Zapruder, who works in the education department at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, has done a great service to history and the future. Her book deserves to become a standard in Holocaust studies classes, particularly those aimed at youth or focusing on individuals. The 14 diaries in this anthology most appearing in English for the first time detail the lives of teens and their families, some on the run, some in camps, some in hiding and some during the chilling last days in the ghettoes in Nazi-occupied Europe. Each is prefaced with a biography of its author, information on family background and, when known, his or her fate. Zapruder also provides other facts that would have been known to the diarists and their peers, providing readers with a more complete context. Their experiences and reactions vary widely. Peter Feigl's parents baptize him as a Catholic and send him to church, but eventually are forced to send him from Austria to France. He blames the Jewish-identified teens around him for the circumstances that have ripped him from his parents. In contrast, Belgian Moshe Flinker becomes more attached to traditional Judaism, but increasingly depressed. His last entry, in the fall of 1943, reads, 'I am sitting facing the sun. Soon it will set; it is nearing the horizon. It is as red as blood, as if it were a bleeding wound. From where does it get so much blood? For days there has been a red sun, but this is not hard to understand. Is it not sufficient to weep, in these days of anguish?' These writings will certainly impress themselves on the memories of all readers. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Senin, 14 November 2016
Zecharia Sitchen's The 12th Planet
Zecharia Sitchen's The 12th Planet is the starting point on a quest that spans six books and 20 years worth of ancient aliens, genetic manipulation, and scrutiny of linguistic minutiae. If we trust Sitchen's translation abilities, we must be prepared for the imminent return of an alien race who created us some 300,0x00 years ago. The 12th Planet is perhaps the best written of Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series; full of example after example of ancient Sumerian passages, astronomical observations, archaeological finds, and technological coincidences supporting his theories. The price we pay for all this evidence is a bit of a dry read at times, but the ideas Sitchin proposes are more than scintillating enough to make up for the overtly scholastic tone of his text. --Brian Patterson --This text refers to the edition.
Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles
Zecharia Sitchin's Earth Chronicles series is based on the premise that mythology is not physiologically based, psychologically metaphorical, or culturally allegorical but rather the repository of ancient memories, and that the Bible ought to be read as a historical scientific document. While the debate regarding the origins of myth is far from conclusive, and the dangers of assuming that the subjectivity of the reader/researcher will not intervene are obvious, Stitchin is an expert in ancient language and history. While the reader may scoff at his unfortunately characteristic long leaps of logic resulting in conclusions (such as that gods from outer space destroyed a spaceport on the Sinai Peninsula four millennia ago), he does present some compelling ideas not easily ignored. The series, of which this is the third volume, deserves a read by those fascinated with the search for the origins of humankind who don't mind spending time separating wheat from chaff. --P. Randall Cohan
Zia and her brother
Zia and her brother set out to rescue their aunt, Karana, in this sequel to the Newbery Award-winning Island of the Blue Dolphins. Ages 9-12. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.