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Reviews
" Mr. Ferguson infers that the greatest of all the paradoxes of the First World War is that, despite being economically disadvantaged in comparison with the Entente Powers, the Central Powers were far more successful at both inflicting death and taking POWs. The Germans achieved and maintained a higher level of military effectiveness for most of the war, and their military victory over Serbia, Rumania, and Russia, despite an immense inferiority in economic resources, was primarily due to the tactical excellence of the German army. "
Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War
"The stories in The Map of Love develop slowly and in parallel, but the similarities are not heavy handed. Rather, you happen upon parallels one at a time, like coming across small trinkets on a journey. Both stories have, essentially, two themes: love and politics. Anna’s story is fairly straightforward, even traditional, in its romanticism. Anna falls in love and so does Sharif; it’s a meeting of souls. Their acquaintance originates from a less-than-plausible accident, a perfect romantic catalyst in the style of Wilkie Collins."
Ahdaf Soueif's novel The Map of Love
"Mr. Mandelbaum has the benefit of detailing a fascinating subject with a cult-like following, semi-reputable members (the CIA, for one), and plenty of glamour and intrigue. The Psychic Battlefield, as a chronicle of 'the military-occult complex,' is of interest to those curious about tradecraft and tactics, or to those who have faith in or a need to understand what compels humans to dabble in the darker sciences."
W. Adam Mandelbaum's The Psychic Battlefield
"Cultural diversity and various topics and styles make this collection an interesting blend. One can read the collection in complete succession, but Katrina Kenison advises in her foreword to read each one individually, tackling projects in-between in order to grasp and savor each writer’s individual voice. And although each story is unique, each presents the single common subject underlying the short story: loneliness. As Mr. Doctorow states, '…the author’s awareness of loneliness is the literary dignity he grants his characters in spite of their circumstances…' ."
The Fiction Anthology The Best American Short Stories, 2000
