The Edge of the World: A Cultural History of the North Sea and the Transformation of Europe by Michael Pye

The Edge of the World by Michael Pye -394 pages

This book explores the so-called "Dark Ages" up to the Renaissance period in northern Europe. The author states study of this area of Europe has been neglected due to a focus on the Mediterranean region. Readers will learn that clergy, such as Bede, and the Vikings were more advanced in their understanding of geography and science than is generally acknowledged. The author also brings to light several other vanished communities that were vitally important to the maritime trade that led to something resembling a modern economic system.

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt -356 pages

The author is a humanities scholar intrigued by the philosophical ideas of an ancient Epicurean-inspired poem and its influence on the Renaissance.  On the Nature of Things was composed in the First Century B. C. by the Roman author Lucretius, and was rediscovered in a monastic library in 1417 by a papal secretary.  The ancient Epicureans did not believe in the intervention of any gods, and thought only a physical world made up of tiny atoms existed. The poem’s surprisingly modern view of nature and its beautiful writing made it a subject of interest to Renaissance elite in a world dominated by Church doctrine.  Some readers may conclude the author overestimates the poem’s impact on a movement as varied as the Renaissance, but this an interesting book on how Renaissance figures were dedicated to preserving ancient writers.

Blood Royal by Eric Jager

Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris by Eric Jager -323 pages

In 1407 Paris, Louis of Orleans, the French king's corrupt brother, was brazenly assassinated in the street. The provost of Paris, Guillaume de Tignonville, investigated the crime and soon determined the man who ordered the killing was also a member of the royal family. This revelation set in motion a series of tragic events for France culminating in foreign invasion and civil war. The narrative shifts focus from the assassination early on as de Tignonville was brushed aside by the powerful perpetrator of the crime. The pace picks up at the end as the reader learns the fate of the loyal de Tignonville at the battle of Agincourt. This book is an interesting look into a decaying Medieval society that valued status over justice or security from foreign threats.

The Romantic Revolution: A History by Tim Blanning

The Romantic Revolution: A History by Tim Blanning --244 pages

The Romantic Revolution was a period in history when artists, writers, and intellectuals moved away from what they saw as the sterility, and materialism of the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. The time frame discussed is roughly 1760 to 1840, and the author confidently surveys a wide sweep of European history and culture in a relatively brief book. The writers, composers, and artists often labeled as Romantics actually had a wide range of views on religion, and politics, but all emphasized the centrality of the human experience. Some could be considered rather conservative, and others extremely radical in their day. Overall, the author provides a very engaging college course for the reader.

My Enemy's Cradle by Sarah Young

My Enemy's Cradle by Sarah Young - 365 pages

My Enemy's Cradle tells the story of Cyrla Van der Berg, a young half-Dutch, half-Jewish woman living with her aunt, uncle, and cousin, Anneke, in Holland during the beginning of World War II.  While initially Cyrla's Jewish background is not known, someone eventually turns her in.  After this and a tragedy occur within hours, Cyrla takes her cousin's identity and place in a Lebensborn, a maternity home for women who became pregnant by German soldiers.  The book then details the struggle Cyrla had to ensure she was safe and the relationships she had with Anneke' solider.

At times heart-wrenching, this novel opens a whole new can-of-worms not often addressed in literature or non-fiction, as the existence of the Lebensborns is something many in Europe wish to forget.  In essence, it fills a gap while providing an eye-opening experience to an often forgotten horror of World War II.

The Dodger: The Extraordinary Story of Churchill's Cousin and the Great Escape by Tim Caroll

The Dodger:  The Extraordinary Story of Churchill's Cousin and the Great Escape by Tim Caroll - 336 pages

The Dodger recounts the life of John "Johnny" Bigelow Dodge, a distant cousin of Sir Winston Churchill.  American-born but British-bred, Dodge became a British citizen when his mother married an English aristocrat.  During World War I, he served in naval infantry unit until he was wounded at Gallipoli.  After his recovery, he transferred to the army and led a machine gun group.  During the interwar years, Dodge traveled extensively as a business men (though he may have used that as a cover for spying) and was twice arrested in the Soviet Union.  When World War II began he reactivated his commission and served on active duty until his capture at Dunkirk.  Once in German hands, Dodge spent the next five years being moved from camp to camp and attempting multiple escapes, most notably the one from Stalag III featured in the movie The Great Escape.  During this time, the biography also tells the story of the men he lived and traveled camp to camp with.  The most significant of these seems to have been Wing Commander Harry "Wings" Melville Arbuthnot Day (I am inspired to look for his biography at a later point; he masterminded the great escape).

The book was highly variable in its appeal.  The first half covering pre-World War II was bare bones information and dry reading.  Once the point of Dodge's life in World War II was reached, it become more interesting but the focus was equally split between Dodge and his four main companions.  Worth reading?  Yes.  Is there something better?  Probably.

