Heinz Kohler's Blog, page 5
December 4, 2013
Kindle Countdown Deals
Starting December 6 and lasting for a week, the Kindle editions of two of my books are available at a reduced price of $2.99. Check out My Name Was Five: A Novel of the Second World War and Caution: Snake Oil! How Statistical Thinking Can Help Us Expose Misinformation About Our Health.
Great Christmas gifts, paperbacks also on sale at my websites for the rest of this year, with free U.S. shipping at www.mynamewasfive.com and www.cautionsnakeoil.com, respectively.
Great Christmas gifts, paperbacks also on sale at my websites for the rest of this year, with free U.S. shipping at www.mynamewasfive.com and www.cautionsnakeoil.com, respectively.
November 30, 2013
Sale: Caution: Snake Oil!
Here is a great Christmas gift:
The paperback version of my health advisory Caution: Snake Oil! (list price $24.95) will be available until Christmas at my website for $19.00 with free U.S. shipping. In addition, the Kindle edition is available at Amazon for $3.99.
See www.cautionsnakeoil.com
The paperback version of my health advisory Caution: Snake Oil! (list price $24.95) will be available until Christmas at my website for $19.00 with free U.S. shipping. In addition, the Kindle edition is available at Amazon for $3.99.
See www.cautionsnakeoil.com
Sale: My Name Was Five
Here is a great Christmas gift:
The paperback version of my World WarII memoir, My Name Was Five, (list price $17.95) will be available until Christmas at my website for $13.00 with free U.S. shipping. In addition, the Kindle edition is available at Amazon for $3.99.
See www.mynamewasfive.com
The paperback version of my World WarII memoir, My Name Was Five, (list price $17.95) will be available until Christmas at my website for $13.00 with free U.S. shipping. In addition, the Kindle edition is available at Amazon for $3.99.
See www.mynamewasfive.com
October 29, 2013
The Fussy Librarian
My World War II memoir, My Name Was Five, has been approved for a future daily email of The Fussy Librarian. You may want to check out The Fussy Librarian. You choose from 30 genres, select content preferences and then she sends you daily ebook recommendations. www.TheFussyLibrarian.com
October 26, 2013
Children in World War II
The recent events in Syria reminded me of those insane preparations for a gas attack that we made while I was in school in 1943 Berlin. Every Wednesday, we had to wear gas masks during all of our classes! It's a story I mention in My Name Was Five, but the attached picture, which I just discovered and that could easily have been taken in my school, tells it more powerfully.
July 16, 2013
Caution: Snake Oil!
I want to thank the many GR members who showed an interest in my Caution: Snake Oil! during the recent giveaway. Copies have been mailed to the lucky winners and comments will be appreciated. In addition to the Kindle edition at Amazon, the paperback edition is now on sale with free U. S. shipping at my website, www.cautionsnakeoil.com
July 13, 2013
My Name Was Five
I want to thank the many GR members who showed an interest in my World War II book, MY NAME WAS FIVE, during the recent giveaway. Copies have been mailed to the lucky winners and comments will be appreciated. In addition to the Kindle edition at Amazon, the paperback edition is now on sale with free U. S. shipping at my website, www.mynamewasfive.com
June 5, 2013
My Name Was Five--June Giveaway
This June, I am giving away 10 copies of my World War II book, My Name Was Five. Interested readers can read excerpts at my website, http://www.mynamewasfive.com
The book has engendered numerous reviews in many places; here are 15 early (five-star) reviews that appeared at amazon.com.
Early Reviews from Amazon.com
1) David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
In novelistic form, this is a riveting child's-eye account of growing up in Germany under the Nazis and then, in East Germany, the Communists. Laced with extraordinary photos and posters from those times, it combines memory with testimony. There are chilling SA and SS posters, a shot of the gate of Sachsenhausen concentration camp where the author's father was imprisoned (plus a copy of the camp rules), a required Aryan passport, and much more. We are told how propaganda was taught in the Nazi and then the Communist schools. Berlin in flames is recalled. Useful timelines of events are supplied throughout. The background history in the book is impeccable. Fictional in form, the book is steeped in personal authenticity.
