Customer Reviews (8)

War of Ego's: The War Between the Generals
This book is a very good peek behind the Allied military commanders in WW2. Author Irving shows the friction that existed among the British, French and US Generals, President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. As Churchill once said "the only thing worse than fighting with allies is fighting without them". Indeed.

Given the different national interests during and post war, it is inevitable that disagreement arose during the conduct of the war. This book examines those differences in a very accessible, easy manner. Although the author is English, I found him to be very honest about the strengths and weaknesses of both American and English sides. The US and British both certainly agreed about the French and DeGaulle. Four stars - it seemed to include too much gossip about which general was sleeping with whom.

Irving pretty much sums up the current outlook on the Allied Leaders - they got the job done. It wasn't easy, perhaps it could have been done better and they tried to do the best possible job showing that there were no serious disagreements, all was harmonious, no finger pointing. Everyone swallowed their pride and bit their tongues at different points. Perhaps there is no overall hero, but then, aside from the Nazis, there was no overall villain either. I highly recommend this book for serious students of WW2 Western Front. This is more of a character study than one of tactics or weapons, so it helps to understand those before delving into this book. A good loaner from the library or a friend.

The war within the war
If nothing else, this book gives a new appreciation of Eisenhower as "chairman of the board" and the conficts he faced with and amongst his leading generals. Ike was a master manager in balancing the egos of Monty and Patton, and getting the best from each. Irving used the private, unpublished letters and diaries from many sources, claiming Patton's Papers had been "sanitized". He goes into the extraciricular activities of Ike with Kay Summersby and Patton withJean Gordon, his wife's neice. Irving shows the personal relationships with the generals and the staff, such as Everett Hughes long term friendship and advocacy for Patton. While David Irving is politically incorrect these days, this work is very good and worthwhile reading and shows what a good author can do with dispelling myths and writing history.

The Inner War
David Irving's "The War Between The Generals" focuses on personal rivalries, strategic disputes, national conflicts and other forces that threatened the Allied command from within.

Irving's writing style is superb, with the pacing and detail of a thriller novel and the facts and insights of real history.Why can't more historians write like this?

The most serious Allied dispute dealt with Eisenhower's "Broad Front Strategy", in which Anglo-American forces would move across large sectors of France in the final push into Germanny vs. Montgomery's "Full Blooded Thrust", wherein a huge Allied Army would march on a narrow axis directly into the Ruhr Valley to capture and destroy Germany's industrial region.

This broad front vs. full blooded thrust originated out of each commander's national needs.Montgomery knew that the British Empire teetered on the edge of bankruptcy and was down to her last manpower reserves.A quick victory in Europe would thus preserve the Empire.

Eisenhower sought to maintain the Anglo-American coalition and pursue a low risk strategy of incremental advance across the entire Western Front. Eisenhower also wanted to maintain the autonomy of American commanders like George S. Patton.Ultimately, Ike decided that America, the major contributor of men, material and money, would call the strategic shots.

The arrogance and incompetence of the French is examined in great detail.Shockingly, De Gaulle routinely fed the names of dissidents who loved France but not De Gaulle to the Gestapo so as to eradicate any rival political forces.

Irving packs in great details such as the German V-1, V-2 and V-3 superweapons, the Allied VX proxmity fuses and many other fascinating facts.

I highly recommend this work of history as it demonstrates how the Allies first had to overcome themselves before they could vanquish the Axis Powers.

Appreciate Ike for what he was
This was the first book by David Irving which I read, with great trepedation given his reputation as a Holocost debunker. However, it is an excellant book which should be read by anyone seeking to understand Eisenhower's role in the Second World War. Ike had never led troops in combat, was promoted over many others, to achieve Allied High Commander. His skill lay in his ability to manage such diverse personalities as Patton and Monty. And that quality is detailed in this book as never before. Ike's skill and forebearance is detailed in this book and my appreciation of it gains with each passing page. It is a people skill which allowed Eisenhower to hob nob with the regular GI as easily as with George Marshall and FDR. And he could manage such diverse personalities as Patton, Bradley, Clark and Monty without blowing a gasket. This is a must read for the WWII student. Irving has done a magnificent job.

