And There Was Light: A Blind Hero's Inspiring Memoir of Overcoming Adversity and Defying the Nazis During WWII

Richard Stern: A powerful and inspiring message of conducting one’s life to the fullest, without greed, rejection, hope or fabrication. Taking in all that life presents us with, regardless of it’s good or bad appearance and dealing with each moment realistically with honestly.

Canada on Jan 31, 2023

Zak Buczinsky: This is the first time I have ever written a review for a book. It will probably be the only time. Everyone should read And There Was Light. This is the kind of book that makes you feel like life is worth living. It is deeply beautiful, spiritual, moving, and utterly earth shattering. I am reading it for the second time now and I'm totally floored all over again. This is the kind of book that has the capacity to change lives.

United States on Oct 05, 2022

Kindle Customer: I couldn’t put it down. Amazing story of a young blind man who is blind, but who’s blessed with many other gifts; and how he contributes to the French resistance.

United Kingdom on Jul 04, 2022

Dr. K. A. Jobst: This is one of the most remarkable books I have read - it is the true story of the extraordinary contribution made by a blind young man to a cell in the resistance during the second world war - but it is so much more than that as the author embraces and shares his inner evolution and the implications of the work they were doing, the responsibility that he had in having to hone his itutition and the guidance that life afforded him, and even more than that his experience of light being 'visible' without the sight of his eyes. This is a book that I believe every person would do well to read - and it is beautifully written and accessible to read. It profoundly impacted on my life.

United Kingdom on Nov 20, 2020

Kindle Customer: Most inspiring account simply and directly told. At first reveals the super sensory perception developed gently after an accident as an 8 year old boy lost his natural vision. It reveals a life of love from his parents and his best friends. His free life in Paris and schooling. The experience of German occupation in Paris. The creation of secret organization of youths to resist the occupation, to courageously report the Truth of what was taking place under the Nazi persecutions and the advances of the Allies. He tells of the betrayal of the group,
Tortuous interogrations. Transporting to concentration camps. Blind and alone in Buchenwald, he becomes deathly ill left to die. Instead,in the worst of the illness, he becomes filled with Light and Joy. He is healed. He chooses to return to his group of fellow disabled prisoners, at least he could share by being present the love and joy that had removed all fear. Eventually, the camp is freed by General Patton.
A lot of good to take to heart.

United States on Dec 09, 2019

Shirley Crowe: An extraordinary story about an exceptional band of boys lead by an exceptional leader. Thank God for their bravery and of the many who fought back and resisted the evil regime of Adolph Hitler. A wonderful read.

Australia on Jun 08, 2016

MARILYN R. WILSON: A fascinating true story told by Jacques Lusseyran. Extraordinary given that he became blind at the early age of 8 years old and
from a terrible accident. His keen intelligence, determination, tenacity are abundant as he tells how he develops his "gifts" so he
functions almost as a "sighted" person. The enduring support of his parents, the remarkable friendship with his friend Jean with
whom they acted so close they developed signals to make their way in the world. Lusseyran's growing concerns about Hitler's
dominance and seeing firsthand the terrible threat it was to France. His organization of the French Resistance to combat this
he enlisted many, many friends and others to become dedicated, hard workers of the French Resistance, printing and
distributing vital news, helping ensure safety for American soldiers. Subsequently, several members of the French Resistance were
captured and arrested and he was held prisoner for almost 3 years in Buchenwald concentration camp under terrible hardships and torture.
He was released by the American soldiers when Hitler's Army was defeated, ending WWII. This book is a testimony to this...

United States on Feb 09, 2016

CC: This is a fascinating but hard read. The first half or so of the book has to do with the insight that a blind person develops. It is well spoken but the author needed to pare it down because it tends to drag the reader down. Several times I almost gave up, but it I wanted and hoped for more so I kept going. When he finally got to the work with the French resistance it was a very interesting story but I wanted him to tell me more about their actual activities. His insight into people and motives and truth in character now was a matter of life and death. Now I realized why he spent so much time in the first part of the book developing this train of thought. The descriptions of the inner lives of people in the prison camp was so well written and thought out. It made the whole reading worth the effort it took to get through it. Though I have read much about this period of history nothing looked at the inner life struggles in such a personal and intimate way. He was a master of deciphering the real soul of people around him. And, in the last half of the book he was very successful helping the reader to grasp a much deeper level of the horror or the...

United States on Oct 26, 2015

Daniel Lyle: Life is a lonely existence until reaches into ones own inner sanctum and begins to see the true light that illuminates everything and connects everyone. Lusseyran teaches us how light is a gift not only for those with visible eyes to see but for those with invisible eyes to see. His account of his finding joy in this light even after a childhood accident that left him blind brings comfort since many harbor some fear of going blind with age or disease. His account of courage in a beautiful marriage of dependence on others while maintaining a fiercely independent and loving personality gives us the courage to live our own lives with passion and self worth while remembering the worth of others. His account of enduring the trials of Nazi cruelty in a concentration camp bring resolve, hope and meaning to those enduring trials in life such as cancer, hunger and suffering that might otherwise seem unjustified except the knowledge that Lusseyran reminds us of: that there is always light and joy to be found inside us if we dispel the darkness of despair and choose to see love even more fully defined because of our trials.

United States on Oct 11, 2014

Marina Caroulias: This is an extraordinary true story that kept me captivated from the very beginning of the book. I believe that everyone who has lived during War II will resonate with the life of Jacques Lusseyran. The part he played in the French resistance is fascinating but also his exceptional perception of his inner Light that makes us understand more the people who have lost their eyesight. A book to have, a book to give, a book to share.

Canada on Oct 05, 2014