2) Bernard Glassman, Montague, Massachusetts
This is a very important book, especially for many of us who've done a lot of work around lessons from World War II and the Holocaust. It's about the life of a young boy who grows up in Germany during the War, his extraordinary parents, and the terrible suffering he witnesses and endures as cities are bombed into rubble around him and people are killed. Just as Elie Wiesel's young boy's sensitivity arouses our sorrow and pity in "Night," Heinz Kohler's adolescent eyes also see deeply into life and death and life again, and provide us with a new window into that terrible time and place. Bravo to this author for sharing this with us.
3) Eve Marko, Montague, Massachusetts
Heinz Kohler describes a childhood in World War II Germany that is not only eye-opening, but also gripping. This precocious boy bears witness to going to school and growing up in the heyday of Fascism, then enduring loss after loss as Berlin gets bombed and family and friends disappear. It's well written and engrossing, not just as a historical document but as a very personal story of growing up, trying to make sense of what is beyond sense, and finally finding his own way. A beautiful book.
4) Heribert von Feilitzsch, Virginia
“My Name Was Five” describes the Second World War in Berlin from the perspective of a child. In a gripping narrative the author weaves the experiences of the main character together with the larger picture of Germany's road to defeat, destruction, and partial resurrection. He creates a fabric with many dimensions, patterns, and colors. The young boy experiences the effects of propaganda, state terrorism, disastrous war, more propaganda and more state terrorism. He observes the dysfunctional interaction of German culture and education with anti-Semitism, militarism, and destruction. His father is lost in a concentration camp while an uncle supported the Nazis, a dichotomy many families in war have felt. The thread of dysfunction and alienation continues through life in Communist East Germany. This work is an autobiographical eye witness account of a child who, at Ground 0, lived through the three greatest upheavals of our recent history: War, Fascism, and Communism. A must read!
5) Evelyn Bibelot
Certain people, if you loan them this volume, will find it is actually the missing family jewels, as it were, a birthright not heretofore known, but somehow rightfully theirs, and one has to agree. Grandchildren of the World War II generation, from Eastern Europe particularly -- areas where both the Nazis and the Communists swept through their family history -- will likely bury this book where they manage to forget they have it, manage to forget to return it. I'm not sure how many I should have in stock. For me, if World War II and the USSR cast a shadow, this book reveals the thing itself, in very personal terms, and in very specific, well documented terms. You can go straight from the street references to Google Earth and see where the protagonist went to school, where he had to walk to get to his house, and then later you can see where he had to walk to get to the safety of West Berlin, where he had to swim, where the island was he tried to hide without disturbing the cows, I believe it was, and thus drawing attention to his presence. (And you can savor the illustrations and diagrams, the newspaper clippings from German archives, from which the little boy was learning to read -- the book is a visual feast as well.)
6) Ilse Schottky, Stahnsdorf, Germany
A brilliantly crafted story of German history during the Hitler years and beyond. Exhaustively researched, this mesmerizing narrative is a must read for anyone eager to learn about the background and consequences of World War II. Highly educational for the younger generation. Makes a great gift, too.
7) Anita Herzsprung, Greenwood, South Carolina
A fresh and breathtaking novel! It keeps you in suspense from the beginning right up to the last page. The events of the mid-20th century play out in the life of a young boy and his family. Brilliantly conceived and executed, perfect even in details. That makes it also a documentary of World War II; a must read for history teachers and their classes.
8) Linda J. Maloney-Kohler, Montague, Massachusetts
“My Name Was Five” is a very brave book summoning, as it does, a truthful and excruciatingly personal history of World War II, as well as a flawless rendering of PTSD with all of its intractable and terrifying symptomatology, lasting often for lifetimes. This novel is at once an education and an invitation to understand the deeply wounding and too often repeated scarrings of war.
