In February 1943; four thousand Jews went underground in Berlin. By the end of the war; all but a few hundred of them had died in bombing raids or; more commonly; in death camps. This is the real-life story of some of the few of them - a young mother; a scholar and his countess lover; a black-market jeweler; a fashion designer; a Zionist; an opera-loving merchant; a teen-age orphan - who resourcefully; boldly; defiantly; luckily survived. In hiding or in masquerade; by their wits and sometimes with the aid of conscience-stricken German gentiles; they survived. They survived the constant threat of discovery by the Nazi authorities or by the sinister handful of turncoat Jewish "catchers" who would send them to the gas chambers. They survived to tell this tale; which reads like a thriller and triumphs like a miracle. "The author's skillful selection of detail and his narrative drive have created the type of footnote [to history] that illuminates an entire subject." - New York Times Book Review "A tour de force . . . A consummately suspenseful narrative . . . remindful; in [its] exquisite detail; of Capote's In Cold Blood" - Los Angeles Times "An historian's book; a storyteller's book; and - most of all - a reader's book . . . All the real-life stuff of a John le Carré novel" - Los Angeles Herald Examiner
#4833944 in Books McFarland 2013-01-29Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.90 x .90 x 6.90l; 1.05 #File Name: 0786475145264 pages
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. IRISH AMERICANS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMYBy Robert A. LynnIRISH AMERICANS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMYSEAN MICHAEL O'BRIENMCFARLAND COMPANY; INC. PUBLISHERS; 2007QUALITY SOFTCOVER; $29.95; 256 PAGES; MAPS; APPENDICES; PHOTOGRAPHS; ILLUSTRATIONS; MAPS; CHAPTER NOTES; INDEXIrish immigrants settled in large numbers in the antebellum South. New Orleans; third largest city in the United States; had the largest Irish population in the Deep South; followed by Memphis; Tennessee; there were also sizeable Irish communities in Charleston; Richmond; Savannah; and Mobile. The Irish were the largest single immigrant group in the South; and an estimated 40;000 served in the Confederate armies.The Irish thought of themselves as loyal Southerners. Through determination and hard work; they had carved out a niche for themselves in Southern society; Irish Catholics were more accepted here than in the North; were active in the Democratic Party; and participated fully in political and economic life and military affairs. Many of them saw a direct parallel between the South's war of secession and the struggle of Irish nationalists against Britain.Many Irish Catholics in the South claimed that Northern abolitionists were hypocritical to condemn slavery while turning a blind eye to the treatment of Irish immigrant workers in Northern factories. More to the point; working-class Irish feared that an emancipated labor force of blacks would compete with them for the heavy work on the docks; canals; and railroads.Caught up in the euphoria of secession fever; existing Irish volunteer state militia companies quickly stepped forward to offer their services to the Confederacy; and new companies were raised. While the Union fielded entire regiments of Irish-Americans; the organization of Irish units in the South was confined mostly at the company level. They formed distinctive ethnic sub-units; which often performed skirmishing duties or protected the regimental colors.There weren't enough Irishmen in the South to organize a complete brigade like the Union's Irish Brigade but one of the most famous was the 6th Louisiana Volunteer or Louisiana Tigers. It suffered heavy losses at Port Republic as well as at Antietam and Fredericksburg. They also fought at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg in 1863 and the Wilderness and Spotsylvania Court House in 1864. As a result of their difficult and dedicated service; fewer than 75 of the original 1;000 members of the regiment remained in the ranks when it surrendered with Lee in Appomattox in April; 1865. Other famous Irish Confederate units served throughout the South; representing eight of the eleven Confederate states. These included the 5th and 10th Tennessee Infantry; and Irish companies in the 1st Georgia Volunteers; the 1st Virginia Infantry; the 1st South Carolina Infantry; the 8th Alabama Infantry; and the 1st Missouri Brigade.IRISH AMERICANS IN THE CONFEDERATE ARMY is an original and significant contribution to the war's literature; especially to the many different ethnic groups that fought in this country's bloodiest conflict. The Irish that fought for the Union are well known but not much about the Irish that fought for the Confederacy. Author Sean Michael O'Brien's book goes a long way to correct this by introducing many of the Irish personalities and their units that haven't received the publicity they rightfully deserve. In light of the 150th Anniversary of the conflict; this book belongs on any serious student's personal library.Colonel Robert A. Lynn; Florida GuardOrlando; Florida
