A very fair, balanced biography of the great Queen of Spain who was responsible for driving the Muslims out of Granada and thus completing the Reconquest, of sponsoring Christopher Columbus, as well as starting the Inquisition and expelling (as an option to conversion) of the Jews and Muslims from Spain.

The author points out that Isabella’s husband, Ferdinand, is normally given first place in histories of the period, but that Isabella, the first ruling Queen in over one hundred years deferred many times to her husband’s ego in terms of allowing him to sign first and take credit for actions she began and completed. A bit of a feminist historian at times, but then Downey puts Isabella in the context of her times, especially regarding the threat and might of the Ottoman Empire which was still expanding.

Isabella was a ruler who looked beyond the days problems and thought strategically. She provided an excellent and well-rounded education for her daughters and was, while she had her health, expecting that the natives of the “New World” were to be treated kindly. As an aside, while the author points out that the natives suffered from the deadly diseases of Europe, the natives managed to get their own by spreading syphilis to the “Old World” with devastating effects. He also points out that expansion fueled the Inquisition as the newly united Spain could not be sure of its Muslim subjects who were often in rebellion against the crown and the loyalty of many of the converted Jews was suspect. Regarding Columbus, Downey does an excellent job of providing a balanced picture of him, including his pride, successes, and failures.

 It is interesting to note that Queen Victoria is often seen or remembered as the grandmother of European royalty, but Isabella’s offspring at one time controlled not only all the “New World” but also contributed to the ruling families of the U.K., Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Monaco.

The book is easy to read; beautifully written, documented and gives a Queen the honor she deserves.

I am pleased to announce that my historical novel, “My Honor is my Loyalty: War in the East” has been published.

An old man looks back to a time when he was an officer in the Waffen-SS. He recalls his youthful indoctrination as he grew up in a totalitarian nation where the doctrines of military strength, racial superiority and the cult of death ruled the land. Covering his volunteering and postings, he relives the battles against the partisan on the Eastern Front and the Balkans, recalling the actions of the SS killing squads against the inhabitants as well as personally experiencing the bitter taste of defeat. It also includes my interview with Otto Skorzeny at his home in Madrid, shortly before his death.

It is available in print and Kindle at Amazon and in print at Barnes & Noble.

In every personal, national, political, or corporate negotiation, there is a bottom line beyond which communication or the opportunity to successfully interact becomes impossible. That point may be one of morality, ideology, self-interest, or philosophy. Finding and understanding that point can be difficult and often clouded by one’s own prejudices, mood, etc. I believe, however, that Europe has reached a great divide in one especially important matter: immigration.

There is an ongoing struggle across much of the world caused by waves of Muslim immigrants and their impact on the European nations to which they flock. Some are drawn by the opportunity for a better life financially and educationally, others are drawn by the generous welfare programs which were set up after World War II.  There can be no doubt that there are others who see the European nations as targets for their long-term goal of conquering through the cradle. In this, they emulate the cry from Quebec decades ago when the French-Canadians envisioned change through a demographic war known as the revenge of the cradle. It sought to overturn the English power in the province and replace with a French culture orientation. Finally, there are others who see the European nations with their lack luster leaders as weak reeds who cannot stand up to Muslim power using the cradle, refusal to integrate and by sapping the financial strength of their hosts. The great question can the West reach an accommodation with the immigrants whose basic core beliefs, whose moral outlook are clearly opposed to those of the West? In fact, the question is really will Muslim immigrants accept and integrate Western values. In short, the answer is a strong no!

Why do I say there is no manner to reconcile the majority of Muslim immigrants and the natives of those European nations? There are two very simple reasons, and they serve as a great divide which cannot be bridged.

The first is fundamental and obvious: how women are viewed and treated in many of the most conservative Muslim countries, specifically the thirty-one where female genital mutilation is practiced and is practiced in those communities in Western nations. I recently read an article in the Daily Mail by Dr. Renee Hoenderkamp (12/16/2025, pp.15) in which she describes the real horrors of FMG going on even today, in Great Britain. She worked in a London hospital in a largely Muslim community, and she describes the time as “the most harrowing medical experiences of my career….”  Women regularly entered the hospital victims of FGM, unable to “urinate properly and crushed each month by period pains so excruciating they were bent double.” And childbirth brought with it even greater pains as well as a greater chance of death. How can any culture or religion mandate such horrors on women who are fifty percent of that population? Certainly not in the name of protecting them. For those women living in those populations where FGM is the norm, Islam truly does mean submission.

