Reminiscing about Books #6

My last post was on the literary riches of 2011, but the next year was no different. In truth, because I read a book per week (sometimes two), 80 percent of them aren't worth blogging about. BUT the "cream" that floats to the top makes it all worthwhile. 

In 2012 I read a mix of theology, biography, detective fiction, and classic children's literture. I read my first Betsy-Tacy book, and was enchanted. (Review here.) Andrew Murray's book on The Two Covenants was profound, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the Old Testament (and for how all of it pointed to the future reality of the Cross.) I reviewed it here.

I rarely read modern titles, but Unbroken by Lauren Hildebrand was so highly tauted that I caved in. I could hardly put it down! (Review here.) Another WWII favorite that year was Helmet for my Pillow (reviewed here). 

I love books, but am very careful to wait for good deals so that I can stay within my budget. Anyway, when I heard about The Truest Fairy Tale, based on the writings of G.K. Chesterton, I went against all my financial principles and sent away for a copy. It was worth it! (Reviewed here.) 

The last two highlights were Elizabeth Goudge's The Dean's Watch (reviewed here), and the Lord Peter/Harriet Vane mysteries by Dorothy Sayers. (I reviewed the first book, Strong Poison, here.) What a glorious year!

Blessings,

What I Read and Watched in October 2025

One of the items on my schedule recently was to fly to Sri Lanka and speak at a few events planned by my sister who is a missionary there.

The 20-hour trip allowed me to watch more than my usual quota of movies so I was able to watch three that have been on my radar for a couple of years. "Sullivan's Travels" (1941) had come highly recommended by Anthony Esolen (in his monthly newsletter "Word and Song"). It managed to be quite funny while still addressing some serious issues. "The Miracle Club" (2023) is a story about four women who leave Dublin to go to Lourdes seeking healing for various maladies. Mostly, they just need healing for their brokenness. Will God grant a miracle? Or is it all false propaganda? The movie shows that there is more than one way to be cured. It was especially poignant for being Maggie Smith's last performance.

The final in-flight movie was "The Great Escaper" with Michael Caine, the true story of an 80-year-old WWII veteran who flees from his nursing home in England to attend D-Day celebrations in Normandy. Caine is brilliant in the role and I loved the conclusions made about the value of a life well-lived. (Please note that airplane movies are often edited to be more family friendly so I do not know if the original movies had bedroom scenes or heavy profanity.)

I was able to do quite a bit of reading during my travels and enjoyed two Ngaio Marsh titles: Surfeit of Lampreys (#10 in the Roderick Alleyn series) and Death and the Dancing Footmen (#11) both of which were excellent mysteries.

When I got back to Brazil, I read two books about WWII in the movies, and watched a film (on YouTube) from 1943 called "First Comes Courage" about a female spy in Norway. It had its cheesy moments, but it was VERY suspenseful.

I also enjoyed an abridged version of Emma, wonderfully narrated by Emma Thompson.

Finally, I had a glorious serendipitous moment this month. I've been reading three fables a week from Ovid's Metamorphoses. On a Monday I read the story of Pomona, a woman gardener who I had never heard of before. On Tuesday, I was reading a Richard Crashaw poem about rotten apricots and he blames Pomona (!) Later I saw a reference to her in Little Women.

Don't you just love the literary life?

Blessings,

Pages from a WII Chaplain's Diary by Clarence E. Walstad

I am a huge fan of WWII memoirs and was delighted to recently discover Pages from a WWII Chaplain’s Diary.   

At 40 years of age, successful Lutheran pastor, Clarence Walstad, enlisted in the army as a chaplain, leaving behind his wife and their three young children. These are the touching letters he writes to Ruth describing his 2 ½ years of army life.

The overriding theme of the letters is his desire for the men in his outfit to come to saving faith in Christ. As his ship nears North Africa, he writes: (4/14/43) The morale of the men is good. Wonderful facilities are provided to keep them occupied. They have access at all times to shelves of books, magazines, parlor games, several pianos, victrolas, etc. But ultimately, morale must depend, not on escape mechanisms, but upon the ‘soul that is fixed on God’ by faith.

