I managed to put my hands on the book and I'll even read it these days!
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| WorldWar2.ro Forum > Reviews & Bookstore > Dennis Deletant - Aliatul uitat |
| Posted by: MMM March 17, 2009 04:03 pm |
| Has anybody read that book yet? I know Deletant wrote some stuff about the history of communism in Romania, but this seems to be a well-documented book on Antonescu (well, not only, but he's the forgotten ally) and the Romanian-German alliance. Which brings me to something maybe more suitable for general discussion: how competent do you think foreign writers/historians are? I mean, they may be not biased (don't have tri-coloured goggles, as somebody said on this forum), but also may lack some knowledge accesible only to Romanians (or at least Romanian-speaking researchers)? |
| Posted by: Radub March 17, 2009 06:30 pm | ||
Dennis Deletant is very close to Romania in heart and spirit. He speaks Romanian fluently without any accent. I have no doubt about his "good intentions" towards Romania and all things Romanian. He is also a very good researcher and a respected academic, so he knows what he is doing. Google him, there is plenty out there about him. Radu |
| Posted by: MMM March 17, 2009 07:06 pm |
| I know all that, but I was surprised to find out he's interested in the ww2 years... I managed to put my hands on the book and I'll even read it these days! |
| Posted by: Dénes March 17, 2009 07:33 pm |
| I have the book in its original edition, in English. I read it several years ago. I remember that I was somewhat disappointed, because the author tackled the issue more from the political, and not military, perspective. Also, there are gaps in the story line. Nevertheless, it's a refence book. As for foreign authors, they indeed can be (more) impartial and unbiased than local ones - with some exceptions, of course, from both sides. Working knowledge of Rumanian is a must, though, as is a perspective on Rumanian history and people, in general. Gen. Dénes |
| Posted by: Victor March 17, 2009 07:37 pm |
| I also have the book, but is under many more that await to be read. Given its more political nuance, I don't think I will read it any time soon. Probably next year. |
| Posted by: MMM March 17, 2009 07:57 pm |
| I found in its first pages a refference to "Third Axis, Fourth Ally", by Axworthy. Is it worthy? |
| Posted by: Victor March 18, 2009 07:23 am | ||
It's the best published English language source on the Romanian Army in WWII. In some respects it's even better than many Romanian language works. |
| Posted by: Radub March 18, 2009 09:45 am | ||
Yes it is. Radu |
| Posted by: Cantacuzino March 18, 2009 12:01 pm | ||
Worthy but hard to find  |
| Posted by: Dénes March 18, 2009 12:21 pm |
| Recently, it has been re-released in a soft cover edition. Gen. Dénes |
| Posted by: MMM March 18, 2009 04:04 pm | ||
Actually, I found it on the Universitary Library in Iasi. So I'll photocopy it... |
| Posted by: MMM March 26, 2009 11:34 am | ||
For example, the Battle of Odessa or the SU offensive in august 1944, right? |
| Posted by: MaxFax April 07, 2009 11:15 am | ||||
Not quite.
