The Foreign Service Journal, November 2008

historical details of the period. The book took second place in the category of historical fiction in the 2007 Reader Views Literary Awards. For Helena P. Schrader’s biographical information, see p. 24. An Obsolete Honor: A Story of the German Resistance to Hitler Helena P. Schrader, AuthorHouse, 2008, $28.95, paperback, 567 pages. Set in Germany during the Second World War, this novel traces the gradual transformation of a loyal — albeit critical — German General Staff officer into a traitor and poten- tial assassin. Secondary characters in the novel reflect the great diversity of feelings toward National Socialism from idealistic enthusiasm and self-interested support to cautious approval and humanitarian opposition. In unfolding her story, the author probes the central moral dilemma of the Resistance: that its members had to be traitors to their country to do what their conscience demanded. Rejecting the typical stereotypes and the presumption that resistance was self-evident and easy, she reconstructs the Nazi period and depicts those who lived through it in a compelling way that forces readers to come to grips with its universal lessons. The work is grounded in extensive research, including interviews with German officers and others, carried out during the author’s more than 20-year residence in Berlin. For Helena P. Schrader’s biographical data, see p. 24. A Huge Happy Pageant Francis Xavier Cunningham, Vantage Press, 2008, $12.95, paperback, 176 pages. Here is a collection of short stories and essays chronicling the daily lives of the Irish residents of Brooklyn and other parts of the world. The stories try to achieve an accurate portrayal of the Irish-Catholic family, sup- planting the stereotype the author describes as “being 36 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 8 Ordering through afsa.org Here’s how it works: 1. Go to the AFSA Web site, www.afsa.org . 2. Click on the Marketplace tab (second brown tab from the right). 3. Click on the “AFSA and Amazon Books” icon in the lefthand navigation. 4. Click on “FS Authors” and then go directly to book listings by subject. 5. Shop away! Not only is this a thrifty, efficient way to do your holiday shopping, but AFSA receives a 5-percent commission from Amazon on every item (books, CDs, toys, etc.) ordered in this manner. Books selected from the AFSA Web site bookstore generate an even higher commis- sion payment. And ordering through AFSA doesn’t cost you a cent. So bookmark the AFSA site, use the link and help your association — and yourself!