SUPERMAN '78: THE METAL CURTAIN (graphic novel) Robert Venditti

Published by DC Comics in 2024.
Written by Robert Venditti.
Art by Gavin Guidry and Jordan Bellaire.

Synopsis

These are the further adventures of the Christopher Reeve Superman from the movie series that ran from the late 1970s into the 1980s. It has the feel of those movies in the simple and clear art style and the look of many of those characters. Interestingly, Superman looks nothing like Reeves and Clark Kent only looks like him from time to time.

The plot of Superman '78: The Metal Curtain is pretty simple. The Soviet Union has created a super soldier suit powered by a giant hunk if Kryptonite. The suit is pretty much an Iron Man suit (I know, wrong publisher) with the added benefit that it's fuel weakens the Man of Steel.

The Soviet Union is fearful of Superman. They perceive him as a weapon of the United States (because the events of Superman IV haven't happened yet) and plan to use the suit to defeat Superman and America...

My Review

I really liked the clean art style of this graphic novel. The plot is simple, direct, and the circumstances are dire. The only thing I did not like was the way Superman ended up winning - it was too simplistic and too short. It felt like a cheesy movie plot ending, which is exactly the vibe that they were going for. I guess that makes it a success.

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman '78: The Metal Curtain.

SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR: A HISTORY from BEGINNING to END (The Cold War) (kindle) by Hourly History

 

Published in 2023 by Hourly History.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in an effort to stabilize their neighbor. In theory, Afghanistan had a communist government and the USSR had a policy of not letting any communist government fall. 

Soviet troops leaving Afghanistan in 1989 via
a bridge that was special built for the purpose of
letting the USSR withdraw from Afghanistan
even quicker.

In 1989, the Soviet Union finished withdrawing its armed forces from Afghanistan. On paper they had negotiated a stable pro-Soviet government to lead Afghanistan after 10 years of frustrating fighting an elusive enemy that specialized in hitting the much better equipped Soviet army within guerilla hit-and-run tactics. 

Within 3 years both the government of Afghanistan and the government of the USSR had collapsed and Afghanistan became a haven for international Muslim terrorists like Osama bin Laden.

As I read about the difficulties that the Soviets had in fighting against the mujahedeen guerrilla fighters, it struck me that in many ways you could have removed the word Soviet and replaced it with the word American and have a fairly decent description of the American experience in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021.  

This series is designed to give the reader a solid grasp of a topic in about an hour's worth of reading. Some topics are really too big for this self-imposed limit, but I thought this was a pretty good length for this topic. 

I rate this short e-book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR: A HISTORY from BEGINNING to END (The Cold War) (kindle) by Hourly History.

COUNTDOWN 1945: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY of the ATOMIC BOMB and the 116 DAYS THAT CHANGED the WORLD (audiobook) by Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss

Published by Simon and Schuster in June of 2020.
Read by one of the authors, Chris Wallace.
Duration: 8 hours, 40 minutes.
Unabridged.

The 116 days referred to in the title is the time between the day that Harry S. Truman became President and the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Chris Wallace quickly catches the reader up on what was going on and then uses a countdown for the chapters to add a sense of drama - will the scientists make it on time?

Of course, we know that they do succeed - the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are one of the most well-known historical facts of the 20th century. Wallace's re-telling of the story in Countdown 1945 is full of facts but not particularly told in an interesting way.

For example, there is a great deal of information about the Potsdam Conference (July 17 - August 2, 1945) that met in Germany. The Conference was important because it included the leaders of the USSR, the United States and the UK and in many ways it paved the path for post-war Europe and the Cold War. But, there was so much detail involved (dinner sets, meals, the weather, the cars they rode in) that it began to feel like filler.

Mushroom clouds from the bombings of the Japanese cities of
Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)

Of course the Potsdam Conference is an important part of the story, but the main story was the construction, testing and deployment of the bombs. If I had been the editor of this book, I would have pushed for more information on the physical results of the bombs and their effects on the residents of Nagasaki and Hiroshima and less on the mundane details of the Potsdam Conference like descriptions of the meals they ate.