One of his early assignments was to work in a hospital unit in Morocco connected to a German and Italian POW camp. In July of 1943, he tells a poignant story of playing his autoharp in his office and having the men in the hospital tents begin to sing along with him. Many of these POWs understand a little English, he wrote. All could follow the music. Because many of the Lutheran hymns he knew had been translated from the German, some prisoners joined in the singing in their own language. We harmonized on “Fairest Lord Jesus”, “Oh, Sacred Head now Wounded”, “When I Survey”, and then ended up by singing “Silent Night” in five languages. Several of them broke down as the familiar strains floated out on the night air. Afterward I spoke to them a little to say that though we are enemies there are some things we all have in common: home, mother, God and the love of Jesus, who came to earth that Christmas Eve. Poor lads, they too believe in the cause for which they have been suffering in this malaria infested hole, for almost two years.

Later he is attached to army units in France and Germany where the men are fighting and he has little opportunity for church services. I was complaining to my boys today that there just isn’t an awful lot a chaplain can do here these days as it is suicide to gather men in groups. But one of the fellows spoke up and said, “Chaplain, just seeing you around when the shells are flying, is a help.” One of the soldiers attached to that unit spoke of it as “an awesome sight to see that big man (6’4”) crawling from foxhole to foxhole with a message of comfort and encouragement from the Lord to frightened and anxious soldiers during the heat of battle.”

Walstad’s devotion to his calling, his unstinting acts of service, and his cheerful acceptance of hardships made for heartwarming letters that bolstered my faith.  Without a doubt, this will be one of my favorite books of the year.

Blessings,

He Goes Before Them by Meredith Helsby

I am a huge fan of P.O.W. memoirs, so when my sister told me about this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it.

Meredith and Christine Helsby arrived as missionaries to China in 1941. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th brought an abrupt end to their language study classes and marked the beginning of fifteen months of house arrest. Later they were transferred to the “Weihsien Civilian Assembly Center” in Shantung Province with their two-year old daughter, Sandra. Because they were civilians being guarded by civilians, they did not receive the brutal treatment so famously recounted in other P.O.W. memoirs. (Japanese soldiers reportedly had only disdain for Allied soldiers who were “cowardly” enough to surrender and treated them accordingly.) Though the Helsby’s captors were often gruff and unfair, the prisoners’ greatest depravations came from lack of good food and medical care.

At times the story is told from Meredith’s viewpoint and sometimes from Christine’s. They write winsomely of how the Lord brought them through many trials.

He Goes Before Them was fascinating to me on various levels. First, because the Helsbys were able to maintain a vibrant faith in the midst of tremendous adversity. Second, because they were imprisoned with Eric Liddell of “Chariots of Fire” fame. Christine writes of Liddell's godly influence on the young people in the camp and of the tragedy of his death (caused by a brain tumor) in Februrary of 1945:

Funerals in the Weihsien prison camp were common enough during those dreadful days, but there was no funeral like Eric’s. The wave of sorrow which swept over Weihsien was unbelievable. His was by far the biggest funeral held in the two and a half years of our stay in the camp. Impressive was the fact that not only the missionary community attended his funeral, but many others whose lives he so powerfully impacted. Among them were the usually cynical business people, city government administrators, and even prostitutes. His unassuming naturalness had given him rapport with everyone he met. 

The final reason I enjoyed it was because after the war, the Helsbys served in Taiwan and were good friends of my parents. Growing up I always thought of them as a sweet missionary couple, little dreaming of the tremendous suffering they had experienced. 

Blessings,

Pied Piper by Nevil Shute

John Howard is a 70 year old Englishman in need of a rest. He travels to a village in France, never dreaming that war would soon be arriving at his doorstep. As he seeks to return to England, he is asked by another couple in the inn to take their two children with him. He reluctantly agrees, knowing he is too old for the task, but not willing to leave the children where they will be in any danger. Like the Pied Piper of the original story, Howard accumulates other needy children along the way. 

How he gets them through Nazi-occupied France makes Pied Piper a hair-raising tale, but what struck me most about the story was the small graces that were extended to him and the children along the way. Along with incidents of sickness, hunger, and  stolen luggage, there are also moments when they were given a meal, a hayloft to sleep in, or a broken down pram in which to carry their few belongings. Just as the responsibility of caring for all these children of various ages and nationalities becomes overwhelming, Howard encounters a young woman who insists on coming with him to help. 

The story of his faithful, honorable, self-giving love for the children would have been a good enough story in itself, but the addition of Nicole, adds a beautiful element to the story. Not only does she help with the children, the two of them help each other grieve various losses. 

