Rating: 
Summary: A Nice Summary of an Amazing Life
Review: As someone who is very interested in the story of Anne Frank, I was very happy to see this book come out. It fills in a gap in the writings about Anne. There's been some nice work done on the study of the diary itself and a number of nice biographies for young readers; however, the number of serious biographies of Anne covering her entire life story can be counted on the fingers of one hand.As a summary, this book works very nicely. It is particularly good in covering the history of the Frank family upto the time of their going into hiding. The analysis of the years in hiding is fair as well as the summary of the events following the arrest of the people of the "secret annex." I also liked the epliogue which gives a brief account of many of the people involved in Anne's life upto their deaths or the present day. The weakness of this book is that is not much more than a summary of known material. I did not feel I learned many new things by reading this book. Additionaly, I feel some of this ground is better covered in other books. For example, Willy Lindwer's book, The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank, is a much more detailed and more engaging book about the events after the arrest. And anyone really interested in the details of Anne's life and the development of the diary can't do better than the Critical Edition of the diary. Don't get me wrong: this is a good biography. It is especially good for someone who doesn't know anything of Anne beyond the diary and wants to know more. This is a good place to start. Just keep in mind that their are other sources of material that are even better than this one. And that the diary itself is still the best place to get to "know" Anne.
Rating:
Summary: A Nice Summary of an Amazing Life
Review: As someone who is very interested in the story of Anne Frank, I was very happy to see this book come out. It fills in a gap in the writings about Anne. There's been some nice work done on the study of the diary itself and a number of nice biographies for young readers; however, the number of serious biographies of Anne covering her entire life story can be counted on the fingers of one hand. As a summary, this book works very nicely. It is particularly good in covering the history of the Frank family upto the time of their going into hiding. The analysis of the years in hiding is fair as well as the summary of the events following the arrest of the people of the "secret annex." I also liked the epliogue which gives a brief account of many of the people involved in Anne's life upto their deaths or the present day. The weakness of this book is that is not much more than a summary of known material. I did not feel I learned many new things by reading this book. Additionaly, I feel some of this ground is better covered in other books. For example, Willy Lindwer's book, The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank, is a much more detailed and more engaging book about the events after the arrest. And anyone really interested in the details of Anne's life and the development of the diary can't do better than the Critical Edition of the diary. Don't get me wrong: this is a good biography. It is especially good for someone who doesn't know anything of Anne beyond the diary and wants to know more. This is a good place to start. Just keep in mind that their are other sources of material that are even better than this one. And that the diary itself is still the best place to get to "know" Anne.
Rating: 
Summary: A realistic portrait of Anne Frank
Review: Ever since her diary was published back in the 1950's, Anne Frank has been portrayed as a martyr, a symbol of the Holocaust, and Hitler's "most famous victim." Though she may be all these things, we often have an idealized view of the girl herself. Remember, her diary only chronicles two years of her life. "Anne Frank: The Biography" fills in the blanks and gives us a more realistic view of the girl who captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. The biography is exhaustive, covering her family background and the political situation as it unfolded. More importantly, though, it gives a detailed description of what happened to Anne and her family in the concentration camps. Though hard to read at times (I cried a few times while reading it), it is important to know what happened to her and the other 6 million Holocaust victims. After reading her diary at age 13 for my English class, I had always wondered what happened after she stopped writing. I knew they were caught by the Nazis and were sent to concentration camps, where she eventually died, but I had no idea what her experience was like. The detail in this book is staggering. Melissa Muller did an exceptional job of tracking down every bit of information she could possibly find, not only on Anne herself, but her friends and family as well. (She even dug up personal information about the SS officer who arrested the Franks in the Annex.) She managed to interview surviving friends and family (even those who were initially reluctant to talk with her), including Miep Gies, the woman who helped the Franks while in hiding (and who writes a touching note at the end). So if you've ever read Anne Frank's diary, I would highly recommend reading this book to get a more complete portrait of what she was like, the times she lived in, her family, and her experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A realistic portrait of Anne Frank
Review: Ever since her diary was published back in the 1950's, Anne Frank has been portrayed as a martyr, a symbol of the Holocaust, and Hitler's "most famous victim." Though she may be all these things, we often have an idealized view of the girl herself. Remember, her diary only chronicles two years of her life. "Anne Frank: The Biography" fills in the blanks and gives us a more realistic view of the girl who captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. The biography is exhaustive, covering her family background and the political situation as it unfolded. More importantly, though, it gives a detailed description of what happened to Anne and her family in the concentration camps. Though hard to read at times (I cried a few times while reading it), it is important to know what happened to her and the other 6 million Holocaust victims. After reading her diary at age 13 for my English class, I had always wondered what happened after she stopped writing. I knew they were caught by the Nazis and were sent to concentration camps, where she eventually died, but I had no idea what her experience was like. The detail in this book is staggering. Melissa Muller did an exceptional job of tracking down every bit of information she could possibly find, not only on Anne herself, but her friends and family as well. (She even dug up personal information about the SS officer who arrested the Franks in the Annex.) She managed to interview surviving friends and family (even those who were initially reluctant to talk with her), including Miep Gies, the woman who helped the Franks while in hiding (and who writes a touching note at the end). So if you've ever read Anne Frank's diary, I would highly recommend reading this book to get a more complete portrait of what she was like, the times she lived in, her family, and her experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A realistic portrait of Anne Frank