A good book.
I read this book, here in Brazil.Even being an (unemployed) agronomist, I love to read Military history.This book shows you, many things about the generals who fought against Hitler in non soviet Europe.
David Irving talks about Eisenhower, De Gaulle,etc.The failures in this book are such things, like don't tells about many details in military affairs.Other tipical failure happens in chapter 16, when Irving claimed that Germany's tanks were better then US's tanks.In some topics, they were, but when you have 20 american Sherman tanks, against a single Panther tank, you must see America had to win that war.All German's tanks had tecnical failures and, they didn't had enough spare parts. ... Read more

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This book is a guide to Mozart's six most famous string quartets, dedicated to his friend, Joseph Haydn. In addition to providing a full synopsis of each quartet this book examines the music in relation to Mozart's earlier quartets, considers the genesis of these six pieces and charts their reception through a broad range of sources: letters and diary entries, contemporary criticism and early biographies. ... Read more

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This is an essential guide to French for both beginners and those wanting to improve their grasp on a foreign language. Full of useful phrases, this book is essential for everything needed for a trip to a foreign country from surviving to socialising. Illustrations and short comic strips help put phrases into context from situations such as buying clothes to chatting about music with up-to-date, everyday vocabulary, including slang. It includes tips on pronunciation and simple guidelines on how the French works. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The word "essential" says it all!
I took this book with me while visiting my sister and her family in Paris this Fall.It was so "essential" that the French kids (and adults) over there used it to learn English!They got a real kick out of it because it contains common phrases that everyone uses during the day!It focuses on everyday things to say and not the grammar etc.The pronunciations of words was VERY helpful as well!I highly recommend this if you are traveling to France and not so comfortable with your French!Now I need to find the "Essential English" from the French point of view for all of them! ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing’s Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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En 1942, tras un episodio escandaloso, Jenny Fields, una joven bostoniana de buena familia, abandona la seguridad del hogar para ser enfermera y vivir su vida. En circunstancias peculiares, concibe a un niño al que llama Garp, a secas. Madre e hijo, se abren paso, sin mas armas que su propia energia, en un mundo de hipocresia, inhibiciones y violencia. Poco a poco, con los años, Jenny y Garp van diseñando su propio universo en medio de esa hostilidad inevitable en la que siempre acecha la sombra del Sapo Sumergido. Lo van poblando de personajes excentricos, cuyas historias estrafalarias van dando forma a ese mundo de Garp un poco desquiciado, pero en el que todos parecen convivir en cierto armonico equilibrio, en un sistema tribal que, al final, ha ocupado por completo el lugar del antiguo hogar de Jenny. El mundo segun Garp es, de hecho, el mundo tal como lo conocemos. La unica diferencia, es que Garp, que es escritor, se arriesga con humor alli donde nosotros, menos curiosos, nos inhibimos. ... Read more

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1836. Washington Irving was the first American literary artist to earn his living solely through his writings and is considered to be the Father of the American Short Story. In the course of his visits to Canada, Irving became acquainted with the principals of the great Northwest Fur Company. At the request of John Jacob Astor he agreed to give an account of the nature and extent of the enterprise, which is to be found in this volume. See other Irving titles available from Kessinger Publishing. ... Read more

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Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "John Irving," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have John Irving in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with John Irving when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name John Irving, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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My Movie Business is essentially about making the screen version of The Cider House Rules. As such, it's concerned primarily with the intricacies of condensing a 500-plus page novel into two hours of screen time, discussing necessary adaptations of the plotline, the treatment or cutting of characters and the shooting of specific scenes ... Read more

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Part Two Of Two Parts

To call St. Cloud a village in the 1920s is to overstate the case -- it's a train station, an orphanage and an abandoned lumber camp. But the place is surprisingly busy, with a steady stream of pregnant women arriving at the station and walking up the long hill to Dr. Wilbur Larch's office at the orphanage.

