Rating: 
Summary: You must read this book!
Review: This book was one I absolutely could not put down! Having read it, so many more things are now clear to me; and apart from everything the book teaches about WWII and the events leading up to it and those which came after, the book provides an intimate glimpse "behind the scenes" and into the lives of very real people. The book is written in such a warm style that I honestly felt I was with the Schmidt family every step of the way! Everyone needs to read this book, and we should be forever indebted to Mrs. Lawson for having written such a powerful book!
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for Every American!
Review: This is an incredible story, so personal, yet so full of historical detail. Every American should read this book...to understand world history, the German people, and their amazing will to survive unthinkable hardship. I couldn't put it down.
Dorothea Lawson has given us a wonderful gift that brings insight, reflection, appreciation for our own freedom. Don't miss it! This is the way we should learn history, from real people with real courage.
Rating: 
Summary: when everything else was!
Review: This is not an apologetic memoir, Dorothea von S. Lawson writes in an unsentimental style, recounting details of a life lived during grim, grey times, seen from the other side of the looking glass. If you have ever wondered who the dreaded Hun was, here you will see one portrait of his mother & father, sister & children, & you may be surprised at how recognizable everyone is.While LAUGHTER WASN'T RATIONED: A Personal Journey Through Germany's World Wars & Postwar Years is a remarkable effort, deeply absorbing & insightful, it could have done with some editing which would have cut out many of the repetitions. Nonetheless, it is well worth reading, a profound record of the will to survive, the unblinking opinions of a woman who saw the worst & the best of both her own people & others, certainly a treasure deserving of a place in your library.
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