Note: I thought the authors did a very good job of explaining both points of view on the atomic bombings of Japan, but eventually settle on the argument that they were horrible weapons, but their use was justified.

The audiobook was read by Chris Wallace, one of the authors. This makes sense considering that Wallace is a nationally known television personality. At first I thought this was a great choice. I enjoy Wallace's Sunday morning political show and I think he is a tough, fair interviewer and I like his style. But, that unique voice of his started to wear on me after a while. Not a bad book - I wouldn't tell someone not to read it or listen to it - but not as good as it could have been.

So, I rate it 3 stars out of 5 because parts of the book felt padded and the narrator's voice wore on me.  This book can be found on Amazon.com here: COUNTDOWN 1945: THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY of the ATOMIC BOMB and the 116 DAYS THAT CHANGED the WORLD by Chris Wallace and Mitch Weiss.

LAST HOPE ISLAND: BRITAIN, OCCUPIED EUROPE, and the BROTHERHOOD THAT HELPED TURN the TIDE of WAR (audiobook) by Lynne Olson

An Exceedingly Well-Written History

Published in April of 2017 by Random House Audio
Read by Arthur Morey
Duration: 18 hours, 46 minutes
Unabridged

As Europe collapsed before the Nazi onslaught several governments-in-exile retreated to the United Kingdom in an effort to support their struggling underground resistance movements and to remind the world of their plight. Some brought a lot of soldiers (Poland), some brought money, some brought civilian ships and some brought not much more than a loud voice and the will to use it.

This was not an easy alliance. The UK was xenophobic and stunned at the rapid fall of France and many of the governments in exile were being ripped apart from their own internal politics. Misunderstandings, patronizing attitudes and differing agendas make everything more difficult.

When America and the Soviets joined the war the UK shifted its attention away from the governments-in-exile to its new, much more potent allies and those new allies had different agendas. Those new agendas often did not match those of the governments-in-exile. President Roosevelt was surprisingly indifferent to them and the Soviet Union was only interested in gobbling up as many of them as it could.

Olson begins Last Hope Island with the stories of how each country fell to Nazi Germany and their government's reacted. Most fled, but not all did. France did both with both Vichy France and Charles de Gaulle claiming supremacy. These stories are extremely well told and quite gripping.

The middle part of the book deals with Britain's intelligence or outright military operations in the conquered countries. 

Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
 and Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)

 Interestingly, the UK's intelligence service thought that it was brilliant, but the reality was far from that. If you have seen the old TV show Hogan's Heroes, the reality is that the UK was far more like Colonel Klink than like Colonel Hogan. Truly embarrassing and idiotic mistakes were made for years on end.

The end of the book is very moving as it features the return of the different governments and what happened when they returned. For some, they were hailed as heroes, some were derided and some just disappeared behind the Iron Curtain.

Lynne Olson has a real talent for writing history and the reader, Arthur Morey did an excellent job as well. This was an informative, entertaining and often very moving history.

I rate this audiobook 5 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: LAST HOPE ISLAND: BRITAIN, OCCUPIED EUROPE, and the BROTHERHOOD THAT HELPED TURN the TIDE of WAR (audiobook) by Lynne Olson

1944: FDR and the YEAR THAT CHANGED HISTORY (audiobook) by Jay Winik

A Review of the Audiobook

Published in 2015 by Simon and Schuster Audio
Read by Arthur Morey
Duration: 21 Hours, 10 minutes
Unabridged

The premise of 1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History is that 1944 is the most important year of World War II - the year that the Allies grew certain that they were going to win the war, the year that post-War plans were laid out, the year of the D-Day invasion and more.

This effort by Jay Winik is very readable and was an informative and entertaining listen. There are times when he creates fabulous images in the listener's mind that are worthy of any novelist. His description of the extent of anti-Jewish operations throughout Europe and particularly in Auschwitz and other death camps are so vivid and so striking that I can readily recommend this book as a good place to start for anyone who wants a serious look.

