Yes, it's been a good week, but I was hoping to do some writing late this afternoon after the midday food shopping and library visit. I'm worn out from the busy week or something--I am too exhausted to write a word of any project. So, I'm on the sofa with Sophie, looking out on the marsh (a gorgeous blue-green now), examining a library book that's hot off the press.

Cruel World: The Children of Europe in the Nazi Web by Lynn H. Nicholas deals with a topic that has always captured my attention: children and war. These days I'm most interested in the experiences of European children caught up in the chaos of the final months of the war and in the year following V-E Day. The last 150 pages of the book (579 pages total) focus on this time.

Lynn Nicholas talks about Cruel World on the Leonard Lopate Show--scroll down to find the segment and the "listen" button.

Nicholas is also the author of the award-winning The Rape of Europa, about the art confiscated by the Nazis and its repatriation.