This story is more directly personal, political and novel-like than The Things They Carried, which was a collection of stories originally published in periodicals. It gives a soldier’s perspective of combat in My Lai. ~ Reviewed by Bonnie Naumann
More than 150,000 British and American soldiers deserted during WWII but the subject gets little attention from most historians. This smoothly written work raises sobering and disturbing questions about the stress of continual combat and the limits of individual endurance. Who's a coward? Who's a casualty? ~ Reviewed by Bill Lewis
Author of Seabiscuit, Laura Hillenbrand seamlessly weaves the tale of Louis Zamperini. A juvenile delinquent turned Olympic track star, Zamperini enlists in the Army Air Corps as a bombardier. He must survive after he is stranded in the shark-filled Pacific and captured as a POW in Japan. If you liked Life of Pi or the film Rescue Dawn, you could enjoy Unbroken. ~ Reviewed by Bonnie Naumann
Rejecting the theory that the Great War was somehow inevitable, Clark dramatically and meticulously recreates a time when human decisions in response to a volatile and fast-moving chain of events could have produced any number of different outcomes...not necessarily including the first great catastrophe of the 20th century. A brilliant, compelling, and extremely important book. Highest Recommendation. ~ Reviewed by Bill Lewis