Dr. Larch, to use the local parlance, does both the Lord's work and the Devil's: he delivers unwanted babies and finds homes for them, he also performs abortions. To Dr. Larch these are not two kinds of work but one.

This is a novel about orphans and Maine apple orchards and 19th century American morals. Beyond that, it deals with fragility of rules and rituals in everyday life. It also warns that, for basics like falling in love or saving lives, rules seem to offer little validity or comfort. ... Read more

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Beginning in 1933 with Hitler's economic and military rebuilding of Germany following World War I, and concluding in 1945 with the events surrounding his alleged Hitler's War is an insider's view of the events from the point of view of the man who held Europe in thrall for more than a decade. 16 pages of photographs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (26)

Not a "Complete" Reprint of the Original Two Volume Set
This 1990 Avon paperback is a recast of Irving's original two volume Viking Press set. It is condensed from 1032 pages to 794 pages. Page size is unchanged but font size is smaller and the alignment of the lines compressed. Missing in the Avon edition are the author's extensive notes (93 pages of interesting but supplemental material) and a five page bibliography of published literature on Hitler.

The sky is not blue, and water is not wet
Mr. Irving's work has been proven, time and again, to be the result of his self-identified Neo-Fascist leanings.His analysis of original documents has been proven to be false, misleading and slanted in favor of Hitler and the Nazi Movement.

Still, with all these tombstones on his work, Irving's lies just won't stay dead.Every time he sues someone for calling him the fraud he is, and losing, he is called a "Champion of Free Speech".Every time he is found to have lied about the historical record, his supporters say, "free debate is being suppressed".

I think people have fallen into the fallacy that evil just melted away when Berlin fell.It didn't, it alive and trying to sell books on Amazon.com.

P.S., I give the above favorable reviews about as much weight as I do the positive reviews of Dianetics...

Irving in jail for his opinions? Scary.
I read the book when i heard the author was in Court for his opinions. Yesterday I read that he was convicted for 9 years in jail for his books. That sounds like a III Reich story to me. Irving went too far in some of his aseverations, like when he say that Hitler didnt know about the Holocaust. In my opinion is the task of the historians to put the story straight, not the Court. Now I have my doubts...can they put me in jail for express this?

Excellent, rare account of actions within Hitlers inner circle
I thought this book was fantastic as it presented information that I have never found elsewhere. Extremely well documented and foot-noted, there is a great deal of information relating to the most significant - and at times insignificant - events in Hitlers later life.

I think the most fascinating parts of this book are those that point out that Hitler was human and as such had both bad and good sides.The book leaves no doubt that his evil side was the greater, but at the same time he (in some things) had good intentions, performed good tasks, and treated some people well. This is contrary to mainstream books and shows which insist that he was entirely evil, talentless, mean, a loner, etc...The quotations, memoirs, and notes presented in this text clearly show otherwise.

From a military point of view, I felt it was also a very good book in that is presented a few of the various German military branches that I had not heard before. The incompetance of the Luftwaffe, the frequent correctness of Hitler's military decisions despite her generals disagreements, the disloyalty and self-centeredness of key figures in his military...

At 837 pages of text, I expected this to be a tough read, but in fact it was very readable and extremely interesting through and through.I highly recommend it.

The power of primary sources
Irving's detail from the perspective of the German leadership is without peer.I appreciate the fact that everything he writes is documented somewhere.Most of the book deals with the day-to-day aspects of running the German war machine as seen through the Nazi leadership's perspective and gives you a bird's eye view of what their thought process was.

Contrary to some, this book does not 'deny' that the holocaust ever happened.Rather it reveals that Hitler's MAIN objective was not to kill jews, in fact he failed to give this subject much attention and allowed his underlings to handle matters he considered unimportant.His primary aim was to conquor European territory ala Nepolean and Alexander the Great.

