"To Wake The Giant", by Jeff Shaara

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Sharra's latest effort tells the historical fiction version of Pearl Harbor. Like all of his other books, and that of his father before him, the story is told by a mixture of real and fictional characters, and the format is pretty much the same, many threads pulling at the same fabric of the story to be told. This is my first Sharra book since "The Frozen Hours" which is still my favorite and a must read for any Marine. I really must get to the book store and pick up his others I don't have. He is incapable of writing a bad story.

"To Wake The Giant" is one you will all enjoy, and will most likely get you in the mood for further Pearl Harbor research. I wish that Pearl Harbor fellow that was kicked off the Black Board was here, so we could discuss this book and Pearl Harbor in general as thoroughly as the subject demands. Get the book. A great summer read.

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I liked "To Wake A Giant" so much that I went out yesterday and bought Shaara's first three WWII books, again all novels.

"The Rising Tide" - North Africa, Sicily, and Italy

"The Steel Wave" - The invasion of Normandy

"No Less Than Victory" - The Battle of the Bulge and end of the war in Europe

The fourth volume "The Final Storm: was out of stock but deals with the final year in the Pacific.

Shaara has also written a series of four dealing mainly with the Civil War in the west that would probably interest Dave, as well as "Gone For Soldiers" whose subject is the Mexican War and examines the early military careers of many of the men who fought on both sides in the Civil War. I think that will be my next purchase.

The reason I like Shaara's books so much is that they give you insights into how these people thought. His father did that with "Killer Angels" and Shaara continued his father's methodology with "Gods and Generals' and has followed the same basic format since.

Shaara's novels are worth the money. You are both entertained and learn something from an entirely different perspective than reading dry history.

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Jeff Shaara has announced that his next book, due out in May 2021 will be about the Battle of Midway. If it is half as good as the rest of his books it should be well worth reading.

I have finished reading the first three of his WWII books that I listed above.

The first two follow a fictional Sergeant Adams of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment from North Africa through Sicily, Italy, and end up at the conclusion of the Normandy Campaign. Along the way you get the big picture filled in by actual historical characters on both sides like Eisenhower, Rommel, Patton, and several others. It is the intensity of the description of small unit combat where Shaara excels.

With "No Less Than Victory" the intensity of combat in the Bulge is very well described, centering on fictional Sergeant Higgins, and Privates Mitchell and Benson, members of the 423rd Infantry Regiment of the ill fated 106th Infantry Division. These three are among the few that escape the capture of their regiment, and what follows presents a very clear picture to the reader of what combat in that December and January was like.

I highly recommend all three of these books.

[dave]

I agree Shaara is an excellent read as was his father!
Regards
David