Rating: 
Summary: Winemaking to Victory
Review: In the incomparable film _Casablanca_, Rick and Ilsa are in a café in Monmartre, worrying about the approach of the Germans to take over Paris. Rick says, "Henri wants us to finish this bottle then three more. He says he'll water his garden with champagne before he'll let the Germans drink any of it." The invaluable Sam then says it takes the sting out of being occupied, Rick says, "Here's looking at you, kid," and the Germans come on. It's a good bet they didn't get any of Henri's prized champagne. That was fictional, but it's true, too. The French had many ways of denying the Germans the pleasures of their vineyards, and many of the ways were overwhelmingly successful. The amazing story is told in _Wine & War: The French, the Nazis, & the Battle for France's Greatest Treasure_ (Broadway Books) by Don and Petrie Kladstrup, and it is a rousing one, a view of the war never before told.It is fun to read the stories of how the winemakers fooled the Nazis, making false walls in their cellars and gathering spiders to the wall, so that they might make the wall look old, or putting bad wine into bottles that bore good labels. It must have delighted the French when they could fob bad wine off as good without the Nazis knowing any better. Many of the cloak-and-dagger operations involving wines and winemakers were far from funny, however successful they might have been. The wine cellars, many of which were labyrinthine caves that had been dug centuries before, proved to be excellent places to hide members of the Resistance. Also, those with cellars turned out to be sources of valuable intelligence. A big shipment ordered for "a very hot country" turned out to be among the first indications the Allies had that the North African campaign was beginning. _Wine & War_ explains how the German "wine fuehrers" played a dangerous double game, helping the winemakers to keep their trade going. It also gives a vintner's view of the history of the collaboration government of Field Marshal Pétain, who was himself a vineyard owner. It explains how much the memories of wine helped inspire French prisoners of war, and how the dangerous furtive manufacture of copper sulfate (used to combat fungus) was carried out underneath the nose of the Germans, who wanted copper for the war effort. It shows how although many of the vineyards at liberation were ruined, some of them could break open their walled-up bottles and sell them to gain funds to get everything started again. This is a fascinating book which will please those interested in the history of the period, as well as those who know something about wines. Ronald Barton, who ran estates in Bordeaux, used to make it a practice to drink one of his good bottles of wine with dinner throughout the war. His private toast was, "Here's one less for the Germans if they win, one less for my heirs if we do." Winemakers throughout France helped in many surprising ways to make it the heirs' loss.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting insight
Review: Nobody other than the French could even begin to explain their love of wine. It's certainly nothing to do with alcohol abuse, since their drinking habits are very moderate by most countries standards. 'Wine & War' attempts to explain this phenomenon by examining the lives of some of the vintners during the war years. Above all, many wine producers went to extreme lengths to hide their best wines from the occupying forces. Not because they didn't want the Germans to have them (there were many who collaborated with and sold their wine to the Germans), but because they didn't feel the Germans would appreciate them. On this point, they were probably right, since the real significance of their wine to the Germans was in its economic value. In the French view, their passion for wine "contributed to the French race by giving it wit, gaiety, and good taste, qualities which set it profoundly apart from people who drink a lot of beer." Being a French resident, I am sometimes given to wonder what happened to the gaiety and wit, particularly whilst stuck in a traffic jam in the center of Paris! However, there is most certainly a national enthusiasm and pride for the nectar of the grape, and Don & Petie Kladstrup set out to try to explain it. It goes deeper than just the bouquet or taste of the wine, it goes to an appreciation of contact with the earth, the passing of the seasons, the passion of the producer. In any other country you would be considered a food snob if you spoke in these terms. In France you are an ignoramus if you don't. In every day terms, there is very little snobbery attached to wine. Wine & War is an entertaining read, though, for me, it left behind many unanswered questions (unrelated to wine). Like why were the French so willing to forgive the Germans after WWII? The French are proud people whose loss of face during a catastrophic six week surrender has never been truly forgotten. For over four years they struggled to save their lives and their families. And they have struggled ever since to regain their self-respect. This is why the authors of Wine & War sometimes had difficulty extracting stories from the winegrowers. Some things are best forgotten, it seems. Where Don & Petie Kladstrup succeed is in explaining the French passion for wine. Where they don't quite succeed is in a proper explanation of the French psyche that is still troubled about their calamitous war. In a book that explores the war years, I believe some such explanation was necessary. Otherwise, an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: A Full-Bodied Book with a Great Finish!
Review: Talk about an enjoyable book to read! It has been a while since I was able to just sit down and finish a book from cover to cover in a matter of a few short days...