The book focuses on FDR, his personality and how he shaped the war effort and post-War institutions like the United Nations. Winik details Roosevelt's health problems and points out how Roosevelt's health affected his efforts and possibly affected his judgment.

However, there is a problem with the book and that is the title - what he wrote about does not match the title.

Josef Stalin (1878-1953), FDR (1882-1945) and Winston
Churchill (1874-1965) at the Tehran Conference in 1943.

He has written an excellent book, but I don't think that he proved his assertion of the title that 1944 was THE YEAR. The book covers all of FDR's life and spends a lot of time in every year of the war but 1944. The topics he covered were important and he covers them well. A great deal of the book covers the holocaust and FDR's response to the proof that the "final solution" was underway. I have no problem with this as a topic (I already noted this above) but I do have a problem with a book that purports to talk about the importance of 1944 to world history and goes on to literally spend more time talking about Anne Frank than the entire Pacific Theater of World War II. I am not kidding. Don't get me wrong - Anne Frank's story is compelling, but it is not, in and of itself, worthy of more mention than all of the fighting in Korea, China, the Philippines, the attempted invasion of Australia, the use of the atomic bombs, the war atrocities throughout the theater and the millions of soldiers and sailors involved in fighting throughout the theater.

The reader, Arthur Morey, did an excellent job, even going so far as to mimic the voice of FDR when he read quotes from him.

This is a well-written and immensely informative book that is simply mistitled. 

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 because of the misleading title.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: 1944: FDR and the Year That Changed History.

The Presidents Club: Inside the World's Most Exclusive Fraternity (audiobook) by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

Very Interesting History of the Modern Presidency

Published by Simon and Schuster Audio in 2012
Read by Bob Walter
Duration: 22 hours, 1 minute
Unabridged

Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, both editors at Time, have delivered a very listenable, fascinating look at each American president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama. No matter their political persuasion, their life experiences or their qualities as a human being, all 12 of these men share one thing: they were once President. This is an exclusive club and it seems that just about every president has looked to a former president for a shoulder to lean on, advice or even as a personal envoy sent to convey a sense of urgency to the message.

The Presidents Club is told in a rough chronological order starting with Truman. When Truman was President there was only one other member of the Presidents Club: Herbert Hoover. Yes, the same Hoover that Truman and FDR disparaged for 12 years. However, to his credit, Truman sent out feelers and discovered that Hoover was still willing and able to help. Together, they set up the ground rules for this "club." Hoover was tapped by Truman to get food to Europe at the end of World War II (Hoover did this at the end of World War I as well) and to help re-organize the Executive Branch.

Gibbs and Duffy discuss how each President interacted with his predecessor and his successor and even other presidents (for example, Nixon interacted with every President from Truman to Clinton). Gerald Ford had a similar lengthy history. They also discuss how the "Club" grew and shrank over the years. During Bill Clinton's presidency, there were as many as six members (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush41 and Clinton). At one point in the Nixon years, there was only Nixon.

The current "Presidents Club" membership:
George H.W. Bush (41), Barack Obama,
George W. Bush (43), Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

If you are a political junkie or a fan of modern American history, this anecdote-filled book is a must-read. It gives a different feel for the men, their personalities and their legacies. For example, I was surprised at how often Johnson reached out to Eisenhower for advice and reassurance concerning the Vietnam War.  I was even more surprised at how often Johnson was out hustled politically by Richard Nixon. I know Johnson was a world class politician, but Nixon maneuvered him and manipulated him throughout 1968. Johnson fared no better in his post-Presidential years.

Nixon comes off as talented but very deeply flawed. The authors quote longtime advisor to multiple presidents, Brent Scowcroft, calling Nixon a "shit" and former President George H. W. Bush (Bush41) referred to him as "a first-rate intellect but also a third-rate person." However, you do have to admire how Nixon calculates how to get to the forefront of American politics again and again and again. Reagan comes off surprisingly cold. Carter, as an enigma. Gerald Ford comes off as principled and maybe even heroic for his decision to pardon Nixon and destroy any chance he had to be elected. The Clinton-Bush41 friendship was a joy to learn about and the source of some of the best stories.