We also see the outward manifestations of outlandish religious laws on women when we see women walking around totally covered with only their eyes showing. The human form must be covered so as not to inflame impure thoughts and actions. The males of that same religion are not subject to the same tyranny as they wear any clothing they wish. We should not object, for least that woman was outside; she had her father, uncle, or brother to chaperone her. Those who are without a male family member are not allowed to go shopping on their own, go for a walk, drive, take a bus, etc. Must they be “protected” because the average Muslim man is unable to control himself unless a woman is in a burka. And of course, women do not need to have an education as they have a limited role in life. Thank goodness those women did not receive an education past the age of ten or they might ask why they are subjected to such a course, degrading life. No, not all women in Islam are treated in this manner, but for too many they are denied the option to be free and to create their own lives.

Secondly, conservative Islam, in particular the Shia version of Islam, is at its heart a totalitarian system. The religious leaders are divinely guided and not politically chosen. Additionally, the mullahs or religious leaders have the sole authority to interpret the rules and laws of the religion. The Sunni version sees its leaders as political figures chosen through consensus. This divide is huge and has been a matter of wars between the two camps. But the divide between the Shia vision of Islam and the basic ideals of the West are even greater. It is a fundamental chasm.

The Shia version is closer to communism than to a religion, for every action is guided by the “party line” as interpreted by a divinely chosen leader. This has been devastating to the followers of Islam; an example is the Ottoman Empire. Since the end of the seventeenth-century, Islam has been retreating. Even the Sultans in Istanbul could not change the decay of the Empire. Attempts at reforms such as with the military which was the power foundation holding up the edifice of the Ottomans were defeated time and again. The religious conservatives went so far as to massacre any troops trying to emulate the West. When you are divinely chosen and have the authority to interpret the very laws under which all must obey, what are the chances of smoothly integrating into societies which believe in ideals that are totally anathema to your own personal whims?

Is there hope that the conservative Muslim population can be integrated into Western values? Many Muslims want our conveniences, our fancy gym shoes, computers, clean water, abundant food and all the rest the West has to offer. They do not realize their very mindset blocks them from creating those items themselves. Instead, they must be like beggars, waiting for the West to give them what they desire.

 All the while, our “leaders” continue to appease the worse of the immigrants in order to avoid the violence that is a very real danger and which is spreading through our lands. No, it is better to keep quiet as churches are burned, no go zones created, gang wars over drugs explore in our cities, women raped and the assailants released because “they just don’t understand our culture.” Do not worry, the citizens are docile so they will continue to work and pay for the “freebies” given to the immigrants. Why can’t the West just admit that the gap between those who prefer a mindset from the Middle Ages and the modern West is too great to bridge? They will take what is given to them with no string and live off the generosity of those who act like fools. It appears our “leaders” will continue to appease the immigrants in the clearly mistaken belief that the majority will turn into useful citizens. How long do we wait, how long before we see any indication that there is even a bit of interest in assimilation?

The basic tenants of a religion will provide the guidelines of a society and how fifty percent of the population is treated will determine if a society will be successful or fail. The prime function of an immigration policy is that it must benefit the receiving nation. No sane immigration policy welcomes individuals who are inherently hostile to the core values of the admitting state. Dare anyone point to any of the Western nations that are better, more productive, or safer after a period of unrestricted illegal immigration?

If you feel that all societies are equal, that we just have to “understand” them, that their values are equal to ours, then go live in that society and see how long you hold onto your illusions. Experience it, embrace it. Especially if you are a woman. But remember, it is much easier to get into that society than out.