This is a lovely, lovely story that I look forward to revisiting in the future. My experience was greatly enhanced by the narrator of my audio book, David Rintoul, who not only spoke French beautifully, but also did a bang-up job with voices of the women and children.  

This is my first Nevile Shute novel and I'm a bit afraid to try another since his other books have very mixed reviews (except for A Town Like Alice, which appears to be a classic). Have you read him? Do you have a favorite?

P.S. I found two movie versions on YouTube but neither do the book justice. The 1942 version makes John out to be a buffoon (which he definitely is not), but the other actors were very good; the Peter O'Toole version was better, but not great. Read the book!

Blessings,

A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus

I avoid modern books as a general rule, but kept hearing rave reviews of A Place to Hang the Moon by Kate Albus. Thankfully, I found I could listen to it for free via Hoopla, and have been devouring this wonderful story for the last few evenings. 

William, Edmund and Anna are siblings who were evacuated from London at the beginning of WWII. Their home life had been unhappy and they have learned to look out for each other. They find solace in each other's company and in books. It's heartwarming to read of their favorites such as Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, Wind in the Willows, Anne of Green Gables, etc. There is even a reference to a "new" book called The Hobbit (first printed in 1937). 

The eldest, William, is only twelve, but has had to act as parent to the other two. He is determined to keep them together in their new surroundings. The book recounts the difficult circumstances they face and how each child grows in self-understanding and empathy. One of their only friends is the village librarian who is an outcast for being married to a German (who has mysteriously disappeared).

It's a delight from start to finish with its good writing, its glorious images (book-lined rooms, warm fires and cups of hot chocolate to name a few), and its well-drawn, vivid characters. Most of all it shines as a story of second chances. 

The problem with audiobooks is that you can't write down all the good quotes, but I managed to scribble this comment from Chapter 3: The first words of a new book are so delicious - like the first taste of a cookie fresh from the oven and not properly cooled.

This story gave me a "book hangover" (the first time in ages that I've had one) that kept me pondering how the children were doing days after I finished the book. This is a ripping good tale! (I'm glad I heard it read by Polly Lee in her wonderful British accent.)

Blessings,

The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom

Sometimes reading non-fiction is like taking a vitamin pill. I do it because I know it's good for me, but my appetite naturally runs toward a well-written story. In The Hiding Place there is no dichotomy between the two. It tells the true story of Corrie ten Boom and her family's work in protecting Jews during the Nazi occupation of Holland. It chronicles their quiet life as watchmakers and how they became involved in the Dutch underground. The dangers they face increase with every chapter. 

Early in the book a young Corrie cries out to her father that she doesn't want him to die. He comforts her by reminding her that when they travel on a train together, he gives her the ticket just when she needs it to board. So, also, God gives the grace to face each trial just when it's needed. That conversation set the tone for the rest of Corrie's life. With each new trouble, God provided the necessary strength. 

The first chapter recounts the 100th anniversary of the watch shop and Corrie writes, It was a day for memories. A day for calling up the past. How could we have guessed as we sat there - two middle-aged spinsters and an old man - that in place of memories we were about to be given adventure such as we had never dreamed of? Adventure and anguish, horror and heaven were just around the corner, and we did not know. O Father! Betsie! If I had know would I have gone ahead? Could I have done the things I did? 

The book is chock full of wonderful stories, some humorous, some horrifying, but all pointing to God's faithfulness. As I read, I grew to love Corrie's wise and good father, her beauty-loving and gracious sister, and especially Corrie, herself, who was used powerfully by God in spite of her doubts and shortcomings. She never brags. Much to the contrary. Every line of the book seems to say, "If God could use me, He can use anybody." I can't give more details without spoilers so I'll close with a hearty five-star recommendation. If you want your faith in a powerful, miracle-working God to grow, this is the book for you. 

Blessings,

The Barbed-Wire University by Midge Gillie - Part Two

In last week's post I described G.I. ingenuity in prisoner of war camps. This week I want to focus on just one aspect of The Barbed-Wire University, the importance of the printed word.

Whereas European POWs could order books from home, it was not until March 1945 (after the war in Europe had ended!) that the British Red Cross even began planning to send books to the Far East. Book lovers had had to fend for themselves throughout the war. In some camps libraries were formed. The only requirement for membership was to contribute a book toward the stash. But prisoners were often forced to hand over their books to the censor shortly after capture.

