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Loading... ARMAGEDDON (original 1963; edition 1965)by Leon Uris
Work InformationArmageddon: A Novel of Berlin by Leon Uris (1963)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Wow! Just wow! I’ve just started to reread and sometimes read for the first time Leon Uris’s books about World War II (European Theatre) and am just blown away by them. Armageddon is particularly interesting, and one wonders whether certain things in this book are total fiction or whether they are based on fact. Example: the approach toward governing in Berlin (and Germany in general) after the war ended, which is fascinatingly logical. ( ) Here's what I wrote after reading in 1987: "Coincidentally, this story picks up right where War and Remembrance left off. A powerful telling of the Berlin struggle immediately following WWII. How odd that the Russian "Allies" quickly became the enemy! Most memorable characters? The men and women of Berlin who were determined to fight (resist) communism. And, the men and women who "air-lifted" Berlin - the human capacity!!" Well, I now understand that it wasn't so odd for the Allies to come together to fight a common enemy and then become enemies again thereafter ("The enemy of my enemy is my friend"). Still impressed by the story of the Berlin airlift; may be worth reading more about it from a non-fictional perspective (including to not encounters Uris' biases). When I read this as a teenager, I thought it was genius. Re-reading it 40 years later, though--and after extensive reading in the history--I am struck by how racist Uris's representations of Germans and Russians are. The Germans are orderly,obedient, pagan death worshippers; Russians are "Asian," animals, cunning and patient in waiting out enemies. The propaganda of the war years is rampant. This book remains among my sentimental favorites because it's one of the books that provoked my interest in the larger world, but its perspective is hopelessly old-school Cold Warrior, a sort of "Mad Men" of the immediate post-WWII period. no reviews | add a review
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In Berlin at the end of World War II, an American Army officer bears witness to the aftermath of one historic tragedy and the rise of another Captain Sean O'Sullivan distinguishes himself as a courageous soldier in the closing days of World War II, but what comes next tests his deepest reserves of strength and conviction. Sent to oversee the rebuilding of Berlin, O'Sullivan is exposed to the horrific truths of the Holocaust, a shattered and defeated society, and the new threat of Soviet power as the Iron Curtain begins to shadow the city. When Soviet forces blockade Berlin and the airlift begins, O'Sullivan is faced with profound moral dilemmas in an increasingly complicated world. Armageddon is one of the great fictional portrayals of Europe in the earliest days of the Cold War. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Leon Uris including rare photos from the author's estate. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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