Leadership lessons abound in this book. Every president had his own style in office and some even managed to exert a large influence long after they left office. Some Presidents chart the general path and expect their subordinates to follow it. Others are intimately involved in so many decisions that they are spread too thin. Some are charmers. Some intimidate. Some scheme and plan every move. No matter the president, Gibbs and Duffy take the reader behind the scenes and give a sense of the times and the way their administrations worked.

I found this audiobook to be thoroughly enjoyable. Bob Walter's narration was excellent. He varied his rate, read with a lot of emphasis and made a 22 hour long audiobook fly by. I particularly enjoyed his very slight inflections he put in his quotes. For example, his LBJ quotes had a small amount of Texas twang and his Reagan quotes had his characteristic tone to them (If you were alive during the Reagan Administration, think about his famed "Well...").

I rate this audiobook an enthusiastic 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Presidents Club.

Reviewed on February 1, 2013

Note: This audiobook was provided to me free of charge by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I honestly thought this was an exceptional audiobook.

The 1990s: A Brief History [Kindle Edition] by Vook

Published in July of 2011 by Vook

Vook is a publisher of e-books enhanced with video clips (Video + Book = Vook). This history is short (Amazon estimates it would be about 32 pages on paper) so it is unlikely to satisfy a history purist. However, for a 32 page history of the United States in the 1990s, it is pretty solid (but admittedly lightweight due to its short length) and very readable.

The most famous image from the
1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

The topics covered include:

-A New World Order/Fall of the USSR;
-Clinton's Impeachment;
-Creation of the World Wide Web;
-Cloning/Genetic therapies;
-David Koresh/Oklahoma City bombing/First Twin Towers Bombings;
-The 1992 NBA Olympics "Dream Team";
-Grunge Music.

I rate this e-book 3 stars out of 5.

This e-book can be found on Amazon.com here: The 1990s: A Brief History

Reviewed on November 6, 2012.

Ronald Reagan: Our 40th President by Winston Groom

Published by Regnery Publishing, Inc. in 2012.

Winston Groom, forever to be known as the author of Forrest Gump , has busied himself with a series of non-fiction books as of late. His latest is this short biography, Ronald Reagan: Our 40th President. The publisher lists this book as "juvenile nonfiction" but this adult also enjoyed this 148 page biography.

This is not a controversial "let's set the record straight" book. I detected no political bias except for the fact that is a generally friendly book towards Reagan. That being said, Groom covers the lows of Reagan's personal (strained relationships with his children, for example) and political life (Iran Contra - it gets more attention than almost any aspect of his presidency) and covers them as thoroughly as a book of this size should.

Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)

This is a great book for high school students because it is easy to read, does not dwell on topics for too long and covers all parts of Reagan's life well, not just his eight years as President.  It tells the basics of an extraordinary life (Reagan's more than most, but all presidential lives are extraordinary since there have only been 44 of them). I particularly enjoyed the stories of his days as a sportscaster and his early days in Hollywood. Groom also explains that Reagan's transition from Hollywood actor to politician was not abrupt or even an unnatural move, although I did find it interesting to note that his first response was, "I'm an actor, not a politician." (p. 82)

In my real job, when I am not blogging, I am a secondary social studies teacher and I can easily say that if Groom wanted to busy himself writing biographies of all of the recent presidents I would be glad to put them all in my classroom library. This one tells the basics of Reagan's life. Let the student learn that and later on, when they know more, they can start to put value judgments on his actions and choices.

That being said, there is a problem with the book. While Groom may know how to tell someone's life story in an interesting way, he seems to have no head for figures. On page 4 he discusses the impact of a horrific 12% inflation rate (the rate when Reagan assumed the presidency) and he incorrectly asserts that a 12% interest rate means that in 8 years the value of a dollar saved 8 years earlier "would be worth exactly zero." That is not correct. A 12% inflation rate means that in 6 years the prices of everything would be double (following the "rule of 72") and that saved dollar would only buy half as much, but it would still have value. On page 144 he states the United States spent $8 trillion dollars on the Cold War. He states that equals spending $1 billion per day for 8,000 years. Considering that 1 trillion equals 1,000 billion, it would really equal $1 billion per day for 8,000 days (about 22 years).

