A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

 Frank 's voluminous records would form one of the key sources for the Nuremberg

 prosecutors . At the trials , Frank veered between acknowledging and repudiatin

g guilt for his crimes . Hermann Goering , by contrast , mustered up his old bra

vado . Goering , whose outsized personality made him a favorite with the America

n GIs , managed to bully most of his fellow defendants into refusing to plead gu

ilty . Indeed , Persico shows that under cross-examination the cunning Goering e

ven got the upper hand over his famous American prosecutor , Robert Jackson . Go

ering managed to cheat the hangman as well . Persico , who seeks to clear up the

 mystery surrounding Goering 's suicide , argues that upon enter ing prison Goer

ing secreted a cyanide capsule in his luggage and persuaded a member of the pris

on staff to take pieces of luggage from the baggage room for him . Perhaps the m

ost sinister figure at the trial was the cultivated technocrat Albert Speer , on

e of the few in the dock who received a jail term rather than a death sentence .

 Though Speer used millions of foreign workers as slave labor , he managed to sh

ift responsibility onto his boorish subordinate Fritz Sauckel . By taking the bl

ame for Nazism in the broadest sense but avoiding any particulars , Speer manage

d to tell the judges what they wanted to be told . Speer portrayed the Nazis as 

embodying the dange rs of a military technology that would pose even greater dan

gers to humanity in the future . As Persico puts it , Speer presented himself to

 the court `` not as a man pleading for his life , but as one who had something 

valuable to tell them , someone with a vision born of redemption after immersion

 in evil . '' Indeed , as Speer had correctly calculated , his contrition contra

sted starkly with the stonewalling of his colleagues . In the teeth of the evide

nce , Generals Jodl and Keitel denied culpability for the atrocities on the East

ern front . The foppish foreign minister Joachim Ribbentrop claimed that Germany

 had merely emulated America 's occupation of the New World . Persico , who illu

minates the pitiful character of most of the Nazi leadership , does not draw the

 obvious conclusion that there was nothing particularly exceptional about the ch

aracter of most of Hitler 's henchmen . Ordinary men committed extraordinary cri

mes . In that sense , the spirit of Nuremberg lives on in Bosnia .

 Helyar ( Villard , $ 24 ; 576 pages ) . Hyman is a sports reporter for the Balt

imore Sun Reviewed by Mark Hyman ( c ) 1994 , The Baltimore Sun If John Helyar w

inds up on the best seller list with `` Lords of the Realm : The Real History of

 Baseball , '' it will be for the anecdotes . Exhibit A : As an infant players u

nion is taking shape in 1967 , its new leader , Marvin Miller , calls a meeting 

and instructs players to write down their most serious grievances with the owner

s . Pitcher Milt Pappas , a former Baltimore Oriole , spoke for his colleagues f

irmly in the grip of the mod generation . `` There aren't enough outlets for hai

r dryers in the clubhouses , '' he thundered . Exhibit B : William D. Eckert , r

etired one-star general , briefly baseball commissioner in the late 1960s and ea

rly '70s , had a remarkable penchant for confusing people and events . A notorio

usly passionless public speaker , Eckert once began delivering remarks to an aud

ience of baseball officials before realizing the speech was intended for the Ret

ired Airline Pilots Association . Exhibit C : Charles O . Finley ran a cut-rate 

front office in his final years of owning the Oakland A's . By 1978 , the entire

 operation was down to six people , including a 16-year-old office assistant nam

ed Stanley Burrell . Burrell has since changed his name to MC Hammer , the rap s

tar , now called just plain Hammer . Helyar 's book is rich with such stories . 

But it 's clearly more than a collection of quotable quotes and front-office tri

via . Instead , what Helyar offers is surely one of the most complete and provoc

ative histories ever written of major-league baseball as it has played out in ow

ners ' suites and across the collective bargaining table . It 's a tad intimidat

ing at 576 pages , but considering he begins with Elysian Fields in the 1840s , 

and carries the story through the sale of the Orioles last fall to Peter G. Ange

los , the book is anything but long-winded . A word about Helyar : He may not be

 as familiar to readers of sports books as Pete Golenbock or John Feinstein , wh

o between them have covered every topic but the secret world of stadium ushers .