9) David Machowski, Amherst, Massachusetts
Fantastic book, a story captured in a way that the history books and existing narratives do not. A haunting chronicle of the ravages of war, but it being through the lens of a child makes it such an extraordinary read...
10) Marjorie Daysal, Alpharetta, Georgia
Well written, I could not put the book down until I finished it. Excellent, exciting, compelling and educational story.
11) Simone Krohn, Berlin, Germany
The epic events of the 20th century play out in the life of a pilot decades later. A fascinating account of general aviation in the United States and, at the same time, a deeply moving and fascinating account of World War II in Europe and its long-run consequences. A psychological masterpiece, this is a must read for anyone interested in war, psychiatry, and post traumatic stress disorder.
12) Vicky R. Burke, Mills River, North Carolina
A must read for all! I could not put the book down. A real eye-opener as to the horrors of war and the psychological impact on young children and the resilience of those that survive. A very educational book - I would highly recommend this book as required reading in any History or Psychology class.
13) Cheryl Richardson, Wendell, Massachusetts
This book tells of the horrors of World War II from the eyes of a child growing up in Germany. It is a testimonial to the man that wrote it and how you can succeed without having lived in a perfect society. This book should be read in school history classes! Great reading!!
14) Donna van Boom, Amherst, Massachusetts
"My Name Was Five" moved me like no other about Germany and World War II. It begins in February, 1937. The narrator is a very intelligent 4 1/2 year old boy whose father has just been arrested and imprisoned for his anti-Hitler beliefs, and his mother who is determined to prevent her son from becoming "a fine Prussian soldier", says through her tears, "the hell he will". This novel details daily life in Berlin at this time. This is a short list, but there is so much more: his schooling, his neighborhood, his extended family, the humiliations and disappearance of his neighbors and friends and the horror of corpses on the street. His mother is unfailing in her care for him, in her generosity of spirit to those who suffer, and her determination for her son's psychic as well as physical survival. I can't recommend this book more highly. It lingers in the mind.
15) Irmtraud Mertsch, Brilon, Germany
“My Name Was Five” is a moving family story-enthralling, captivating, and beautifully written. Through the eyes of a boy born in Nazi Germany, we learn about the war and its aftermath as if we were right there. What a vivid documentation of the horror and suffering brought on by that war! The book is an amazing account for those of us who lived through those times, but I would equally recommend it for schools and the younger generation because it provides us all with a timely lesson in history that must not be forgotten.
The book has engendered numerous reviews in many places; here are 15 early (five-star) reviews that appeared at amazon.com.
Early Reviews from Amazon.com
1) David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
In novelistic form, this is a riveting child's-eye account of growing up in Germany under the Nazis and then, in East Germany, the Communists. Laced with extraordinary photos and posters from those times, it combines memory with testimony. There are chilling SA and SS posters, a shot of the gate of Sachsenhausen concentration camp where the author's father was imprisoned (plus a copy of the camp rules), a required Aryan passport, and much more. We are told how propaganda was taught in the Nazi and then the Communist schools. Berlin in flames is recalled. Useful timelines of events are supplied throughout. The background history in the book is impeccable. Fictional in form, the book is steeped in personal authenticity.
2) Bernard Glassman, Montague, Massachusetts
This is a very important book, especially for many of us who've done a lot of work around lessons from World War II and the Holocaust. It's about the life of a young boy who grows up in Germany during the War, his extraordinary parents, and the terrible suffering he witnesses and endures as cities are bombed into rubble around him and people are killed. Just as Elie Wiesel's young boy's sensitivity arouses our sorrow and pity in "Night," Heinz Kohler's adolescent eyes also see deeply into life and death and life again, and provide us with a new window into that terrible time and place. Bravo to this author for sharing this with us.
3) Eve Marko, Montague, Massachusetts
Heinz Kohler describes a childhood in World War II Germany that is not only eye-opening, but also gripping. This precocious boy bears witness to going to school and growing up in the heyday of Fascism, then enduring loss after loss as Berlin gets bombed and family and friends disappear. It's well written and engrossing, not just as a historical document but as a very personal story of growing up, trying to make sense of what is beyond sense, and finally finding his own way. A beautiful book.
