Survivors club: the true story of a very young prisoner of Auschwitz

Bornstein, Michael and Debbie Bornstein Holinstat. Survivors club: the true story of a very young prisoner of Auschwitz. 2017. 352p. 452 mins. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Born in Zarki, Poland after the German invasion of September 1939 at the beginning of the Second World War, Michael Bornstein has known nothing but war, and the Jewish oppression and extermination is nothing out of the ordinary for him. His father, an accountant before the war, was appointed as president of the Jewish Council by the occupiers. Through skills and luck, he managed to make life bearable for most of the Zarki Jews, and kept his family together. Michael’s father, mother, grandmother, and brother continued to live in their house until the Germans decreed that Zarki was to become Jew-free. Even then, they were able to stay behind with the clean-up crew for a few more months, as rumors of resettlements in the East turned to confirmation of death camps where Jews were being massacred and incinerated.

Eventually, the Bornstein family’s luck ran out. First transferred to a munitions factory, they were soon put on a train to Auschwitz where both Michael, his mother and his grandmother were separated from his father and brother, who perished in the Nazi gas chambers. Though only four years old, Michael’s mother managed to keep Michael hidden and safe for months. Her deportation to Austria to work in another munitions factory left Michael and his grandmother alone in the most notorious death camp. Michael was once again saved from death when he became sick enough that his grandmother, in despair of losing her last family member, smuggled him in the infirmary where he experienced a bed all to himself for the first time in his life. The next morning, the Germans were gone and the Soviets arrived. Wanting to achieve a propaganda victory over the Germans, the Soviets filmed Auschwitz’s surviving children showing their tattoos and gauntness, and Michael’s image was immortalized.

Michael and his grandmother returned to Zarki after the war, and reconnected with their family. His mother survived as well, and eventually they made it to the United States in the early 1950s where Michael became a successful academic and researcher. It wasn’t until decades later that Michael, watching a movie, realized that he was one of the children in actual footage of the war.

Working with his daughter, Michael retells his story from the fragments he remembers. Supported by archival research, Michael’s experience shows that wit, love and looking forward can keep hope alive even when it seems hopeless. Listen to a segment discussing this book and Michael’s experience here, and check out the book on Overdrive.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Treachery

Sheinkin, Steve. The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism and Treachery. 2010. 337p. ISBN 978-1-59643-486-8. Available at B ARN and as an audiobook on Overdrive.

No figure in the history of the American Revolution is more reviled than Benedict Arnold, the man who agrees to betray his country and plotted the end of the Revolution for a large sum of money. Born in January 1741, Benedict Arnold was frail. Even as a small child, Arnold wanted to impress those around him, and felt that he needed to eclipse his father’s many failures. Through dedication and hard work, Arnold managed to redress the family finances and became prosperous. Married with three children, Arnold ran a successful Connecticut shipping company, but still wanted more.

An opportunity presented itself when the British made a series of political blunders while trying to collect taxes from its American colonies. Angry colonists gathered to protect themselves and their properties, until the flames of revolution was ignited with a British march to Concord and Lexington. Hearing of this momentous event, Arnold assumed command of the New Haven militia, and he marched out with his troops to support the nascent Continental Army. Despite never having fought, Arnold was shrewd and came up with a plan to seize the guns of Fort Ticonderoga and use them to dislodge the British from Boston.

Through subsequent action, Arnold made a name for himself for bravery and boldness, yet also attracted an increasingly higher number of detractors who could reproach him his lack of patience, his short fuse, and his capacity to enrich himself at the expense of the institutions he represented. Bold assaults on Quebec, the delay of the British reconquest of Lake Champlain and his bravery on the field spread his name far and wide, but he eventually garnered the ire important Pennsylvanians. With past decisions catching up with him, and with his financial situation in disarray, Arnold reached out to the British, who dispatched Major John André to negotiate a treacherous act: Arnold agreed to turn over Fort West Point to the British. With the Fort, which controlled the upper Hudson River in their hands, the British would have effectively cut off the colonies in two, and might have ended the Revolutionary War in their favor.

Unfortunately the plot failed, André was caught and executed as a spy, and Arnold escaped, joining the British as a general but then forced in exile in England, where he died in 1801. A man who could have been known as one of the greatest military heroes of the United States instead became synonymous with treason and bad judgment.

Engaging and packed with action and adventure, Arnold’s story continues to fascinate and intrigue readers. Fans of historical events and of military prowess will appreciate Arnold’s strength but will ultimately feel sorry for a man who made the wrong decisions.

