From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In June of 1845, a group of immigrant Americans—called the San Patricio's, or St. Patrick's, Battalion—deserted Gen. Zachary Taylor's army and fought on the opposite side in the Mexican-American war, under the leadership of the elusive, charismatic James Riley. Thom (
Panther in the Sky) has taken this forgotten incident from an almost forgotten war and turned it into a stirring tale that does everything that smart historical fiction ought to do: illuminating the past while throwing new light on the present. The story of this motley band of mostly Irish and German Catholics, driven to rebellion by the endemic racism and capricious cruelty of their officers, is told from two points of view. Augustin Juvero, a Mexican soldier speaking years later, provides essential context, but most of the novel is taken up by the journal (complete with vivid pencil drawings) of Paddy Quinn, a camp boy. Guerillas, gangs of rancheros that kill Americans on sight, torture, border disputation—all are portrayed with brutal and unsentimental simplicity in Quinn's voice. Not only a striking (and often horrific) account of pre–Civil War army life, Quinn's narrative beautifully conveys the boy's coming of age against a backdrop of eerily familiar war and rebellion.
(Aug.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
From Booklist
Noted historical novelist Thom takes a painful period in American history and treats it with great imagination and verve, threading in unsettling parallels to the current war in Iraq. Homing in on real-life soldier John Riley, an Irishman who inspired many fellow immigrants to defect to the Mexican side during the -Mexican-American War, Thom also devotes many thought-provoking passages to the ethical implications of invading a foreign country. The diary passages of American camp-boy Paddy Quinn reveal the rough and shoddy treatment that Irish Catholic soldiers, often veterans of the British army, receive at the hands of officers who were educated at West Point but possess no combat experience. As tensions rise, the men desert in droves, and Paddy is torn between his great admiration for the charismatic Riley and his loyalty to his country. Meanwhile, Augusten Juvero, a Mexican cadet, relays his experience of the war and the enormous cost in casualties on both sides of the conflict. With its eerie parallels to modern-day warfare, this fine novel makes for gripping reading.
Joanne WilkinsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
--Ce texte provient d'une édition qui n'est plus publiée ou qui est non diponible.
