World War II
Destination: Portugal Book: A Small Death in Lisbon by Robert Wilson The intense drama of A Small Death in Lisbon zigzags between the 1940′s and 1990′s and between a Nazi thriller and a police procedural, but the focus is always Portugal, and mostly Lisbon.
Destination: Albania Book: Chronicle in Stone (org. 1971, NEW paperback edition) by Ismail Kadare This amazing novel by a former Man Booker Prize winner brings to life Gjirokastër, a city on the southern edge of Albania, near the Greek border. The events during World War II in this city provide a microcosm of the shifting bands of conquerors [...]
Destination: Paris Book: The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene (NEW May 2011) The sad period of the occupation in France during World War II intrigues me. I wonder about the ability of ordinary people to survive the gigantic disruption of their lives. I wonder about the choices people made–some to risk their [...]
Let’s play word association. What do you think of when you hear “Memorial Day”? Okay, hands up, who said “Sale?” Those of you whose hands are not up—you’re showing your age. In the small town in Ohio where I grew up, the cemetery was up on the hill behind the Church of Christ. It [...]
SURPRISE! Our regular Wednesday feature, The Great American Road Trip paused for a holiday break. Promises to come back in 2011. Don’t know where the road trip went, but since it was in Wyoming (With a beautiful story) last time we visited, maybe it’s caught in a snowstorm. But we’ll take a look at a newly [...]
France on Friday Destination: France Book: Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky (Published in French, 2004/English 2006.) Traveling in France, it was impossible to imagine the life of French people during the German occupation of World War II. And then I read Suite Française. Irène Némirovsky brings to vivid life the actions and reactions of ordinary, [...]
Continue reading about A Question of Survival in Occupied France
DESTINATION: Guernsey, the Channel Islands, Great Britain BOOK: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2008) by Mary Anne Shaeffer and Annie Barrows A GUEST POST by Anne-Sophie Redisch
On Memorial Day, a museum on Main Street in Fredericksburg, Texas, draws a big crowd as lives lost in war are commemorated. Dignitaries lay 50 wreaths, each honoring a unit or ship that served in World War II.
A story about our great-grandfather, a Civil War veteran and his letters home.
Continue reading about Veteran’s Day: Books That Travel Through History