The assortment of available books was eclectic to say the least. Fiction by A.J. Cronin, Daphne du Maurier and Richard Llewellyn were in demand, but bored men would read whatever they could get their hands on. Stephen Alexander remembers reading Gone with the Wind, War and Peace, The Musical Companion, Life of Samuel Johnson, some Dante, and The Oxford Book of English Verse. Childhood favorites such as Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, and Winnie the Pooh were in high demand as read-alouds: As they lay exhausted and starving in their makeshift huts, Alice's transportation to a world of shrinking bodies, summary executions and exotic creatures from which there appeared to be no escape, must have seemed less of a flight of fancy than their own transformation from guardians of one empire to slaves of another. (544)

Artist Ronald Searle held onto his precious books as long as possible, but when forced to march in temperatures of 105 degrees, he lightened his load by discarding his least favorites and by removing the covers of his most treasured volumes. In some Thai camps books were in such short supply that they were cut into pieces so that 12 men could be reading the book at the same time.

Those who loved books had to protect them from smokers who used every piece of available paper to make home-made cigarettes. Paper was so scarce that the chaplain had to give permission for them to use pages of the Bible for this purpose, "after they read it, of course." I found it fascinating that pages of the Bible went up in smoke before any pages containing recipes since food fantasies were everyone's favorite mental escape.

Also of interest is this article on How WWII Turned Soldiers into Bookworms.

Blessings,

The Barbed-Wire University by Midge Gillies - Part One

Many books about WII prisoner of war camps emphasize the tortures, deprivations, and hair-raising escape attempts; Midge Gillies offers a different aspect of POW life by highlighting the daily activities of the captured allies. What did they do when they weren't obsessed with surviving? Well, it turns out, quite a lot.

One Far East POW described their work as "soul-destroying, heart-breaking labor" for which they were paid ten cents a day. Survival was as much about finding mental release as physical endurance. In many detention camps the men turned towards books and classes to relieve their minds of their suffering. By learning new skills and uncovering talents, they stole back some of the months and years that the war had robbed them of. Study kept boredom and depression at bay and it offered a hope that the years in captivity would not be entirely wasted.

Author James Cavell wrote of his POW experience in WWII: "Changi became my university instead of my prison. Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life -- the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting." Amid the hundreds of skills that soldiers imparted to one another were sewing, Roman history, Arabic (and a dozen other languages), pig-farming, accounting, painting, chess, shorthand, and acting. (Denholm Elliot and Clive Dunn pursued acting careers after the war.)  POWs from many different backgrounds enriched each others' lives with their treasure troves of knowledge. 

Painting done in captivity by Terry Frost

Terry Frost had enjoyed art as a hobby before becoming a European POW. In camp he was invited to join a group of artists. Frost later described the camp as a 'university' where he found a pleasure in reading and listening to music and poetry. Painting portraits introduced him to men he might not otherwise have spent time with and who assumed that, because he could paint, he would enjoy other art forms. One man invited him to listen to Beethoven on a Red Cross gramophone. He went to poetry readings and all kinds of plays, and listened to different kinds of musical instruments. He heard (read out loud) books sent by the Red Cross, anything from the classics to an autobiography of Henry Ford. Frost absorbed geography through a map on the wall. All around him men were studying and it was impossible not to be sucked into the process. As he lay on his bunk he listened to someone reading Paradise Lost, while he tested a man in the bed behind him on his German verbs. In the background there was a constant sound of men gambling. (pp. 244-245)

It is important to remember the huge difference between the prisoners held by the Germans and those held by the Japanese. European POWs had access to books, letters from home and Red Cross parcels - and a one percent death rate. Some of them studied law, took exams in the mail and became lawyers after the war. Most POWs in the Far East had few books, letters and packages and twenty-five percent died from malnutrition and tropical diseases. It was a good thing that Gillies wrote of the European prisoners in the first section of the book because once she described the deprivations of the FEPOWs, the others' hardships appeared trivial in comparison.

A fascinating book!

Blessings, 

Miracle on the River Kwai by Ernest Gordon

Of the twenty P.O.W. memoirs that I've read, Ernest Gordon's Miracle on the River Kwai is my favorite. Published in 1963 it recounts Gordon's three years in a Japanese concentration camp in Thailand.

