The Jesuits and the Third Reich (Texts and Studies in Religion) by Vincent A. Lapomarda (Author)

Describes Nazi persecutions of the Jesuit order during the Third Reich and the fates of many Jesuits in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Baltic States, Russia, Rumania, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, the Low Countries, and France. The text also focuses on Jesuit efforts in defence of human rights, particularly those of Jews, and sThe Vatican’s silence in the face of Nazi atrocities remains one of the great controversies of our time. History has accused wartime pontiff Pius the Twelfth of complicity in the Holocaust and dubbed him “Hitler’s Pope.” But a key part of the story has remained untold.
The Jesuits and the Third Reich (Texts and Studies in Religion)  by Vincent A. Lapomarda  (Author)________________________________________________________________________
Pius ran the world’s largest church, smallest state, and oldest spy service. Saintly but secretive, he skimmed from church charities to pay covert couriers, and surreptitiously tape-recorded his meetings with top Nazis. When he learned of the Holocaust, Pius played his cards close to his chest. He sent birthday cards to Hitler—while secretly plotting to kill him.

Church of Spies documents this cloak and dagger intrigue in shocking detail. Gun-toting Jesuits stole blueprints to Hitler’s homes. A Catholic book publisher flew a sports plane over the Alps with secrets filched from the head of Hitler’s bodyguard. The keeper of the Vatican crypt ran a spy ring that betrayed German war plans and wounded Hitler in a briefcase bombing.

The plotters made history in ways they hardly expected. They inspired European unification, forged a U.S.-Vatican alliance that spanned the Cold War, and challenged Church teachings on Jews. Yet Pius’ secret war muted his public response to Nazi crimes. Fearing that overt protest would impede his covert actions, he never spoke the “fiery words” he wanted.

Told with heart-pounding suspense, based on secret transcripts and unsealed files, Church of Spies throws open the Vatican’s doors to reveal some of the most astonishing events in the history of the papacy. The result is an unprecedented book that will change perceptions of how the world’s greatest moral institution met the greatest moral crisis in history.
eeks to defend the Roman Catholic Church from criticism.

Church of Spies: The Pope’s Secret War Against Hitler Hardcover – September 29, 2015

by Mark Riebling  (Author)_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Myth of Hitler's Pope: Pope Pius XII And His Secret War Against Nazi Germany Hardcover – July 25, 2005

by David G. Dalin ______________________________________________In Rabbi David G. Dalin's controversial new book, he explodes the newly resurrected, widely accepted, yet utterly bankrupt smearing of Pope Pius XII, whom Jewish survivors of the Holocaust considered a righteous gentile.

• Hardcover: 209 pages
• Publisher: Regnery History (July 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895260344
• Was Pope Pius XII secretly in league with Adolf Hitler? No, says Rabbi David G. Dalin—but there was a cleric in league with Hitler: the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini. As Pope Pius XII worked to save Jews from the Nazis, the grand mufti became Hitler’s staunch ally and a promoter of the Holocaust, with a legacy that feeds radical Islam today. In this shocking and thoroughly documented book, Rabbi Dalin explodes the myth of Hitler’s pope and condemns the myth-makers for not only rewriting history, but for denying the testimony of Holocaust survivors, hijacking the Holocaust for unseemly political ends, and ignoring the real threat to the Jewish people. In The Myth of Hitler’s Pope, you’ll learn: · The true history of Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust—how the Catholic Church did more than any other religious body to save Jewish lives · The real history of the Church and the Nazis—including the Nazi plan to kidnap the pope · The real agenda of the myth-makers: hijacking the Holocaust to attack the very idea of the papacy—especially the papacy of the late Pope John Paul II—as well as Christianity and traditional religion as a whole · Hitler’s cleric—Hajj Amin al-Husseini, who advised and assisted the Nazis in carrying out Hitler’s Final Solution · How Pope Pius XII rescued Jews—and deserves to be called a "righteous gentile"—while the grand mufti of Jerusalem called for their extermination Full of shocking and irrefutable detail, The Myth of Hitler’s Pope is sure to generate controversy, and more important, to set the record straight. If you want the truth about Pope Pius XII, about the Catholic Church, the Jews, and the Holocaust, and about how the myth of Hitler’s pope plays into the culture wars of our own time—and how the fact of Hitler’s mufti is a vital source of radical Islam today—you must begin here.ISBN-13: 978-089526

