Leni: the Life and Work of Leni Riefenstahl by Steven Bach

Leni Riefenstahl was a fascinating character on the world stage. Talented and ambitious, she relentlessly pursued her goals without much concern for morality or ethics or any basic human emotions other than self-interest.

She came of age in Germany when the Nazis were on the rise. She accepted their help and support so that she might become a famous film director. In the post-World War II era, she would deny that Hitler or Goebbels ever played a part in advancing her career. Steven Bach provides plenty of documentation to make Leni look like a collaborator. Still, she was an artist with an indomitable drive to succeed.

Steven Bach does a good job of separating fact from fiction in Leni’s life. The book doesn’t make Leni completely sympathetic, but you will probably admire her energy and want to take another look at her films, Triumph of the Will and Olympia, or her books Vanishing Africa and The Last of the Nuba. VHS copies of Olympia and the two book titles are available in the Finger Lakes Library System. - Reviewed by Nancy

Victorian London Street Life in Historic Photographs by John Thomson

This book was originally published as Street Life in London in 1877. The photographs aren’t quaint or pretty, but document real people in real places. John Thomson, the photographer, and Adolphe Smith interviewed some of the people in the pictures and wrote sympathetic descriptions of their lives. As is noted in the preface, this is a new perspective on the poor.

The first photograph is titled “London Nomads” and it tells almost the whole story: the wooden caravan ‘home on wheels’ with a couple of kids peeking out the door, adults with worn clothes, tired faces and the bare earth beneath their feet. They wander about, making money when they can.

Perhaps saddest of all is the picture of one of the “Crawlers.” They are generally old women who have fallen into extreme poverty and live sometimes in the workhouse and sometimes in an available doorway. There are many more photographs that make Victorian London come alive for a moment. - Reviewed by Nancy