I was drawn into the story by the splendid writing. Phrases like Age, sun and sea had made his face a thing of wrinkled splendor and Apathy and listlessness settled over Bapong Camp like a miasmic fog, made my heart sing. But I kept reading because of the mesmerizing stories of faith  being lived out in the harshest of circumstances. 

Gordon was a young Scotsman whose pre-war life included college studies and yacht racing. When WWII broke out, he became an officer in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Captured after the fall of Singapore, he is taken to work on the Thailand/Burma Railroad. Japanese engineers calculated that the railroad would take 5 to 6 years to complete because of difficult terrain. But when they received permission to use "disposable" workers, they pushed the timeline to 18 months. The Allied prisoners were worked so hard that they lost all consciousness of time. Was it Tuesday the fourth or Friday the seventeenth? Who could say? And who would care? One gray day succeeded another - with no color, no variety, no humanity. Misery, despair and death were our constant companions. As conditions steadily worsened, as starvation, exhaustion and disease took an ever-increasing toll, the atmosphere in which we lived became poisoned by selfishness, hate and fear.

It was every man for himself until a miracle of grace occurred. Gordon had suffered from a number of diseases (diphtheria, beriberi, etc.) and had lost the use of his legs. A friend built him a little shack and arranged for him to leave the Death House (the hospital hut where men went to die). Another man, a quiet young Methodist named Dusty Miller, came daily to bathe and feed him. Dusty also massaged his legs and squeezed out the pus-filled ulcers. As Gordon "came back to life," a general regeneration was going on in the camp. Several men gave their lives to save others. Stories of their self-sacrifice began to outweigh tales of Japanese cruelty.

Gordon's view of Christianity had been that it extracted the bubbles from the champagne of life, leaving it insipid, flat and tasteless. While still recovering from his illnesses, he was asked to lead a religion class. Is there meaning in life? Does faith in Christ make any difference? He did not have the answers but he had a New Testament, which he read and discussed with the men.

He goes on to describe how the atmosphere in the camp changed as the men began to serve one another. The filthiest job in the camp was to collect the used ulcer rags, scrape them clean of pus, boil them and return them for future use. After a man named Dodger came to faith, he took on the job with joy. The last portion of the novel shows the transforming power of God's love in mens' hearts. A very inspiring read.

P.S. Gordon does not describe the torture and hardship in as much detail as other P.O.W. memoirs so this might be a good book for the squeamish. Also, because I loved the book so much I sat through the profanity-laden two hour movie version. (The book title was changed to To End All Wars to accommodate the 2001 film.)  It added lots of people and horrific situations that were not in the book, and isn't nearly as eloquent or satisfying.

Blessings,

Mission at Nuremberg by Tim Townsend

Can thoroughly evil men be redeemed? That was the key question for the administrators and lawyers connected with the trials of Nazi war criminals after WWII. Did they deserve spiritual help? Would they even want it?

Some wanted to exterminate them without a trial since their guilt was so obvious. But others felt a trial was important because it distinguished between revenge and punishment. Gordon Dean (press spokesperson for the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials) wrote, "The concept that guilt should be fairly ascertained is so embedded in the charters of civilized countries that we cannot afford to abandon it here simply because the guilt is great."

Based on the religious rights clause of the Geneva Convention, Henry Gerecke, a Lutheran pastor from St. Louis, was called to minister to the Germans on death row. He felt that God was the ultimate Judge and that the earthly guilt of his "congregation" was of no significance as far as he was concerned. His only duty was the care of souls. He asked God to preserve him from any prejudice against those who spiritual care had been committed to his charge.  Some wondered how he could comfort these Nazis who had caused the world so much heartache? How could he minister to the leaders of a movement that had taken millions of lives? He was even criticized for shaking their hands on their first encounter. But he was operating on the principle, "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water."

What follows is a fascinating story of 22 men during their last weeks on earth. Thirteen of them attended Gerecke's daily services. Four attended Catholic mass and five refused all spiritual counsel. Some repented and some went to their deaths declaring themselves innocent of all wrong-doing.

Although the facts behind this book were gripping, the prose was often lacking.  (I have found this to be true with most WWII non-fiction.) Because the recorded spiritual conversations between Gerecke and the prisoners fill only about 6 percent of the book's 300 pages, Townsend had to put in A LOT of filler. He gives 150 pages of background (including the grades the chaplains got in college) before Gerecke actually meets his prison congregants. In Chapter 9 he meanders through his odd understanding of the Old Testament. In another chapter he writes extensively about the Lord's Supper.

