This book has been very useful for me. I think it can be used of both beginners and professionals.

Actually, I never read the book, but I do know the author and he's a great guy!

This is a marvelous little history of one of the great royal dynasties of Eurpoe which came to an end with the First World War.

Proof of the universal appeal of this book and Crankshaw's writing style lies in the fact that this reviewer has read the book at three different times in his life (once as an undergraduate, another time at the conclusion of law school and yet another time about a year ago). Even though each of these three readings occurred at times when the reviewer's outlook and background on the subject matter was quite different, he derived pleasure and something new with each reading.

There is something about the fiction of Eastern Europe that is both marvelous and undefinable. Milan Kundara's Unbearable Lightness of Being, Kadare's Three-Arched Bridge (above) do so much more than tell a story and draw characters. They define places and moods with great style and subtlety. Hungarian novelist George Konrad's A Feast in the Garden falls into this marvelous class of books. The "story" Konrad tells is not linear, and might not be considered even a story at all, the way it switches from place to place, time to time, and character to character. It is a serious work, dealing both with the pogrom of the Jews under the Nazis and Soviet oppression during the 50's and 60's, but the author's tone is not one of unremitting grief.

Like the Kundara novel, I believe this book might best be read on a series of summer afternoons, at a European sidewalk cafe, as people pass and friends drop by. The cafe is important to Konrad's world.

One brief description, by the intellectual womanizer Janos while visiting Jerusalem, is worth quoting in full: "There he was, a city loafer, sitting in an Arab cafe in Jerusalem because he could not find a decent Eastern European Jewish cafe. How can one wait for the Messiah without a decent cafe? Where do you think the Messiah would go first, where would he start his preaching? In such a cafe, obviously." Many more such delights await the reader of this fine book.

This is the best biography in print of the enigmatic king of Prussia, Frederick II (The Great), who transformed his nation from a second-rate military power into a formidable nation at the expense of the Hapsburg monarchy of Maria Theresa. Duffy, the world's foremost authority on the Seven Years' War, brings his years of research into full blossom in this study of Prussia's brilliant soldier-king. Using his knowledge of military science, Duffy shows how Frederick was consistantly able to score victories over his opponents through superiior drill and tactics even though constantly outnumbered strategically. Through his adroit maneuvers, Frederick was able to increase the size of his territory significantly, yet without bankrupting his country. Duffy also elaborates on Frederick's often tempestuous relationships with his generals as well as his attitudes toward the common soldier. Frederick's many contributions toward the art of war are also showcased. This book is highly recommended for those who want a greater understanding of the rise of Prussia as a nation. -James J. Mitchel

From Emancipation to Catastrophe. The Rise and Holocaust Of Hungarian Jewry.

T. D. Kramer

From Emancipation to Catastrophe is a fine piece of historical research on the Holocaust in Hungary. Written in an admirably clear and readable style, Tom Kramer follows the chronology and places the processes of social integration and acculturation, antisemitism and persecution into their historical context, describing and analysing the various stages, events and key players. Of particular significance is the portrayal of Dr Gyorgy Gergely, a Jewish leader who played a vital yet largely unresearched role during the Holocaust.

The highlight of this comprehensive study is undoubtedly the final section in which the international "rescue matrix" is explored. Drawing on his own archival research and prior historiography, Dr Kramer formulates and brings together controversial explanations of both the Nazi strategies and Allied policies towards the rescue of Jews in 1944-45. His conclusions are convincing and they will set the tone for public debate and future research: "...Jews in Axis countries were caught in a classic lose-lose situation. We are left with the tragic paradox that, for the West, the prospect of successful negotiations negated the very possibility of negotiations. Quite simply, Europe's Jewish remnant remained bound between the relentless German hammer and the impassive Allied anvil."

Professor Konrad Kwiet

Emeritus Professor of German Studies Macquarie University

Deputy Director, Centre for Comparative Genocide Studies Macquarie University

This is a wonderful book, continuing the tradition of very high quality output from the Center for Romanian Studies. It tells the story, in great and fascinating detail, of the rise of fascism and official anti-semitism in Hungary and Romania between the World Wars. It is a story of the consequences of Versailles -- Hungary got a much worse deal there than the much better known raw deal received by Germany -- of the consequences of different paths of economic development -- both Hungary and Romania suffered from their different histories of economic stratification and (especially in Romania) rural underdevelopment -- and of the consequences of the actions of important individuals -- Admiral Horthy in Hungary, King Carol and Marshall Antonescu in Romania, and the various leaders of fascist movements in both countries.
In each country the story is told slowly and carefully from the time of the Treaty of Versailles (though with plenty of pre-Versailles context) through the onset of economic depression to the end of World War II and beyond. Beleaguered governments, some cynical and some less so, try to navigate between politically powerful landed classes, disenfranchised but sizable groups of peasants, and, in Hungary at least, an important and largely Jewish middle class, with Hitler's shadow growing all the while. Horthy and other Hungarian politicians come out of this looking pretty bad, as does Carol of Romania, while Romania's Antonescu appears as a decent man trying to cope with an increasingly hopeless domestic and international situation (his current posthumous role as a hero and symbol of the Greater Romania party notwithstanding).
All in all, this is a remarkable book. I don't know to what degree it was "revised and updated" from the 1970 original before its author's recent death. Readers interested in this part of the world or this period of history will find it quite valuable.
Other recommendations:
1. On the historical background in Romania, Paul Michelson, Romanian Politics 1859-1971 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998) and Frederick Kellogg, The Road to Romanian Independence (Purdue, 1995)
2. On the tightening of the German and Russian noose around Romania, and the vain Romanian hopes for Western (especially French) intervention, Alexandru Cretzianu, Relapse into Bondage: Political Memoirs of a Romanian Diplomat 1918-1947 (Center for Romanian Studies, 1998)
3. On life in Romania during this period, the remarkable Journal 1935-1944: The Fascist Years, by Mihail Sebastian (Ivan R. Dee, 2000)

Susan Varga was an infant when the Holocaust struck Hungary. Her book researches her background, searching for the story of her father who died during the war. She tells her mothers and grandparents stories, which reinforced and filled in details for me of my own Hungarian Jewish ancestors and relatives.

One can observe the conditions of austrian Anschluss with Germany based on party politics, military take overs and repressive institutions. "Hitler's Austria" reveals the values and emotions that regular Austrians felt in having there nation become the first victim or collaborator. In these these eight years of German annexation feeling were elated at arrival and wavered toward the end. It is during this time that Austria's struggle to become an independent state as well as national mentality develops separate from the regulations imposed by a truely repressive, foreign regime. Austrians despite overt collaboration with Nazis are ultimately free from major guilt. Burkey effectively portrays a continual amniguity or even paradox in Austria reconciling to its guilt as a participant in the atrocities of Anschluss, World War II, and the Holocaust. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in modern Central European history.

Combining in-depth musical analysis with personal experience and scholarly ethnography, Barbara Rose Lange's _Holy Brotherhood: Romani Music in a Hungarian Pentecostal Church_ explores Romani or Gypsy music with an ear towards sprirtual meaning and music's profound social context in such a way that the general reader will be satisfied, and the specialist overjoyed. Forsaking jargon for direct reportage of interviews and musical experiences, Lange focuses on actual performance, providing precise translation of songs, practices, rituals--this is a book for the living. The result not only adds insight to outsider interpretations of Gypsy culture, but explicates music's relationship to religion, and Romani or Gypsy culture to the world at large. Delightful.