The Haj, Uris - B-

         This novel is a vast, sweeping, panoramic look at Palestine in the first half of the 20th century. Although there are Turks, Bedouin Arabs, Hashemites, French, Christians, and British, this is the story of the contest between the Jews and the Palestinian Arabs. We see it through the eyes of Ibrahim, Muktar of Tabah, and Gideon Asch, Secretary of a neighboring Kibbutz. In the 1920s, the Kibbutzim prospered, clearing swamps and making the desert flower while the Arabs looked on. As the war approached, the British cut off Jewish immigration out of concern over Arab opposition. After the war, Ibrahim understood that the stories of the death camps would lead to more Jews coming to Palestine, even if the British were trying to keep them out. When the UN announced the partition of Palestine in late 1947, the British announced they were leaving on May 14, 1948. The Arabs raged and declared their intention to finish Hitler's work. When the fighting began, Arab leaders encouraged their people to depart while they defeated the Israelis. Ibrahim had no desire to leave his village, but soon the violence was all around. His old friend, Gideon, helped his family escape, but Ibrahim suffered the loss of not only his home, but his identity and all of his history. The residents of Tabah were horrified by the conditions on the roads,  and the refugee camps, sinks of dependency and despair. When Ibrahim's oldest, Kemal, was killed, he was made a martyr for the cause. The camps further demoralized Ibrahim. When his daughter Nada sought to be more than another hidden Muslim woman, he committed the ultimate horror while defending the family's honor.

           This four-decade-old novel was criticized for being too pro-Israeli. It puts the onus on the Arab leadership for their people's flight and ignores the Israelis' role. I believe it aptly depicts the hatred on both sides, a hatred that will allow this eighty-year-old conflict to continue indefinitely. It has been decades since I've read a Michener or Uris treatise that covers vast topics and multiple generations. I don't think I'll be rushing back to the genre.

A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Hapsburg Empire, Wawro - B+

          "This book is about Austria-Hungary's fatal degeneration and its impact on European civilization." It charts the decline of the empire after 1866, when it lost its last major war. "Austria-Hungary's anxieties and pretension as a fading great power were a chief cause of the war, and these same qualities were also the source of its defeat."

          "Austria's weakness emanated from its quarreling, disaffected nationalities." Before the losses in wars against France in 1859 and Germany in 1866, Austria was considered a great power on par with England, France, and Russia. Afterwards, it was at best a Balkan power. The empire was too far-flung and ethnically diversified to be manageable. Franz-Joseph chose war for reasons of honor in 1859, 1866, and 1914, when he "would have been far better served by some face-saving deal short of war." Prussia's crushing victory at Koniggratz, followed by German unification, shocked Europe. The next year, the emperor consented to the dual monarchy to be known as Austria-Hungary. Hungary did not pay a proportional share of taxes and obstructed Vienna at every turn. They would not approve army budgets as the empire continued to slip as a world power. This would have massive repercussions in 1914, when the Dual Monarchy would be outgunned and outclassed by its rivals. "Hungary was dragging the Habsburg empire over a cliff."

         After Russia's humiliating defeat in Asia in 1905, it turned to the west and sought to expand its influence in the Slavic world at the expense of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires. And to the south of Austria-Hungary stood Serbia, a nation desirous of uniting the ten million Slavs on the Balkan Peninsula under their flag. While Serbia flexed its muscles, Vienna refused to face the new world of massed professional militaries with modern weapons moved to the fronts on new railway systems. In 1912, Russia organized the Balkan League of Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece to collectively evict Turkey from Europe and share the spoils. Austria stood by and watched their intended sphere of influence fade away. "Vienna had lost most of its freedom of movement as a great power. There was no domestic consensus on foreign policy and the budget was a billion crowns in deficit." The old emperor was as dotty as ever. Chief of Staff Conrad believed that their remaining purpose was "to go under honorably."

         The Black Hand was hoping for an opportunity to deliver a blow to Austria that would provoke war between the empire and Serbia. Knowing that Franz Ferdinand would be visiting Sarajevo in June, they trained three Bosnian Serbs to assassinate him. The archduke and his wife were killed on the 28th. The reaction in Vienna was "Krieg, Krieg, Krieg." Germany thought this was the ideal issue to provoke a wider war wherein they would deal with the Entente for good. The Kaiser, readying for his annual Nordic cruise, gave a blank check to back Austria if it went to war with Serbia. Amazingly, Conrad went on a three-week vacation with his mistress. The German Military Attaché could not even ascertain Vienna's intentions about allocating divisions between fighting Serbia and Russia. Serbia mobilized while Austria dithered. They did not mobilize until after the ultimatum they delivered was declined. Berlin was ready for war by the first week of August.