Under a War-Torn Sky

Elliott, L.M. Under a War-Torn Sky. 2003. 288p. ISBN 9780786817535. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

During the Second World War, crewmen aboard American bombers flying over Europe had to complete 25 missions before being able to return home. On average, however, a crewman could expect to live through 15 missions before being shot down, killed in action, or captured after parachuting out of a flaming plane. Nineteen-year-old Henry Forester left his home in Virginia and his abusive father to join the bombing squadron. He always wanted to fly, and now he copilots a B-24 Liberator over Nazi-occupied Europe, bombing military and transportation targets. In March 1944, Henry is ready to board the plane for his 15th mission, and he realizes that statistically this might be his last one.

His plane and crew head for Southern Germany to bomb a ball-bearing plant when his plane is shot down by German fighters. Henry manages to escape and helps the wounded pilot out of the plane, but then loses sight of him. Crashing to the ground, he hurts his ankle and has difficulty walking. Hidden by a Frenchman, he is taken to neutral Switzerland. There he is informed that he can either remain here as a prisoner of war of the Swiss, or he can attempt to escape back into occupied France to make his way to Spain, thence to freedom. Not knowing how long the war will continue, and aware that his presence in Switzerland puts him in danger if the Germans attack, he decides to make the attempt.

As he travels through France, Henry encounters villains ready to turn him to the Germans for money or for a false sense of patriotism. He also meets people ready to risk their lives to help him escape and rejoin his own family. Through it all, Henry grows up and eventually realizes that his father, though abusive, has shaped up his life and has provided him with enough experiences to survive a total war. With D-Day and Americans landing in the North, can Henry and the Resistance resist the Germans long enough to ensure an Allied victory?

An adventure of survival against the odds, this book pairs well with Unbroken and Louis Zamperini’s story of survival as a bombardier in the Pacific theatre during World War II.

The Rise of ISIS: The Modern Age of Terrorism

Kennon, Caroline. The Rise of ISIS: The Modern Age of Terrorism. 2017. 104p. ISBN 978-1-5345-6056-7. Available at 956.05 KEN on the library shelves.

In the last ten years, no other organization has challenged modern Western society more than ISIS. The rise and partial fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria contributed to the emergence of decentralized and radical terrorism and has led to an increase in anti-Muslim incidents in the United States and around the world. Following the invasion of Iraq, many Iraqis opposed the American presence. Inspired by Al Qaeda, several individuals formed an organization called Al Qaeda in Iraq and fought against the Americans. Over time, this terrorist organization was severely crippled and its leadership removed multiple times, yet it adapted and grew until it controlled significant portions of Iraq and Syria. In the process it abandoned its allegiance to Al Qaeda, which it deemed not aggressive enough, and pursued its expansion and stated goal of establishing a caliphate.

Denounced by Muslims around the world, ISIS still attracted disaffected youths to the battlefields of Syria and Iraq. Military offensives have been necessary to push it back and to destroy its operational control of oil fields and cities. Pushed out of its last city stronghold, ISIS is once again crippled, but not yet defeated. This book provides a history of ISIS, from the world events that inspired its creation to how it rose in power and potency. Measures taken to deal with this threat are discussed, and an explanation of its social media strategy is given. Finally, photos illustrate life under ISIS and in surrounding areas.

Students of history and those interested in learning how a terrorist group came to occupy significant territorial portions of Iraq and Syria will appreciate this comprehensive introduction to one of the world’s worst terrorist organizations.

The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial

Goodchild, Peter. The Great Tennessee Monkey Trial. 115 mins. ISBN 9781580815581. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

In 1925, the state of Tennessee passed a law that criminalized the teaching of evolution. Fundamentalist and evangelical people applauded this decision to only use the teaching of the Bible in the science classroom, but others opposed this law. The ACLU actively looked for a science teacher willing to become a case test to support the First Amendment’s freedom of religion. John Thomas Scopes, a science teacher from the small town of Dayton, worked with the local school board and elected leaders to bring this case to court, so that Dayton would economically benefit from such a trial.

Legal heavyweights assembled on both sides, with William Jennings Bryant, a three-times presidential candidate and evangelical favorite for the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow, a famous New York defense lawyer, defended Scopes. Over the course of the trial, the evangelical position was undermined by arguments made in court by Bryant and Darrow. Though Scopes was eventually found guilty at the state level, the negative publicity that this court case had brought the state of Tennessee, coupled with errors by the trial judge allowed the Tennessee Supreme Court to overturn the case on a technicality and prevent the certain appeal the defendant wished to make in Federal Court. However,

This audiobook features a reenactment of the actual court case based on court transcripts, and reveal the depth of convictions on both sides. The debate surrounding the separation of Church and State continued for decades afterwards, and remain present to this day, with controversies surrounding “Intelligent design.”