Stalin's Children: Three Generations of Love, War, and Survival Kindle Edition by Owen Matthews

On a mid-summer day in 1937, a car pulled up to the house of the Bibikov family in Chernigov in the heart of the Ukraine. Boris, the father, kissed his two daughters and wife goodbye and disappeared inside the car. His family never saw him again. His wife would later vanish, leaving the young Lyudmila and Lenina alone to drift across the vast Russian landscape as the Wehrmacht advanced in WWII. In the early 1960s Owen Matthews' father, Mervyn, moved to Moscow to work for the British embassy after a childhood in Wales dreaming of Russia. He fell in with the KGB, and in love with Lyudmila, and before he could disentangle himself from the former he was ordered to leave the country. For the next six years, Mervyn tried desperately to get Lyudmila out of Russia, and when he finally succeeded they married. Decades on from these events, their son, now Newsweek's bureau chief in Moscow, pieces together the tangled threads of his family's past and present-the extraordinary files that record the life and death of his grandfather at the hands of Stalin's secret police; his mother's and aunt's perilous journey to adulthood; his parents' Cold War love affair and the magnet that has drawn him back to the Russia-to present an indelible portrait of the country over the past seven decades and an unforgettable memoir about how we struggle to define ourselves in opposition to our ancestry only to find ourselves aligning with it.Decades on from these events, their son, now Newsweek's bureau chief in Moscow, pieces together the tangled threads of his family's past and present-the extraordinary files that record the life and death of his grandfather at the hands of Stalin's secret police; his mother's and aunt's perilous journey to adulthood; his parents' Cold War love affair and the magnet that has drawn him back to the Russia-to present an indelible portrait of the country over the past seven decades and an unforgettable memoir about how we struggle to define ourselves in opposition to our ancestry only to find ourselves aligning with it.

From Publishers Weekly

For three generations of Matthews's family, Russia was a place that made us and freed us and inspired us and very nearly broke us. In this fascinating family memoir, Matthews, Newsweek's Moscow bureau chief, recounts that history. His maternal grandfather was executed in Stalin's purges in 1937. His mother, separated from her own mother for 11 years, grew up essentially as an orphan. But even more extraordinary is the tale of Matthews's parents' relationship. His father, Mervyn Matthews, was a British embassy staffer in Moscow turned graduate student who left Russia after the KGB tried to recruit him in 1960. Returning in 1963, he fell in love with a Soviet woman, but when he again refused to do business with the KGB, he was thrown out of the country. For the next several years, he lobbied to reunite with the woman who would become Matthews's mother, finally getting her out of the USSR in 1969. Drawing on KGB files and his parents' hundreds of letters from their years of separation in the 1960s, Matthews (now married to a Russian woman) relates this dramatic tale in understated but lovely prose. B&w illus. (Sept.) 

No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII Kindle Edition

by Robert WeintraubThe extraordinary tale of survival and friendship between a man and a dog in war

Flight technician Frank Williams and Judy, a purebred pointer, met in the most unlikely of places: a World War II internment camp in the Pacific. Judy was a fiercely loyal dog, with a keen sense for who was friend and who was foe, and the pair's relationship deepened throughout their captivity. When the prisoners suffered beatings, Judy would repeatedly risk her life to intervene. She survived bombings and other near-death experiences and became a beacon not only for Frank but for all the men, who saw in her survival a flicker of hope for their own.

Judy's devotion to those she was interned with was matched by their love for her, which helped keep the men and their dog alive despite the ever-present threat of death by disease or the rifles of the guards. At one point, deep in despair and starvation, Frank contemplated killing himself and the dog to prevent either from watching the other die. But both were rescued, and Judy spent the rest of her life with Frank. She became the war's only official canine POW, and after she died at age fourteen, Frank couldn't bring himself to ever have another dog. Their story--of an unbreakable bond forged in the worst circumstances--is one of the great undiscovered sagas of World War II.