4) Heribert von Feilitzsch, Virginia
“My Name Was Five” describes the Second World War in Berlin from the perspective of a child. In a gripping narrative the author weaves the experiences of the main character together with the larger picture of Germany's road to defeat, destruction, and partial resurrection. He creates a fabric with many dimensions, patterns, and colors. The young boy experiences the effects of propaganda, state terrorism, disastrous war, more propaganda and more state terrorism. He observes the dysfunctional interaction of German culture and education with anti-Semitism, militarism, and destruction. His father is lost in a concentration camp while an uncle supported the Nazis, a dichotomy many families in war have felt. The thread of dysfunction and alienation continues through life in Communist East Germany. This work is an autobiographical eye witness account of a child who, at Ground 0, lived through the three greatest upheavals of our recent history: War, Fascism, and Communism. A must read!
5) Evelyn Bibelot
Certain people, if you loan them this volume, will find it is actually the missing family jewels, as it were, a birthright not heretofore known, but somehow rightfully theirs, and one has to agree. Grandchildren of the World War II generation, from Eastern Europe particularly -- areas where both the Nazis and the Communists swept through their family history -- will likely bury this book where they manage to forget they have it, manage to forget to return it. I'm not sure how many I should have in stock. For me, if World War II and the USSR cast a shadow, this book reveals the thing itself, in very personal terms, and in very specific, well documented terms. You can go straight from the street references to Google Earth and see where the protagonist went to school, where he had to walk to get to his house, and then later you can see where he had to walk to get to the safety of West Berlin, where he had to swim, where the island was he tried to hide without disturbing the cows, I believe it was, and thus drawing attention to his presence. (And you can savor the illustrations and diagrams, the newspaper clippings from German archives, from which the little boy was learning to read -- the book is a visual feast as well.)
6) Ilse Schottky, Stahnsdorf, Germany
A brilliantly crafted story of German history during the Hitler years and beyond. Exhaustively researched, this mesmerizing narrative is a must read for anyone eager to learn about the background and consequences of World War II. Highly educational for the younger generation. Makes a great gift, too.
7) Anita Herzsprung, Greenwood, South Carolina
A fresh and breathtaking novel! It keeps you in suspense from the beginning right up to the last page. The events of the mid-20th century play out in the life of a young boy and his family. Brilliantly conceived and executed, perfect even in details. That makes it also a documentary of World War II; a must read for history teachers and their classes.
8) Linda J. Maloney-Kohler, Montague, Massachusetts
“My Name Was Five” is a very brave book summoning, as it does, a truthful and excruciatingly personal history of World War II, as well as a flawless rendering of PTSD with all of its intractable and terrifying symptomatology, lasting often for lifetimes. This novel is at once an education and an invitation to understand the deeply wounding and too often repeated scarrings of war.
9) David Machowski, Amherst, Massachusetts
Fantastic book, a story captured in a way that the history books and existing narratives do not. A haunting chronicle of the ravages of war, but it being through the lens of a child makes it such an extraordinary read...
10) Marjorie Daysal, Alpharetta, Georgia
Well written, I could not put the book down until I finished it. Excellent, exciting, compelling and educational story.
11) Simone Krohn, Berlin, Germany
The epic events of the 20th century play out in the life of a pilot decades later. A fascinating account of general aviation in the United States and, at the same time, a deeply moving and fascinating account of World War II in Europe and its long-run consequences. A psychological masterpiece, this is a must read for anyone interested in war, psychiatry, and post traumatic stress disorder.
12) Vicky R. Burke, Mills River, North Carolina
A must read for all! I could not put the book down. A real eye-opener as to the horrors of war and the psychological impact on young children and the resilience of those that survive. A very educational book - I would highly recommend this book as required reading in any History or Psychology class.