The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel

The Monuments Men:  Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter - 512 pages (total for numbered and numeral pages)

With the movie coming out in just a few weeks, I wanted to read the book for Monuments Men.  The book follows the work of the original monument men to protect Europe's cultural treasures.  Each was hand picked for his duty because of previous work within the fields of art, art  history, and architecture.  As part of their duties, they examined damaged historic buildings and traced Nazi-looted treasures from within said buildings and from personal collections.  As the author admits, there is too much to the story to cover in one book as originally planned, so this title focuses on Western Europe.  A second, more recent, book Saving Italy traces the same work in Southern Europe (I hope to read this one eventually).  While each monument men is traced, special attention is paid to George Stout (whom became the leader) and James Rorimer (whom worked closely with the French resisters Rose Valland and Jacques Jaujard, who worked within the Louvre and Jue de Paume).

Overall, I was thrilled with the book.  All historical elements were well traced, as evidenced by the end notes.  The writing read like a well-paced novel by incorporating dialogue from interviews and adding elements of suspense while on the hunt for missing artwork.  Relevant photographs and maps were included to help visualize the destruction of cultural landmarks, vastness of the underground art storage areas, and the paths the monuments men took to locate the missing items.

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning

Ordinary Men:  Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning - 271 pages

As mentioned yesterday, after finishing Hitler's Furies by Wendy Lower I planned to go back and reread Ordinary Men.  This classic of Holocaust literature was the first book that attempted to explain the action of the men who committed the crimes without focusing on the fact the men were following orders.  Police Battalion 101 serves as the basis of this study because when the unit was tried for war crimes in the 1960s all surviving members were subjected to a detailed interrogation.  It points out that the men committed the crimes despite being offered a way out of doing so. 

I know I started my summary with the overarching themes and observations.  Let me backtrack and explain a bit about the unit's actions.  Police Battalion 101 was one of many behind-the-lines units charged with carrying out ghetto evacuations and mass killings to make Eastern Europe Judenfrei, or free of Jewish people.  Attention was paid to the mass killings, especially the unit's first at Józefów, Poland, as it set the tone for the rest of the unit's term of service and provided the best evidence for the men's actions. 

Hitler's Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower

Hitler's Furies:  German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields by Wendy Lower - 288 pages

Following in the tradition of Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men, Lower looks at the role of ordinary citizens in the Holocaust.  In this case it is the females, a often overlooked category.  While many were direct participants, most were never tried as war criminals.  The book follows approximately a dozen well-documented cases often using surviving Nazi records, war crimes trial transcripts, and memoirs of several of the women to demonstrate their participation.

Most women were in one of three categories: nurses, secretaries (and sometimes also lovers) of top Nazis, or wives of top Nazis.  As the book demonstrates, nurses often participated directly in euthanasia programs and at the gas chambers.  Secretaries often served as desk murders when writing and transmitting orders.  Other times they were observers who did nothing to help the victims.  Nazi wives, especially those with husbands in the SS, often directly killed Jews as sport.

At the book's end, besides completing each woman's story, Lower offered some psychological insights to why these women acted as they did both during and after the war (most denied involvement).  In all, reading this reminded me strongly of Browning's research on the men I read during a college-level Holocaust course and while this book is fresh in my mind I plan to reread that book.  Like Browning's work, I think Hitler's Furies is destined to become a classic of Holocaust scholarship.

Royalty's Strangest Characters: Extraordinary but True Stories by Geoff Tibballs

Royalty's Strangest Characters: Extraordinary but True Stories by Geoff Tibballs - 237 pages

Royalty's Strangest Characters is an odd sort of book.  Containing all true stories, Tibballs' book includes an assortment of approximately forty-two stories of royal oddities from the past.  Since these stories were short, they were great for reading two or three during my non-meal fifteen minute break.  While I cannot particularly say the stories were great, some made me laugh while others made me cringe.  To provide examples of some tales, one discussed a queen  who dressed as a child, another detailed the life of a queen who ensured her husband's casket never left her side, and a third example was about a prince who preferred to dress as a woman.

Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub

Silent Night:  The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub -206 pages

I never thought I would say this, but if I were to compare Silent Night (2001) with the similarly-themed movie, Joyeux Noel (2005) I would actually say the movie was better.  Both are about the World War I Christmas Truce in 1914.  The movie covers all the same points the book does in less time and in a more Christmas spirit versus bogging the reader down with the same facts covered multiple ways.  The book also features the gory side of the truce (aka a chapter on burying the dead), which while relevant, kills the holiday mood of a Christmas-themed history book and the downplays the camaraderie taking plays between the two sides.  That said, there were some high points to the book.  My two favorite story threads were the ones about the soccer game (also featured in the movie) and a Scottish solider who bicycled behind enemy lines and was teased by the Germans for his supposed "spying."

Over all, the book was okay but I would recommend the movie over the book.  As a side note, after reading this book I can say the movie was for the most part historically accurate.