In Different Worlds, from POW to PhD: The Story of a Remarkable Life
Dankwart Koehler
Bridgeway Books, 326 pp., $17.95 paperback
Born in May 1926, in the town of Ebingen in southwestern Germany, Dankwart Koehler — like most of his young peers — joined the Hitler Youth. He was later assigned to the antiaircraft auxiliary of the Luftwaffe.
Among the many recollections that fill the 85-year-old author’s memoir is his description of the practice of German fencers to “smear dirt into the [facial] wound so that it would heal with a visible scar and demonstrate their courage for the rest of their lives.” (He adds that he and his fellow students found this “absolutely ridiculous.”)
Koehler also finds parallels between the anti-Semitism found in Germany and the U.S. Midwest.
Koehler notes that although he wrote this book for his children and grandchildren, he believes it may have wider appeal in its descriptions of "the unusual political circumstances" under which he grew up and has lived since.
— Pat Turner Kavanaugh
Shards of War: Fleeing to & from Uzbekistan
Michael G. Kesler
Strategic Book Group, 232 pp., $14.95 paperback
As a Jew, Michael Kesler spent a very different World War II from the author of the previous book. In 1941, at 16, he and his sister Luba, 19, left their home in Dubno, Ukraine, to flee the advancing German army. They spend a brutal winter near Stalingrad, where they come close to death from cold and starvation. They move on to Uzbekistan, where both develop typhoid. Again, Luba nearly dies.
After the war, they return to Dubno, only to discover that all 8,000 Jewish residents, including their parents and other kin, have been killed, their bodies dumped in mass graves.
Although Kesler writes that he aimed this book at young adults, 13 to 25, "particularly high school and college students," readers well beyond that age group would benefit from Kesler's well-told story and the history of 250,000 Polish Jews who survived by fleeing to the Soviet Union.
— P.T.K.
Fifty Years on Custer's Trail: The Battle of the Little Big Horn and Custer's Death on Battle Ridge
W. Donald Horn
Self-published, 101 pp., $12.95 paperback
The author's interest in Gen. George Armstrong Custer began in 1937 when he saw Cecile B. DeMille's "The Plainsman." From that point, it's not unfair to say, Custer became an obsession for Horn, who travels regularly to sites associated with the military man and has a personal collection of photographs and other memorabilia related to Custer.
This illustrated book, featuring Horn astride a horse on its cover, weaves the personal with the historic. Apparently, within the field of Custer specialists, there is some disagreement with some of Horn’s conclusions. Nonetheless, this compact book combines a lot of personality and a lot of information, and should appeal to readers with a serious interest in the history of the American West.
The book is available at the Custer Battlefield or by sending $12.95 to Horn at 256 Prospect Ave., West Orange, N.J. 07052.
— P.T.K
Three Strikes: A Soldier's Story
Diedra Cole
iUniverse, 132 pp., $13.95 paperback
This book's title notwithstanding, Deidra Cole has not served in the military. Any references to "battle" or being "a good soldier" transcend military training. Rather, the Morris County author has drawn on effective military principles and applied them to the human quest for spiritual well-being, convincingly setting down the framework for a courageous, responsible, spiritual approach to life.
Not that the military doesn’t play a critical role in this book. Cole’s enlightening research explores the biases exercised by the U.S. military throughout its history and their impact not only on the minorities who were victimized by them, but on American society at large. Her survey extends to the ways in which some of that prejudice prevails yet.
As one who is black, female and disabled (she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy in infancy), Cole knows whereof she speaks. But the overriding tone is focused on overcoming odds through resolve, hard work and faith.
— Fran Wood
Wild New Jersey: Nature Adventures in the Garden State
David Wheeler
Rivergate Books, 256 pp., $19.95 paperback
This book is for toddlers, children, teens, adults and seniors — anyone in the Garden State with the teeniest spark of adventure and enthusiasm.
Wheeler, who grew up enjoying the outdoors with his dad, now makes his living as director of operations for the nonprofit Edison Wetlands Association.
Wheeler points out that New Jersey’s population density is greater than that of India or Japan. Yet, according to Margaret O’Gorman of the Conserve Wildlife Foundation, 870 species of wildlife live among our crowds.
There is nothing solemn or preachy in Wheeler’s tale: he had a great time exploring New Jersey’s wild places and wildlife, and he wants us, his readers, to do the same — by kayaking, dog-sledding or hiking, by whale-watching or participating in a hawk census, or by looking and listening while sitting in your own yard.
From your easy chair, Wheeler will take you places you've never been — among them, the Pine Barrens, the Raptor Trust and "owling in the sunlight."
— P.T.K.