13) Cheryl Richardson, Wendell, Massachusetts
This book tells of the horrors of World War II from the eyes of a child growing up in Germany. It is a testimonial to the man that wrote it and how you can succeed without having lived in a perfect society. This book should be read in school history classes! Great reading!!
14) Donna van Boom, Amherst, Massachusetts
"My Name Was Five" moved me like no other about Germany and World War II. It begins in February, 1937. The narrator is a very intelligent 4 1/2 year old boy whose father has just been arrested and imprisoned for his anti-Hitler beliefs, and his mother who is determined to prevent her son from becoming "a fine Prussian soldier", says through her tears, "the hell he will". This novel details daily life in Berlin at this time. This is a short list, but there is so much more: his schooling, his neighborhood, his extended family, the humiliations and disappearance of his neighbors and friends and the horror of corpses on the street. His mother is unfailing in her care for him, in her generosity of spirit to those who suffer, and her determination for her son's psychic as well as physical survival. I can't recommend this book more highly. It lingers in the mind.
15) Irmtraud Mertsch, Brilon, Germany
“My Name Was Five” is a moving family story-enthralling, captivating, and beautifully written. Through the eyes of a boy born in Nazi Germany, we learn about the war and its aftermath as if we were right there. What a vivid documentation of the horror and suffering brought on by that war! The book is an amazing account for those of us who lived through those times, but I would equally recommend it for schools and the younger generation because it provides us all with a timely lesson in history that must not be forgotten.
May 21, 2013
Comments about my latest books
MY NAME WAS FIVE is a powerful tale of war and its aftermath that draws upon the author's experiences during World War II as well as later ones when he logged thousands of flight hours as a commercial pilot. As early readers put it, the book is "unflinching, stark and painfully compelling," "a psychological tour de force," "a haunting chronicle of war and its aftermath," and "a riveting child's-eye account of growing up in Germany under the Nazis and then the Russians; laced with extraordinary photos and posters from those times, it combines memory with testimony." [Paperback since 2010, Kindle edition since 2012] More detail available at http://www.mynamewasfive.com
CAUTION: SNAKE OIL! was inspired by the author's concern with the proper design and execution of observational studies and controlled experiments -- both prone to many potential errors and abuses -- and his eagerness to show how careful scientists can use these statistical procedures to find the truth about health-related claims and how the rest of us, properly equipped with a few statistical tools, can gain crucial insights from the daily flood of medical news, while escaping mere hype and outright lies. The book has been hailed as "one of the most impressive and eye-opening books about your health you will ever read" and as "finally a book that empowers its readers to navigate safely the minefield of conflicting and confusing medical claims." As other readers put it, "put this one high on your list; enter the world of evidence-based medicine; learn which stories to believe, which to take with a grain of salt, and which to discard without a second thought" and "an authoritative and fascinating book, beautifully written in a style to which we can all relate; a must-read for anyone seeking credible health information in print or online."
[Paperback since 2010, Kindle edition since 2012]. More detail available at
http://www.cautionsnakeoil.com
CAUTION: SNAKE OIL! was inspired by the author's concern with the proper design and execution of observational studies and controlled experiments -- both prone to many potential errors and abuses -- and his eagerness to show how careful scientists can use these statistical procedures to find the truth about health-related claims and how the rest of us, properly equipped with a few statistical tools, can gain crucial insights from the daily flood of medical news, while escaping mere hype and outright lies. The book has been hailed as "one of the most impressive and eye-opening books about your health you will ever read" and as "finally a book that empowers its readers to navigate safely the minefield of conflicting and confusing medical claims." As other readers put it, "put this one high on your list; enter the world of evidence-based medicine; learn which stories to believe, which to take with a grain of salt, and which to discard without a second thought" and "an authoritative and fascinating book, beautifully written in a style to which we can all relate; a must-read for anyone seeking credible health information in print or online."
[Paperback since 2010, Kindle edition since 2012]. More detail available at
http://www.cautionsnakeoil.com
