I read this book for my Best Sellers class my Senior year. Mrs. Klein came to our school and spoke numerous times before I had even heard of this inspirational story. I wish I had been reccommended this book much earlier in my life. Gerda's story has inspired me to never give up hope in what I truly want. Even when things may seem their worst, they always find a way of getting better. Gerda Weissman Klein is such an inspirational writer. The story of her life during the Holocaust was one that I will never be able to forget. I can think of no greater hero than her. I have always been interested in books relating to this topic and time period. I am so thankful I finally found one this moving. What a great job describing your past! This novel will always remain on the top of my favorite book list!

As a young girl myself who is about to be married, I found myself reflecting a lot on my own life while reading "All But My Life." This story embodies the best of all genres: action, romance, true crime, biography, and even the occasional nod at humor. I recommend this book especially to young women. A lot can be learned from the strengths....and weaknesses of Gerda. She is a brilliant author who knows the way to bring all of the wonderfully eccentric characters and utterly horrific experiences to life. A must read!!

All But My Life is the true story of one girls life during the second world war. Gerda Weissmann Klein writes about her six horrific years and her many brushes of death. She is seperated from her parents after living in their cellar for over a year. The Nazis order the men to one city and the women to another. Once she and her mother reach the town, she is shoved in a different direction. This story displays one teen-agers courage while she was living in Hell. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone, especially those who, like me, love to read and learn about World War Two. Congratulations Gerda Weissmann Klein on the best book I have ever read!

James Conroyd Martin has produced one of the best historical novels I have ever read. The life of Countess Anna Maria Berezowska is wonderfully detailed against the background of late eighteenth-century Poland. There is never a dull moment in this book and you will come to wish it had a sequel by the end. The characters and events are both colorful and fascinating. Anyone who likes history, romance, action or adventure should pick up this book today.

I went into this book a little blindly, not knowing quite what it was going to be about. What I found was a thoroughly impressive tail of romance, mystery, suspense and the incredible history of war-torn Poland during the 18th century. It is remarkable! When I finished, I found myself actually missing the characters, as I often do when I complete a book that has drawn me in so completely. All I can think of to say to the author is "thank you." I feel my life is just a little fuller, with the knowledge that Countess Anna existed, and what she and her people went through. I had no prior knowledge of Polish history, but now feel considerably better educated. Martin shows an impressive mastery of the written word, and an uncanny understanding of the female perspective. This book is a rare gem!

ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I became interested in this book by one of the above reviews stating that "Push Not the River" is essential if you're working on your Polish genealogy--which I am. I was NOT disappointed. Piers Anthony describes this book best, "I am profoundly impressed. Based on fact, "Push Not the River" is a well-written historical romance with all the elements of love, scheming, violence, irony, and tragedy to provide impact, superimposed on the appalling destruction of a nation. The twists of the story and politics are interesting, and the finale is compelling. It left me aching to know more of the subsequent life of Anna--and the manner in which her diary reached the present day. An excellent work."

This book is also great for those interested in Poland and/or Polish ancestry. It really details the history of Poland 1772-1774. It also gives a lot of information about the customs, culture and traditions of both the rich and poor of Poland. I had read Michener's "Poland" and enjoyed it, but I got so much more about the people and culture from this book. Like most of the other reviewers, I'd love to know what happened to Anna and Jan after they returned to their estates!!

I was very happy to see on the website... that St. Martin's Press is going to publish this book in 5/3/03!! It will coincide with Poland's Third of May Constitution. It is currently published by a much smaller publisher, making the book more expensive. Hopefully, St. Martin's Press doesn't change the content.

Sara's Children is an unforgetable lesson and demonstration of human endurance, compassion and evil.

In the telling of the miraculous survival of the holocaust by 5 siblings, the author, Suzan Hagstrom, has spared the reader much detailed graphic horror of the holocaust making the book bearable reading for the faint at heart. As a child growing up during World War II in a military town, I heard whipsers of the Jews disappearing in Europe, saw accounts in the newsreels at the local movie theatre and feared to read and/or see it again.

Suzan Hagstrom did a beautiful job of making the reading of this brave family and their survival a memorable experience. A must read to learn of a terrible time in history and the unbeleivable capacity of man's inhumanity to man.