Review: Ever since her diary was published back in the 1950's, Anne Frank has been portrayed as a martyr, a symbol of the Holocaust, and Hitler's "most famous victim." Though she may be all these things, we often have an idealized view of the girl herself. Remember, her diary only chronicles two years of her life. "Anne Frank: The Biography" fills in the blanks and gives us a more realistic view of the girl who captured the hearts of millions of readers worldwide. The biography is exhaustive, covering her family background and the political situation as it unfolded. More importantly, though, it gives a detailed description of what happened to Anne and her family in the concentration camps. Though hard to read at times (I cried a few times while reading it), it is important to know what happened to her and the other 6 million Holocaust victims. After reading her diary at age 13 for my English class, I had always wondered what happened after she stopped writing. I knew they were caught by the Nazis and were sent to concentration camps, where she eventually died, but I had no idea what her experience was like. The detail in this book is staggering. Melissa Muller did an exceptional job of tracking down every bit of information she could possibly find, not only on Anne herself, but her friends and family as well. (She even dug up personal information about the SS officer who arrested the Franks in the Annex.) She managed to interview surviving friends and family (even those who were initially reluctant to talk with her), including Miep Gies, the woman who helped the Franks while in hiding (and who writes a touching note at the end). So if you've ever read Anne Frank's diary, I would highly recommend reading this book to get a more complete portrait of what she was like, the times she lived in, her family, and her experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Page Turner
Review: Everyone is familiar with the name Anne Frank, and everyone is aware of the struggles she and her family went through in the secret annex, but what do we know about the parts of her life that aren't contained in her diary? This book reveals portions of the lives of Anne Frank and her family that you never knew existed. It will take you from a time when the Franks were accepted as part of a community, to a time when they were no longer allowed to belong to that community. This book will help you gain a better understanding of the era in which Anne Frank lived. Muller does a great job at providing small details which really make the legend come to life. She has obtained information from multiple sources, which give different information and viewpoints. There is even a letter written by Miep Gies, who is responsible for hiding the Frank family. In this note, she expresses many emotions and a unique viewpoint which will make you question your own feelings on the Holocaust. This biography is very emotional and insightful. It contains answers to many questions you may have, and makes it easier than ever to understand what happened to the Franks and other families during the holocaust.
Rating:
Summary: Fifty years later the horror still lingers
Review: From the years of 1939 to 1945 mankind endured the darkest period of evil and brutality that has gone unparalleled in the modern (and ancient) era. One wicked man's irrational, murderous hatred and insatiable lust for power, combined with the cruel, sociopathic personalities of cowardly henchmen such as Hoess, Himmmler, Goering, and Eichmann, to name a mere few, swept the continent of Europe into total devastation and near destruction, destroying dreams and cancelling the futures of the soldiers who fought for both sides, those who were simple bystanders in bombing raids, and others who simply had the misfortune to be considered "undesirable" and who perished in inhumane, intolerable conditions in horrendous concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Neuengamme. The dreadfulness of their pain and the senseless of their deaths cannot be imagined, described, forgiven, or forgotten. One of the millions who was murdered during the Holocaust was Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who lived in hiding with her older sister Margot, their parents Otto and Edith, Hermann and Auguste Van Pels, their son Peter, and Dr Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist, in Amsterdam, Holland, in the secret annexe of the office building which still stands at 263 Prinsengracht. As a literary work and historical document, Anne's diary is perhaps one of the most important volumes to emerge from the twentieth century. However, when reading it, one must remember that it was written by an ordinary teenage girl who was forced to exist under extraordinary and wearisome conditions that would have strained the patience of the Lord himself. Neither Anne nor her co-habitants saw anyone but each other and their benefactors day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out. Hence I feel that the above situation must be considered when reflecting on her often harsh views of her fellow annexe dwellers. Melissa Muller's book is a great companion to the diary but should not be read instead of it - to do this would be severely shortchanging to oneself. It provides a rounder, fuller narrative of the times, places, and people in Anne's life and of those that decided her fate. From the rise of the Nazi's and their use of bullying tactics as their tyranny and terrorism begins, to Anne's formative years, and a broader, wider, more objective description of the Frank's life in hiding. Particularly heartrending are the chapters in which Melissa Muller describes 4 August 1944, the day the annexe dwellers were arrested, betrayed, like Judas betrayed Jesus, for a symbolic twelve pieces of silver, and previously little known details of Anne's life in the death camps Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen as she bravely fought, and bravely lost, the battle for survival. The tears will fall as the words are read, as they will fall as we share the moment that Otto Frank learns of the terrible fate of his daughters. To lose a beloved spouse is bad enough, but to lose your child, to lose both your children, is an unfathomable and unimaginable grief that never fades even with the passage of many years. And Otto Frank was only one of many parents during the war whose children would never come home.............. Yes, this is a great biography of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who became world famous because of her diary, who became world famous because she expired in a concentration camp. But Anne is not merely ashes or dust - her soul lives on. And what of her diary? Her diary, the contents of which she guarded so fiercely, has become a gift to millions.
