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Their Darkest Hour

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Their Darkest Hour

Laurence Rees

2007

It's hard to mark a book like this as four stars, since it's a harrowing rather than a purely enjoyable read. Nevertheless, it's a phenomenal work that really complements the author's other accompishments. It's a series of interviews with people involved in various aspects of World War 2, including both victims an victimisers, and tries to get them to open up about their experiences and motivations. Some of the people appear in Rees' other books, notably "Auschwitz, the Nazis, and the Final Solution," and one can read these extended interviews in the wider context of their experiences. Rees doesn't shirkthe dificult questions but also doesn't give in to facile equivalences either: ha asks whether the Allies' bombing of civilians and the Nazis' destruction of the Jews are in any way equivalent, and manages to nail the key differences without naively exculpating the Allied pilots.

The characters introduced include a SMERSH interrogator, a concentration camp guard, a man forced to work as a human minesweeper, a cannibal, an actress in propaganda films, and a woman nearly killed by her own mother in the aftermath of the Red Army's sweep through East Prussia. Taken together they offer a balanced portrait of people tested to the limit by their circumstances, bringing out the best and worst in themselves.

4/5. Finished 25 May 2013.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Basics of space flight

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Basics of space flight

Dave Doody

2011

If you've ever wanted to understand the theory and practice of space flight, this is the place to start. It's an extremely friendly introduction that starts from the basics -- the solar system, the planets, comets, and other phenomena -- and works out from there to a full description of mission planning and execution.

The treatment of orbits and orbital mechanics is particularly strong: I have a lot of maths and physics in my background, and the explanation here is way simpler than you'll find in any textbook. IN fact it's the perfect introduction before diving into the maths if you want to, and there are pointers in the text to the appropriate web sites and other sources.

All in all a great introduction to a subject that still has the power to fascinate.

4/5. Finished 02 May 2013.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)