Background
Christopher Robbins was born on 19 November 1946, in Bristol, where he grew up and attended Taunton School.
( The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in wh...)
The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in which adventure and heartbreak combine to produce a unique form of wisdom. Boldly escaping Vienna after the Anschluss, having refused to make accommodations for being Jewish, he arrived stateless in France one week before Kristallnacht. But rather than let this most precarious of positions defeat him, Thomas began to fight what was to become a fantastic and ultimately heroic personal war against the forces of barbarism that engulfed his world. Arrested by Vichy France, Thomas was starved for two years in a concentration camp at the foot of the Pyrénées and forced into slave labor in a coal mine in Provence. He avoided being sent to Auschwitz by hiding within the confines of a deportation camp for six weeks as its infuriated masters took increasingly dramatic action to capture him at all costs -- and ultimately to no avail. He then joined the secret army of the Resistance and during one mission was captured and interrogated by Klaus Barbie, Butcher of Lyons, whom he barely deceived into releasing him. Re-arrested by the French Milice (Gestapo) and tortured, Thomas held out by entering a psychological state in which he no longer registered pain, and after six and a half hours his defeated tormentors threw him into a cell. He survived and promptly rejoined the fight. After the Allies liberated France, he joined the American forces, fought his way into Germany in active service and was with the troops that liberated Dachau. There he caught, interrogated and obtained the handwritten confession of the head of the camp's crematoria, known as the "Hangman of Dachau." At the end of the war Thomas became a highly unorthodox and extraordinarily effective Nazi hunter. As an officer with American counterintelligence, but largely as an unprecedented independent force, he masterminded and executed an ingenious scheme to infiltrate and expose underground networks of diehard SS men by posing as a mythical Nazi purportedly hand-chosen by Martin Bormann to organize the rise of a Fourth Reich. Though his entire family had been slaughtered in Auschwitz, and many close friends killed in combat, at the cessation of hostilities Thomas staged a Reconciliation Concert. Using German musicians, and in direct defiance of strict Allied non-fraternization laws, he brought friend and foe together in a belief that there had to be a different and better future -- and that individuals had the power to make it happen. Christopher Robbins has dug deep to explore and substantiate the details of the Michel Thomas story. He has authenticated every episode through camp records, Vichy documents, Resistance papers and U.S. Army reports as well as with hundreds of hours of interviews with the man himself. Today, Michel Thomas teaches languages to inner-city kids, movie stars and heads of industry, succeeding in a matter of days even with people who consider themselves hopeless as linguists. To those who have been taught by him, he seems to have a magical gift for unlocking the secret powers of the mind. In Test of Courage we are led through the extraordinary experiences that have shaped the profound insight of this most fascinating and complex man, whose story is one of the most inspirational of the century.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743202635/?tag=2022091-20
(Michel Thomas survived French concentration and slave lab...)
Michel Thomas survived French concentration and slave labour camps, endured interrogation and torture and after the war became a Nazi-hunter, capturing important war criminals. It was through these remarkable and terrifying experiences that Thomas came to develop his revolutionary language learning system - a system that is currently taking the world by storm. This is his remarkable story, told by his friend and biographer Christopher Robbins.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0340812451/?tag=2022091-20
( "A captivating read notable for off-the-cuff candor and...)
"A captivating read notable for off-the-cuff candor and measured, eloquent prose."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review A funny and revealing travelogue of Kazakhstan, a country rich with wild tulips, oil, nomads who hunt with golden eagles, and a disappearing landlocked sea. Closed to foreigners under Tsar and Soviet rule, Kazakhstan has remained largely hidden from the world, a remarkable feat for a country the size of Western Europe. Few would guess that Kazakhstan—a blank in Westerners' collective geography—turns out to be diverse, tolerant, and surprisingly modern, the country that gave the world apples, trousers, and even, perhaps, King Arthur. Christopher Robbins enjoyed unprecedented access to the Kazakh president while crafting this travelogue, and he relates a story by turns hilarious and grim. He finds Eminem-worship by a shrinking Aral Sea, hears the Kazakh John Lennon play in a dusty desert town, joins nomads hunting eagles, eats boiled sheep's head (a delicacy), and explores some of the most beautiful, unspoiled places on earth. Observant and culturally attuned, Robbins is a master stylist in the tradition of travel writing as literature, a companion to V. S. Naipaul and Paul Theroux.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0977743381/?tag=2022091-20
( Christopher Robbins was a down-at-the-heels freelance j...)