The mere fact that five children of a family survived the horrendous ordeals of Nazi concentration camps is a miraculous story and one that needed to be told. To be told by an author that has a historian's scholarly approach to researching the facts, as well as having the ability to give an extremely realistic depiction of the Jewish situation, makes this book totally amazing, unlike other accounts of the Holocaust that I have read. At the beginning of the book, there was joy and hope for the Garfinkle family, then terrible evens that took them to the extremes of sadness and despair, to the present time of Sara's surviving children to experience joy and hope once more. Suzan Hagstrom has written a book that is both documented and personalized by her style of writing and her personal interviews with the surviving Garfinkle family that brings the times and the characters together in an unforgettable saga. Suzan's dedication to "telling" this story is amazing, by writing this book in her "spare time". She is to be commended for her excellent work and determination. I will recommend this book to friends and also my book club!

Sara's Children is about the survival of 4 sisters and 1 brother before, during and after the Holocaust. The gradual signs of anti-Semitism are presented in such a subtle and realistic fashion that it's chilling to read. The psychological terror they endured in the camps almost seems worse than the deprivation. In spite of the horrible, depressing subject, this book is uplifting and inspirational because you come to know this loving, courageous family. The fact that they had the strength and faith to survive is nothing short of a miracle. The Garfinkels story needed to be told and they are fortunate to have had Ms. Hagstrom tell it. Her journalistic background really lent itself to the telling of a story such as this as she chronicled the events in such a clear, clean and gripping way. It is very well researched and she has done a wonderful job in reaching her readers.
This book should be recommended reading in high schools.

I rarely read a book after I have seen the movie it was based on because it seems almost akin to reading the final pages of the book first. Why start reading a book when you already know how it ends? When the movie already gives you a mental picture of what the characters are like? When it would be impossible to read the description of a scene, a conversation, an expression, or a mood without thinking first of the director's and screenwriter's interpretation of those things?

I stand by that view, but I also suggest throwing it out the window when it comes to The Pianist.

I was so moved by the film that when I saw this book in a store, I could not help but pick it up. Once in my hands, I could not help but read the first few lines. Once I read them, I could not help but buy the book. And once I bought it, the next day and a half of my life was dominated by the chilling, horrible, graphic and compelling story.

I won't go into an overview of the plot, since my fellow reviewers have covered that territory very accurately. But I will say that this is a rare case where the value of a book is not compromised by the movie -- the story is so well told and the details (most of which the movie screenwriter was forced to leave out) are so evocative and potent that they flow over and around any preconceived notions.

The film is well done, and by all means it should be seen. But don't let seeing the movie deprive you of the pleasure of this powerful book, which illustrates once again what we have known all along -- that great literature succeeds where other art forms fall short.

Initially I had seen the film by Roman Polanski. Being so moved by the film itself, I decided to read the memoirs to see just how different the two were. Surprisingly, I was impressed that the film did stay so true to Szpilman's memoirs -- very rare in film these days.
The memoirs tell the story of a Polish Jewish pianist named Wladyslaw Szpilman. He and his family suffer under the German control and are forced to live in the Warsaw ghetto. When the time comes to be put onto the cattle car trains headed off to Treblinka (unbeknownst to them), Szpilman gets "saved" by one of the Jewish police. From there on, the memoirs talk about the struggle to survive within the ghetto, while working for the Germans, as well as in hiding.
Szpilman wrote these memoirs very shortly after the war was over and his sense of stating things simply as they were is absolutely remarkable. The memoirs do not exude a sense of blame, guilt, or hatred toward anyone; they merely state what was.

A gripping, stirring account of one man's survival through the war years: Wladyslow Szpilman is a Polish Jew whose talents as a pianist help him barely endure the holocaust years of Nazi occupied Warsaw.

The book admirably shows the survival instinct of man: just when it doesn't look like it can get any worse, it does: and yet he is able to persevere with a little cunning and sometimes a lot of luck. Also accurately depicted is the disturbing recurring theme of how evil can grow and flourish in people when there is nothing to constrain it. A "Lord of the Flies " all over again, only on a grander scale.

All in all a compelling read. Well written and hard to put down. Highly recommended!

I got both Maus I & II as a Christmas gift from my Sister! I thought, "A comic?" I never read comics much, even as a kid. And about the Holocaust, no less?

After letting it sit for about a month, I picked it up and read through both books within a day! I couldn't put these books down - they are at the same time memorable, heart-rending and illuminating. Don't make the same mistake I did and wait a month. Read it as soon as you receive it. They both became two of my three favorite books.

Spiegelman delivers a very touching representation of his father's Holocaust experience. Whenever the subject of literature and the Holocaust come up, I recommend it. Most of my friends have read it at my suggestion and they all echo what I've written here.

