Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by The Purple Booker. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
* Grab your current book or recent read.
* Share a few "teaser" sentences from somewhere in the book.
* BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away. You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
* Share the title and author so that other participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teaser!
This week's teaser comes from When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II by Molly Guptill Manning. During WWII, Germany declared war on the rest of the world, conquering about a dozen other countries in one year. It was termed a "total war" as it was not only a physical act of taking over other countries, but was also a war on ideology and free thought. Hundreds of authors were banned in Germany and millions of books destroyed. I cannot praise this book enough, and highly recommend it to those who love books, as well as those interested in WWII history.
"Were you ever so upset emotionally that you had to tell someone about it, to sit down and write it out?" a Marine asked in a letter to the author Betty Smith. "That is how I feel now," he continued.
(Introduction)
~*~*~*~*~
Even the misty drizzle that blanketed Berlin did not dampen the merriment surrounding the grand parade held on may 10, 1933. Thousands of students, proudly wearing their university colors, walked through the foggy streets by glittering torchlight as they made their way toward the Bebelplatz, the main plaza between the Friedridh Wilhelm University and the Opera House.
(Chapter One, A Phoenix Will Rise)
ABOUT THE BOOK:
When America entered World War II in 1941, we faced an enemy that had banned and burned over 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops and gathered 20 million hardcover donations. In 1943, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks, for troops to carry in their pockets and their rucksacks, in every theater of war.
Comprising 1,200 different titles of every imaginable type, these Armed Services Editions were beloved by the troops and are still fondly remembered today. Soldiers read them while waiting to land at Normandy; in hellish trenches in the midst of battles in the Pacific; in field hospitals; and on long bombing flights. They wrote to the authors, many of whom responded to every letter. They helped rescue The Great Gatsby from obscurity. They made Betty Smith, author of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, into a national icon. When Books Went to War is an inspiring story for history buffs and book lovers alike.
I spent the past weekend holed up against the frigid cold reading Rick Riordan’s THE HOUSE OF HADES — 600 pages in less than three days! One of the stops in our young demigods’ quest is Split, Croatia, which got me interested in finding out more about this city and particularly the Palace of Diocletian, which two of the demigods visit.
01. Split is located on Croatia’s western coast, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. It is the second-largest city in Croatia, and the largest in the region of Dalmatia.
02. Split is several centuries old, dating back to the building of Diocletian's Palace in 305 CE. However, archaeologists have discovered that the area actually dates back to Greek times, when the colony of Aspálathos was built in the 4th century BCE.
03. Diocletian's Palace was built by the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century CE. Diocletian was born to a family of low status in 244, but worked his way up through the military ranks to become a Roman emperor from 284 to 305, and died in 311. Today this giant fortress forms the center of the city of Split.
04. Diocletian built his palace in preparation for his retirement on 1 May 305 AD. It is located in a bay on the south side of a peninsula, about four miles from Salona, capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Half of the palace was intended for personal use, while much of it was a military garrison.
05. The Palace was empty for several centuries after the Romans abandoned it, but nearby residents took refuge inside its walls from invading Slavs in the 7th century. Since that time, the palace has been occupied by homes and businesses within the palace basement and directly in its walls.
07. As the world’s most complete remains of a Roman palace, Diocletian’s Palace holds a prominent place in world heritage, and is one of the most famous architectural and cultural sites on the Croatian coast. It was added to the World Cultural Heritage register in 1979.
08. In 2006, the city council approved plans to build about 20 new buildings, including a new mall and garage, inside the palace walls. Once the public heard about it, they successfully petitioned against the proposal and won.
09. The palace was built in the structure of a Roman fortress, with its unfortified southern facade facing the sea, and high walls and towers ringing the three remaining sides. It was a combination luxury villa and military camp, housing up to 9,000 people at one time.
10. The peristyle, a large courtyard, gave access to the imperial apartments on the northern side of the palace, as well as Diocletian’s tomb to the east and three temples along the western edge. Two of those temples were lost or destroyed, while the third, the temple of Jupiter, now a baptistery. Diocletian’s mausoleum is now the site of the Cathedral of St. Domnius.
11. The palace and entire area of Split gets its water from the Jadro River near Salona. Remains of the original Roman aqueduct can still be seen along the road connecting the two cities, and were extensively restored in the 19th century.
12. Today, Diocletian’s Palace forms the heart of the town of Split, with many hotels, shops and restaurants found inside the walls — including a large underground shopping complex with barrel-vaulted ceilings.
13. Several locations around Croatia have been used as film sets for the HBO series Game of Thrones, including the eastern side of Diocletian’s Palace, and the city of Dubrovnik and The Walls of Ston, which were used as King’s Landing. There are many tours offered for GoT fans.