Christopher Robbins was a down-at-the-heels freelance journalist in London when a "friend"—an expat American drug dealer who masqueraded as a count—linked him up with an elderly gay Irishman, purportedly the "greatest Irish filmmaker ever"—which turned out to be the case. Brian Desmond Hurst had made some thirty films in his eighty years (including A Christmas Carol, Tom Brown's Schooldays, Dangerous Moonlight, Simba, and Playboy of the Western World), and was on close terms with people such as John Ford, Laurence Olivier, Noël Coward, Sean O'Casey, Vanessa Redgrave, and a slew of other notables. Hurst immediately hired the young journalist to write the screenplay for his final work, a biblical epic about the birth of Christ, dubbed "The Box Office Blockbuster"—and subsequently his autobiography—"The Big Bestseller." No reader can fail to become spellbound and laugh-out-loud by the wit, warmth of heart, sense of mischief, Celtic charm, and vast appetite for life present in The Empress of Ireland.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560257091/?tag=2022091-20
(The inside story of the world's most extraordinary covert...)
The inside story of the world's most extraordinary covert operation: Air America. It started from the remnants of Claire Chennault's Flying Tigers air squadron of World War II and became a loosely organized airline run by the CIA. At its height, Air America was running the the biggest commercial airfleet in the world. This astonishing account from author Christopher Robbins chronicles AA's activities over the decades of Indochina conflict, including profiles of legendary pilots like "Earthquake" McGoon. Includes enough harrowing landings and flak-dodging to please the most demanding fans of military history, as well as the author's disparaging comments on the Hollywood film of the same name.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/9748303519/?tag=2022091-20
( The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in whi...)
The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in which adventure and heartbreak combine to produce a unique form of wisdom. Until his death in 2005, he taught languages to ghetto kids, heads of industry and movie stars in a matter of days, succeeding even with people who considered themselves hopeless linguists. To those who have been taught by him, he seemed to be a miracle worker with a magical gift for unlocking the secret powers of the mind. This unique understanding was gained under extreme circumstances. Stateless in Vichy France at the beginning of the Second World War, he was incarcerated and starved in a concentration camp at the foot of the Pyrenees. Forced into slave labour in a coal mine in Provence, he avoided being sent to Auschwitz by hiding within the confines of a deportation camp for six weeks. He escaped death to join the Secret Army of the Resistance. He was arrested and interrogated by Klaus Barbie, Butcher of Lyon, whom he deceived into releasing him, and was later re-arrested by the French Gestapo and tortured. He held out by entering a psychological state in which he no longer registered pain and after six hours of torture, his tormentors threw him into a cell and he survived to re-join the Resistance. After the Allies invaded France he joined the American forces, fought his way into Germany and was with the troops who liberated Dachau. He personally interrogated the camp’s hangman and oversaw his handwritten confession. At the end of the war he became a Nazi-hunter. Working for American Counter Intelligence he posed as a Nazi himself to infiltrate and expose underground networks of SS men dedicated to the return of a Fourth Reich. In spite of the fact that his entire family had been murdered in Auschwitz, and many close friends killed in combat, at the very end of the war he staged an elaborate gala evening in Munich which he called a Reconciliation Concert. Using German musicians, and in defiance of strict Allied non-fraternisation laws, he brought friend and foe together in the belief that there had to be a different and better future. Author Christopher Robbins has dug deep to explore and substantiate the details of the Michel Thomas story. He has authenticated every episode through camp records, Vichy documents, Resistance papers, US Army reports and hundreds of hours of interviews with this extraordinary man. The result is one of the most inspirational stories of the 20th century.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0071MB022/?tag=2022091-20
Christopher Robbins was born on 19 November 1946, in Bristol, where he grew up and attended Taunton School.
He is best known for his 1978 bestseller Air America, a non-fiction book which was made into a film in 1990. lieutenant is about the secret airline run by the Central Intelligence Agency for covert operations during the Vietnam War. A gifted schoolboy, he started working for free on the Evening World and then the Evening Post.
He later specialized in investigative work—especially about the Central Intelligence Agency—writing pieces for the Observer Magazine.
During the 1970s, prior to the publication of his bestseller, Robbins was just a freelance journalist, unable to pay off all his debts or pay the rent. Robbins wrote for many newspapers and magazines both in Europe and the United States, spending most of the last years working as a journalist and scriptwriter.
( Christopher Robbins was a down-at-the-heels freelance j...)
(Michel Thomas survived French concentration and slave lab...)
( The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in wh...)
( The story of Michel Thomas reads like a thriller in whi...)
( "A captivating read notable for off-the-cuff candor and...)
(The inside story of the world's most extraordinary covert...)
(Book by Robbins, Christopher)