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The Liberators America's Witnesses to the Holocaust by Michael Hirsh
I found this book on Amazon and the day it arrived read 150 pages. Its a remarkable book about the reactions and told in the words of the American GI's who came upon the western camps and liberated them. The most wonderours part is the intensity. Although their words are sometimes few they say so much and convey so much of the horror they felt. It is in its own way much more graphic than other books I've read on the subject even though the descriptions are shorter because they are all direct, first person, and even after some fifty years, just as intense. It also describes the experience of the 350 American POW's selected just months before the end of the war to work as slaves at one of the satalite camps of Buchenwald, picked because they "looked" Jewish or were troublemakers after their commanders refused to identify Jewish pow's.
The battle hardened men who came upon these camps found it a life altering experience they never fogot and with the style its written in it takes you along with them. It is graphic and some of the pictures are hard to look at but it is a very intense and worthy read.
Anything by Lyall Watson, especially The Romeo Error, Supernature, Beyond Supernature, and Lifetide The Compassion of Animals by von Kriesler and Masson The Story of Language by Pei Food First by Lappe and Collins Life on Man by Rosebury The Virus That Ate Cannibals by Eron Anything Can Happen by Papashvily
And far too many others to list, especially since I went on binges of WW I, WW II, various other wars, historical eras, histories of specific countries/regions, social movements, political writings, comparative religion, anything to do with animals... lots and lots and lots.
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton. I don't know if he's popular or not these days, but it is one of my favourite books. And The City of God by St. Augustine.
I just spent two hours or so going through all these pages and writing down books! Good thing I'm home sick and not on the clock.
Some of my favorites:
American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World by David E. Stannard
It actually took me quite a while to finish it because it was so disturbing. It changed my view of history though.
Clear Springs: A Family Story by Bobbie Ann Mason
A memoir of Mason growing up in rural Kentucky. It reminded me a lot of the old stories my folks tell of growing up in the rural Midwest. I have read it and reread it. Just lovely.
Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson by Jennifer Michael Hecht
Amazing book that I recommend over and over again. It is a history of doubters. It took me three weeks to finish it because I lack a strong background in world history and philosophy, but it's a wonderful book.
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
Great book about eating real food instead of processed garbage.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson
I'm sure everyone has heard of this book by now. I thought is was just a wonderful story about one guy building schools in Pakistan. His whole life seems like a big, wonderful accident. I loved it.
Stones into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan also by Greg Mortenson
Continuation of Three Cups of Tea. The story of building schools in Afghanistan. Really enjoyed it also.
The Chinese in America: A Narrative History by Iris Chang
I thought it was a very informative history of the Chinese. Not boring, like many historical narratives.
Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis
Very well written, very readable history of the event and the trials.
I am not sure if it was mentioned because I have no time to check the entire thread (and I apologize for the thread pollution if someone has talked about it) but THE SMARTEST GUYS IN THE ROOM by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind was great. It was about the "Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron" and while I don't like non-fiction books that much, let alone, corporate scandals, I found it to be a very lively, truly dramatic narrative, and had pity for those Enron executives who have lost all their humanity in the long run of greed and power games. It may be a little bit dated now but it is still one of the most reviving lost yuppies books.
I just finished reading In Cheap We Trust: The Story of a Misunderstood American Virtue by Lauren Weber. The first 7 chapters (180-ish pages) are about the history of saving v. spending in the U.S. She discusses the oscillation between the two and the reasons for those oscillations. The last 100 pages were the most interesting to me. They dealt with the current state of affairs and a couple of brief stories of some rather extreme cheapskates.
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