So Many Books; So little Time

In the Path of Hitler’s Third Reich

In the Path of Hitler’s Third Reich: The Journey From Victory to Defeat

by Ian Westwell

c. 1998

If you can’t stand to look at pictures of Adolf Hitler, don’t bother with this book. He’s on nearly every page. (He’s not on the last page, anyway.) This is more of a snapshot and pictoral biography of Adolf Hitler with the largest chunk of time spent on the 10 years he ruled Germany.

It starts with his grandparents telling their story and then introducing us to his parents from there. We meet the young Hitler and see him briefly in school before going into the Army and from there quickly through his wasted youth to his entrance on the German National stage.

From there we jump to a year at a time snapshots including a map of Europe with the German occupied areas indicated for the end of each year. This is more of a politcal biography rather than a personal one and so, while we do see the doctors who were with him daily and finally day and night and see pictures and hear briefly of Eva Braun, we see more of Bormann, Speer, Himmler, and even Mussolini.

For quick, basic detail, this is a great compacted work. It has no indepth study on either the man or the war but does bring out details not widely known such as Hitler’s paranoia that his officers were trying to kill him, his all night rants at his officers and his growing hatred of and sense of betrayal by the German people.

Lots of pictures and a fairly detailed map of Hitler’s bunker. This book would be ideal for an older child or teen who is interested in learning what the tyrant was like and what he did to the world in the 30’s and 40’s. My copy is hardback and somewhat oversized.

Lessons I Learned in the Light

Lessons I Learned in the Light: All You Need to Thrive in a Dark World

by Jennifer Rothschild

c. 2006

We live in a dark and fallen world. There’s no doubt about that. So, what we need more than anything is to learn to thrive in it until the Lord calls us home.

Jennifer Rothschild tells us just how to do that in 12 chapters. And she should know how because she not only thrives in the dark world we live in as a wife, mother of two active boys and Christian speaker, but she also thrives in a truly dark world. Jennifer Rothschild is blind but you would never know it because she has embraced her challenge and let the Lord show her His power and lessons through it.

She has learned to let go of what ifs and talks about that in “Say Farewell to Ducks.” She considers herself an alien in this world and tells us all how to live like the aliens we are in “Live Like an Alien.” She also talks about her family and friends and tells the story of her oldest son’s first word, which, of course, was NOT Mama and how she coped waiting for that blessed word–and how she coped with being called “God” in the meantime. (That story, short though it is, is almost worth reading the whole book for.)

She tackles her age, her wardrobe, her watchband, and being on stage following a nationally known speaker. But she also tackles patience, love, courage, risk taking, hope, prayer, excess baggage and many other things.

Jennifer is funny, to the point and scriptural all at the same time. At the end she considers you a friend and you will consider her one too.

No study guide so if a group wanted to use it they would have to write their own but it’s great for personal growth in the dark.