The general (of a military and diplomatic career) provides an excellent intimate look at the thinking and logic of Napoleon at that critical time of the Empire.  Having served extensively at the court of the Tsar, de Caulaincourt was able to provide Napoleon with extensive information on the thinking of the Tsar, the country, etc.  The information provided however, was not to Napoleon’s liking and therefore was largely ignored, much to the agony of the Grand Army.  Yet Napoleon kept de Caulaincourt close to him (he was willing to keep those who provided excellent service close to him even if they provided information not to his liking) to the point where on the retreat from Moscow, and especially when Napoleon left the Grand Army, de Caulaincourt escorted him on that long and cold ride through Prussia, into Warsaw, and onto Paris.

 After the fall of Napoleon, he retired from public life and died of cancer in 1827.

This book is a must read for students of Napoleon as it gives an excellent view of his thinking, logic, prejudices, etc.  His views on the restoration of Poland, misreading of the Tsar, etc. are clear and fascinating. 

The war in Russia, from 1941-45 witnessed numerous major battles, such as Stalingrad, Kursk, Operation Bagration, etc. and even more interesting smaller battles such as the Soviet siege of German troops at Demyansk and the subject of this book, Cholm.  The author, a Latvian who fought at Cholm recounts how for 105 days (February 23 to May 5, 1942), 5500 mostly German troops were surrounded and besieged by numerous Soviet divisions.

Outnumbered, out gunned, having only 10 anti-tank guns, the garrison consisted of a mixed bag of units including non-combat units which were given guns to man the lines.  The one advantage the Germans had was that they were able to maintain contact with artillery units outside of their lines.  When the Soviets attacked, they besieged were able to call in accurate artillery fire with precision to help blunt the human wave tactics employed by the attackers.  Yet supplies were short as winter storms and fog often grounded relief supplies parachuted in by the Luftwaffe.  Ad hoc defenses were created, and the town was destroyed during the months of siege.

In the end, between (depending on the source), between 3500-4500 of the besieged were casualties (2200 were killed) while the Soviets lost an estimated 20,000 troops.

This is a short book, easy to read and will give the average reader a good idea of the battle from the level of the men on the ground.  It does not dwell on the real agonies of the battle, such as the dirt and lice, the thousands of wounded crammed into the buildings which were specifically targeted by Soviet artillery, nor the sufferings of the Soviet troops who had little if any shelter as they attacked again and again over the same ground, so well registered by the German artillery.  This battle, insignificant in the history of that campaign will fade from memory, will be a footnote in its history in another 50 years, and yet it was a time of terror, death and bravery for thousands who will forever be nameless.

I first read this novel over forty years ago and although I did not recall the exact plot, I remembered that as I finished it, I put it aside vowing to never read another of Mishima’s’ works. My fear was that having read one more, I might have to devour his extensive list of works, a bit like an old friend who refused to purchase on Judy Collins record (that shows how long ago that was), as then he would have to purchase them all.

A very good friend presented me with a copy of this work for my birthday, and it was with a mixture of excitement and trepidation that I began to read it. The story itself seems to be simple; it centers around a widow, a sailor she meets, her young teenage son and the circle of his friends.  Filled with a subtle sensuality (as you would expect when you consider the author), it tells a story of how the son, and his friends reflect a form of nihilism that Mishima believed was part of the Japanese post-war character. The “tribe” of boys looked down on society, the family and anyone who was not in their “enlightened” circle. They were superior, above all the bourgeois values and norms and were determined to create their own world. Mashima also rejected Japan’s new materialism, democracy and flirtation with communism.

The book traces the young son’s disillusionment with the sailor who is courting his mother and the betrayal by the sailor when he decides to give up his life at sea and marry the boys’ mother. That action is a betrayal of the boys (not the sailors) sense of superiority, and the group of boys believe they must “punish” the sailor, or they will not be true to their sense of themselves.

As I finished the short novel, I felt the same sense of amazement at the power of Mishima’s writing. I slowly closed the book, put if my lap and let the last two paragraphs sink into my mind. The power that the book projected so many years ago was still there, as strong as ever. It is a book that dares to look at the dark side of disillusioned youth.

Mashima was one of Japan’s premier authors during the 1960’s. His novels were nominated five times for the Nobel Prize for literature, but he is probably best remembered for his dramatic action at Japan’s West Point in Tokyo in 1970. There, with some of his personal self-defense force, he seized a main building, captured the commandant and harangued the gathering cadets to throw off the new Japanese values of materialism, democracy, etc. and to recapture Japan’s sense of “national essence” including  Emperor worship or all of Japan would end up as a “rootless people”.  Failing to rally the cadets, he committed seppuku and had his second cut off his head as prescribed in the ceremony. He was forty-five years old.