Right !! You may buy it directly from the editor: http://www.hailerpublishing.com/3rdaxis.html |
| Posted by: MMM April 08, 2009 11:29 am |
| Back to Dennis Deletant: for all of you who have read the book: what is your oppinion about the Jewish "problem" as presented in there? |
| Posted by: Victor April 08, 2009 01:55 pm | ||
Again. There are already existing topics on this subject. Use them! Don't go offtopic into this one. |
| Posted by: MMM April 21, 2009 07:36 am |
I just found out that Deletant's wife is Romanian! Not very relevant for the book, but I guess that makes him even closer in spirit to us, Romanians. Not necessarily a good thing, though...  |
| Posted by: saudadesdefrancesinhas April 21, 2009 03:42 pm |
| M, I have been learning Romanian from a book written by him in the late 1980s that someone gave me. I have also been thinking about going to study Romanian language and history as a Masters degree at the university he teaches at in the UK (I think it is one of the few in the UK, if not the only one, that has a good teaching staff for Romanian and other Eastern European languages.) He seems to have been teaching and studying Romanian language and culture as an academic for several decades now and so he may have a better knowledge of the grammar etc. of Romanian than a lot of Romanians. At least I have met people abroad whose interest is in English grammar, linguistics, literature etc. and they have known more about these things, and in more depth, than me, even though I am English myself. The best way of finding out will be to read the book though and see what it is like. |
| Posted by: MMM April 21, 2009 05:28 pm |
| Would you please name that particular book? You made me curious, especially because I'm a teacher of English |
| Posted by: Tyke April 26, 2009 03:53 pm | ||
In the absence of a reply to MMM's question, I will suggest that the book is probably the same as one that I have: "Colloquial Romanian" by Dennis Deletant, first published in 1983 by Routledge & Paul, reprinted in 1990 & 1991 by Routledge, ISBN 0-415-05129-0. It was also available with an accompanying audio cassette. At the time of publication Deletant was Senior Lecturer in Romanian Studies at the School of Slavonic & East European Studies of the University of London. |
| Posted by: saudadesdefrancesinhas April 28, 2009 02:46 pm |
| Tyke, Yes, that is the book. I did not reply because I have been away for a while without internet access. I think that I noticed that Dennis Deletant had contributed to one of the later editions of the 'Teach Yourself Romanian' book as well. |
| Posted by: Dénes April 28, 2009 07:18 pm |
| An idea: why not invite Mr. Deletant here? If anyone has some sort of contact, even an indirect one, should drew his attention to this forum. Gen. Dénes |
| Posted by: MMM April 29, 2009 04:56 am |
| Great idea, but I don't know anything about his current whereabouts! |
| Posted by: Radub April 29, 2009 08:52 am | ||
Google is your friend! http://www.ssees.ac.uk/prospect/deletant.htm He has an impressive volume of work: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/research/publications/?depts%5B%5D=VS&format=normal&wordsearch=&namesearch=deletant&action=search Radu |
| Posted by: MMM April 29, 2009 10:13 am |
Googling from Romania gave other results than googling from - let's say - Europe...  Among the results, most of which in Romanian, I found little value.Also, annoying as it may seem, Mr. Deletant appears to have also detractors in Romania: http://blogideologic.wordpress.com/2008/09/06/dennis-deletant-un-agent-mi6/ What is "ideological blog", BTW? |
| Posted by: Radub April 29, 2009 02:17 pm |
| Ah, well, of course he has detractors, especially in Romania, but that is nothing more than "tall poppy syndrome". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall_poppy_syndrome That blogger sees enemies everywhere.  Ignore him.Radu |
| Posted by: MMM April 29, 2009 05:30 pm |
| Interesting thing - the tall poppy syndrome should have had a better name in Romanian, as it is very current in here. That ideologic dude is definitely NOT at home (plecat de-acasă)! |
| Posted by: Dénes April 29, 2009 06:52 pm |
| Nice detective job, Radub. I suggest one of the forum's owners write him a short e-mail inviting him here. You never know, after all he might be interested in what we are saying here... Gen. Dénes |
| Posted by: MMM April 30, 2009 11:40 am |
| I heartily subscribe! ("Aprob pozitiv!") |
| Posted by: Jeroen May 20, 2009 02:18 pm |
| Returning to the topic Has anybody read Deletant 2004 book, Romania and the Warsawa Pact 1955-1989? What is your opinion? It was co-written by Mihail E Ionescu and Viorel Buta. |
| Posted by: MMM May 20, 2009 02:36 pm |
I, for one, haven't read it, as it exceeds my "share of interest" right now (i.e. ww2); but I like his style and hope that it'll be a good counterpart for M. Ionescu's military/bombastic phrasing...  |
| Posted by: MMM May 24, 2013 07:03 am |
| Mr. Dennis Deletant will receive the title of "Doctor Honoris Causa" from the "Al. I. Cuza" Univeristy in Iasi next Tuesday. |