All in all, a great book, and one from a unique perspective. ... Read more

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Case Studies in Infectious Disease presents forty case studies featuring the most important human infectious diseases worldwide. Written for students of microbiology and medicine this book describes the natural history of infection from point of entry of the pathogen through pathogenesis, followed by clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment.

Customer Reviews (2)

Infectious diseases
This book did not satisfy my need of getting aquick necessary information to get on with essential functions of a primary care physician.It is written for a person who already knows the field very clearly but it would confuse a novice in the field.

Incomplete
There were only two sentences devoted to ME (CFS) a common and extremely disabling neuroendocrine immune disease known since the 1980s to be associated with multiple viral and bacterial infections including retrovirus infection and b cell lymphomas (and now, of course, associated with XMRV). ... Read more

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Field-Marshall Rommel has been described as one of the ten greatest military commanders of all time. This biography of the charismatic leader relies almost entirely on the original of the period. David Irving's exhaustive research has led him to a dusty personnel file on the young Rommel applying - and being turned down - for army commissions, the long-lost "Rommel Diaries", dictated day-by-day to an army corporal and covering two momentous years of his triumphs and defeats in North Africa and numerous other private papers. From them emerges the picture of both an outstanding soldier and military commander, whose tactical genius, brilliance on the battlefields and extraordinary exploits captures the imagination of the world, and Rommel as a husband and father. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The Best Biography of the Subject
Other reviews here have described this book; I would rather compare it to other similar works.I have read all the significant titles in English concerning Rommel and his war in North Africa, and to a much-lesser extent Normandy; with admittedly the notable exception of The Rommel Papers, published in 1953 and therefore a standard reference for all the rest.Most focus on, to use the title of one, Rommel as Military Commander; this is of course understandable.Unfortunately, all fall short of portraying The Man as a well-rounded human being, not just a talented commander.

The first of these to appear, Desmond Young's Rommel, the Desert Fox, whetted my appetite for adventure and hero-worship in my schoolboy days; I still remember it fondly.Unfortunately for biography, its author was one of those Britons who had fought against, and even had a very brief personal encounter with his subject in the Western Desert.His book largely fueled the blaze of interest and admiration for his former opponent, taking as it did the wartime tack taken by Churchill in his famous speech before the House of Commons: if your opponent is such a great commander, that naturally explains why you're having so much trouble defeating him!Thus the literary myth of Rommel's invincibility was firmly established.

Subsequent works like Kenneth Macksey's Rommel - Battles and Campaigns; Charles Douglas-Home's volume in The Great Commanders series; Ronald Lewin's aforementioned ...as Military Commander; and the several volumes by the American Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., all have their worthwhile aspects and are recommended for what they are.But all those are primarilly studies of the military campaigns only, giving little insight to the subject himself.The more recent ( 1993 ) Knight's Cross by David Fraser attempts to place Rommel in the context of his times; and therin lies both its strength and its weakness: if you already know quite a bit about the period and the rise of the Nazis and the society of the Third Reich, you may be put off a bit by its sidetracking into these areas.

The simple truth is that only Trail of the Fox comes anywhere near to making Erwin Rommel comprehensible as a person, with the fascinating personal detail I wanted to help me feel like I really "knew" him as a man, not simply as a Great Commander.Irving puts Rommel's foibles on full view "warts and all", in addition to his better qualities as husband and father.His notorious short temper, rudeness to immediate subordinates, impulsiveness, attention-seeking, self-promotion, and sometime arrogance are all paraded with fascinating detail; as are his domestic life and the love he inspired to the troops he commanded.Also, Irving's take on Rommel's actions in the "Bomb Plot" is well-thought out and seems very likely; even if it questions his place among the plotters and puts his chief-of-staff Gen. Dr. Hans Spiedel in a less-than-favorable light.

