The Rising Tide
I always enjoy a good read and thanks to a recommendation from my old friend, Jon, I just finished an excellent one. The Rising Tide by Jeff Shaara was first published ten years ago and documents Operations Torch, Husky and Avalanche during World War II. But it is way more than just that... it's a good story revealing the human element of men whose names are larger than life.
This is hardly Shaara's only work of historical fiction. Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure are just part of his impressive profile.
While this is a novel and there are a handful of fictional characters, it is based on real events, real places and real people. Shaara undoubtedly invested thousands of hours in research (in the foreword he mentions he prides himself on historical accuracy) and the novel's narrative flows effortlessly in Shaara's very readable style.
The book was particularly interesting to me because my father was a part of both Operation Torch and Operation Avalanche and many of the towns and places mentioned in the novel are also mentioned by my dad in his diary; in a way I felt I walked through the deserts of North Africa and mountains of Italy with corporal Howard Branstner (for more on my dad's World War II diary, I made a blog based on his writings right here: Oak Valley to Po Valley).
If you have interest in historical fiction, Jeff Shaara definitely has a knack for keeping the pages turning. A highly recommended read.
This is hardly Shaara's only work of historical fiction. Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure are just part of his impressive profile.
While this is a novel and there are a handful of fictional characters, it is based on real events, real places and real people. Shaara undoubtedly invested thousands of hours in research (in the foreword he mentions he prides himself on historical accuracy) and the novel's narrative flows effortlessly in Shaara's very readable style.
The book was particularly interesting to me because my father was a part of both Operation Torch and Operation Avalanche and many of the towns and places mentioned in the novel are also mentioned by my dad in his diary; in a way I felt I walked through the deserts of North Africa and mountains of Italy with corporal Howard Branstner (for more on my dad's World War II diary, I made a blog based on his writings right here: Oak Valley to Po Valley).
If you have interest in historical fiction, Jeff Shaara definitely has a knack for keeping the pages turning. A highly recommended read.