This book would appeal to anyone who is a WWII buff and purveyer of wine...in fact, you can be be partial to one or the other. The book gives you an excellent portrayal of France during the Nazi occupation...with an emphasis on wine of course, the authors give you insight into France's staple treasure and how the Nazi's were looking to pillage and loot it. Most people associate the Nazi's as thieves who stole France's valuable paintings, jewels and artifacts from her soil. Not too often is it known that the Nazi's were after France's pricless Cru's to not only obtain a significant source of material wealth, but mainly to rob France of her greatest piece of heritage and culture...
The authors portray the French people as not only brave, but highly shrewed in being able to trick the Nazi's into getting substandard wine and often batch that was far inferior to what they had bought (more or less stolen). All in all, this book hits both history and the intracicies behind's France's passion for wine and what the French people in all levels of society did to preserve it...even if it meant the loss of their own lives. Enjoy this book with a glass of good French Burgundy by your side and be swept away like I did....
Rating: 
Summary: What are the authors trying to say?
Review: The book lacked writing style and content. The book is written in a very primitive boring language. Short simple sentences made me think that the book is written for teenagers. Part of it could be due to the translation of the stories from French to English. Now, content... I'm still trying to understand what point the authors were trying to make. This is a convoluted compellation of stories loosely woven in a WWII timeline. Authors have taken stories of 20 rich wine families and applied them to the entire nation, which made for a very rosy account of one of the most tragic wars in the 20th century...
Rating:
Summary: A First Class Effort
Review: The Kladstrups have written a fine account about a little known aspect of both the wine world and World War II. The myriad machinations of French winemakers to keep their best wines out of German Army cellars are fascinating. So too are the many tales of subterfuge: some subtle, some rather dangerously overt. I first met Don Kladstrup in 1976, when he was a reporter for CBS News and I was a freelance cameraman. We spent much time together during the hostage crisis in Iran, and I was always impressed by his writing. When you read WINE & WAR, be sure to have a glass of fine Bordeaux at your side- it adds a certain air of verisimilitude.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, lousy writing
Review: The quotations from the protagonists and their progeny tell the story. Good thing, too, because the authors' writing style is at best pedestrian. Several times I threw the book across the room because I became so frustrated at the lack of quality in the narrative. The text reads like a biography that a fourth-grade student might bring home, which is very distracting from the story itself. That said, the colorful anecdotes that appear between quotation marks still merit reading the book. After all, I did each time walk across the room and pick up the book to resume reading. Just don't get your hopes up too high.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, lousy writing
Review: The quotations from the protagonists and their progeny tell the story. Good thing, too, because the authors' writing style is at best pedestrian. Several times I threw the book across the room because I became so frustrated at the lack of quality in the narrative. The text reads like a biography that a fourth-grade student might bring home, which is very distracting from the story itself. That said, the colorful anecdotes that appear between quotation marks still merit reading the book. After all, I did each time walk across the room and pick up the book to resume reading. Just don't get your hopes up too high.
Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING, MORE INSPIRATION THAN HISTORY
Review: The story of the French resistance to protect the wine is a very interesting one, well told by the authors of this book. It is clear that the amount of research involved is extraordinary, and the authors do a good job of transmitting to the reader the deep feelings and history involved. One major comment is that the whole sotry is mainly focused on WWII, making the title "WINE AND WAR" somewhat misleading. As a piece of history, this is not very additive to the history of WWII. The French Resistance has its history well documented, and this is only a portion of its activities. There is some lack of connection between the individual stories and the actual political and military developments of the war, making the stories interesting but disconnected. Overall, this is a great book if you are a wine enthusiast or if you want somehting to read over a 10 hour flight, but if you are a pure historian, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: INTERESTING, MORE INSPIRATION THAN HISTORY
Review: The story of the French resistance to protect the wine is a very interesting one, well told by the authors of this book. It is clear that the amount of research involved is extraordinary, and the authors do a good job of transmitting to the reader the deep feelings and history involved. One major comment is that the whole sotry is mainly focused on WWII, making the title "WINE AND WAR" somewhat misleading. As a piece of history, this is not very additive to the history of WWII. The French Resistance has its history well documented, and this is only a portion of its activities. There is some lack of connection between the individual stories and the actual political and military developments of the war, making the stories interesting but disconnected. Overall, this is a great book if you are a wine enthusiast or if you want somehting to read over a 10 hour flight, but if you are a pure historian, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Easy read about wine and war
Review: This book may not win a litterary prize, however I found it very easy to read with many interesting anecdotes. Some of the subterfuges used by the winegrowers to hide their precious wines from the Germans were ingenious and sometimes desperate. The authors tell us about certain events during the war that we have either forgotten or never realized. This book is for you if you love wine and are curious about the war period. Again, don't expect great writing style, but it is still compelling.
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