First published in 1977 well-before its author was "contrversial" and was instead the "wunderkind" standing in the forefront of British authors writing about WWII, this book helped put more of a face on the recent German enemy.The book's only real flaw is Irving's failure to root out the story of the illegitimate daughter Rommel fathered as a young officer in 1912 pre-WWI.That fact did not come to light to my knowledge until the publication in 2002 of Bierman and Smith's The Battle of Alamein, which is not a biography of Rommel; and was included as more of a "tidbit" of personal interest.

Fascinating take on the Fox
Having finished this very interesting book, I think that Irving did a first rate job. He seems to have interviewed many of the principals involved on the German side and that in itself is very valuable for future analysis of both the Normandy and Afrika campaigns.Hopefully many of the unpublished diaries and letters (unpublished at least at the time of publication of this book) will eventually be published or otherwise made available to the general public.I was quite disappointed in the role of General Seidel in the demise of Rommel but it seems to me that Rommel's ideas of generalship would have resulted in his own demise on the battlefield eventually. I was also amazed at the degree of disorganisation of the German high command in France at the time of the D-Day invasion (including Rommel's own absence from the front). I believe that David Irving did excellent research, even though it painted a much different picture of Rommel than I had been led to believe. Rommel was indeed a great general, but his lack (at times) of comprehension of the some of the strategic aspects of the German war effort show that he had some flaws as all generals do. Rommel's suicide had the beneficial effect of probably accelerating the collapse of the German Western front in WWII, but Hitler's strategy was fatally flawed in any event. Some of Irving's conclusions are arguable in any event, but he has done an excellent job of presenting his conclusions in a clear and effective manner. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Allied effort in Europe in WWII.

Myth Debunking that Goes a Little Too Far
I bought THE TRAIL OF THE FOX when it first hit book store shelves in 1977.Back in those days, as a novice World War Two enthusiast, I was temporarily hooked on the war in the desert.My interest in the war in North Africa was stirred by reading Desmond Young's THE DESERT FOX.I started reading additional books about the North African campaign.In buying TRAIL OF THE FOX I broke new ground in that it was the first time that I went out of my way to splurge for the hard cover edition.

There is no denying that David Irving's volume is steeped in research.As reviewers of other Irving books have noted, David Irving delves deep into archives that are largely ignored.He also has the ability to charm his way into key participant homes and his hosts go so far as to offer him unpublished diaries and other documents.From this often untapped information pool the Rommel story evolves.

The book captures the Erwin Rommel as ambitious officer pursuing the covetted Pour Le Merit with a reckless abandon similar to that of the fictional World War One character Staechel in THE BLUE MAX.We find the military Rommel with flashes of brilliance, moments of self doubt and depression, awkward in civilian clothes, and as a demanding and often disappointed father.

Rommel was brilliant.He was also reckless.He was dynamic in leading from the front.However, his cavalier jaunts to the front lines frequently caused command crises in the rear.In one case Rommel's unpredictable dash to toward the sound of the guns coincidentally prevented his capture or death at the hands of British commandos. As Irving points out, dash and daring is fine when an army holds the initiative, but at the moment when the surge has reached its high tide the advantage goes to the army with superior logistics and planning.In this respect Panzer Armee Afrika faltered.

Rommel was quick to heap responsibility on Rome and Berlin for lack of supplies and diversion of combat power to the eastern front.What supplies did set out for Libya were heavily attrited by the Royal Navy and RAF.Rommel never quite understood that his army's mission was one of tying down Allied forces and keeping them from setting foot on the continent. As such, he was expected to work with what he had available.When the Germans and Italians hurled themselves at El Alamein, they put themselves in a position where they quickly consumed the resources that were designed to last for a longer and less intense delaying action.

Still the Italian navy and Luftwaffe were able to safeguard deliveries of troops and heavy equipment to Tunisia for the last stand of Panzer Armee Afrika.Here too there is some debate as to whether or not Rommel squandered his forces in counterattacks rather than settling down for a lengthy holding action.