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

Opdyke, Irene Gut and Jennifer Armstrong. In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. 2008. 304p. ISBN 9780553494112. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Growing up in Poland, Irene never thought her country would be attacked. But when German tanks roll across the border on September 1, 1939, she decides to fight for her country. A nurse in training, Irene joins the tatters of the Polish Army and hides in the forest until she is captured by the Soviets, who have invaded the eastern side of Poland. Raped by the soldiers, she is sent to a Russian hospital as a prisoner. When her body heals enough, Irene resumes her work as a nurse and helps the wounded. When sexually assaulted by the hospital director, Irene manages to run away with the help of a kind doctor, and finds refuge with one of his colleagues deep in Russia.

When Irene gets wind that Polish prisoners are allowed by German authorities to return to Poland, she makes the dangerous trek back to the border and after another arrest by the Soviets manages to board a train taking her back home. She is soon reunited with her family, and everyone has survived the conflict. Because she looks and speaks German, she gets a job working in a hotel for German officers. She begins to witness atrocities against the Jews, with the local ghetto abutting the hotel. Irene decides she must help the Jews as much as she can, and she provides them with food.

Her life changes again when Germany invades Russia in 1941. At first the front moves forward quickly, and Irene finds herself returning to the site of her first imprisonment. Working for the major in charge of the ammunition plant, Irene manages to move several Jews in comfortable working positions so that they can escape the harshest work. She soon discovers that Hitler’s Final Solution is about to strike, and she saves many of her friends by having them live in the basement of the major’s house. She continues to help local Jews and partisans, but as the Russians begin pushing back and the front moves closer, Irene is forced to withdraw.

When the war ends, she manages to return home, only to be arrested by the Soviets again as being an enemy of the state for her partisan activities. Escaping one more time, she first arrives in Germany, then eventually emigrates to the United States.

Not Jewish herself, and considered not dangerous because she was a simple girl, Irene manages to not only save herself, but also many others. Her legacy of courage and dedication in the face of evil continues to inspire to this day.

The Great Fire

Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. 1995. 144p. 151 mins. ISBN 9780439203074. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Sunday October 8, 1871 was a day like any other in the great town of Chicago. People had been out enjoying church, spending time with their families, or working in one of the many industries scattered through town. The weather had been extremely hot and dry for this time of year, and no measurable precipitation had fallen in months. With most of the city built of wood, fires were a constant danger and several procedures had been developed over the years to prevent widespread destruction. When a fire erupted in the barn of the O’Leary family in the southern part of Chicago, it spread quickly to adjoining structures, but all witnesses assumed that it would be put out quickly like the fire that had struck the city the previous day.

The alarm was triggered, and firefighters responded. A series of human errors led them to the wrong place, and by the time an effective firefighting force was assembled it was too late. Despite their best efforts, the harsh winds quickly spread fire from house to house, even leaping over the river to the other side. By Monday morning, the extent of the destruction was clear to everyone. Chicago had been ravaged by the fire, which continued to burn. It would take 36 hours to finally control and put of the fire, but by then over 79,000 buildings had been destroyed and more than 100,000 people were homeless. More than 300 people perished.

With the city devastated and winter fast approaching, measures were needed to ensure that food, water, and shelter were available to the residents who had lost everything. A profound economic recession stopped the rebuilding of the city, and by the time the economy improved six years later new fire and construction codes were in place, ensuring that new buildings would be fireproof.

The riveting story of the Great Fire of 1871 will fascinate readers of history as well as those who are interested in catastrophes and disasters. Fans of this book should take a look at Blizzard of Glass, the destruction of Halifax, Canada, during the First World War by what was at the time the largest man-made explosion in history.

The Alamo

Nardo, Don. The Alamo. Part of the World History series. 2013. 103p. ISBN 978-1-42050861-1. Available at 976.4 NAR on the library shelves.

With Americans spreading westward in the 1830s and Mexico imposing its own law following its independence from Spain, the two powers were bound to confront each other. The spark that lit the fuse was the desire of the new Mexican dictator, Santa Anna, to disarm all state militias and collect weapons so only the federal Mexican government had an army. Texians, however, were opposed. The population of Texas having changed in the 1810s and 1820s as Americans moved in droves for free land, a majority now felt that the far away Mexican government was taking their rights away.