 But Helyar 's credentials are substantial . His `` Barbarians at the Gate '' wa

s a big best seller . He has built a reputation as a solid reporter covering spo

rts business issues for The Wall Street Journal . In this book , Helyar tells hi

s story , in part , as he profiles some of baseball 's most influential and , wh

en the author is through , least likable characters . In the process , more than

 a few myths are exploded . ( Begin optional trim ) For instance , he sheds a di

fferent sort of light on Kenesaw Mountain Landis , the iron-willed judge credite

d with bringing baseball back from the brink after the 1919 Black Sox scandal . 

Helyar has discovered more : `` Under Landis , the morals of baseball were purif

ied and the business of baseball was ossified . '' Landis , he writes , was amon

g the least progressive men of his day . He said no to lights at Crosley Field i

n Cincinnati , vowing there would be no night baseball in the big leagues in his

 lifetime . He said no to a beer company that wanted to buy advertising on World

 Series radio broadcasts . If it was new , Landis said no . Other notables appea

r equally as unsympathetic in Helyar 's narrative . The list is lengthy , and in

cludes former baseball commissioners Peter Ueberroth and Bowie Kuhn and former o

wners led by the pre-eminent owner of his generation , Walter O' Malley of the B

rooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers . The miracle of Ueberroth is that he lasted as long

 in the job as he did , given he barely could hide his contempt for the owners .

 `` He treated them like retarded children , '' says a lawyer , unnamed , quoted

 by Helyar . ( End optional trim ) If there is a hero in the story , it is Mille

r , the man who brought the players union into the 20th century , who stared dow

n the owners , broke the reserve clause and paved the way for today 's million-d

ollar salaries . Predictably , the owners despised him and , in Helyar 's tellin

g , spent years calling him a collection of names , not all fit for this newspap

er . This book is not always satisfying . For all its thoroughness , it uncovers

 few important news stories . There 's also the issue of sourcing . Helyar write

s in a seamless , tightly organized style more like a technothriller than a nonf

iction baseball book . In the preface Helyar provides a list of baseball folk wh

o cooperated with his reporting . What 's missing is something more substantial 

that connects facts to the sources from which the author pulled them . As a news

paper guy , he should see the value in that .

 The travel agent is as close as most tourists ever get to a free lunch . At no 

cost to you , an agent can recommend and book your vacation , often drawing on s

pecial expertise and firsthand travel experience in making recommendations . Fin

d a good one and your life is simplified . But no lunch is truly free . The prob

lem with many of the roughly 32,000 travel agencies in the United States is that

 agents ' attentions are claimed by computerized reservation systems , airline f

are wars , and fluctuations in the commissions they are paid by lodgings and air

lines . That often leaves agents without time to learn geography in detail or se

e many destinations themselves . Sensing an opening there , a new breed of trave

l consultants has developed . They specialize in a certain area and reject the t

itle `` travel agent '' as an understatement of their expertise . Some make book

ings , some don't . Some accept commissions , some don't . Most interview custom

ers about their preferences and interests , then come back with itinerary propos

als that touch on lodgings , dining , cultural attractions and entertainment . U

nlike travel agents , these consultants charge consumers upfront for their servi

ce . Their prices can be daunting as much as $ 70 an hour but they can deliver a

 service highly prized by travelers with less time than money . Regional experti

se is one advantage . Also , for those consultants who reject commissions taking

 their fees only from the client their advice may be less influenced by monetary

 considerations , and more likely to be `` pure . '' Here are a handful of such 

companies , listed by their territories : ( Begin optional trim ) California . P

erfect Weekends ( 2059 Camden Ave. , Suite 186 , San Jose , Calif. 95124 ; tel. 

