) father of Rocky Mountain National Park. Mills is justly loved by people who know the park, and deserves a broader audience along with other early environmentalist writers like John Muir.

Enos Mills was very much a turn-of-the-century naturalist. His voice is without any sort of academic affectation; he reads like the patient, intelligent watcher that he is, but not at all like a pedantic teacher of great and ponderous truths. Some of these stories are essentially understated, self-deprecating adventure yarns. There are times when you feel sure the author's exaggerating for his story's sake. Heck, for that matter he'll refer to an animal as "Mr. Ground Squirrel." I smiled a lot while reading this -- in bemusement, sometimes, but never in derision.

All those somewhat dated tones and turns of phrase only add to the charm of this book and of Enos Mills' work in general. Off of his pen, "Mr. Ground Squirrel" is a statement of the greatest respect. You don't snicker, because his relationship with that animal has a completely convincing integrity to it. There's a sort of glow that comes over you, reading this kind of thing, that makes "Radiant Days" a very fitting title.

Don't let my sendup of his voice fool you, though. Enos Mills was an impassioned environmental advocate -- just one whose approach, at least in writing, lacks the sort of anger we often feel a century later in realizing what we've lost.

I recommend this book to anyone who finds the indigant tone of most environmentally concerned titles to be exhausting. Radiant Days would make a fantastic gift to a young adult with a vaguish interest in the out of doors, or to anyone visiting the Rockies. Get it for teenagers who loved Raiders of the Lost Ark, too; it makes a great adventure read, with substance and to spare.

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