What place did he hold in the minds of the Japanese youth of that time? In my previous lifetime I worked at Panasonics headquarters in Secaucus New Jersey.  One of the photos I kept displayed was of Mishima haranguing the cadets on that day in 1970. None of the older Japanese commented on the photo in my office, but the younger generation were more open in their comments, and I found it interesting that a simple photo could pierce the normal Japanese self-containment and lead to an openness that was so rewarding.

Read this book at your own peri or sense of excitement. The term you use after the reading may tell you something of yourself.

Written between October 1946 and April 1947 while awaiting trial and hanging in Poland, Hoss once again validates the proposition that the greatest mass murders were not crazy or fanatical, but rather believers in the ideology du jour. They often present very logical arguments for their actions, all the stronger because so many of them are noted Doctor of Medicine or Law. They represent the highest intellectual standards and yet are responsible for the deaths of untold millions. Knowing that we was going to die, there is nothing in his writing that would indicate his willingness or ability to commit genocide. Additionally, there is no indication of any personal dislike or distain for the Jewish people of whom were the majority of his victims. The closes he comes to any form of antisemitism not in deed but rather in a statement he makes twice just before he is hung: “Please ask the Polish people to forgive me.”  Not the Jews, the Poles. How telling; it was as if the millions murdered under his regime did not and never existed.

Hoss was a believer, a National Socialist to the end; not necessarily in every bit of that pseudo-political philosophy, but enough so that he found a moral home in which he could face the world. Each time Himmler gave him a new task, he set to it with a determination and will to do the best he could. According to Paskuly, this is due to the strict upbringing of his father who wanted Hoss to enter the priesthood. This dream of his father was shattered when Hoss believed a priest had broken the sanctity of the Confessional.

 Yet the basic values of hard work and determination to complete any job in the best manner possible remained with him. Directed by Himmler to build Auschwitz and to manage it as it grew into the largest concentration camp of the Nazi regime, followed a machine that operated according to a set of Rules and regulations for Concentration Camps which were developed by Theodore Eicke, who developed the camp system and demanded that each SS guard develop a sense of hardness that went far beyond the societal boundaries. Eicke viewed each prisoner as an ENEMY OF THE STATE and demanded that the title never be forgotten. His fanaticism was the exact opposite of the technocratic approach taken by Hoss.

The book also contains Hoss’ profiles of various high level SS leaders involved in the camps, a profile of the organization of the camps, a section on Lebensborn, minutes from the infamous Wannsee conference and other details which help to create a better understanding of the camp system.

In the end, we face banality. We find what could be a middle-aged bureaucrat who goes to work each day and comes home to his loving wife and three beautiful daughters. The is no extremely angry, no ranting, no self-image as a man on a holy image. Just the dull, non-descript man found by Hannah Arndt, Dr. Douglas Kelley, and others. That is the lesson in and of itself, for it shows how thin the veneer of civilization may be and that it can be so easy to pierce.

The recent movie, Nuremberg, centers around two characters; Dr. Douglas Kelley, who spent many hours interviewing and interacting with the twenty-two defendants during the first Nuremberg trial and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring.

Dr. Kelley in 1945 was 35 years old at the time of his work at Nuremberg, upon which the movie is based. He was a U.S. Army psychiatrist with an excellent reputation. His goal was to understand the mind set of the defendants in terms of how they viewed the war crimes they faced and how they could participate in the conducting of those terrible crimes. He interacted with those individuals for only one month, but that month changed his life forever. After those interviews, he gradually became more introverted, subject to flare ups of anger, and more argumentative. His career which held so much promise became short-circuited as he disagreed with fellow doctors and administrators; he was no longer invited for interviews; his scholarly papers were ignored and not published and he became a pariah. In 1958, he died by suicide.

What was it that changed the course of Kelley’s life? It was that month when he spoke with the twenty-two defendants and found a secret that he believed was totally opposed to the image that most people had of those defendants. It is a secret that has haunted generations as they studied the horrors of the Third Reich.

