Beyond Courage - history in words and photos

 

Beyond Courage: The Untold Story of Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust by Doreen Rappaport.

I’ve enjoyed browsing this book. It accessible for research, for learning about people and events through words and pictures, and yet it could work as a small coffee-table book or simply sitting on a table for students to browse just because it's there.

Almost every page includes pictures of people and places (in both black and white and antique finish), maps, art work by children, and poetry, making the story personal and engaging. No image is disturbing visually, so to have it on display or near students would be appropriate. 

The summary in my catalog states “provides detailed accounts of twenty-one acts of defiance committed against Nazis in Nazi-occupied countries during World War II. “

To connect the history of individuals, and those who acted against "authority," with visual history is the essence of this book.

 The chapters are organized by place – occupied countries – with sub-headings about something specific to that place, time, or people.

The chapters are short, concise, and easy to read and understand, thus the pages turn quickly.

Even a pronunciation guide is included, just before the important dates, notes, and works consulted.  

All this book needs is a soundtrack. 

Fobbit - David Abrams - Operation Iraqi Freedom 2003-2011

 Thank you, David Abrams, for writing Fobbit.

     Although Fobbit is fiction, Abrams spent 20 years in the military and time in Iraq within public affairs. Obviously, he knows something about the military and what is involved within its sphere of communications.  However, with this writing being fiction, he is able to take any liberties he desires with his characters and their circumstances, which provides for an understanding of "life" for those working on base, and their experiences of war, which is not on the front lines.  This book acknowledges those who are involved in the daily activities of war "behind the scenes," and rarely, if ever, covered by the media.    For those reasons, I appreciate this book.

     To keep straight the various characters was difficult to do.  From decisions on deadlines to decisions of life or death, there was a lot of activity amongst many characters within each chapter.  In some respect, though, this was not an issue, since each character had his own situation to try to control, despite the environment and personal and professional expectations.  The internal conflict of some characters about working on base rather than in the field presents a new dynamic not seen in characters of typical books on war. I wonder if this conflict permeates the military and/or if we, as a society, hold double-standards of those in the military. 

     Understanding life and the roles of those working on base was refreshing and enlightening.  Many individuals are involved in daily operations and to support those who are in the field/on the front lines.  Yet, at the same time, as one character notes, some decisions are made easily and without reason or reflection when made within an office, with the strike of a pen, or the click of a box on a computer screen.

     I have read comments that some of this writing has come too soon after the war in Iraq.  However, for civilians in the U.S. and to off-set the media coverage, I think Fobbit and related books are necessary and important to our understanding of such a significant time and piece of history, and the influence on the individuals involved.