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Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Moving on from the American Revolution and the Civil War, Shaara (The Glorious Cause, etc.) delivers an epic account of the American experience in WWI. As usual, he narrates from the perspective of actual historical figures, moving from the complexity of high-level politics and diplomacy to the romance of the air fight and the horrors of trench warfare. Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing commands all American forces in France in 1917–1918 and must prepare his army for a new kind of war while resisting French and British efforts to absorb his troops into their depleted, worn-out units. Two aviators, American Raoul Lufbery and German Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) fly primitive aircraft in an air war that introduces new ways to die. And Pvt. Roscoe Temple, U.S. Marine Corps, fights with rifle and bayonet in the mud and blood of Belleau Wood and the Argonne Forest. These men and a supporting cast of other real-life characters provide a gruesomely graphic portrayal of the brutality and folly of total war. Shaara's storytelling is occasionally mechanical—he has yet to rise to the Pulitzer Prize–winning level of his father, Michael Shaara (The Killer Angels, etc.)—but his descriptions of individual combat in the air and the mass slaughter on the ground are stark, vivid and gripping. He also offers compelling portraits of the politicians and generals whose strategies and decisions killed millions and left Europe a discontented wasteland.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
Viewed from a distance, the campaigns on the Western Front from 1914-18 appear as a pitiless, mechanistic meat grinder, chewing up thousands of lives on a daily basis in a futile conflict without moral justification. So it is important to be reminded that the officers who launched these campaigns and the ordinary soldiers who fought in them were not mere automatons. Shaara, who has previously written celebrated historical novels about the Civil War and the Revolutionary War, again displays his gift for portraying the intensely human side of warriors. He focuses on the experiences of four historical figures, including the American General John "Black Jack" Pershing and the German air ace von Richtofen (the famed Red Baron). Although told primarily from an American perspective, the narrative gives appropriate attention to the attitudes and aspirations of both ordinary and prominent German military figures. When Shaara's characters are away from the front or not directly engaged in action, they indulge in soldier chatter, and the plot tends to drag. But Shaara is at his best in describing scenes of battle. He presents the horror of trench warfare in gory but necessary detail. When the action moves to aerial combat, Shaara offers images of strangely antiseptic beauty, as if airmen are somehow removed from the squalor beneath. This is first-rate storytelling that aptly describes aspects of a conflict that continues to shape our world today. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (110 customer reviews)
105 of 111 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another must read by Jeff Shaara, Dec 10 2004
By Monty Rainey - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War (Hardcover)
Jeff Shaara has done it again. He has written another masterpiece, this time on the often forgotten war that set the future of the Twentieth century and beyond. Shaara deviates slightly from his usual style in that, this book is essentially two books in one. It can be divided into three parts. The first 1/3 of the book deals almost exclusively with the air war focusing mainly on the heroics the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen and the French born American ace, Raoul Lufberry. In the middle 1/3 of the book, Shaara introduces Gen. Pershing and a young marine private named Roscoe Templer, which begins the second book as the first concludes with the deaths of Richthofen and Lufberry. The final 1/3 of the book focuses exclusively on the exploits and perils of the ground war.When it comes to the descriptive narrative of the horrors of war, I have always felt Stephen Crane's Red Badge of Courage set the standard. Shaara has surpassed that standard and has broken new ground with all of his books, this one included. Anyone who has ever served in the military will appreciate the detail of Shaara's narrative of the horrors that both the flying aces and the doughboys endured in World War I.
As with all of Shaara's books, it is really a shame to call this a historical fiction as it is meticulously researched and historically accurate to the letter. Shaara captivates the reader by making history read like the best of literature. As with all of Shaara's books, this one is a must for the history classroom. Of course, it will probably never see the light of day in public schools, but home-schoolers should certainly utilize Shaara's gift for putting accurate military history in the form of intriguing and captivating resources for expanding ones knowledge of the events.
Whether you are a novice or a World War I aficionado, you will love this book. If you have never read Shaara, this one will captivate you and have you soon reading his other fine works. You don't want to miss this book. Add it to your library now. You won't regret it.
