Pros: An historical perspective that has escaped most readers. The narrative flows like a fine wine.
Cons: The book has few flaws – just an occasional unsettling dreg to mar the vintage.
The Bottom Line: Many men and women sacrificed much to preserve the wine – bottled and on the vine. I could not help but wish that more had been done to preserve “people”.
gungian's Full Review: Don Kladstrup - Wine and War: The French, the Nazi...
I have read many works with a World War II theme. A number of those have been based on extensive research and first person accounts. Usually I read with a glass of water or a cup of coffee chair-side. Perhaps understandably, it was my wine glass that I kept refilling while reading Wine & War.
The authors, husband and wife team of Petie and Don Kladstrup, have created an unusual tale of 1940s France. Over the course of eleven chapters they recount the near Herculean efforts to preserve France’s national, natural treasure – its wine – during that country’s invasion and subsequent occupation by Germany. Petie is an internationally respected writer and she has published extensively on the country, people, and lifestyle of France. Don is an award-winning tele-journalist of long standing. Wine & War benefits from their diverse – yet complimentary – approaches to research and writing.
Subtitled “The French, the Nazis & the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure”, the entire book runs to 279 pages. Many of the incidents are retold from the intimate perspective of those who lived them. Collaborators and resistance fighters, the famous and the unknown, drinkers and vintners – all have their stories to tell.
The Kladstrups augment these first person accounts with supporting details gleaned over three years of meticulous research. These historical accounts detail the risks that were taken to safeguard the “fruit of the vine”. Some of the true tales recorded here bear out the old adage that “fact is oft times stranger than fiction”. Many of the vignettes are poignant and some even display elements of humor.
The Epilogue, which ends on page 248, concludes the actual text. But there are numerous interesting and informative fine points seemingly buried in the end matter. I actually found some of this detail as fascinating as the stories themselves.
The seven-page Glossary, for example, begins on page 250. It is particularly illuminating and I was equally surprised at how much – and how little – I knew.
Notes confirms that actual participants – and their survivors – were the sources of the books insight. The notes themselves amplify the text. More importantly, the notes serve as a pointer to other resources.
There is also a three-page Bibliography starting on page 271. This section illustrates a number of spokes that an interested reader could follow outward from the literary hub of Wine & War.
A most appealing interview with the Kladstrups can be found at http://www.paris-expat.com/interviews/interview_kladstrups.html. This details some background to the book as well as some insight into the authors themselves.
Wine & War
Don & Petie Kladstrup
Broadway Books
New York
Hardback, 2001
ISBN: 0 7679 0447 8
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