Maus gives a fascinating look at what the Holocaust was and the effects it left on future generations. Spiegelman gives the reader a look at what people went through without going into too much detail. He uses a style that allows even those not interested in History to become interested in what really happened during the Holocaust. Students of all ages, all majors, and at all levels should read Spieglemans' tale of a fathers journey through concentration camps.

Many people immediately say, "A comic book about the Holocaust?", but the graphic novel is Spiegelman's art and is therefore a very fitting way of representing his father's Holocaust experience. I couldn't put these books down - they are haunting, invading and enlightening - I recommend that both children and adults read this most important collection.

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer by Irene Gut Opdyke is a remarkable autobiography about the life of a Polish woman who risked her life in order to save her Jewish friends. When World War II began, Irene was only seventeen years old; she was a devoted nursing student and an innocent Catholic girl. As Germany took over her country Poland, Irene volunteered to accompany the Polish army as part of the Red Cross. Separated from her family, she was forced to endure harsh living conditions while aiding hundreds of wounded soldiers. A few weeks later, she was seized and raped by Russian soldiers who then left her for dead in the snow. Irene would have frozen to death if a kind woman named Dr. Miriam had not found her and nursed her back to health. When Irene had finally regained her strength, she was allowed to return to Poland, now a part of Germany, to be reunited with her family. It was a joyful reunion, but Irene was stunned by the changes in her hometown, Radom. The Jews had been forced to move into ghettos while the Poles had to live by strict rules. Only one week had passed since Irene had come to Poland when she and her sister were captured and transported to Germany to work for the Reich. She became a domestic worker in a Nazi hotel; there, she witnessed the cruel, monstrous acts that were being committed against the Jews in the nearby ghetto. Overwhelmed with horror, Irene began sneaking food and blankets to the ghetto, as well as transporting runaway Jews in a wagon to a nearby forest. She had also befriended the ten Jewish workers she supervised at the hotel. When she was released from her hotel duties to work in a German major's villa as a live-in housekeeper, she found a way to smuggle and hide her Jewish friends in the basement of the villa. When he discovered them, Irene became his mistress in cooperation for his silence; later, she and her friends managed to escape from him during the Germans' retreat. In 1949, through the acquaintance of an old rabbi, Irene was interviewed by a delegate from the United Nations, and she was accepted to be a citizen of the United States, which is where she lives to this day. Irene Gut Opdyke is the courageous hero of this amazing autobiography. She had started out as a seemingly ordinary nursing student, but she had been separated from her family at 17 and forced to work for her enemies. She was determined to do all that she could to help the Jews after she had witnessed the abominable suffering inflicted on the local Jews. Being sensitive to her Jewish friends' needs, she always put their safety ahead of her well being. She demonstrated extraordinary bravery and heroism throughout her life.

In reading class, we were required to read a book about the Holocaust. I had read a few before, but I thought that they were boring and uninteresting. I thought that I would have to read another boring, uninteresting book.
This book totally surprised me. It was the first Holocaust book I had read that actually had me feeling the emotions of the main character. This book kept me turning pages until the very last word. This person's true emotions were brought to life throughout this book by colorful language and interesting similes and metaphors.
In My Hands is the story of Irene Gutowna, a Polish, Gentile girl, 17 years of age, who starts to work for a restaurant, which is run by Nazis. She never thought of becoming a resistance fighter. But she started small. The restaurant was located right next to the ghetto. Irene began to hide food under a hole in the fence.
Then she eventually did bigger things, leading up to hiding 10 Jews in the basement of a German sergeant's house. He finds out, but keeps quiet. In return, Irene must be his mistress.
This book was very good, and even made me cry. I think that everyone should read it.

This is probably one of the most remarkable stories that I've ever encountered and I don't understand why it hasn't received more attention. My husband and I listened to the audio tape which was beautifully read by Hope David.

IN MY HANDS is the autobiography of Irene Gut, a 17 year old Polish Catholic girl. The book begins with lovely recollections that Irene had of her early life in Czestochowa, Poland, where she was surrounded by her four sisters and loving parents. When the Nazi's invaded Poland in 1939, Irene was living away from her family in Radom where she was studying to become a nurse. When Radom was bombed, the Polish Army had to retreat and asked that some of the medical staff come with them to help take care of the wounded. Irene volunteered to go, and eventually ended up on the other side of Poland which was under Russian rule. Many miles away from her family, and eventually separated from the other hospital staff, Irene faced life alone, and saw the country that she loved controlled by brutes and killers.