Monty Rainey
www.juntosociety.com
67 of 70 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Remarkable and authentic, Oct 29 2004
By Bookreporter - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War (Hardcover)
Jeff Shaara proves in TO THE LAST MAN why he is a premier artist in the literary picture of war history. His prior successes, stories of the American Civil War, were skillful chronologies and great story lines. TO THE LAST MAN is no less in its characterization of World War I. Much has been written about WWII and the Civil War, but Shaara brings alive the events of a war on European shores and how the Americans helped to end the great struggle.Shaara's style is much like that used in his earlier novels. The introduction lists the main players in the war drama, with brief bios and early family histories. Subsequent chapters follow the viewpoint characters during their particular experiences and time frames for their actions. A large section is devoted to the stories of air war, its place in the conflict and the men who became heroes due to their aerial successes. Previous wars had depended on plodding trench battles, often fought hand-to-hand. But the aeroplane forever changed the landscapes of modern warfare.
Shaara pictures heroic lives from both sides, those daredevil pilots who brought gunfire to the skies. The names of Baron Manfred von Richthofen and Raoul Lufbery dominate these chapters. Shaara demonstrates a deep probe of historical fact by his true-to-life portrayals. These pilots and their compatriots jump from the page and put the reader into the action. Emotions sway toward the humanity and character of each aerial duelist.
Enter John J. Pershing, military commander of the American forces reluctantly sent to France. Pershing endures endless delays in the deployment of American troops and is frustrated by the tactics of French and British leaders. In the war's late stages, European commanders want the American forces assimilated into their respective armies. But Pershing holds firm to the independence of his forces.
Roscoe Temple is the character Shaara uses to tell America's story in the war. Temple is a Marine recruit, a replacement for the thousands of French and British soldiers who lay dead in the muddy French fields. He is the embodiment of the American spirit that traveled to France to do a job --- kill the enemy and drive the Huns back to Germany. His transformation from green recruit to seasoned warrior happens rapidly and leads to the war's end.
Shaara has written a remarkable book, full of history, real and imagined. The majority of the action is authentic, with imagined characters living their reality. Through their eyes, a reader today can easily grasp the horror (yet majesty) and great action known as World War I. TO THE LAST MAN is certain to become a bestseller.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Historical Fiction Concerning WWI, July 23 2005
By kone "kone" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War (Hardcover)
Jeffrey Shaara has written a masterpiece! Hs book graphically details what World War 1 was like for the soldier fighting in the trenches, a pilot in the fledgling air force, and from a general's point of view. Let the reader understand, this is not a blow by blow description about the events of World War 1. Instead, it is a book about four real historical people who actually lived and in some cases died in the Great War. I consider Shaara's book better than a history lesson as it probes the minds and hearts of those who participated, and helps the reader to understand the sheer horror of war and the lasting effects it had on the participants.This is a book you will not want to put down. The narrative is so realistic and gripping, that the reader is transported back in time and is actually there beside the soldier as he rises to charge enemy machine gun gunfire. Life in the trenches is explored in detail from the point of view of a Marine soldier. The tension and drama of an aviator in an open-pit plane is described in such stunning detail that you nearly feel the wind from the propeller in your face. Despite its length, I read the book in two sittings, literally frozen to my reading couch, unable to stop! I have never read any description of war with more detail and understanding than what Shaara presents in this fine literary story.
My father was a soldier in WW2 and despite my many promptings, he never wished to discuss his part of the war and his experiences there. Having read Shaara's book I now finally understand. Shaara describes battlefield with stunning gripping clarity. One can feel the shudder of exploding shells, the stench of uncountable rotting bodies, the tension of an after-dark patrol into enemy lines, and the day to day lives of the soldiers who were called upon to shoulder the burden of the war. It is horrible beyond description and leaves a lasting permanent imprint of terror on the soldiers of both sides. Who would want to dredge up such experiences?
If you really want to experience what war is really like without leaving the comfort of your reading couch, then this is the book for you. I cannot recommend it highly enough. You will be changed forever in how you view soldiers and war after reading this book.
Jin Konedog Koenig
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