The master of Historical Fiction has written another master piece in this exciting first volume of what was originally intended to be a trilogy of the Second World War. This trilogy, however, ignored the Pacific Theater and Jeff Shaara received so much flack from his readers and veterans that he was convinced to write a 4th volume concluding this series. Of course, he has since written one on the Battle of Midway in the Pacific bringing the total to this trilogy to five volumes, so I guess he just can’t stop writing – and that’s OK with me.
Shaara takes us inside the minds of those who fought so desperately in the deserts of North Africa, both Axis and Allied. When it comes to describing combat itself, he develops use of short, staccato sentences helping to simulate the confusion and chaos and terror of those events engulfing the reader in the battle surrounding him. A vivid description of what it might have felt like to be inside a Sherman tank as it is hit and explodes during the catastrophic first encounter against Erwin Rommel’s legendary Afrika Korps at Kasserine Pass will hold the reader breathless.
I have never been killed and lived to tell about it. Nor have I known anybody to have that experience either. But Jeff Shaara, in most of his military novels that I have read, has taken me through that first-hand experience as closely as the imagination can conceive, and his sobering description brings a reality to his novels that truly brings them to life, if that is the appropriate description. In this particular novel the “victim” survives and is captured by the Germans.
I have a long career teaching history and one of my goals was to try to bring the subject to life for my high school students. Not to delve into specifics, but any author who helped me bring history to the common level, I admired. To that end, my most admired professional historian was the late Bruce Catton. And now, my most admired Historical Fiction writer is the current Jeff Shaara. In addition to helping to illustrate history as a common event, it is always based on solid, document-based research. I love this author. I just wish he were active when I was. ( )

Novels of World War II , Book 1

A different way to tell a familiar story. There is very little that is new but it is told in a different way, through the eyes, thoughts, and words of certain participants. It is a very effective way to tell history. ( )

I first encountered Jeff Shaara with his prequel to his father's novel, The Killer Angels. Gods and Generals was excellent and in many ways Mr Shaara repeats the format and approach of that novel, in The Rising Tide. This time his theatre of conflict is North Africa in 1943. The story initially follows Rommel and Monty as they fight east and then west across the North African desert. Later the book engages with the Americans, led by Eisenhower. The book is fictionalisation and Shaara draws upon records and diaries to build a more intimate picture of the main characters, and a few minor ones, to tell the toils and terrors of the campaign. I thoroughly enjoyed the insights into the motivations of these men, which Shaara provides. I found the view to be well balanced, not favouring any particular viewpoint excessively. I think if you have enjoyed Jeff Shaara's other works then you will enjoy this. If you haven't I wouldn't dissuade you from this, but I would say try Gods and Generals first ( )

Tight, crisp prose characterize this fact-based retelling of the first part of WW II. That style worked great for the combat scenes, but tended to shortchange individual character development. Nevertheless, Shaara captured the personalities of Rommel, Patton and Eisenhower quite well, in my opinion.

The more interesting stories were of the line soldiers, Adams and Logan. Their daily struggles, precise detail of the essence of combat—chaos, brutality, the waste of life, inner fears—was nicely chronicled.

My preference for historical novels leans toward Leon Uris' style—novels about individuals or small groups set against the background of major world events like WW II. But this book will appeal to fans of WW II who are more interested in the strategy, politics, and high-level power struggles that have the greatest impact on the day-to-day events. ( )