Review of ‘Ribbentrop’ Biography by Michael Bloch

 by Oliver Marcuse

This biography provides an excellent insight into the life of one of the most prominent Nazi members. Quite apart from the book’s success in supplying immense amounts of detail concerning Ribbentrop, it is written in an informative, yet provocative style. It is this superb writing that allows the reader to become engrossed in the stories surrounding Ribbentrop. For example, Bloch describes early on, how Ribbentrop married Anna Henkell, in order to marry into a powerful wine making family. Although this may sound selfish and fairly simplistic, Bloch goes on to describe the passionate relationship between the two, which allowed Henkell to dominate her husband’s thoughts and political ideologies. Interestingly, it was she that was first entranced by Hitler at a party, and subsequently she who cultivated her husband’s drive to succeed politically. This is just one example of a more personal story that Bloch tells about Ribbentrop.  

A Review of Sharpe’s Waterloo by Bernard Cornwall

by Jamie Day

In Sharpe’s Waterloo, Bernard Cornwell provides a soldier’s perspective of Napoleon’s last and most famous campaign.  Through our hero, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Sharpe (now a reluctant staff officer), we see the skirmishes as the French cross the frontier, the battle at Quatre Bras, the retreat in torrential rain to La Belle Alliance, and the climactic engagement at Waterloo.  Sharpe is subordinated to the oafish Prince of Orange, who believes himself to be a military genius, and must watch disaster after disaster until finally taking command himself at the crucial moment.