Dr. Kelley concluded, contrary to popular opinion, that the defendants were ordinary individuals; some brighter than others, some more vain, but all profoundly human. They were not devils or demons, they were not mad; in most cases they could be your next store neighbors until the right conditions were created. Dr. Kelley believed that it was not madness that enabled those men to participate in such crimes, but rather from a moral decay disguised as duty. We must remember that numerous commanders of the Nazi killing squads (the Einsatzgruppen) were medical and legal doctors and others possessing the finest intellectual educations in their fields. In their minds, their “work” was noble and ridding the earth of unhealthy and deadly enemies of their race.

In this book, 22 Cells, he saw that the “gradual process of moral desensitization, in which obedience and ambition eroded empathy” enabled those men (and so many others), to commit war crimes on a scale previously unknown. His belief in that process led him to believe that in any society, if the conditions were right, those actions could be repeated and that knowing that society had to take steps to safeguard such a recurrence. Naturally, such a view was not very popular in the victor nations who saw themselves as being not only the physical but also the moral victors of the war.

Long before Hannah Arendt went public with the phrase, the banality of evil, Dr. Kelley had spoken that way of what he had learned in Nuremberg. Like Kelley, Arendt paid a price using that phrase, yet there has never been any evidence to the truth of those words. They paid the price for staring into the darkest portion of the human mind. Will we learn from what they found? Try asking the average teenager of today who fought who in World War II. Ask them who fought in our Civil War. Some may say that Nazi Germany was an aberration, a fluke of history. If that is to be believed, what about the Armenian genocide, the Ukraine famine of the 1930’s, the intentional famine in China under Mao, the muti-year war in the Congo, the slaughter in Rwanda. Need I go on? Their ignorance is not their fault, but someone will have to pay the price for that ignorance. Perhaps not in this decade, perhaps not in the next, but there is always a price to pay for such ignorance.

There can be no finer example of the banality of evil than the book written by the commandant of Auschwitz and one of the greatest mass murders in history, Rudolph Hoss. Written while awaiting trial, he does not attempt to deflect blame or plead some sort of extraordinary circumstances for his actions. Instead, he paints a picture of a very bland, ordinary man simply doing his duty as he was ordered. A good family man, loving father, his main concern was to please his superiors everyday. He was the perfect face of the banality of evil.

For further reading, please consider The Nazi Conscience by Claudia Koonz, The Nuremberg Interviews by Leon Goldensohn, The Mind Doctor of Nuremberg by Kendrick D. Erasmus, and Marriage & Fatherhood in the Nazi SS by Amy Carney, Death Dealer by Rudolph Hoss.

I must admit that I failed (twice) to “get into” the series “Masters of the Air,” in fact I only watched two or three episodes before turning it off. The main problem was that compared to “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific,” the characters seemed shallow and there was too much time spend on the drinking and almost childish actions between missions. After reading this book, I shall make it a point to watch the television series through to the end.

The book, “Masters of the Air” is a brilliant, gripping history of the American air effort against the Luftwaffe from 1942 though to final victory in 1945. The author takes us on a step by step path as the American air effort is slowly built up, as theories of air warfare are tested and as the initial aircrews in the struggle are sacrificed time and time again on raids that often serve no tactical or strategic purpose.

Prior to the arrival of the Americans, the British had gone through a long and painful campaign of attempting to bomb key targets in German occupied Europe. The Brits had suffered serious losses during the initial campaign against the German invasion of France and wanted to strike back at Germany as the Luftwaffe began their bombing of British cities. The Germans and the British both learned that daylight bombing was too expensive. Despite the pre-war theory of Italian air commander General Giulio Douhet that the bomber will always get through, the cost of such a policy was too heavy, and the results were too meager. The British thus moved to night bombing which produced its’ own problems, one being faulty navigation. Originally the British bombers tried to follow the lights from rail lines and highways which only got them to the British coast, then after that many bombers were fortunate to find the European continent let alone their primary military objective. Thanks to a technological breakthrough, the British were finally able to at least get to the vicinity of their target but under the direction of Arthur Harris the concept of area bombing was developed. Under this theory, Harris hoped to “un-house” German workers and civilians and break the back of German morale. Why the Germans should break when the British civilian morale did not must not have been asked.