         Neither the empire nor its Chief of Staff were ready. Germany expected Vienna to defend against Serbia, and more importantly, Russia. Germany estimated it would take six weeks to defeat France, and Austria had to hold the Russians back until the Germans were finished in the west. Completely ignoring the German plans and without even telling Berlin, Conrad sent 40% of the army to Serbia after a month to deploy. Poorly trained and equipped and lacking any motivation, the empire's troops were routed in Serbia.

          Russian Poland protruded into the west from the body of the Russian Empire. It was south of East Prussia and north of Galicia, with Warsaw about equidistant from each. Russia surprised the Germanic allies with its rapid mobilization. Germany was encouraging Austria to attack and relieve them of potential Russian pressure. Conrad ordered his equally unready eastern army to march a hundred miles through the Galician heat and dust to reach the border. They then used fifty-year-old infantry tactics and attacked the Russians in skirmish lines. They were crushed. Although Austria prevailed in a three-day battle at Krasnik, they were ultimately overwhelmed by superior manpower, which benefited from excellent artillery support. By the end of August, the Austrian offensive was over. September saw a rout at Lemberg and Rawa-Ruska. "The war in the east was barely three weeks old and Conrad had lost a third of the Austro-Hungarian army."

         A second attempt to invade Serbia followed. It met the same fate as the August attack. Once again, the only planning was to try again and see if it worked. It did not. Ill-prepared, the army crossed the Drina from Bosnia into Serbia, ran into mountainous terrain, and were soundly defeated by battle-hardened veterans defending their homeland. Austria-Hungary was astounded and befuddled as another 40,000 men fell for naught.

         "Austro-Hungarian floundering in Galicia and the tumultuous retreat struck the Germans dumb with amazement." In a month, the empire had lost 500,000 men and seemed to have given up. The Central Powers were in deathly fear of Russia. Berlin concluded that direct assistance to Austria was necessary. The Tsar, under pressure from a reeling France and England, ordered his armies to attack Germany. After three days, the Russian attack petered out. Stymied in France, Germany decided to do more than hold back Russia; it decided to attack. The offensive was successful, and they almost reached Warsaw before they were stopped. "The monstrous war the Austrians and Germans had welcomed in July was spinning out of control, and the Central Powers, hardly on speaking terms, were in grave danger of losing it."

          Austria amassed equipment, supplies, and men to attack Serbia, which was weakening after the Balkan Wars and the previous Austrian attacks. This time, the empire's soldiers reached and occupied Belgrade. Serbia counterattacked, and the Austrian army disintegrated. The army did not retreat—it fled in complete disarray. Instead of punishing the uppity Serbs, the empire was humiliated by its lack of planning, incompetent commanders, and the massive casualties. For all intents and purposes, the Austro-Hungarian armies were finished.

         Both sides prepared to attack as soon as possible in the east. Russia had twice as many men on the front, but less than a fifth even had a rifle. They came at the Austrians relentlessly and constantly. They committed their men to frontal attacks. The empire's soldiers had no motivation to fight, walked away daily, and in one instance, 1,850 of a 2,000-man Czech unit deserted to surrender and become prisoners in one night. Most of the connected career officers, and all of the high command, relaxed in a sumptuous palace miles from the front. Conrad was known to spend hours relaxing with newspapers. Having lost a million men in 1914, Austria-Hungary lost another 800,000 defending the Carpathians in early 1915. Three-quarters of the casualties were due to illnesses caused by exposure. "Beaten too many times to count, the Dual Monarchy had lost whatever respect it commanded from its subjects and neighbors, and lost any semblance of cohesion or, for that matter, sovereignty. Its days on the earth were numbered."

         For the rest of the war, Germany oversaw the empire's efforts and continually bailed them out on every front. Austria-Hungary had a chance to leave the war in 1917-18 under Emperor Karl, but the Kaiser hauled him back in line. Wilson had initially spoken of reorganizing the empire, and then vowed to dismember it. "The monarchy had come in with a bang—vanquishing the Turks and saving Christendom—went out with a whimper. Of all the many miscalculations of this uniquely catastrophic war, Austro-Hungarian decision making in 1914 was the most reprehensible. The Great War has earned a dark place in our historical map, and Vienna, no less than Berlin, was the heart of darkness."

         Geoffrey Wawro is one of my favorite historians, and one uniquely motivated to write this story. Just before the Great War, all four of his grandparents left Galicia and sailed to Ellis Island. He tells a shocking story. The perfidy of Hungary is seldom detailed elsewhere. And the fighting saw some of the most mindless incompetence conceivable on the part of those making decisions. Whether they were in Vienna or St. Petersburg, it was delusional and idiotic to think uneducated peasants could go to war without training and equipment. These men wore civilian clothing, were often drunk, had no rifles or food, faked illness, and were left unburied. None of the masters understood what was going on and had no idea about what to do. "Imagine there's no countries. It isn't hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too."