At this point in THE TRAIL OF THE FOX, we are then presented with an Erwin Rommel who is no longer the darling of Wolf's Lair.Rommel's health deteriorates and speculation begins as to what constitutes a real illnes and what boughts were convenient exits from the battlefield.Rommel is treated as more of a has-been.He is shuttled around from commands in Italy to Greece more for his name than anything else.It is in France that Rommel, who originally disdained fixed fortifications, finds himself overseeing the construction of the Atlantic Wall.Realizing he does not have the mobile forces under his direct command to throw back an invasion -- as well as an almost total lack of Luftwaffe support -- Rommel adopts the fortified beaches as the sole hope of repelling the Allies.

The book also explores Rommel's involvement with the plot against Hitler.Unlike other books that paint Rommel as either an active or unwilling participant, Irving shows Rommel's association as one where he is torn between his loyalty to the regime and realities of the battlefield.

THE TRAIL OF THE FOX is an important work on Erwin Rommel, however as with any subject, it should be read in conjunction with other books on the subject.

Biography, not Hagiography
Mr. Irving is certainly an unpopular character now, but I would agree with the distinguished historian Donald Keegan who once said, to the effect, that no matter what one thinks of Irving's politics he is without peer in his chosen field of study. Irving is a very good historian, and this is a very good book, written while Irving was still a young man, and perhaps not quite as clouded by his muddled feelings about Hitler. Irving's Rommel is a great commander, to a point. He has no grasp of logistics, but he is a "new" kind of commander, and therefore is more acceptable to Hitler than some of the more stuffy characters of the High Command. Rommel has an uncanny instinct for speed of movement, surprise, and terrain, as well as how to deal with the press. He is fully aware of his own legend, and the need Hitler has for an infallible German war-God. Unlike other German commanders (especially those on the Eastern front) Rommel is a scrupulously clean fighter. He does not massacre POWs or slaughter civilians. He ignores orders to execute all Jewish fighters and commandos. When white South African officers demand to be segregated from their black soldiers, Rommel denies them this request, the blacks fought and died wearing the uniform, and are soldiers like everyone else. Rommel comes to distrust Nazis like Himmler and others, who are involved in massacres, and, in the end, loses some faith in Hitler. Rommel wanted peace with the West and for the Western powers to turn with Germany against the Soviet Union. It was a naieve belief, certainly, but Rommel was no politician. Irving maintains Rommel was loyal to Hitler until the end, but the fact that a professional solider would offer an ultimatum to his Fuhrer, either you seek peace with the West or I will, shows that he had no illusions about Hitler's competence, or his methods of waging war. Irving makes a good case that Speidel, Rommel's chief of staff, himself a full-blooded anti-Hitler conspirator, threw Rommel to the dogs to save his own skin, and crafted Rommel's anti-Hitler pedigree after the war only to fully de-Nazify himself. Unlike what another review states, there is no mention of the "crime" of trying to assassinate Irving's "precious" Fuhrer, rather, Irving seems to feel dubiously about a man who was apparently so underhanded and sly (poor Rommel never stood a chance). At the very least, Rommel showed that in a brutal confilct without comparison in human history, a military commander could still fight honorably and with a humane concern for his men and nation.

A true to life page turner
The author of this fascinating, illuminating and utterly engrossing biography of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel have created a real true to life page turner that would make Tom Clancy proud. Drawing from copious research and rare documents, Irving works wonders humanizing one of the truly mythic characters to rise out of the ashes of the Second World War. Rommel was always dubiously viewed by the allied press and his Allied foes as a "Good German". Irving works extremely hard (and therefore, courts controversy) at painting Rommel as a brilliant soldier, philosopher and engineer who, had he surived the war, could have very easily played a critical peacetime role in the restructuring of Europe. This book belongs on the shelf of every person possessing even a casual interest in the history of the second world war. Guaranteed not to disappoint. ... Read more