Customer Reviews

Beating the Odds: A Boyhood Under Nazi-Occupied France

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A young boy wanders from one vivid experience to another to another, just like kids do. His childhood had unique exposures to Nazi terror and horror, to be sure. But throughout those grim days, there remained that irrepressible insouciance of youth. There was even hero worship when he became involved with the French underground. He brings us right along with him as he becomes a man.

This author described what was, more than anything else, a normal, adventuresome boyhood. Although I was expecting something more like "The Diary of Anne Frank", this book was more reminiscent of "Huckleberry Finn".

Seeped into the depths of war and dispair of mankind, Dr. Burnell takes us on a journey through Nazi-occupied France during WWII. As opposed to the atrocities of holocaust victims in that same era, we are instead introduced into the lives of the common citizenry as they struggle through each day not knowing who is friend or foe. Dr. Burnell's family must decide when to run and when to stay; while knowing their decisions set them at risk to lose everything, including their lives. Balanced with historical facts, Dr. Burnell tells a tale that has us turning the pages, immersing us into the joys and sorrows of a family that in the end prevails despite their losses and succeeds in spite of the tragedy brought by war.

Dr. Burnell tells a story of fear, brutality, resourcefulness, courage, and sensitivity. These emotions are the backdrop to his autobiographical tale of growing from just-past-childhood to near-adulthood in Nazi-occupied France during WW 2. Burnell describes how he and his mother survived the relentless threat of the Nazis as they fled from city to city in France just barely ahead of the Nazi persecution. From Strasbourg in the eastern part of the country to Paris to Bordeaux and finally to Lyon in the south. Along the way his stepfather was consumed by the Holocaust and by the end Burnell was fighting back by working for the French Resistance. The writing is clear, personal, and carries the read along swiftly. I could barely put it down- thus I read it in just a few nights.

This is a well written, interesting memoir of a Holocaust survivor in France. The sections on political events are well placed and provide appropriate historic background to contents of the book.
Myself a Holocaust survivor, I learned from it a lot about life in France during those years and enjoyed reading it.

"Beating the Odds" by George Burnell is the exciting autobiography of a youngster growing up in Nazi-occupied France during WWII. In 369 action packed pages, the author traces his journey from Strasbourg, France in 1939 until the end of WWII in May, 1945. "Beating the Odds" is a real page turner that reads like a novel full of twists and turns. As an adolescent French Jew, George with his family lived in constant fear of discovery by the Nazis and moved frequently to ellude them. Despite these risks, he manages to join his Uncle David, a Dentist, and others in the French Resistance and narrowly escapes with his life. This fascinating memoir gives the reader an interesting and unique perspective on WWII in France and I highly recommend it to you.

As an educator I found this book easy to read and would highly recommend it for students in history classes at the high school level or college. George is able to relate some of the situations that you feel you are right along with him in trying to grow up and survive.
The people he mentioned in his book does give a good history of what happened to people who are persecuted. Also to know there were good and bad, evil and hatred which was often difficult for a child to understand.
His mother was a very remarkable woman and she did not give up knowing what she was losing each time she had to seek safety elsewhere for her son.
Other family member mentioned in the book made an effort not to give up during those difficult years. Their survival skills was amazing.
When George wrote this book after last year Sept. 11th, one could tell it was something that has been on his mind for many years. The tragedy at the World Trade Center has brought back so many heartaches for those of many years ago.

This book excited my interest because I had never before read a personal account of a teenager who lived under the terrifying conditions imposed by the Nazi occupiers of his country. The intimate details of day to day existence intrigued me. One picks up the fear, the constant apprehension, and the resulting anger of those who suffered the indignities of an appalling environment. This is not an easy book to read - it raises many questions about the nature of the human species. Could the terrible things that happened in occupied France occur eleswhere?
Are some of the same horrors going on now? Sadly, they probably are. At any rate, read this book. It will open your eyes.

Reading this book allows the reader to see WWII from the perspective of a young child. From the intimate details of his childhood, you will learn how a young innocent can overcome many obstacles, adapt, and survive. When is the movie coming out???

The odyssey of this family through France during WWII in order to survive was quite remarkable. the mother was particularly resourceful and brave to support the family so openly as a restauranteur when they were so much at risk.

This would be a good read for high school students. It follows the events of the war in a clear anecdotal way for historical value, plus makes it real as you see it through the eyes of a resilient young boy who observed and experienced the ethnic abuse, terror, uncertainty and betrayals. He also tells us of the love and loyalty of family and those who banded to resist.

The author and I are exactly the same age (72) and while he was living a precarious life in occupied France in WW11, I was on the other side of the English Channel and under German air attack.
But George Burnell's story -- which I read in a single, long day -- is of a much more dangerous childhood, constantly running from German occupations of cities where he lived in Austria and France. The most gripping parts are describing the activities of the French Resistance movement with which his family was closely involved. A classy memoir of childhood. D H