Lightning Beneath The Sea: The Race to Wire the World and the Dawn of the Information Age, Tabor - B

         "The laying of the Atlantic Cable far exceeded anything in the annals of science and engineering and changed life around the globe." The challenges appeared insurmountable, and Cyrus Field, a NYC businessman, assembled a scientific "dream team" to tackle "cable, oceans, ships, and telegraphy," the mission-critical aspects of the project. "The cable changed life on earth, and its progeny make life probable in ours." Even today, Google, Meta, Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft spend billions to build and maintain underwater cables.

           In 1854, Field was approached with an idea about a cable from NY to Nova Scotia, and thought that a cable from Canada to the UK made more sense. The idea gained traction in the public arena because it was believed that rapid trans-Atlantic communication would lead to a more peaceful world. Field recruited the two most capable men of the century to work with him. Samuel Morse was already a household name, but not so Lt. Matthew Maury of the US Naval Observatory. Maury was the world's leading expert on currents and ocean floor topography. He also signed on Peter Cooper, scientific genius and one of the wealthiest men in America.

           The first step was to lay cable across the 65-mile strait connecting Newfoundland to the mainland. In a gale, the cable snapped, and Field sailed home. The following year, they accomplished the laying of the cable. Knowing that the British were expert at laying cable and had the deepest pockets, Field went to London in 1856. He received significant financial support, and, of equal import, better ideas to build a cable. He returned to America and received the full support of the US government. The American and British ships began to lay cable off Ireland in August 1857. After laying 380 miles of cable, it snapped and plunged 12,500 feet to the bottom. Field immediately began to plan for an expedition the following year. On June 10, 1858, they sailed again. Six hundred and fifty miles west of Portsmouth, they encountered a hundred-year storm. Soon thereafter, the cable snapped again. Field needed all of his skills to convince his backers to give him one more chance. The third time was a charm, as they successfully transmitted from Ireland to Newfoundland in August. It was a massive accomplishment, and Cyrus Field was heralded as a hero around the world. However, within days, the transmissions stopped.

           Although many on both sides of the Atlantic still believed in the possibility of success, many did not. Competition arose, particularly in the UK and even in Russia. Samuel Morse walked away. Field's warehouse in Manhattan burned down, and then, in the panic of 1860, his business went bankrupt. The war followed, and funding dried up. But Field never, ever gave up and began to rally support on both sides of the Atlantic. Another attempt was organized in 1865 with stronger cable, better-equipped ships, and a wealth of experience in the management of the process. Once again, at the midpoint in the Atlantic, the cable broke. This time, though, the consensus was that they were close and would achieve their goal the following year. On June 30, 1866, the Great Eastern sailed with a new set of improved equipment. On July 27th, they reached Newfoundland, and the world erupted in joy.

           By the time of Field's death in 1892, there were ten trans-Atlantic cables. Today, there are more than 600 fiber-optic cables crossing the Atlantic. Ninety-eight percent of the world's data travels by cable, not satellite. As for Cyrus Field and his international fame, he died broke and mostly forgotten. This is an enlightening and absorbing story.

Lazar, Biedermann - B

           This heralded novel by a young German in his early twenties tells a story of the von Lazars, Hungarian nobility torn asunder by the 20th century. Lajos is born around the fin de siècle and joins his six-year-old sister, Ilona, in the vast, unhappy household. Before the war, their mother, Maria, quietly takes her own life. Their heartless father, Sandor, sends them to boarding school while he drinks his way through the oblivion of the Empire and his world. When the old baron dies, Lajos and his young wife, Lily, move into the manor and take control of the family's business. Success allows Lajos, Lily, and their children to buy a second home in Budapest. Fear of Hitler forces Ilona and her Jewish husband to leave Berlin and alight on the Danube as well. After the Anschluss, they manage to escape to Switzerland.

           Just before the war begins, Lajos and Lily's son, Pista, falls in love with a Jewish girl, Matilda. Matilda's mom quashes the puppy love as fast as she can. The war begins, and Lajos is summoned to the army. Most of his responsibilities are organizational, and he never even leaves home, but works in Pécs near the manor house. In 1944, he rounds up and ships off the local Jews. With the Russians approaching, the family begins to walk west. The Russians pass through on the way to Budapest, and the family returns to the manor house. That summer, Lajos and Pista go to Budapest, and Pista learns that Matilda had been shot by the Arrow Cross.

          In 1948, their house, land, and possessions become "property of the state." A few years later, after settling into office jobs and an apartment in Budapest, they are again dispossessed and moved east to a farm. In 1953, they are allowed to return to the city, but Lajos struggles to maintain any enthusiasm for life. A few years later, Pista is in love with Kati, and his younger sister, Eva, falls for revolutionary writer Akos. In late 1956, the Soviets invade. Leaving their parents in Budapest, Pista and Eva flee to Yugoslavia before their journey ends in Zurich