The Americans with their heavily gunned B-17s and B-24 bombers and their precision Norden bombsight set out to confirm Douhets’ theory while at the same time destroy the key German war industries. Thus, began around the clock bombing, the British by night, the Americans by day. The only problem was that while the ten-thousand dollar bombsite worked in perfect conditions, in reality with clear days over much of the continent limited to one day out of three, flak jarring the planes, and German fighters closing on the bombers at a combined speed of five-hundred-miles-per-hour, only one bomb in ten landed within five-hundred feet of the target. Added to this was the severe loss rate of raids in which ten, twenty, even forty percent of the bombers were destroy or badly damaged.

Through trial and error for over a year the Americans took heavy casualties, and Miller provides a fascinating section on how the medial teams approached battle fatigue, shell shock and morale problems which threatened to destroy the American effort. One great problem was that with the hostile elements, the randomness of the flak and the determination of the German defenders, many crews felt an extreme sense of helplessness regarding their lives. Rest homes, special meals, more breaks in the early days helped to keep the bombing effort on track despite the dispersal of bombing effort. Miller does a wonderful job of making the reader understand the strain of flying a mission; hours in the air where the temperature can be -60 degrees, where taking off a glove for even a minute can lead to first bite, the jarring of the plane as it flies through hundreds of miles of flak, each shell capable of destroying a bomber, of being wounded during the flight and the slim chance of survival in the terrible cold and then the return to the base which so many empty beds stare at the survivors, knowing that the next day the same drama will be presented to the survivors.  In fact, during the early days until the back of the Luftwaffe was broken, the chance of surviving twenty-five missions (at which point a crew member would be rotated back to the U.S.), stood at 1 in 4. As late as the three months leading up to D-Day, the Eighth Air Force lost fifty percent of their bombers, as the Germans had concentrated over 13,000 heavy anti-aircraft guns along the bombing routes. While it took about 8,500 rounds from the newest German guns to bring down a bomber, flak still accounted to over 40 percent of the wounds suffered during the air campaign and flak took down more planes than the Luftwaffe.

The book is filled with descriptions of bravery of young men, often twenty-one years old, who stepped into manhood by feats of bravery equal to the brave young men in the infantry, armor, navy, etc. There was no glory in this war; it was a battle of attrition between two industrial powers who fed machines and bodies into its’ maw until one or the other bled to death. Fortunately for us, it was the German’s who bled faster.

Despite its’ size (over 500 pages before footnotes), it is a fast read; beautifully written and providing insight into the questions the intelligent reader will be mentally asking.  Well done and I look forward to giving another chance for the series; I hope it lives up to this excellent work.

Numerous times over the past year ( e.g., Jan.2, Jan.23, Feb. 5, March 8, June 6, Oct. 10), I have written and posted articles concerning the disaster that is befalling much of the E.U., but especially Germany in its’ quest to go green. 

Tens of thousands of jobs lost, leading technical companies relocating, soaring energy prices, expanded welfare rolls, mounting national debt and decreasing individual liberty has been the reward for a decade of pie in the sky social and energy policies. Government leaders in western Europe are acting like teenagers who refuse to believe that tomorrow will never come and the bills they are creating will never come due.

The link below will take you to an article which provides facts and figures that should shock and dismay European leaders, yet somehow those leaders continue on a path of proven failure. While those same leaders express concern about the “American First” direction of President Trump, they have no qualms about continuing their, “Our Citizens Last” policies.

The nations of eastern Europe are on growth paths as they battle the bureaucrats of the E.U. Instead of asking how those nations are able to grow their economies without the flood of immigrants from third world “nations,” the E.U. like a spoiled child continues to stamp its’ feet and demand that those nations adhere to the E.U.’s failed policies.

Is there still time for nations such as Germany to change their course, reverse their belief in fairy tale economic and energy polices and play upon their traditional strengths to build a better future?

Please copy this link to the article: https://europeanconservative.com/articles/commentary/walpurgis-night-of-madness-germany-in-the-grip-of-climate-socialism/