Still, I'm glad I gave this book a chance. I was impressed that these men were given a fair trial in spite of the overwhelming proof of their guilt. I was touched by Gerecke's life and that he took the eternal destiny of these men seriously enough to dedicate himself to their care. Most of all I was amazed at the miracle that God did in the hearts of some of the men.

P.S. Exceptions to dry WWII non-fiction are Lauren Hillenbrand's Unbroken, Robert Edsel's The Monuments Men, Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow, and anything by Ernie Pyle.)

Blessings,

Worthwhile Movie #15 - The Railway Man

I rarely like a movie more than the book on which it is based, but Railway Man is one exception. I read the book a few years ago and felt the conclusion was flimsy.

It tells the story of a young soldier in WWII, tortured by his Japanese captors. After the war he spends many years planning how he will take revenge. But when he finally meets his arch enemy, things turn out quite differently. Yet the motivation for forgiveness is never quite clear.

That's where the film fills in the blanks. The movie invents quite a bit of drama regarding the reconciliation of Lomax and Takeshi, which makes the reconciliation more believable.

I like films that are more cerebral than action-packed and this one does not disappoint. (Although mercifully few, the flashbacks of torture scenes are very violent. Pressing the mute buttons helps me to get through them.) The filming is excellent, the dialogue good, and the acting understated. I've heard mixed reviews on Colin Firth's acting ability, but he plays the silent sufferer to perfection. Nicole Kidman is quite good even though the film makers were unsuccessful in making her look like a plain housewife.

Unbroken, To End All Wars and Jacob De Shazer's personal testimony are more satisfying stories than the one by Lomax, but I highly recommend this film to fans of WWII POW history for it's fine filming, excellent dialogue and redemptive truths.

Guarded by Angela Correll

Annie is a world-traveller who loses her job and has to move back to a small town in Kentucky to live with her grandmother. She meets up with an old friend and their relationship quickly turns into something more. While renovating an old house, old letters are found beneath the floor boards. Guarded is the story of secrets and hidden fears that come to the forefront.

Frankly, my expectations were low because most Christian fiction is hard to swallow. But Correll's book was a nice surprise. Unlike most Christian novels, the writing was good, with nary an awkward sentence to make my scratch my head and wonder where her editors were.

People have Bibles, go to church, and pray, but faith is never forced or awkward. There is romance, but it isn't the only focus of the story. The lost/found letters lead to an adventure for Annie and her grandmother that brings healing to old hurts, which makes this light read very satisfying.

The story was engaging and the characters likable. I have to admit at floundering a few times with knowing who was who. It might have been helpful to have read the first book, Grounded, but it was not essential.

This is a nice deal: 99 cents on Kindle.

WWII Book Giveaway

For the next few weeks I'll be giving away some of my World War II books. The first one is The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust by Martin Gilbert, which is about Gentiles who helped Jews during the war. It's a fascinating book. (My review is here). To enter please leave a comment on the Worthwhile Books facebook page.

Contest ends Wednesday, Oct 21st.

U.S. addresses only.

Good luck!

The Scarlet and the Black by J.P. Gallagher

A statue of Father O'Flaherty in his hometown of Killarney

A few months ago I reviewed the movie, The Scarlet and the Black, and now that I've read the book, I'm not sure which one I like better.

Both the book and film show the dangerous games played to outwit the Germans as they hunted for escaped POWs. The film was very true to the book (except when it was necessary to combine several characters into one person) and covered all the main incidents. The book, on the other hand, fleshed out the characters, added a few extra hair-raising events, and ended differently. Whereas the book highlighted hundreds of acts of kindness done by O'Flaherty at the war's end, the movie condensed them into one huge act of mercy. Frankly, I loved both endings.

The book does a better job of explaining why there were hundreds of POWs roaming around the Vatican and also explains why the Italians were so willing to look the other way when O'Flaherty and others hid them. Gallagher shows how O'Flaherty's audacity and trustfulness were balanced by the caution and discernment of the others in the rescue organization. His descriptions of the resourcefulness of butler John May from the English embassy had me chortling all the way through.

Get this title if you enjoy stories of heroism on the homefront.

