Alex Kershaw

This book should be given careful consideration as the worst WW2 history ever published, vanity presses included. Poorly organized, poorly written, abysmally edited and fact checked, it is an ill constructed mix of an illiterate popular history of WW2 for the Western powers, a personal history of a very interesting officer and a history of a hard fighting division that never got its fair share of attention. Let us take p.121 as example. The following sentence is from the book: "Fifty Army GI show more comforts badly wounded comrade on the first day of the Allied break-out from Anzio, Mary 23,1943."
The US Army in question is the Fifth. If its number were 50 the correct word would be Fiftieth. Mary is not a name for a month. The month is May. To complete the farce the year is 1944 not 1943 as otherwise the troops used time travel to break-out over half a year before the actual landings took place. This is pathetic and typical of the book. Metz is asserted to be in 'the Alsace'. Metz is in Lorraine NOT Alsace. Alsace is not referred to in English as 'the Alsace'. The sad part is that buried in this piece of hack work is an interesting story of a man and a division that has received less attention than they deserve. US books on WW2 in Europe tend to emphasize Bradley's army group. Hopefully someday a competent writer will revisit this. As is I only finished this piece of trash because when I am given a reviewer's copy I feel a moral duty to read to the end and write the review. show less

Deeply moving. Well written. Horrible. Kershaw again provides an eminently accessible, personal story, not belaboring the beach--a story told often and well in the past--but bringing a new and awful poignancy to the context in community and family of each of a commander's casualty report numbers.

He still hit one of my pet peeves by using the phrase "dead and wounded," which as a soldier and war veteran I find an offensively trite and naive lumping of two very different things under one show more heading--to a man under fire, and to his family, "wounded" and "completely unharmed" are more similar than are "wounded" and "dead." BUT he only did it once, and it really is a legitimate phrase, as it is the commander's way to track effective fighting strength and attrition. I just find it more appropriate for a book about the generals in the headquarters than a book about the men in the experience. Off my soapbox.

That was the only criticism. I loved the book, but it broke my heart. I found it particularly novel and important because WWII is perceived as being the classic Just War, with unanimous public support. It was not. Like every war, it had its detractors, and rightly so, for as horrific as wars are. Like every war, men on both sides committed atrocities and it is no service of history or of the memory of those who fought and died to mythologize the horrors of WWII, or to edit public and political dissent to American involvement out of the history books. Kershaw provided us with a non-evaluative, uncensored history of the social context, including the social dynamic of conscientious objectors and the criticisms of the administration, the commanders, the policies, the war, and even the survivors, by the families of the bereaved.

This book was a touching and excellently told account of an event unfathomably tragic regardless the strength of the justification or the accomplishment. True tale of Pyrrhic victory. show less

Sumner Jackson was American surgeon working at the American Hospital in Paris when the Nazis overtook France in 1940. He had been convinced to stay in France by his Swiss-born wife, who earlier did not take to life in America and felt compelled to remain in her adopted country. They were well aware of the risks, especially considering they lived on Avenue Foch, where the Gestapo concentrated their headquarters in buildings so close to their residence, they could hear the screams of people show more being tortured. Dr. Jackson used his position at the hospital to provide medical care for British pilots and French spies, keeping their presence out of official records and hiding them until they could be shuttled out of the country. He had contacts who helped keep his activities quiet and the Nazis looking the other way. Meanwhile, his wife, Toquette, was approached by the French Resistance to ferret messages to various contacts. Even their son Philip got into the espionage act, surreptitiously taking photos of value to British intelligence. Miraculously, they remained unmolested until just after D-Day, when word of Touquette's underground activities reached the Gestapo and they were rounded up. Thus began a harrowing ordeal in which the family was divided and moved to various locations in France, Germany, and ultimately Sweden, suffering the horrors of the concentration camps. What the Jackson clan endured was both heartbreaking and inspirational; their story should be better known, and Kershaw tells it very well. Highly recommended. show less

The back cover proclaims that the hero of this book, and of real life events, saved more people that Schindler. By the time you have finished the book you realise that this is an understatement. Raoul Wallenberg was a Swedish diplomat who, under his own steam, took to Hungary near the end of WWII to do something to stop or slow the massacring of the Jewish people. Unable to bear witness any longer to such death under the eyes of an apathetic international community, he negotiated funds from show more his government and an 'anything goes' game plan to head to Budapest to beg, steal, borrow or bribe his way into getting Jews released.

His plan was as follows: create a pass with coats of arms, stamps and signatures galore, to which the gestapo would bow down to in their need to obey officialdom. The pass gave the holder of it residency and therefore protection by Sweden, who were neutral in the war. Distribute these passes to any Jewish person who had any tie to Sweden whatsoever (and later, just any Jewish person). These new Swedish citizens did not fall under Germany's criteria for Jews who could be deported, and so were safe. Wallenberg was to open up 'safe houses' where they lived, and assist in food and transportation out of Hungary and away from the Reich's rule. Wallenberg cultivated official relations with senior gestapo leaders, in his meetings he advocated for the protection of 'his people' (the new Swedes), and in doing so risked death and worse many times.

He would show up where people were being rounded up, and call out some common Jewish names as if he had specific people in mind. Those who came forward were declared Swedish citizens in a hastily prepared document and in some cases were pulled from the trains just in time. He would have his colleagues secret food to the doomed he was unable to help, and in general showed compassion, resourcefulness and a willingness to break laws and rules in a time when the allies were hamstrung by following them.

The last section of the book deals with Wallenberg's fate. He was not received well by the Soviet liberators and the direct dealings he had with the Germans were to come back to haunt him. ****spoilers****
Wallenberg was taken prisoner accused of being a German collaborator. He was never officially charged and his fate, beyond that of being a Russian prisoner of war, remains unknown. The Soviets simply could not see why someone would take that much risk for personal gain that was limited to the satisfaction of helping those in dire need. The Swedish government was paralysed by its neutrality and refused to fight for his release. What a terrible destiny for such a hero. Another sad book in which the actions of a kind and brave man go unrewarded. show less