800-493-3536 or 408-559-3652 ) . Susan Barton opened San Jose-based Perfect Week

ends in June , 1993 , aiming to match busy travelers with B&Bs around the state 

. In the 11 months since , she says , she has booked more than 400 trips . Barto

n charges $ 99 to plan a one-destination trip , and presumes that most of her cu

stomers will be driving . She books lodgings , makes meal reservations , schedul

es lessons or rentals and often builds weekends around special events . ( End op

tional trim ) American West . Off the Beaten Path ( 109 E . Main St. , Bozeman ,

 Mont. 59715 ; tel. [phone] , fax [phone] ) . Pam and Bill Bryan , bot

h trained environmentalists and tour guides , started the firm in 1987 , special

izing in outdoorsy trips to Arizona , New Mexico , Utah , Colorado , Wyoming , I

daho , Montana and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta . In 1

993 , Bill Bryan estimates , the company arranged trips for about 570 individual

s , couples and groups , with activities such as fishing , skiing , riding , hik

ing and canoeing . Fees for planning generally run $ 70 an hour , with a minimum

 of four or eight hours , depending on the complexity of the trip . Customers ge

t detailed itineraries , plane tickets and maps . England . Oh to Be in England 

.. . ( 2 Charlton St. , New York , N.Y. 10014 ; tel. [phone] , fax 212-986

-8365 ) . Jennifer Dorn , an administrator at New York University 's law school 

and frequent traveler to England , set up her business four years ago . She does

n't make bookings ( she advises travelers to make reservations themselves or use

 a travel agent ) , but fills spiral-bound notebooks with itinerary recommendati

ons . A typical trip takes her about 10 hours to plan . In the last year , she e

stimates that she haa done about 150 itineraries for $ 150- $ 225 , depending on

 the number of cities in the itinerary . France . Point of View . ( 5922 Melvin 

Ave. , Tarzana , Calif. 91356 ; tel. [phone] , fax [phone] ) . Kajsa A

gostini was born in France and spent 15 years with the French Government Tourist

 Office in California before striking off on her own last year . Agostini does n

ot make bookings , but interviews travelers and devises an itinerary . Once the 

itinerary is booked , Agostini often writes to hotels to confirm reservations an

d ensure personalized service . She charges about $ 200 . Italy . Marjorie Shaw 

's Insider 's Italy ( P.O. Box 021816A , Brooklyn , N.Y. 11202-1816 ; tel. 718-8

55-3878 , fax [phone] . ) Shaw , who was born in Rome and lived in Italy fo

r more than a decade , started her consulting business in 1988 after spending fo

ur years leading walking tours through the country . Shaw maintains an office in

 Rome . Her databank of Italian intelligence includes roughly 400 small hotels t

hroughout the country . She makes hotel and transportation bookings and gives cl

ients a portfolio that runs as long as 85 pages . Her typical fee for a couple o

n a two-week trip with four stops : $ 495 . ( If Shaw doesn't answer her phone ,

 she 's on a fact-finding trip ; fax or call back later . )

 When I first got off the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Morgantown , I barely glanced

 at the horse and buggy two-stepping along ahead of me in morning traffic . How 

nice , I thought carriage rides for tourists . But then I started spotting buggi

es hitched outside pharmacies , hardware stores and other everyday businesses on

 two-lane Route 23 . They really were a normal means of transportation in these 

parts . There are tourist rides , too , all right . And loads of pseudo-Pennsylv

ania Dutch attractions throughout rural Lancaster County . But beyond the `` Ami

shland '' commercialism , a sizable community of Plain People remarkably still f

lourishes much as it has for 300 years largely without benefit of automobiles , 

electricity and other trappings of modern life . By avoiding the main routes esp

ecially kitschy U.S. 30 visitors can glimpse the old-fashioned lifestyle of the 

Amish without feeling like intruders . Meander along the byways and you 'll cris

scross fields that inspire the designs of exquisite patchwork quilts and see far

mers walking behind plows pulled by mules . Women in bonnets tend their kitchen 

gardens and children with Dutch cuts skip-ride home from school on old-fashioned

 wooden scooters . Small home-based shops display first-rate yet inexpensive loc

al crafts , and roadside stands sell garden-fresh produce and mouth-watering bak

ed goods . Lancaster might well be the Comfort Food Capital of the universe , em

bodying the familiar aura one restaurant localizes as `` Mom and shoo-fly pie . 

