Mark Black > Quotes

“Zaitsev records in his memoirs one difficult duel he had with a German sniper. While there is no actual proof of the identity of the German sniper, many believe that he was Heinz Thorvald, the head of the Berlin sniper school. Thorvald was also known as Erwin Konig. Zaitsev stated that the German sniper was difficult to find but when two Soviet soldiers were shot in the same area, Zaitsev and his partner Kulikov began searching the area for the German sniper. While searching, Zaitsev spotted a flash of light beneath a scrap of metal. As soon as Zaitsev’s partner, Kulikov placed a helmet on a rod and lifted it up to a window, Konig shot the helmet. Then when Konig peeked out of his hiding spot to determine if the victim was dead, he got a headshot from Zaitsev.”
― Mark Black, The Battle of Stalingrad: A Very Brief History

“Vasily Zaitsev was the most popular and well-known sniper for the Soviets. During the battle he had over 242 confirmed kills. Zaitsev was part of a corps of snipers. Some thirty students were under his wing. During the war, these students killed more than 3,000 German soldiers.”
― Mark Black, The Battle of Stalingrad: A Very Brief History

“These parties were informally known as “Saturday to Monday” events instead of “weekend” parties. This choice of words was used, as “weekend” may give the idea that the invitees had work to go to on weekdays.”
― Mark Black, Edwardian Britain: A Very Brief History

“Joseph Stalin: Joseph Stalin was the Soviet dictator who ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist and was responsible for a number of the decisions made during the battle of Stalingrad. He was born on December 18, 1978 in Gori, Georgia. He was an only child who grew up in a poor family. His father was an alcoholic shoemaker who beat Joseph and his mother was a”
― Mark Black, The Battle of Stalingrad: A Very Brief History

“As a result of such ignorance, Washington made a number of administrative decisions regarding the war that had no correlation with actual conditions in Vietnam. The U.S. learned that while weapons and technology can help to win a war, of even greater importance is an understanding of the conditions of that war, the nature of one’s enemy, and certainly that of one’s allies.”
― Mark Black, The Vietnam War: A Very Brief History

“From the Birmingham jail, King detailed his theory of nonviolence. He stated that nonviolent direct action is used to bring about a crisis which fosters tension in a community. The community, which previously ignored an issue, is thereby forced to confront it.”
― Mark Black, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King: A Very Brief History

“Having been recently subjugated, the U.S. government ordered them to farm, required them to undergo education in order to learn how to become American, to send their children away to boarding schools to do the same, to stop speaking their language, and to stop practicing their religion.”
― Mark Black, Alcatraz: A Very Brief History

“he believed that segregation and racism were an insult to God’s divine will.”
― Mark Black, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King: A Very Brief History

“This belief that indulgences could be sold or traded (dispensing with the need of personal effort if one had enough money), was to later create major schisms in the Catholic Church. As an example, it was one of the primary foundations of the Protestant Reformation under Martin Luther. The”
― Mark Black, The Crusades: A Very Brief History

“The Cooper Union Address, the Gettysburg Address, the House Divided Speech, the First Inaugural Address, and the Second Inaugural were all performed by Lincoln prior to and during his term in office. To this day, they are still hailed as oratorical masterpieces.”
― Mark Black, Abraham Lincoln : A Very Brief History

“they had to wrap their hands in damask napkins so that their bare hands did not come into contact with any dishes.”
― Mark Black, Edwardian Britain: A Very Brief History

“However, the history of Alcatraz is more varied and interesting than many people might think; its strategically important location in the San Francisco Bay meant that it was an important defensive fort for several decades, and it played a key role in the American Civil War, when it served as a military prison.”
― Mark Black, Alcatraz: A Very Brief History

“X's death seemed imminent after his break with the NOI. X spoke out several times in support of Dr. King's non-violent methods by describing the alternative – aggressive factions willing to fight back physically and take power and control back through less peaceful means. His words were meant to highlight King's ideal peaceful methods, and to remind people that not everyone shared King's strong will for peace and love no matter what. X believed in defense and strength and he believed that the demonstration of blacks taking back power by responding in a similar way when aggressive actions were taken against blacks. But when he broke from the NOI he became the target of much of the violence and aggression that he had spent years espousing.”
― Mark Black, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King: A Very Brief History

“One of the major organizers of the Holocaust – Adolf Eichmann – was found in Argentina. He was kidnapped by Mossad agents and taken to Israel where he was tried in Jerusalem in 1961 and sentenced to death.”
― Mark Black, The Nuremberg Trials: A Very Brief History