Rating:
Summary: Fifty years later the horror still lingers
Review: From the years of 1939 to 1945 mankind endured the darkest period of evil and brutality that has gone unparalleled in the modern (and ancient) era. One wicked man's irrational, murderous hatred and insatiable lust for power, combined with the cruel, sociopathic personalities of cowardly henchmen such as Hoess, Himmmler, Goering, and Eichmann, to name a mere few, swept the continent of Europe into total devastation and near destruction, destroying dreams and cancelling the futures of the soldiers who fought for both sides, those who were simple bystanders in bombing raids, and others who simply had the misfortune to be considered "undesirable" and who perished in inhumane, intolerable conditions in horrendous concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Neuengamme. The dreadfulness of their pain and the senseless of their deaths cannot be imagined, described, forgiven, or forgotten. One of the millions who was murdered during the Holocaust was Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who lived in hiding with her older sister Margot, their parents Otto and Edith, Hermann and Auguste Van Pels, their son Peter, and Dr Fritz Pfeffer, a dentist, in Amsterdam, Holland, in the secret annexe of the office building which still stands at 263 Prinsengracht. As a literary work and historical document, Anne's diary is perhaps one of the most important volumes to emerge from the twentieth century. However, when reading it, one must remember that it was written by an ordinary teenage girl who was forced to exist under extraordinary and wearisome conditions that would have strained the patience of the Lord himself. Neither Anne nor her co-habitants saw anyone but each other and their benefactors day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out. Hence I feel that the above situation must be considered when reflecting on her often harsh views of her fellow annexe dwellers. Melissa Muller's book is a great companion to the diary but should not be read instead of it - to do this would be severely shortchanging to oneself. It provides a rounder, fuller narrative of the times, places, and people in Anne's life and of those that decided her fate. From the rise of the Nazi's and their use of bullying tactics as their tyranny and terrorism begins, to Anne's formative years, and a broader, wider, more objective description of the Frank's life in hiding. Particularly heartrending are the chapters in which Melissa Muller describes 4 August 1944, the day the annexe dwellers were arrested, betrayed, like Judas betrayed Jesus, for a symbolic twelve pieces of silver, and previously little known details of Anne's life in the death camps Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen as she bravely fought, and bravely lost, the battle for survival. The tears will fall as the words are read, as they will fall as we share the moment that Otto Frank learns of the terrible fate of his daughters. To lose a beloved spouse is bad enough, but to lose your child, to lose both your children, is an unfathomable and unimaginable grief that never fades even with the passage of many years. And Otto Frank was only one of many parents during the war whose children would never come home.............. Yes, this is a great biography of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who became world famous because of her diary, who became world famous because she expired in a concentration camp. But Anne is not merely ashes or dust - her soul lives on. And what of her diary? Her diary, the contents of which she guarded so fiercely, has become a gift to millions.
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Piece of Work!
Review: I am in the process of reading this book now, and can tell you it is a great companion book to Miep Gies' great book, Anne Frank Remembered. It goes much more into the background of the family members and also details much more of the political atmosphere and uneasiness that allowed Hitler's Third Reich to come to power. Ms. Mueller had to have done exhaustive research, and it really shows in her book. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Piece of Work!
Review: I am in the process of reading this book now, and can tell you it is a great companion book to Miep Gies' great book, Anne Frank Remembered. It goes much more into the background of the family members and also details much more of the political atmosphere and uneasiness that allowed Hitler's Third Reich to come to power. Ms. Mueller had to have done exhaustive research, and it really shows in her book. Excellent!
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