'' Countless places feature inexpensive food that invigorates the term home cook

ing . Virtually everything is made from scratch : crispy potato chips , crusty r

olls , tangy condiments and flaky , gooey desserts . Some of these family-orient

ed restaurants ( which seldom serve alcohol ) also specialize in all-you-can eat

 smorgasbords , although allowances are made for tiny appetites . One place , fo

r example , prices meals for kids by their weight : five cents per pound . The a

nnual Pennsylvania Dutch Food Festival , set to take place at many sites around 

the county June 13 to 18 , will provide a ready-made vacation focus . My first s

top on my recent tour was the Pennsylvania Dutch Visitors Center , which offers 

a great map , piles of brochures and a 15-minute introductory film on the area .

 I learned that the Amish ( pronounced AH-mish , after founder Jakob Ammann ) ar

e descendants of German-speaking Anabaptists , who believe the decision to be ba

ptized should be made as an adult . The Amish broke off from the more liberal Me

nnonites three centuries ago , fled persecution in Europe and found peace in Wil

liam Penn 's new colony and various other communities in North America . Both se

cts and a third Anabaptist group called the Brethren today live amicably in Lanc

aster County despite wide variations in customs . The dark clothing and simple l

ifestyle that distinguish the Old Order Amish symbolizes their commitment to the

ir faith . They also take to heart the biblical edict against graven images , wh

ich tourists are asked to respect by not photographing them . Old Order Amish mi

ngle with outsiders ( whom they generically refer to as `` English '' ) , and a 

few even invite visitors to join family dinners in their homes . They rarely cat

er to overnight guests . Tourists can , however , sample rural life firsthand on

 numerous Mennonite farms within a 10- or 15-mile radius of downtown Lancaster .

