| "Books,
movies, and television have taught us a lot about
the leaders of Germany under Hitler…but little
is available on what life was like for German civilians
during that time. Lawson's memoir seeks to correct
that, providing a compelling look at wartime Germany
from someone living inside it." |
|
-
ForeWordreviews.com
|
"One of the things that comes through is how
Dorothea and the people around her resorted to humor
as a means of coping with the deprivation, the fear,
the devastation, and the horrors of war, as well as
the immense difficulties of reconstruction and recovery…Highly
recommended reading." |
|
-
Midwest Book Review
|
"…an extremely readable book…should
be in any collection where there is an interest in
modern German social history. There are few works
in which the life of a non-political, twentieth-century
German family is so ably discussed." |
|
-
Phillip Powell, Reference Librarian, College of
Charleston
|
"My life has been enriched by the book. Dorothea…speaks
for all of us who lived through this period of history."
|
|
- Dr. Marianne Bouvier, Executive Director,
Institute for German American Relations
|
"Lawson's life is almost the history of the 20th
century…a must read for anyone like me - a World
War II history buff." |
|
-
Don Snider, The Star Newspapers
|
"Dorothea's story is poignant and relevant for
most history courses, women's study areas and multi-cultural
venues…her recall is razor sharp. [She] is delightful
in her use of anecdotal humor." |
|
-
Dr. Albert E. Jabs, Adjunct Professor, Allen University
|
"Novel, history book, family record, documentation
account - Laughter Wasn't Rationed is all of these
and more." |
|
-
Cleveland Daily Banner
|
"A vivid memoir… it contrasts the evils
with an account of people trying to cope, remembering
the humor that sustained them. Though they were our
enemies at the time, we forget they had lives, too."
|
|
-
Alan Caruba, Bookviews.com
|
"This poignant recollection reads like a novel.
What happened to middle and upper-class Germans may
come as a surprise to many." |
|
-
The Mount Vernon Gazette
|
"The book could have been dry as dust, instead
it reads like a fascinating story. Were I teaching
today, I would put it on the list of supplementary
reading and were I teaching history, I would make
it mandatory reading." |
|
-
M. Casey, retired high school teacher
|
"The book is interesting from the first to the
last page. [It] is a remarkable description of human
character and fighting spirit and shows that a strong
positive attitude mixed with laughter enables you
to survive the most difficult times." |
|
-
W. Nelson, Tierra Verde, Florida
|
"A totally different outlook on the whole world
war era…so real and not written like a professor.
It has been a long time that a book has fascinated
me as much as this one did." |
|
- H. Woehler,
Oxford, Alabama
|
| "[She] captured, better than anything I have read, the tenor of people's lives under the Nazi occupation and afterwards, how they felt and how they lived." |
|
- S. Lipman, Forest Hills, New York
|
"… the book's unique view of German people's
lives…is not one to which most Americans have
been privy." |
|
-
C. Grubb, Charlestown, West Virginia
|