So, read this book for what it is - a story well told. And, as always, check the other guy's math. Or, as Reagan noted: "Trust, but verify."

I rate this biography 4 out of 5 stars.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Ronald Reagan Our 40th President.

Reviewed on February 25, 2012.

Superman: Red Son (graphic novel) by Mark Millar

Very, very, very good

Published by D.C. Comics in 2004
160 pages

First things first.

I am not a gigantic comics fan. I've never been to a comic book shop. I know the big names. Basically, if they had a live action TV show, I know them.

So, my opinion is not as well-informed as that of some.

But, I know what I like and I thought this was some grade-A, high test sci-fi with a good deal of political science thrown in.

Superman has always been of limited interest to some because he is an all-powerful good guy. He can't be hurt (technically, I know he can but who has Kryptonite sitting around?). He has the tools to deal with any situation. He has a healthy psyche. He is a good guy to have on your side but not particularly interesting.

But, let's take away his All-American freedom-loving politics and partner him with a truly soul-crushing totalitarian regime - the Soviet Union. Stalin backed by Superman's talents is a truly scary thought. Soviet theory becomes reality. A true dictatorship of the proletariat becomes possible since Superman hears and sees nearly everything.

With that you have enough to make this history teacher happy. Add to it the Lex Luthor (USA)/Superman (USSR) Cold War, a reference to Plato's Republic, a Soviet Batman (loved him! Loved the hat!), Wonder Woman, Area 51 and Nixon winning the 1960 Presidential election instead of JFK and you've got a great read!

Some may quibble with details, but when you get down to it, aren't the comics supposed to entertain and take you to another world for a little while? Mission accomplished.

Bravo.

I rate this graphic novel 5 stars out of 5.

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman: Red Son.

Reviewed on March 26, 2007.

The Soviet Turmoil (Fall of Communism) by Jeffrey Symynkywicz

A solid history of the Soviet Union

Published in 1997 by Dillon Press.

This small book (about 145 pages plus a large set of endnotes) provides a solid but short history of the Soviet Union.

The last half of The Soviet Turmoil concerns the last 2-3 years of the Soviet Union. It was written in 1997, which is still too close to the actual events of the USSR's collapse to get a proper perspective. Symynkywicz goes into too many details about Gorbachev and the men involved in the attempted coup(s) against him - it simply does not match the tone and pacing of the first half of the book. It would have been more appropriate to look at some of the other causes of the USSR's collapse, including economic pressures and world political pressures. However, it may be that many of these types of facts were still unavailable in 1997.

Good, simple history of the USSR and its downfall.

Final Grade: 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: The Soviet Turmoil (Fall of Communism) by Jeffrey Symynkywicz.

Reviewed on August 10, 2006.

Twenty Decisive Battles of the World by Lt. Col. Joseph B. Mitchell and Sir Edward Creasy

Interesting collection

Published in 2004 by Konecky and Konecky

Sir Edward Creasy published a book called Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo in 1851. His original work was expanded in 1964 by Lt. Col. Mitchell in order to create Twenty Decisive Battles of the World. In some cases, Mitchell corrected factual errors in Creasy's original work that came to light since it was first written.

The main criteria for picking these twenty battles was that the battle had to have a lasting impact on the war it was a part of and also have a lasting impact on history. For example, the Confederate victory at the battle of Chancellorsville in the American Civil War was not chosen despite the fact that it was brilliantly fought by Robert E. Lee. The Confederacy went on to lose the war and the victory at Chancellorsville may have prolonged the war by a few months at most. On the other hand, Mitchell picked the Vicksburg campaign as a battle that was decisive in the history of the world because it spelled out the doom of the Confederacy in the West and led to the Grant's appointment as leader of all of the Union armies. A weakened United States (without the Confederate States) would not be as big a player in world politics as it is now, so that victory had a lasting impact.