AMERICAN WARLORDS

How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II

by Jonathan W. Jordan

BUY NOW FROM

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE
LOCAL BOOKSELLER

GET WEEKLY BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS:

Email Address

  

KIRKUS REVIEW

Attorney Jordan (Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe, 2011, etc.) delivers another page-turning chronicle of World War II.

Small details and little-mentioned facts make this a highly informative look at four men in charge in Washington, D.C., during that time. Franklin Roosevelt never made it easy for his military men. He was secretive and nonchalant, and his answers to their questions were often glib and equivocal. He was also very much under the spell of Winston Churchill. Planning meetings often began with the British presenting their strategy and the Americans, with no clue from FDR, nodding their heads. Luckily, the American contingent included Army Chief of Staff Gen. George C. Marshall; Secretary of War Henry Stimson; and Ernest J. King, leader of the Navy. Marshall had his hands full fighting the Allies as much as the enemy. In the Pacific, there were squabbles between Army and Navy, and Gen. Douglas MacArthur focused primarily on his promise to relieve the Philippines. The British harped on their needs to strike at Africa and the Balkans, while the American public and Joseph Stalin were demanding action against Hitler in France. American tanks, planes, and ships supplied all of these theaters during the war, but they could only produce so much. Furthermore, a second front was impossible until 1944. Throughout, the author provides astute and clever portrayals of the leaders, including Churchill’s pretense to his ancestor’s abilities, Stalin’s displays of compassion, and FDR’s meddling in naval projects. Jordan’s wonderful new insight into the leaders shows how lucky we were regarding Stimson’s prescient warnings about nuclear war, Marshall’s long-suffering, self-effacing loyalty, and King’s rough-and-ready fighting abilities.

In addition to World War II buffs, other readers will enjoy the intrigue, back-stabbing, action, and diplomacy in this well-written book.

Black Mass
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Scott Cooper
Produced by	Scott Cooper John Lesher Patrick McCormick Brian Oliver Tyler Thompson
Screenplay by	Jez Butterworth Mark Mallouk
Based on	Black Mass by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill
Starring	Johnny Depp Joel Edgerton Benedict Cumberbatch Rory Cochrane Kevin Bacon Jesse Plemons Corey Stoll Peter Sarsgaard Dakota Johnson
Music by	Junkie XL[1]
Cinematography	Masanobu Takayanagi
Edited by	David Rosenbloom[2]
Production company	Cross Creek Pictures 360 Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	September 4, 2015(Venice)[3] September 18, 2015(United States)[4]
Running time	122 minutes[5]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$53 million[6]
Box office	$94.6 million[7]

Black Mass is a 2015 American crime dramafilm directed by Scott Cooper and written by Mark Mallouk and Jez Butterworth, based on the 2001 book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob by Dick Lehr and Gerard O'Neill. The film has an ensemble cast including Johnny Depp,Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Kevin Bacon, Jesse Plemons, Peter Sarsgaard, Rory Cochrane, Adam Scott, Dakota Johnson, andCorey Stoll.

