First Chapter: Adolfo KIaminsky, A Forger's Life by Sarah Kaminsky

Biography, memoir, history - the life of Adolfo Kaminsky

Adolfo Kaminsky: A Forger's Life, by Sarah Kaminsky, DoppelHouse Press, 2016.

First paragraph:
Prologue

"Since you want to know everything, tell me what you think you know about my life. For example, when did you learn that I was in the Resistance?"

To be honest, I don't know. Even less about you being a forger. If we'd stayed in Algeria I might never have known about the Second World War. For me you were the Mujahid, as they say."

"But afterwards, in France, you knew?"

"Not right away. You didn't talk to us about it. I grew up thinking I was the daughter of a social caseworker who helped rehabilitate young delinquents, found work for them, taught them photography. But by keeping my ears open when the grown-ups were talking I got some hints, in bits and pieces...."

Book description: 
Best-selling author Sarah Kaminsky takes readers through her father Adolfo Kaminsky's perilous and clandestine career as a real-life forger for the French Resistance, the FLN, and numerous other freedom movements of the twentieth century. (publisher)

Based on the first paragraphs in the Prologue, would you keep reading?

Meme: Every Tuesday First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros are hosted by Bibliophile By the Sea. Share the first paragraph sometimes two, of a book you are reading or plan to read soon.

The Fall of Heaven by Andrew Scott Cooper: Book Beginning

The Fall of Heaven:The Pahlavis and the Final Days of Imperial Iran by Andrew Scott Cooper, published August 2, 2016, Henry Holt
Genre: history, nonfiction
An immersive, gripping account of the rise and fall of Iran's glamorous Pahlavi dynasty, written with the cooperation of the late Shah's widow, Empress Farah, Iranian revolutionaries and US officials from the Carter administration (publisher)

Book beginning, 

Introduction: Back to Cairo 

On Sunday, February 15, 2015, under a low, grey canvas of threatening skies, two motorcades flanked by police escorts pulled up outside the Unknown Soldier Memorial in Cairo, Egypt. Bodyguards armed with automatic weapons quickly formed a protective cordon, and military officers in attendance smartly saluted, but the smiles on the faces of the two women at the center of the scrum showed they were more interested in each other than in the men fussing around them. Farah Pahlavi, Iran's last queen and empress, and Jehan Sadat, former first lady of Egypt, were old friends and had looked forward to their reunion....Forty years ago, Farah Pahlavi and Jehan Sadat were young women at the forefront of progressive change in the Middle East. Passionate advocates for the rights of women and children,  they lobbied for passage of laws to empower women in the workplace and in the family....

What intrigues me about this history is that the Shah's widow, the Iranian revolutionaries, and U.S. officials from Carter's time in office all contributed to or approved this account of events.

Meme: Visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Book Beginning: Rescue at Los Banos by Bruce Henderson

The Friday 56: *Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader. Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. Post it. Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.
Also, visit Book Beginning at Rose City Reader.

Rescue at Los Banos: The Most Daring Prison Camp Raid of World War II by Bruce Henderson
Published March 31, 2015; William Morrow
Book description: 
The  true story of one of the greatest military rescues of all time, the 1945 World War II prison camp raid at Los Banos in the Philippines--a tale of daring, courage, and heroism that joins the ranks of Ghost Soldiers, Unbroken, and The Boys of Pointe du Hoc.

Book beginning: 

Benjamin Franklin Edwards, a mechanic with Pan American Airways for less than a year, arrived in Manila aboard the airline's famed "China Clipper" on October 2, 1941. The big Martin M-130 flying boat was known by Pan Am employees as "Sweet Sixteen" (NR 14716) and had been the first seaplane delivered to the airline and the first to fly scheduled air service across the Pacific. It touched won on Manila Bay and taxied to the ramp at Pan Am's Cavite base eight miles southwest of the Philippine capital known worldwide as the Pearl of the Orient for its picturesque seaside location, tropical beauty, and golden sunsets from the shoreline of its enchanting bay. 

Page 56:

Muller wondered how he was going to gather intelligence against the Japanese. It was a G-2's worst nightmare. Muller understood the average soldier might not see much of a difference between fighting the Germans and fighting the Japanese; both were dangerous and disciplined foes. But there was a big difference when it came to gaining accurate intelligence for the division's battle plans. 

World War II is always fascinating, especially in the Pacific. I'm eager to read it for a chance to learn more.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book for possible review. 

The Pope's Last Crusade by Peter Eisner: Book Teaser

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.

"We will issue an encyclical on these matters, one which you must prepare," Pius told LaFarge.

LaFarge was to write an encyclical that would use the same reasoning he employed when discussing racism in the United States. He needed to convey that Hitler's increasing assault on the Jews was based on a myth." (ch. 4)

Publisher's description: 
"In 1938, Pope Pius XI was the world's most prominent critic of Hitler and his rhetoric of ethnic "purity/" To make his voice heard, Pius called upon relatively unknown American Jesuit whose writing about racism in America had caught the Popes attention. Pius enlisted John LaFarge to write a papal encyclical - the Vatican's strongest decree - publicly condemning Hitler, Mussolini, and their murderous Nazi campaign against the Jews."

Goodreads description: "Drawing on untapped resources, exclusive interviews, and new archival research, The Pope’s Last Crusade by Peter Eisner is a thrilling narrative that sheds new light on Pope Pius XI’s valiant effort to condemn Nazism and the policies of the Third Reich—a crusade that might have changed the course of World War II.

A shocking tale of intrigue and suspense, illustrated with sixteen pages of archival photos, The Pope’s Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler illuminates this religious leader’s daring yet little-known campaign, a spiritual and political battle that would be derailed by Pius XI's death just a few months later. Eisner offers a new interpretation of this historic event and the powerful figures at its center in an essential work that provides thoughtful insight and raises controversial questions impacting our own time."

Title: The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
Published February 26, 2013; William Morrow
Genre: historical, non-fiction
Source: publisher