Francis Drake (ca. 1545-1596), 
victor over the Spanish Armada

The battles are:
-Marathon;
-Syracuse;
-Arbela;
-The Metaurus;
-Teutobarger Wald;
-Chalons;
-Tours;
-Hastings;
-Orleans;
-The Spanish Armada;
-Blenheim;
-Poltava;
-Saratoga;
-Valmy;
-Waterloo;
-Vicksburg;
-Sadowa;
-First Marne;
-Midway;
-Stalingrad.

Each chapter describes the situation before and after the battle and tells why this battle was so important, a hinge of history, so to speak. In some cases, there is a lot of detail about the battle itself, in some cases there is only some hazy detail to draw from so there is not much to tell. Clearly, this is a Eurocentric, or at least Western-based series of battles. Nothing from Asia or Africa unless a European/American force is fighting against them. This makes the basis for calling it Twenty Decisive Battles of the World pretty iffy, but these are certainly twenty well chosen battles that created the West.

I rate this history 4 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Twenty Decisive Battles of the World

Reviewed on August 4, 2011.

Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West by Anthony Pagden

Disappointed

Published in 2008.

Anthony Pagden's Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West was a book I was really looking forward to reading. It sat on my wish list for months and when I saw it just sitting there at my local library I greedily snatched it up and considered myself lucky to even have found it checked in.

Thank goodness I did not waste my money buying it.

I suppose the problem with a book of this nature is that it is bound to disappoint - some things will be "too" highlighted, some left out. Even worse for this book, niggling factual errors crop up that bother the careful reader and throw into doubt the validity of the more complicated interpretations of the work as a whole.

Positives:

The book is quite readable and you must give a tip of the hat to anyone who undertakes such a large and sweeping history.

Negatives:

The anti-religious comments taint large sections of the book: "...nor have I made any attempt...to disguise the fact that I believe the myths perpetrated by all monotheistic religions - all religions indeed- have caused more lasting harm to the human race that any other set of beliefs..." (p. xix) In my opinion, his anti-religious bias does immeasurable harm to this history because holders of religious belief are held in disdain. This is a history full of religious beliefs, perhaps even based on it. Viewing all of those beliefs as despicable and marginalizing them leads to some of the more simplistic interpretations noted in other reviews of this book.

-The author comments that in this book Christianity "seems to fare slightly better than Islam in this story..." (p. xix) but I really doubt that. At least he spent several pages on the life of Muhammad and the early history of Islam. He doesn't even bother to tell about the life of Jesus (not even a "supposed" version) or a history of St. Paul (whom he refers to in passing several times, but the uninformed reader is left, well, uninformed.) Imagine, a history of the West without even a page devoted to the beginnings of Christianity. The closest we get to an outline of Christ is a brief comparison to Mithraism (pp. 130-1). Christians are often slighted, such as on page 519 when he opines that Christians would like to make Shari'a law for the United States if only they could figure out how.

-Judaism fares even worse. It is rarely mentioned. Even then it has inaccuracies, such as on pages 151-2 when he notes, incorrectly that Moses was only given 10 laws. A passing glance through the book of Deuteronomy would tell the most casual of reader that dozens and dozens of laws were given to Moses.

-The Persian-Roman conflicts. I was looking forward to learning more about the Persian empire(s) that fought Rome to a standstill. Usually in this type of history there is just one paragraph that tells you little more than I've already mentioned - that the Persians fought the Romans to a standstill and an accomodation was made. He includes a fancier explanation, but it is still just the one paragraph. (pp. 175-6) I was hoping for much more - especially since this accounts for roughly 500 years of the 2,500 years of conflict that is discussed in the book.

