A Thousand Suns Paperback – June 25, 2003

True life adventure of incredible tales of true life and his own. So wonderful to get to know all the people that Dominique came in contact with and his sharing it with his readers. I came away with so much love for India and all his compassion for lives Lapierre came in contact with.

Dominique Lapierre was one of the twentieth century's most prolific international journalists and a highly prolific author of both novels and historical works, many together with his lifelong coleague Larry Collins.In this digest he takes us through some of his greatest journeys and encounters with people who shaped the course of events. He includes some of the encounters behind his joint works with Dominique Lapierre, such as his interview with Ehud Avriel, who helped Jews to escape Hitler's infernos to get to the Holy Land, and gathered together arms to help the fledgling State of Israel survive the overwhelming military force of six Arab armies who attacked the tiny state, as soon as the United Nations agreed to partition of Palestine.He also describes the starvation and misery of Jerusalem's Jewish inhabitants during the siege of that city by Arab armies intent on massacring all of Jerusalem's Jews.Some of the events described in his article about Avriel, who Lapierre was a good friend of are recorded in  O Jerusalem! He also recounts his interviews with Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was instrumental in negotiating the independence of India and it's aprtition into the two states of India and Pakistan.Lapierre was with Mountbatten a few days Mountbatten's assassination by IRA terrorists in 1979.He also recounts his meetings and interviews with the men behind the assasination of Mahatma Ghandi, as result of Gandhi's favorable policies towards India's Moslems.These events form part of the bakground to  Freedom at Midnight .Lapierre details his relationship with the man who was executed for somebody else's crimes, Caryl Chessman, and Chessman's campaign from prison against the death penalty.He describes the refusal by General Dieter Von Choltitz refusal to obey Hitler's orders to completley destroy Paris but ignores the evidence that Von Choltitz had been involved in the massacre of Jews in Russia.He also writes of his interview with the evil terrorist murderer Kozo Okamoto from the Japanese Red Army Faction, who together with two other psychopathic Communist terrorists murdered 26 Puerto Rican pilgrims in 1972.Interesting that even then those hellbent on murder and destruction chose Israel as their first target for butchery.But the world made a lot more sense then, as most the world reviled these horrible terrorists acts, unlike the macabre Orwellian nightmare we are living through today, were so much of the world supports terror against the tiny nation of Israel.Interesting even that the first tHe also writes of his encounters with the great conservationist Rafael Matta in the Ivory Coast, and the authoir's first car and how he acquired the foal of a prize horse in San Tropez France, by the name of Preferido.Most touching is Lapierre's recounting of work in Calcutta, which the author was involved in with Indian leper and other orphan childrenLapierre donates half of his royalties to the foundation set up to save these childrenIt is heartbreaking to read of their plight and uplifting to read of their joy in life despite their suffering and death all around them. You can read more about these poignant and heartrending accounts in  The City of Joy "behind every cloud" as the author recounts "there are a thousand clouds."Overall a fascinating and exciting read.

Got "A Thousand Suns" as a gift and it was wonderful experience reading Dominique Lapierre. He is a genius story teller.. book is full of emotions, inspiration and admiration.In addition to his account of experiences, interactions, interviews and research, this book is collection of excerpt from all other work from Dominique Lappierre -  O Jerusalem! , Freedom at Midnight , Is Paris burning? - Adolf Hitler, August 25, 1944. , City of Joy: The Illustrated Story of the Film (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebook) ....It is great book, worth having in your library. But keep in mind that it is his point of view, you and many others may not agree. I don't agree with few and hence not 5 star for me.After reading "A Thousand Suns", I couldn't resist reading his other books. I read "O Jerusalem!". Then it was "Is Paris Burning?" and "Freedom at Midnight" and " It Was Five Past Midnight in Bhopal ".... read all these back to back.-- ashutosh jhureley

This dude knows how to write. Throughout the book, his passion, respect and sometimes joy as he describes life's adventures and the amazing people he has met permeate his writing. He brings the events to life, makes them very real.In particular, his horrific account of the death of Caryl Chessman brought tears to my eyes. How could it be that in a so-called civilised country such deaths continue? I was outraged and appalled to learn from Lapierre that of the 500 death executions since 1977, 'seventy-five concerned men and women whose innocence was proven after their death.' 75 innocent people killed! Mon dieu! Er no, actually -- I've since found out from various anti-death penalty web sites that in fact 75 (or now around 85) people were released (ALIVE) from death row after their innocence was proven. The distinction, I think, is rather important!He also claims that 'California has remained faithful to its gas chambers' as a manner of execution. As far as I could find out from various government and anti-death penalty web sites, California uses primarily, if not solely, lethal injection to dispose of its unwanted citizens.Lapierre's account of 'tarantulas as hairy as apes' in Africa would excite ecologists -- who perhaps foolishly think wild tarantulas exist only in the Americas -- as much as his (unfortunately mistaken) sighting of a rhinoceros excited his host in the Ivory Coast.Characterising Mohatma Gandhi with temporal accuracy, if somewhat dismissively, as 'an elderly half-naked Indian...living in poverty' no doubt adds credence to his amazement at the 'miraculous alchemy' and mutual understanding that existed between Gandhi and Lord Mountbatten. But is it really so miraculous when one considers that the middle-class Gandhi had studied for and received a law degree from London University and practiced as a barrister in South Africa for 20 years? Is it so miraculous that two educated men with experience in and a good understanding of each other's cultures could then understand each other?Obviously any account of events is going to carry some subjectivity, like his rather derogatory characterisation of Gandhi, but it's disturbing when things presented as facts, like the huge number of innocent death row victims, are blatantly incorrect. It made me wonder how many other factual errors I'd inadvertantly absorbed as truth.Nevertheless, it is great read, lively and interesting, and his contribution to the welfare of the poorest of the poor in India goes beyond admirable. Just take the 'facts' with a grain of salt!

his experiences about writing of his great books in a beautiful way.

As always very well written stories.

nice book by a nice author

Good