The Righteous by Martin Gilbert

Martin Gilbert's The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust gives an account of the thousands of gentiles who helped the Jews during the Holocaust. Many of us know the names of the more famous rescuers (Schindler, Wallenberg, Corrie Ten Boom, etc.), but Gilbert highlights hundreds more.

He divides the book by countries, which makes for a fascinating study of how different areas in Europe reacted to the Nazi mandate to exterminate the Jews. Some caved in and turned in their Jewish poplulation while others (like Norway) resisted with all their might.

Gilbert writes that there are 19,000 documented "Righteous" but many thousands more whose names will never be known. In fact, for every Jew who was saved at least TEN people were involved either by directly helping or by looking the other way and not reporting them. After the war, one man, Konrade Latte, could name 50 people who had helped him survive. This was more than "doing a good deed" since helping a Jew was punishable by death. When a hiding place was discovered, those in hiding (as well as their host families) were brutally murdered.

By and large most of the rescuers were Christians, but not always. In some cases even anti-semites were hiding Jews as a protest against Nazi savagery. A few rescuers extorted money from their "guests" and turned them out when the money was gone. But most of the stories are about poor people who were willing to share the little they had with those in need. Huge numbers of Jews spent the war hiding in pits under barns and village houses, only coming out at night to get fresh air.

How could 450 pages of statistics and unpronouncable names (Wladyslaw Liszewski, for example) be so compelling? I have to admit that after awhile some of the stories started to run together, but, honestly, reading list after list of rescuers and rescued showed a magnitude of mercy that was staggering.

It was astounding to read that none of the Righteous thought that their actions were out of the ordinary. It was astounding that many were prepared to die for people they hardly knew. It was astounding that many parents handed their babies to complete strangers as they marched off to concentration camps with complete faith that their children would be taken care of. (One huge question in my mind was, "What happened to all those parentless children after the war?")

If you are interested in WWII and also in this fascinating slice of Holocaust history, I recommend this book.

Stay tuned because I'll be giving it away to one of my readers when I head to the U.S. this summer.

The Two Mrs. Abbotts by D.E. Stevenson

It's been a long time since I've swallowed a book in one gulp, but after finishing a huge project last week, I did just that.

The Two Mrs. Abbotts  is the third book in the Miss Buncle Series. It re-visits several favorite characters and presents a few new ones. Jerry Abbott, who was introduced in Book Two is the main character and Barbara Buncle (from Book One) pops in occasionally.

The story takes place in 1942. Jerry's husband, Sam, is off to war and she and her friends are doing the best they can with the food shortages and child evacuees from London. There are no big adventures, just normal people coping and helping one another, which makes it a cozy book.

Though Stevenson is listed at Wikipedia as an author of romantic novels, that's not entirely true. She wrote books that were realistic with a little romance thrown in. In fact, one of the fun themes of this book is the silliness of romance novels.

Though not a Christian book, The Two Mrs. Abbotts has lovely biblical allusions that show that Stevenson was probably brought up listening to the Bible. Some of these were quite funny like when the military move into their house and Jerry and Markie are limited to the sitting rooom where "they live and move and have their being."

Good writing, biblical allusions, references to life on the homefront during WWII, and memorable characters make this another favorite of 2015.

Reviews of the previous books are here and here.

Worthwhile Movie #11 - Unbroken

We all know the movie is never as good as the book, but the movie Unbroken is still worth your time.

Quite a few Christian movie critics said it fell short of the book, especially with regards to Zamperini's conversion to Christianity. But looking at it from a secular angle, it was surprisingly faith-filled. Several people in the film are shown praying. Evil is shown as evil and it is conquered. The movie ends with a clear indication of Zamp's change of heart toward his enemies. And, best of all, the Christians in the movie are not made to look like complete imbeciles.

Did I have to shut my eyes through some of the more violent scenes? Yes. Was there swearing? Yes, but it was unusually restrained for a war movie. Was it a story full of hope and courage in spite of incredible circumstances. Absolutely!

Lastly, it was visually stunning. Some of the images were dazzling in their symmetry and perfection. Kudos to director Angelina Jolie for not over-cluttering the film with dialogue in places where the screen shots could speak for themselves. Though definitely not a "chick flick," this would be a good date movie.

