What Others Say

[email protected] from Bombay, India , June 3, 1998 
Brilliant, simply brilliant
Never have I been so profoundly moved by a book. Each character, each scene, each situation is beautifully thought out and admirably expressed. The book gave me many happy hours of reading and re-reading! and I'd like to thank Leon Uris for this masterpiece which has so profoundly and completely altered my view of historical events as well as of life and death. Thankyou for letting me know that men and women of the likes of Andrei and Simon and Deborah and Gaby existed. Through them I have seen new worlds.

[email protected] from Warsaw , May 19, 1998 
Strong on fiction, weak on facts
I have given the book a 7 based on a combined rating of 9 for sheer readability and pleasure, but a 5 for historic accuracy and attention to detail. First, about the 9. The book is a most enjoyable one to read. It will capture the reader from the first moment. From this standpoint, I recommend the book highly.

But, I have problems with the author's cavalier way of mixing fact with fiction, opinion, and bias. Comparing Mila 18 to "Poland" by Mitchener (just an example), Mitchener heavily annotates his historical novel with chapter notes which separate the fact from the fiction. That is most helpful for someone who wishes to keep historic facts clearly in mind.

The main complaint I have is the somewhat questionable characterization of the relationship between the Polish Jews and the non-Jewish Polish population.

I am not suggesting that there was not serious discrimination at work. There was. But extending this to an anatogism between ghetto resistance efforts and the Polish Home Army is, I believe going to far and defiles the memory of many who made sincere efforts to deal as responsible human beings (on both sides of the Jewish - Christian divide).

Mila 18 suggests that the Polish underground army was antagonistic and openly anti-Semitic to the point of refusing much help and stealing money. He portrays the commander of the Home Army (presumably Bor-Kormorowski) as an effete snob who had no use for the chief protagonist of Mila 18. As a matter of historic fact, Bor-Komorowski had been the commander of the Polish cavalry unit that the book's protagonist (Andrei) was also an officer of. They would have known each other.

In fact, it would seem that Polish underground people went to considerable personal risk to get the stories of atrocities out of Poland to the government in London. Bor-Kormorowski evinces anger over the initial refusal of the BBC to tell these stories of what was going on in places like Auschwitz and in the Warsaw Ghetto (as well as stories of the ! horrors being perpetrated by the "ally," Stalin).

For another slant on this story, I refer any reader to "The Secret Army" by Bor-Kormorowski. Some of the ghetto fighting scenes described in Mila 18 conform in detail to those reported in the Secret Army.

Uris protrays civilian life outside the ghetto wall in Warsaw as close to "normal." Other histories tell stories of quite a different nature, albeit that life inside the ghetto was far, far worse. But life outside it was not normal. The occupying Nazis had successfully driven a wedge into Polish society by the imposition of terror in the camps, in the ghetto, and in civilian society in general. Uris seems to discount the possibility that non Jewish Warsaw civilians and resistance people alike could not help much because it was well beyond their capability to do so. Reading between the lines in The Secret Army, I get the impression that Bor-Kormorowski regrets not having been able to do more for people he seemed to hold in genuine respect.

Finally, I think that Uris also soils the memory of Emmanuel Ringelblum, the diarist of the Warsaw Ghetto upon whom I presume he models the structure of Mila 18 (it is built around diary entries). He does not mention Ringelblum in the dedication to the book, nor does his name appear anywhere in the book. Although I recognize that Ringelblum came under considerable criticism within certain Jewish schools of thought after the War, and is considered a "controversial" figure (because he did not advocate more resistance earlier), I think Ringelblum is much to be admired. The question of passivity is a theme addressed obliquely in Mila 18, and is a topic of some soul searching by Ringelblum as well (he was executed well after the ghetto uprising had been put down). My own view is that Uris should have paid Ringelblum some tribute for his contributions to Mila 18, a book that largely paraphrases the Ringelblum "Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto."

That's why I give! Mila 18 a 5 on historic accuracy.

A reader from Boston, Massachusetts , April 29, 1998 
Absolutely Fantastic & Moving Work of Historical Fiction
Mila 18 is a wonderfully written novel, that I found superior to Uris' most famous work, Exodus, in both storyline and writing style. The character development is excellent, which makes the reader truly "invested" in the welfare of the book's major players. I can't recall having read another book that managed to increase my pulse rate during tense moments, or actually bring me to tears (unexpectedly!) quite like Mila 18. For under $7 -- this is a no-brainer (an enriching experience, unlike your typical similarly priced movie ticket!). Enjoy.

A reader , March 31, 1997 
100% gripping all the way through - totally un-missable!
I have now read this book again and again. Very few authors seem to have been able to pull off fiction based on this period, yet Mila 18 is totally believable and really gets the reader desperate to get to the next page - whilst still unable to skip a single word! I even went to Warsaw to visit the site of the ghetto, which was a pretty direct result of reading this book. If you only ever read one more book - make it this one!

A reader , January 26, 1997 
A wonderful book!!
I've enjoyed many Leon Uris novels, but of them all, I consider Mila 18 to be his best. The Leon Uris trademark of a meticulously researched historic background coupled with one of the most action-packed stories he's ever written makes this book nearly impossible to put down. The novel focuses on the gradual tightening of the "Nazi noose" round the collective necks of the Jews of the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. The central character, Andrei Androfski, struggles with Jewish leadership, urging the Jews to fight before it's too late. Finally, when it is actually too late to hope for the survival of more than a handful, the Jews DO fight, and HOW THEY FIGHT!! What a story!!!!

A reader , January 17, 1997 
Very well told story of jews in WW2 Warszaw. Don't miss it!
Mila 18 tells the story of a couple of jew families and how their lives evolve in differebt direction when the germans attack in september 1939. Some chose to support the germans, not knowing what would come. The book is very well told and has you turning pages at a fearsome rate in the end. The remaining i.e. those that are not sent to camps jews fight a heroic battle from their milas beneath the earth. Read it .

Thanks to Amazon.Com for providing the reader comments.