The film follows the criminal career of infamous Irish-American mobster Whitey Bulger (Depp).Principal photography of the film began on May 19, 2014 in Boston, and wrapped on August 1, 2014. It had its world premiere at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival,^[8] and was released by Warner Bros. worldwide on September 18, 2015.^[9]n 1975, James "Whitey" Bulger, leader of theIrish-American Winter Hill Gang, controls almost all of organized crime within South Boston, along with his right-hand man Stephen Flemmi, newcomer Kevin Weeks, and callous hitman,Johnny Martorano. Bulger's hold over South Boston is challenged by the North end Angiulo Brothers, who head up a rival gang with ties to the New England Mafia family. An unexpected opportunity arises with the return of FBI agentJohn Connolly to South Boston; Connolly being a former native of the area and friend of Whitey and his brother William "Billy" Bulger, who is the Massachusetts State SenatePresident. Connolly's arrival in Boston induces him to try infiltrating the experienced Angiulo Brothers. Connolly tries to get Whitey's cooperation but Whitey detests of the idea of becoming an informant. However, Whitey begins to relent after assessing the advantages and protection which he gains through his participation with the FBI for himself, his friends, and his family. After the Angiulo Brothers murder a Winter Hill gang member, Whitey becomes aninformant.Connolly's control over Whitey is scrutinized by his boss, Charles McGuire though Connolly is supported by his close co-worker, John Morris. Tensions increase as Whitey exploits the FBI informant relationship, using Connolly's "protection" as a cover for his crimes. He becomes emotional when his son Douglas develops Reye syndrome and dies, triggering Whitey to become more violent. Connolly then begins demanding information on the Angiulos'racketeering locations. Finally, Whitey gets pictures of the rival gang's hideouts, allowing the FBI to wiretap the Angiulos. Before the FBI can terminate the informant operation, the wiretaps pick up incriminating evidence about the Angiulos. The FBI arrests them, thus eliminating underground opposition to Whitey's power. Connolly, blinded by his past, grows closer to Whitey and the gang, even inviting them to his house for a cookout. His wife, Marianne, is disgusted by them and is also alarmed at the changes in her husband since his agent-informant relationship with Whitey started growing.Problems arise later as Whitey is cut out of an embezzlement scheme from World Jai Alai. In retribution, he orders Martorano to murder his rivals Roger Wheeler and John Callahan. Whitey suspects that an associate who overhears the murder plan, Brian Halloran is untrustworthy, so he pays him off to leave the meeting. Fearing for his life, Halloran goes to the FBI to report Whitey's involvement in the crime. Connolly and Morris dismiss Halloran's accusations against Bulger, citing his unreliability. Connolly, fearing Whitey is in too deep, tells Whitey of Halloran's accusation, resulting in the murders of Halloran and an unnamed accomplice. Due to Whitey's increasingly violent and unpredictable behavior, his informant relationship deteriorates.Downfall begins when a "bulldog" prosecutor, Fred Wyshak, becomes an assistant U. S. Attorney in Boston. Connolly attempts to make friends with him, but Wyshak bluntly refuses and demands that the FBI arrest Whitey. When John McIntyre, an informant within the Winter Hill Gang, blows the whistle on an attempt by Whitey to smuggle weapons for the Provisional Irish Republican Army, he is brutally beaten and garroted by Whitey — once again following Connolly's inside information. Wyshak and McGuire investigate Connolly's management of Whitey's informant role, and discover that most of what Connolly represented as Whitey's tips merely repeated information already obtained from other law enforcement sources. Morris reveals the true nature of Connolly and Whitey's relationship to The Boston Globe which publishes a front-page story exposing the FBI's links to organised crime. The article causes Whitey to lose control over his gang, which collapses.In the final scenes, Connolly, Flemmi, Weeks, and Martorano are arrested. Whitey goes on the run, but not before giving Billy a final goodbye from a pay phone. Morris turns state's evidenceand testifies against Connolly in return for immunity. After Connolly's and the other characters' sentences are listed, a concluding sequence reveals a now-elderly Whitey being caught by the FBI in 2011, 16 years after the crackdown.

A Walk in the Woods (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Walk in the Woods
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ken Kwapis
Produced by	Robert Redford Bill Holderman Chip Diggins
Screenplay by	Rick Kerb Bill Holderman
Based on	A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Starring	Robert Redford Nick Nolte Emma Thompson
Music by	Nathan Larson
Cinematography	John Bailey
Edited by	Carol Littleton
Production company	Route One Films Wildwood Enterprises
Distributed by	Broad Green Pictures
Release dates	January 23, 2015(Sundance Film Festival) September 2, 2015(United States)
Running time	102 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8 million[2]
Box office	$34.3 million[3]

A Walk in the Woods is a 2015 Americanadventure comedy biographical film directed byKen Kwapis, based on the 1998 book/memoir ofthe same name by Bill Bryson. The film starsRobert Redford, Nick Nolte and Emma Thompson. The film was released on September 2, 2015, by Broad Green Pictures.^[4]

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Plot
• 2Cast
• 3Production
  • 3.1Filming
• 4Release
• 5Reception
• 6References
• 7External links

Plot[edit]

Author Bill Bryson (Robert Redford), after living two decades in Britain, returned to New Hampshire. Now in his 60s, he has lived there peacefully for the past ten years. A television interview reports that he has published several popular books and there is speculation he will be writing more. Bryson, however, has no such plans.