Some Survived by Manny Lawton

What is true heroism? On the battlefield it is when men put their lives on the line for the good of others. But what about off the battlefield? In Return From the River Kwai surviving the horrors of a Japanese internment camp during WWII constituted heroism. I don't want to undermine the courage and resilience of those men, but, as I said in my review, I am uneasy with heroism being equated with survival. (I wrote another book review on heroism off the battlefield here.)

Manny Lawton's Some Survived recounts many of the same events as Return From the River Kwai: the fall of the Philippines (spring of 1942), the Bataan Death March, the POW camps and the perilous journey to Japan on the "hell ships" (Dec 1944).

Lawton joined the army fresh out of college in 1940 and was stationed in the Philippines when the U.S. declared war on Japan. (The Philippines was attacked immediately after Pearl Harbor.) He and thousands of others marched the 91 miles to Camp O'Donnell. Of the 12,000 men who fought at Bataan, half would die "lonely, cruel, inglorious deaths"over the next six months (p. 37) Four thousand more would die on the death ships. The numbers are staggering. The conditions under which they lived and died are staggering. The fact that anyone could rise above the cruelty and show kindness is even more staggering.

Lawton tells of how it was "every man for himself" in the camps because they were all sick, starving, and dehydrated. Who had time or energy to think of anyone else? He remembers when he was so sick he could barely move. Tom was a barber who cut hair in trade for money or cigarettes, but this same man came over every evening and gave him a shave for nothing. That small act of decency helped restore Lawton's dignity. Another time when he and many others were severely ill with beriberi and couldn't sleep because of the pain, another POW, Warren Garwick, came in after a day of slave labor in the rice fields to massage the mens' legs and feet until they could fall asleep for a few hours.

Another time two men surrendered themselves to be tortured (confessing to a crime they didn't commit) so that the rest of the men would not have to suffer.

As John Toland wrote in the introduction: Captivity brought out the best and the worst. Some men remained indifferent to the fate of others; some gave their lives for their friends; some stole; some gave up food and fought for the rights of others. Many of those who survived did so because of their selfishness. Others, like Manny Lawton, survived because of faith in God, country and their fellow men...It's time we honored these unsung heroes who got no promotions or medals and who endured without losing their humanity.

That is the key. Remaining human enough to show compassion (rather than capitulating to mere animal instincts) made these men heroes to their fellow prisoners.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. It's a story of human depravity, barbarous cruelty, and desperate measures to stay alive. But because of its excellent writing, riveting stories and astonishing acts of kindness, Some Survived is one of my favorite WWII books.

Worthwhile Movie #10 - The Scarlet and the Black

It's been a year since I have mentioned any movies. Mostly because we never have time for them, but also because when we do, my husband and I watch something we already love like Babette's Feast or Henry V.

Recently we watched The Scarlet and the Black, a 1983 made-for-TV movie about a Vatican priest who hides allied fliers (and others) from the Nazis. It's based on the true story of Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty from the book which was originally titled The Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican.

Gregory Peck plays O'Flaherty and Christopher Plummer (of Sound of Music fame) plays Col. Kappler, the S.S. official who is out to stop him. The film does a wonderful job of showing how these two try to outwit each other.

This is a long movie (2 1/2 hours) and the music is a little wonky, but it's well worth it for the powerful story of heroism and undeserved grace. I would suggest renting rather than buying it since the ending can only be astounding once.

Be forewarned. This is a heavy movie. Although mild by today's standards, there is some shooting, one brief torture scene and mild profanities (taking the Virgin Mary's name in vain, which I actually thought was quite funny coming from a priest).
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Part of my fascination with this film was seeing how the Catholic church played a part in Nazi resistance. The book A Higher Call mentions that the Catholic Church took a strong stand against Nazism at the beginning of the war. The film Amen claims that the official Catholic Church did nothing. This film shows that some Catholic individuals were actively involved in saving fugitives from the Germans, but that the Pope did not want to take a controversial stand.

Which of these is the true picture? Anyone know any books that deal with this subject?

P.S. Following Erin's suggestion in the comments, I read the article which led me down a rabbit trail of various books. Three books that turned up are The Pope's Jews ($8 on Kindle) and POPE PIUS XII AND WORLD WAR II: THE DOCUMENTED TRUTH: A Compilation of International Evidence Revealing the Wartime Acts of the Vatican. ($3 on Kindle). Three Popes and the Jews sounds like a comprehensive work, but it's only available in expensive hardcover.