When a Mexican army entered the state, it headed to San Antonio, where it was switfly defeated in a siege by the local militia. Santa Anna himself took command of another army and marched to San Antonio. The Texians who had seized the town shored up the Alamo, an old Catholic mission, and were ready to defend themselves and their families. As Santa Anna’s army approached, messages were sent to request help, but none came.

Over the next thirteen days, the siege of the Alamo became widely known in the United States. Texians bravely resisted, but were eventually overrun and all defenders perished. The Alamo’s fall sparked outrage and galvanized the state militias, which, under Sam Houston’s leadership coordinated their efforts and successfully defeated Santa Anna. This led to the area’s independence from Mexico and the establishment of the Republic of Texas.

Many famous people, including Davy Crocket and Jim Bowie perished at the Alamo, leading to the battle cry “Remember the Alamo!” Though the memory of the event remained in the nation’s consciousness and was made into movies countless times, the building itself was not maintained and eventually fell in disrepair, until steps were taken to secure it for posterity. Though a defeat, the Alamo directly impacted American politics, leading to the spread of slavery in the southwest, and changed American culture to provide the model of rugged American individual standing up for his rights.

Tanks of World War II Up Close

Dougherty, Martin J. Tanks of World War II Up Close. Part of the Military Technology: Top Secret Clearance series. 2016. 224p. ISBN 978-1-5081-7086-0. Available at 623.74 DOU on the library shelves.

Tanks were born in the crucible of World War I where crossing No Man’s Land and breaching through rows of barbed wires and trenches. The vehicles were slow and lightly armed, as their primary function was to escort infantry. This mentality prevailed all the way to the beginning of World War II, when the Germans employed armored vehicles in the hundreds to break through lines and pierce several miles behind enemy lines. Suddenly, armored vehicles were no longer support vehicles but full combatants in their own rights.

American, British, and Russian development took note of the German success on the Western front and began developing better armored and armed vehicles. Whereas at the beginning of the war a 37 mm gun was considered enough, it soon proved to be ineffective against newer tank designs, and both the size of the gun and the size of the vehicle increased to accommodate additional armor, crew, and ammunition.

This book presents the major tanks and armored vehicles used by both sides during the war. Each vehicle features specification, a short history, a three dimensional rendering of the vehicle, and actual war photos showing it in action. A table of content and an index allows to quickly access specific vehicle. Fans of military history and of the Second World War will appreciate the meticulous research that went into creating this book.

Waking in Time

Stanton, Angie. Waking in Time. 2017. 360p. ISBN 978-1-630790707. Available at FIC STA on the library shelves.

 

It’s a new chapter in Abbi’s life. She’s heading to college. On her way there, Abbi stops by her grandmother’s grave. The most important person in Abbi’s life, she died before her granddaughter moved to her alma mater, the University of Wisconsin. The day after Abbi receives a hat box filled with grandmother’s memories, she wakes up in 1983. Abbi meets Professor Smith, a physics instructor, who reassures her they have met in the past, and he is working on preventing her from traveling through time. And he tells her there is one more time traveler. On her next jump back she meets Will, who also travels in time, but in his case he jumps forward. He tells here they’re an item and fall madly in love in the past. As Abbi jumps backward, she discovers that she her fate and that of her family is tied to Will and to Professor Smith. Can she hang on to her true love when they travel in different directions?

Stanton creates an intricate and well-crafted tale with the added twist of a second time traveler in the opposite direction. Abbi and Will’s growing relationship is enhanced by the time travel effect, with one party always knowing more than the other about what has happened, whether in the past or in the future. The setting itself is limited to the Liz Waters dormitory and surrounding areas of the campus, but each time period is well researched. Enough hints are present throughout the story to suggest what will occur, but the it remains filled with mysteries and revelations that will surprise the reader. Fans of Kierstin Gier’s Ruby Red trilogy and of time travel will enjoy Abbi’s travels

The Old Brown Suitcase

Boraks-Nemetz, Lillian. The Old Brown Suitcase. 2008. 202p. ISBN 9781553800576. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Slava leads a charmed life. She is loved at her house in Warsaw, Poland. She dances in music recitals. She has a younger sister. Her father is a prominent lawyer. But the Nazis have seized power in Germany, and war is threatening. When it finally breaks out, Slava and her parents soon find themselves in the Jewish ghetto, despite not being practicing Jews. As conditions worsen, her sister is smuggled out of the ghetto to a Christian family for safekeeping. Following Hitler’s decision to liquidate the ghetto, Slava herself is smuggled out of the ghetto and sent to the country to live with her grandmother, who married a Christian and is relatively safe. But Slava must pretend to be a niece, instead of a granddaughter.