Bryson and his wife Catherine (Emma Thompson) attend a funeral. Not being an outgoing person, he afterwards takes a stroll on the nearby Appalachian Trail. He suddenly decides he will hike its entire length. Catherine objects, presenting all kinds of accounts about accidents and murders on the trail. She relents on condition that he not travel alone. He agrees and searches for a friend willing to join him. Everyone declines his invitation; some declare him insane. Finally, he is contacted by Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte), an old friend who offers to be a hiking companion. Despite appearances, Stephen claims to be fit enough for the challenge. Bill's wife is unhappy with his choice, but relents.

Within less than a mile of their departure point, as groups of hikers overtake and pass them, they begin to grasp the difficulty of their ambition. Shortly after, a group of young children effortlessly runs by them up the trail, laughing and calling out to each other. Seeing others pass by so easily motivates them to carry on. And so they move on, day by day, making more or less pleasant acquaintances, having more or less pleasant experiences. Some time later they reach a hut, having hiked miserably through pouring rain. Carved into the log wall is an Appalachian Trail map showing the trail and their present location. They realize they have only finished about one third of the trail after spending three months on it. Eventually they trek into a restricted section posted "for experienced hikers only". While maneuvering their heavy and awkward backpacks alongside a precipitous drop, Bill trips and pulls Stephen with him down a steep, rocky cliff. They fall about fifteen feet onto a ledge spacious enough to be comfortable, but far enough below the trail to be unable to get back up to resume the hike. They spend the night there with no clear hope of rescue. Luckily, the next day they are awakened by early morning hikers who are able to get them off the ledge.

Eventually, they decide they have had enough and end their journey. When comfortably back at home, Bill, going through his mail, finds a series of post cards from Stephen that were mailed from their various stops along the trail. The last one reads: "What's next?' Bill sits down and begins typing on his computer, "A WALK IN THE WOODS."

Cast[edit]

• Robert Redford as Bill Bryson
• Nick Nolte as Stephen Katz
• Emma Thompson as Catherine Bryson
• Kristen Schaal as Mary Ellen
• Nick Offerman as REI Dave
• Mary Steenburgen as Jeannie

Production[edit]

In 2005, Robert Redford announced,^[5] and later confirmed,^[6] that he would star in and produce a film adaptation of Bryson's book, and that he would play Bryson. He had also hoped that his erstwhile co-star and friend, Paul Newman, would team up with him to play the role of Katz, although he jokingly expressed doubt as to whether the health-conscious Newman would consider putting on enough weight to accurately portray the rotund Katz (Newman, however, retired from acting in May 2007 and died in 2008).

In February 2007, Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone and the first two Harry Potter films, was reported to have agreed to direct the adaptation.^[7] However, in January 2008, The Hollywood Reporter, while noting that the script was delayed due to the Hollywood writers' strike, reported that Barry Levinson, the Academy Award–winning director of Rain Man, was in talks to direct.^[6]

Redford said of the project:

It'll be fun. I don't know when I've read a book that I laughed so loud. Also, it's a chance to take a look at the country ... The backdrop is pretty terrific, if you stop to think of all the visuals that are possible as they go along that trail.^[8]

In February 2012, it was reported that novelist Richard Russo, during a speech at Union College, confirmed that he was working on the screenplay.^[9]

By November 2013, Nick Nolte had been cast to costar as Katz. Larry Charles (of Borat andBrüno) was briefly attached as director, but eventually the job went to Ken Kwapis, whose most recent film was Big Miracle and who was a key figure on the U.S. television series The Office. The final screenplay was written by Bill Holderman, based on an original draft by Michael Arndt, and shooting began in spring 2014.^[10][11] The movie was largely filmed at Amicalola Falls State Park, in Dawsonville, Georgia, including scenes at The Lodge at Amicalola Falls.

Filming[edit]

Principal photography of the film began on May 5, 2014 in Los Angeles.^{[12][13]http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Noted-novelist-Richard-Russo-A-sense-of-place-3357335.php}