 Some of these bed and breakfast accommodations are rather spartan , but others 

, like Barbara and Harold Frey 's Morning Meadows Farm in Marietta , offer all t

he comforts of a country guest house along with a chance to experience the daily

 farm routine ( which , be warned , can start at dawn ) . My second-floor room a

t Morning Meadows Farm was prettily decorated in Victorian-country style and had

 a modern private bath and a small TV . Adjoining it was a cozy sitting room wit

h magazines and another TV and outside was a wide porch offering panoramic views

 of fields and barns . I asked for a restaurant suggestion and Frey recommended 

the Country Table Restaurant in nearby Mount Joy . It was a family place , overl

ooking nothing but a packed parking lot , but it served one of the best restaura

nt meals I 've ever eaten : juicy pork chops , crisp salad , fresh vegetables , 

oven-baked potato and rolls , herb tea and a wedge of that molassesy Pennsylvani

a Dutch favorite , shoo-fly pie . Cost : $ 9.49 . This is an early-to-bed , earl

y-to-rise culture and most restaurants close by 8 or 9 p.m. . Breakfast at Morni

ng Meadows was at 8 a.m. , and consisted of an apple dumpling hot from the oven 

and French toast with bacon all delicious . While I lingered over my juice and c

offee , the Freys chatted about the area and suggested sightseeing possibilities

 . Various auto-tape tours of the area are available at Lancaster 's Mennonite I

nformation Center , but I preferred to take advantage of the center 's personal 

guide service ( $ 6 paid to the center , then a fee of $ 8.50 an hour to the gui

de who rides in your car ) . For the next two hours ( the minimum tour time ) , 

a Mennonite woman named Alverna Hess directed me along 20 or 30 miles of back ro

ads , pointing out covered bridges , cemeteries and Amish traditions . Windmills

 whirred in many farmyards , and black dresses and shirts fluttered from clothes

lines a sure sign , she said , of an Amish household , which has diesel-powered 

milking machines and propane-fired hot-water heaters to meet government health r

equirements but few other modern appliances . The occasional roadside phone boot

hs we saw aren't public ones , Hess explained ; they belong to the nearest house

 another concession to the realities of doing business in the 20th century but k

ept at a discreet distance . After I dropped off my guide , I continued a few mi

les south of Lancaster to Strasburg , a pretty village with several attractions 

for train buffs including the nation 's oldest short-line railroad . Next I head

ed northwest to equally charming Lititz , which offers some of the best shopping

 in Lancaster County . The aromas alone led me to two must-stops : the Sturgis P

retzel Bakery and the Wilbur Chocolate Factory . At both you can watch the cooks

 in action and stock up on their products . ( Begin optional trim ) My second ni

ght was at one of the Inns at Doneckers , a collection of four restored houses ,

 one the site of the first Donecker family business back in 1910 . I stayed in T

he Guesthouse , which has 20 distinctive rooms and suites . My room , one of the

 least expensive , was nevertheless the epitome of country style . Some walls we

re hand-stencilled , others exposed brick . Two handsome hooked rugs served as w

all art . After breakfast , I strolled down the road to Doneckers Artworks , a f

our-story marketplace of artists ' studios and galleries with an adjoining farme

rs ' market . The market was stuffed with fresh produce and smelled of spring fl

owers , apple pie and Auntie Anne 's scrumptious , hand-rolled soft pretzels , s

o I was surprised at how few customers were there . The answer was clear as soon

 as I turned my car onto North State Street to head for the nearby competition .

 Traffic crawled most of the way to the Green Dragon market , one of the biggest

 in the county ( along with Lancaster 's Central Market and Root 's Market near 

Manheim ) . The Dragon was the quintessential country flea market an indoor/outd

oor bazaar featuring everything from produce to clothing with , of course , the 

requisite supply of goodies down to homemade root beer . ( End optional trim ) B

etween markets , wineries , breweries , potteries , antiques markets and various

 fairs and festivals , there 's no end of country diversions around Lancaster ( 

note that some attractions are closed on Sundays ) . There 's also interesting w

alking in downtown Lancaster , which was Pennsylvania 's capital for 11 years an

d which served as the nation 's capital for one day Sept. 27 , 1777 when Congres

s stopped there after fleeing from Philadelphia . My most indelible memory of th

e area , however , remains the home-cooked meals turned out by seemingly every k

itchen . I wonder if any of them delivers .

 The word `` Caribbean '' may conjure up all kinds of vivid colors , but to V.S.

 Naipaul it suggests gray : a land and seascape bleached out by unmediated sun a

nd a counterfeit history . It is the gray in the face of a professional entertai

ner the morning after a late night . The displacing and alienating effects of a 

colonial past on today 's post-colonial peoples has been Naipaul 's leading them

e ever since , once past his early Trinidad novels , he broke through the colors

 to the gray underneath . He has pursued it in his fiction and non-fiction , set

 in Britain , Africa , South America and India , the home of his forebears . He 

is one of literature 's great travelers and also one of its oddest . He seeks no

t roots but rootlessness . He travels not for acquaintance but for alienation . 

Paul Theroux does that , to an extent , but the difference is very large . For o

ne thing , Naipaul , who can be petty , vain and cruel , both uses and transcend

s his defects . His theme is the terrible inauthenticity that history has impose

d on the heirs of colonialism 's subjects . But by refusing to conceal or temper

 his own crabby vision a walleyed sensibility that tends to swivel inward he ach

ieves at his best moments a unique authenticity . His nightmare Argentina , for 

example , can be unrecognizable but there is no question about the nightmares th

at it produces in Naipaul . When he is not displaying a certain haste and roughn

ess ( on purpose , perhaps , like a musician asserting his freedom to play sour 

) , he is a great writer . In a magical and redeeming phrase he will suddenly li

nk up the particular estrangements he acquires , wherever he goes , to the estra

nged wanderer in all of us . `` A Way in the World '' ( Alfred A . Knopf , $ 23