At first this young woman saw the worst in the Russian soldiers and later she also met the German invaders who showed her another side of brutality. Despite the threat to her own life, Irene risked everything so that many others had the chance to live. This very inspiring memoir compares to HIDING PLACE the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her family.

Jacob's Rescue is a sad and adventurous book based on a true story about a little Jewish boy named Jacob and his life during the Holocaust. This boy had to live with a family of people he didn't even know, had his name changed to Genyek, and had Nazi soldiers on his tail. Jacob doesn't mean to cause any trouble but because of him the Roslans had Nazi soldiers search their house many times, and he partially caused one of their own kids to die. I liked this book because it was very exciting and it always left you wanting more.

Jacob Gutgeld a 8 year old Jewish boy that lived in Warsaw, Poland. In 1939, Nazis soldiers invaded Warsaw, Poland. Being Jewish wasn't safe anymore beacasue the soldiers were out searching and killing Jews.

Meeting a Christan man name Alex Roslan one day. Alex helped out Jacob by being his new uncle. Since he is moving in with the Roslan he has to leave the rest of his family behind. He might never see them agian. But now he has to live with danger everywhere he goes. To find out if he can managed to stay alive with the Roslan's read this excellent book about Jacob's Rescue, a Holocaust Story.

I would recomend this book to kids of all ages. This is a really good book, it has loads of action in it, and has a very good storyline. I liked this book because you learn lots about the past and how life was in 1939. But I hope that you enjoy this wonderful book.

I realy enjoyed this book called Jacob's Rescue. I really liked it so I would give it a five star rating. This is one of the best books I ever read! It is a true story about a Jewish boy named Jacob in 1943. The Germans are trying to kill Jews. A Polish family named the Roslans hid Jacob in their house. The Nazi troops were thinking that the Roslans were hiding a Jew. I think that it was amazing how the Roslans went out of their way to save Jacob!

This book really helps me learn about the Holocaust. This book is very touching and I wonder how come people treated the Jews like that. I think that the two lovers int his story are very strong and won't give up. They have faith in themselves. That is why thet were not killed. It is also hard to believe that it is a true story. It is so violent and touching that I thought it was make-belive. I really enjoyed this book and I thank all the people that forced me to read it. I really think that Manya and Meyer are two really strong people. I love this book.

This is a marvelous book, and I'm pleased to read the newer reviews and see that it still has an audience. It is an incredible love story that happens to take place in the Holocaust. It also includes a fascinating detective story about how the authors discovered that Chaim survived the war. I especially recommend the book to teenage readers, and I wished that the book had been originally marketed to them.

I loved reading this book, it was hard puting down once I started. It's amasing to think that this is a true story and the holocaust really did happen. Meyer and Mayna were strong and by keeping the faith and not loosing their hope in the struggle to stay alive dunring this time. I could never imagine leaving my faimly knowing that I would never see them again. I think eveyone should read ths book because you get a real feel for what was going on in Germany druring WW11

I read this book before the "trilogy." I found it very dark and stoic, especially when compared with the next Sienkiewicz book I read, "With Fire and Sword." Unlike WFS, it is impossible to like anything about the villains in this story, the Teutonic Knights. For fans of the Teutonic Knights, they are not painted in a very flattering light, so don't buy this book thinking you are going to get a positive perspective on them. For Poles and Lithuanians, it portrays a complex struggle against a well-armed and aggressive neighbor. This struggle ultimately pits a Christian, Moslem, and Pagan coalition of nations against the Teutonic Knights, a multinational Christian force on a "mission from God". A collection of fictional characters interact with actual people and events that surrounded this historical struggle. Some of the themes include duty, honor, sacrifice, vengeance, and forgiveness. I find these characters much darker and more tragic than those of Sienkiewicz's trilogy and I think you can definitely get a feeling of the mistrust between the Poles and the Germans (at least in Sienkiewicz's perspective). In fact some of the parallels between this story, written at the turn of the IX/XX century, and the actual events that unfolded in WWII are actually pretty startling. This is a good book for those who want to get a flavor for XV and early XVI century Polish Commonwealth history, but I would recommend reading the trilogy first.