--Refers to the year 1098 as being a part of the "ninth-century". (p. 231)

Martin Luther (1483-1546)

-Luther's teachings are misstated at times. "Mankind did not need to labor to win God's favor, as the Church had always maintained; it could be vindicated by faith alone. To be justified in the eyes of God, one had only to believe and lead a true and godly life." (p. 297) The part about leading a true and godly life would be the same as laboring to win God's favor. It is not Luther's theology. He stated the godly life would proceed from one's faith, it would not, in and of itself, do anything to get one into heaven.

Some might find the point about Luther trivial, but this is not a small thing. In the last 500 years there have been two large-scale organized religious movements in the West and both were inspired by Martin Luther - the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation (aka the Catholic Reformation). Failing to understand this simple part of Luther's theology means that those two movements are not understood as well. If you were reading a book that mentioned the philosopher Socrates and the author failed to grasp the concept that Socrates wanted people to question everything you'd have to question the author's competence as an authority on the topic. If the author also openly ridiculed philosophers in general and Greek philosophers in particular you'd question why he even bothered to write on the topic in the first place.   

-On page 74 there is a reference to "brothels in Pompey" (p.74). Pompey was one of Julius Caesar's rivals. Pompeii is the standard spelling for the city he is referring to.

-On page 249 he refers to the Afghan War of 1991. 2001, perhaps?

-There is a complete failure to mention the clash between Communism, Fascism and the East. The Ba'ath Party was influenced by the Fascist movements. Afghanistan was nominally Communist when the USSR invaded it to support the floundering government in 1979. He expounds on the murderous history of religious movements but blows off the terrible history of secular movements like Communism with one really long sentence (pp. 533-4) that fails to address the issue or the scope of their own murderous pasts.

-"Soviet Block"? (p. 526). The standard spelling is bloc, not block.

-On page 526 it is claimed that East Germany "took the first steps that would eventually bring down the Communist regimes of eastern Europe." (p. 526) Funny, I remember it being Poland with Lech Walesa and Solidarity being the first. The Wall came down only when Hungary and other countries had already lowered their barriers and made East Germany's Communist rulers irrelevant.

Final thought: Buy something else. Perhaps more specific histories rather than a more general, biased one that demonstrates little respect for the religious traditions of the peoples involved.

I rate this book 2 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Worlds at War: The 2,500-Year Struggle Between East and West.

Reviewed on October 28, 2008.

Villi the Clown by William Campbell

A fascinating look at the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the late 1970s

Published in 1981 by Faber and Faber.

William Campbell was the stepson of John Ross Campbell, a noted international communist from Scotland. William Campbell decided to move to the Soviet Union in 1932 since he could not find work in London. Villi the Clown is the story of his time in the USSR, from 1932 until his defection back to the U,K. in 1977. It is a fascinating ground-level look at the USSR during the Stalinist years, the Purges, World War II and the Cold War years of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.

Campbell's first job in the USSR is at an airplane factory. He has no qualification except that he is familiar with how a car is put together, which makes him a relative expert in the mechanical engineering when compared to most of his colleagues at the factory.

His musical and acting skills are noticed and soon enough he leaves the factory and joins a number of touring musical acts. This gives the reader a chance to see behind the Iron Curtain. Campbell holds no punches and frankly talks about the Ukranians he witnessed starving, the political prisoners being sent all over the USSR and the open graft and corruption, including one Soviet official who created his own small harem of prostitutes consisting of wives and daughters of political prisoners that he would use to entertain visitors.

Campbell becomes a clown and performs routines with his wife, a ballerina. Eventually, he films a few movies but finds himself cut off from the stage due to political issues. He moves on and becomes a journalist, a radio personality (he works for the USSR's version of Radio Free Europe).

In some ways this is a typical memoir of an actor - rememberings of petty arguments, funny tales of props gone awry and so on. But, throw in the worm's eye view of the ever-shifting German-Soviet front in World War II, tales of the KGB taking away colleagues in the middle of the night and the well-told story of how they arranged to escape the USSR (with its palpable sense of fear of discovery) and you get a truly unique book.

Well worth the time for anyone that remembers the old Cold War days of the USSR.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Villi the Clown.

Reviewed on February 20, 2010.