Reunited after the war with her parents, Slava discovers that her sister did not survive. The family emigrates to Canada, and discovers that adapting to a new country is as hard, if not harder, than surviving the Nazi war machine. Not speaking the language, Slava becomes Elizabeth and enrolls in 9th grade, despite being the oldest student. She struggles with English, Math, and Science, but excels at Latin and French. Bullied for being different, and encountering anti semitism even in Canada, Slava eventually manages to catch up in her schooling. She meets a nice boy, and she discovers what her new life has to offer.

Slava’s story is told in alternating eras, her life in Canada as a teenager and her life in Poland as a child. Through it all she carries a brown suitcase, given to her by her father as a present. From her escape away from the ghetto to her arrival in Canada, Slava relies on the suitcase to carry her meager possessions until one day, she realizes she has outgrown it and no longer needs the security it provided.

Readers who like Holocaust stories will appreciate Slava’s drive to survive as a child and thrive as a teenager.

Cicero

Lowery, Zoe and Fiona Forsyth. Cicero. Part of the Leaders of the Ancient World series. 2017. 112p. ISBN 978-1-50817258-1. Available at B CIC on the library shelves.

The most prolific writer of the ancient Roman world, Marcus Tullius Cicero played a major part in the transformation of Rome from a Republic to an Empire, and lost his life in the process for choosing the losing side. A contemporary of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, Cicero lived from 106 BCE to 43 BCE, when he was assassinated under the direct order of Octavian. Known for extensive letters and books which covered daily Roman life, Cicero was also a Senator, a scholar, a poet and a lawyer. Recognized as the best orator of his era, Cicero’s ability to motivate crowds is one of the reason he lost his life. Cicero’s personal life thus follows the ups and downs of the collapse of the Republic and the bid of several strong men to take control of Rome, until Octavian successfully crowned himself Augustus.

Fans of Rome and of its dysfunctional political system will appreciate how Cicero was able to exploit, and ultimately fell victim to, a system designed to administer a city, and not an empire.

Taxation: Interpreting the Constitution

Mapua, Jeff. Taxation: Interpreting the Constitution. Part of the Understanding the United States Constitution series. 2015. 112p. ISBN 978-1-47777-504-2. Available at 343. 73 MAP on the library shelves.

Benjamin Franklin famously once claimed that there were only two things that were for certain in life: Death and taxes. The history of taxes in the United States is a long one, and led to the creation of the country. During colonization, all funding to operate military personnel was provided by the British Parliament and the King, but as wars drained the treasury, the King sought to replenish his coffers by imposing taxes on the colonists so they finance their own defence. Colonists opposed these demands under the claim that since they were not represented in Parliament they should not be taxed, and eventually called for independence.

Having secured peace, the new fledgling government sought to fund itself through various import tariffs and taxes on various products. Several tax rebellions took place and eventually led to the abandonment of the Articles of Confederation and instead a new Constitution was created which allowed for the direct taxation of individuals and corporations.

Various World Wars, recessions, and other events forced the adoption of wider tax schemes. Today, taxes remain as contentious as they were over two hundred years ago, with heated conversations about the role of government and how much, or how little, taxes should be raised to pay for services voters want.

This book does an excellent job of summarizing two centuries of debates central to the country’s operation. The information is presented in everyday language. Many of the Supreme Court’s decisions on taxes are reviewed and analyzed for their impact on the government’s ability to raise funds through taxes. Finally, the future of taxes on the Internet is speculated. Those interested in this discussion will appreciate the overview and coverage taxes are provided in thsi book.

Beyond the Bright Sea

Wolk, Lauren. Beyond the Bright Sea. 2017. 283p. ISBN 978-1-101-99-485-6. Available at FIC WOL on the library shelves.

Placed in a boat shortly after her birth, the baby girl was cast at sea. When found by a solitary man living on a small island off the larger island of Cuttyhunk, which is part of the Elizabeth chain of islands, the girl was named Crow. She not only survived in Osh’s gentle hands, but thrived and became an inquisitive girl.