This book was written in 1900. It took the author over four years to write it. I advise anyone interested in literature, not just historical novels, to get this book. It is a monument of extraordinary literature. It is written sharp as a diamond, and throughout the 800 pages, there is no boring paragraph to be found. The plot is so well thought-out that you will be amazed. The last words of the author in the book are "So to you, sacred past, and to you, sacrificial blood, be praise and honor for ever and ever." Not only do you get a great account of life in the middle ages, but also a detailed and fascinating tale of many memorable characters and their adventures. After you read this, I STRONGLY recommend the trilogy. "With Fire and Sword" is a very different book, but just as good, if not better, than this one. "The Deluge" is a very long book: 1800 pages. But don't let that scare you away -- just like "Teutonic Knights," every page is fascinating. And the last volume of the trilogy is "Fire in the Steppe." Right now, Amazon.com is offering the latter two. Get them. It's worth it. "With Fire and Sword" is not available through amazon.com, though, unless you want to get a used one. You might want to try doing it directly through the publisher, Hippocrene books. Once again, for anyone who loves to read, I recommend all four of these books and all of Sienkiewicz's books. Don't let the long name scare you away. In my opinion, he is the greatest author of all time.

I found this book while doing research on the Teutonic Knights because I enjoy writing fantasy based on medieval themes and I'm planning to visit their old castle at Malbork. Instead of a reference book I found something better--an excellent look at what life was like in medieval Poland, chivalry, and how religion fit into the lives of those noble people.

If you're looking for something with a lot of blood and guts then don't buy this book. It may have some interesting fight scenes but what makes it great is the interaction between the characters. Courtly love is vividly portrayed as well as the relationship between lord/lady and vassel. The integrity of certain knights in contrast to the corruption of others gives the story a sense of realism.

The only gripe I had was due to not being able to pronounce some of the Polish names. I wish the translator included a pronounciation guide for laymen like myself. However this doesn't diminish from the five star rating.

I can't wait to read more titles by this author.

A knighted doctor, Adam Kelno. A Pulitzer Prize winning author, Benjamin Cady. Kelno, after leaving the infamous Jadwiga concentration camp where he was imprisoned for years, has spent the last 20 years working with natives in Borneo, for which he received knighthood, and practicing medicine among the poor in London. Cady has written a prize-winning novel, "The Holocaust" concerning the plight of the Jews in German concentation camps during World War II. He lists Dr. Kelno as one of the prisoner doctors that committed horrible medical experiments on Jewish prisoners. Kelno is suing for defamation. Cady is determined to fight.

Gripping, horrifying and terribly sad, this novel of a legal battle in England brings back in force the horrors of Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" while questioning everyone's humanity in the face of true evil.

Read this book. I recommend it highly.

Dr. Kelno, A Polish WWII hero, saved hundreds of poles in the Jadwiga Concentration camp. A conspiracy brought against him by the communist party unsuccessfully charge him as a nazi war criminal. Twenty year later, in "The Holocaust", Kelno is again accused for these crimes and sues the wirter for libel in front of a british court.

In front of the Queen's Bench, a lot of memories, pains and acts of heroism will be brought back to life...Is the good doctor a victim, a murderer or maybe a little bit of both...

This is a well constructed book. Until far into the book you wonder who is right and who is wrong. Faithfull to his great talent for making his characters seem real, Uris brings us the exemplary life of Kelno and the tormented life of the Author, Abraham Cady.

Never has the horror of concentration camp been displayed with such passion, not, like in a lot of books, as statistics but as human beings suffering way past the gate of the camps.

The paramount comes from the fact they are in a British courtroom where displays of love anger or pity are prohibited. Some of the rhetoric and diplomatic mambo-jumbo displayed by the lawyers and the judge to hide the horror described in the courtroom are just crowning this jewel of a book.

Mr. Uris, may you live for a thousand years and write a book every month for I was seaten in this courtroom, following the barristers strategy, sobbing for the victims...praying for a fair verdict.

Case Close.

Very few times we read a book that makes you wonder what would we have done if we were involved in a similar situation the book relates. I wonder if I would have sympathized with the Nazi, or would just ignore Hitler and his madness?Would I have felt the hatred of a nation or live in unspeakable terror? Would I have believed the horrors of Treblinka and Auschwitz or would I have dismissed them as blatant lies? Would I have believed a former Nazi doctor who performed dangerous medicine in a Nazi concentration camp or would I have believed the numerous victims who were brought to trial to witness against Dr Kelno? Did he expiate his actions by saving lifes in Borneo and improving living conditions for the Ibans? You really have to read the book to reach your ouw conclusions. I have never thought that I would have asked these questions myself. We tend to jump to conclusions sometimes too quickly. Well, Leon Uris doesn't. You have to read this book and feel it yourself. You have to let Uris to take you from Nazi Germany to that court room in UK and witness the trial that I am sure will keep you thinking throughout its entire duration.