At 12, Crow has spent her entire life on their island, living in a makeshift house but not wanting for anything. Everyone on Cuttyhunk assumes she came from Pekinese, Massachusett’s only leper colony, and treat her as a leper even though she has no symptoms. Crow has always been curious about where she came from, but both Osh and her other friend, Miss Maggie, who lives across the sandbar from them, has told her not to look into her past too closely as surely nothing good will come of it.

When Crow begins digging, however, she comes upon a dangerous mystery that involves a treasure left behind by the famous pirate Captain Kidd. Others are also searching the treasure, however, and as Crow seeks to unravel her past it throws the present into turmoil, with Osh, the father who is not her father, concerned that their relationship might change if she discovers who she truly is. But as she explores the dangerous past of the leper colony, Crow realizes that home and family are what you make of it, and not what others tell you they ought to be.

Beautifully written, Crow’s story will be appreciated by readers who enjoy a light mystery and those who like historical fiction.

Small Arms Up Close

Dougherty, Martin J. Small Arms Up Close. Part of the Military Technology: Top Secret Clearance series. 2016. 224p. ISBN 978-1-5081-7082-2. Available at 623.44 DOU on the library shelves.

When the first firearms were developed, it represented a leap in warfare technology. Though not very effective, these weapons were deadly when used by trained personnel. Over the last five hundred years, small arms have developed into potent weapons used in every conflict around the world and by many people to protect themselves, their families and their properties.

This book describes some of the most widely known hand-held weapons, from the U.S. military’s M16 of the Vietnam era to the infamous Russian AK-47. These weapons are represented in a graphics format offering a 360 degree view, along with technical specifications and a brief history of each weapon, including how it was developed and its intended uses.

Fans of military history and of weapons will appreciate the thoroughness of this book and will gain a better understanding of the role these weapons have played in conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Warplanes of World War II Up Close

Jackson, Robert. Warplanes of World War II Up Close. Part of the Military Technology: Top Secret Clearance series. 2017. 2016. 224p. ISBN 978-1-5081-7078-5. Available at 940.54 JAC on the library shelves.

The birth of the airplane at the beginning of the 20th century led to its utilization as a war machine during the First World War, and legends were made. But for all of their prowess, these airplanes were slow and more of an afterthought of army leaders on all sides of this conflict. It is not until Hitler’s invasion of Poland triggers the beginning of the Second World War that the airplane truly comes on its own as a machine of death and destruction.

The airplanes imagined in the 1930s, from the famous Royal Air Force Spitfire and the Japanese Mitsubishi Zero to the lesser known German Messerschmitt Bf 109, all began the war as technological marvels, but as the conflict progressed and tactical situations on the ground changed, these aircrafts were quickly surpassed by better armored and equipped airplanes possessing longer range and the ability to conduct electronic warfare. The evolution of bombers wrecked havoc on civilian populations and military installations, and in turn new fighters were constructed to chase and shoot them down.

This book presents 34 of the best known airplanes of the Second World War through three dimensional models providing a 360-degree view. Technical specifications are included, as well as a short history of each airplane’s development and successes during the war. Fans of the Second World War will enjoy reading about these deadly machines.

The Countryside in the Roman Empire

Lane, Allison. The Countryside in the Roman Empire. Part of Life in the Roman Empire series. 2017. 80p. ISBN 978-1502622617. Available at 937.06 LAN on the library shelves.

Roman patricians and poets portrayed life in the countryside as idyllic, but for the vast majority of people this was not the case. Though living in the countryside differed depending on one’s location within the Empire, for the most part it involved a hard life farming a land that never produced enough to allow people to get ahead. Farmers worked year round. Children immediately began taking care of chores to help the family out. Whereas the work day in the city was fairly short, in the country farmers worked the entire day, from sunrise to sunset as there were always tasks that needed accomplishing.

With an average lifespan of under thirty, Romans in the countryside experienced hard living. Though lauded by city folks for providing the Empire with enough food, farming was backbreaking labor. The rise of large estates also led to a decline in small farm holdings, reducing the number of owners along with their drive to maintain their properties. Both men and women worked on the farm and accomplished many chores. Whereas men had the possibility to hunt and fish, women focused on weaving and childrearing, as well as ensuring that the farm household ran smoothly.

Life in the countryside was not all trials and challenges, however. There were many holidays celebrating farming and agriculture. Farmers and their families generally also enjoyed more space and better food than their city counterparts. And there were more opportunities for children to play than in the city.

Other titles in this series include The City in the Roman Empire, Patricians in the Roman Empire, and Religion in the Roman Empire.