Book Review: The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara

April 26, 2011

About:

“The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II” by Jeff Shaara (website) is a historical fiction book which blends historical characters, fact and fiction into a readable story. The book is the first of a series about World War II.

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Thoughts:

“The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II” by Jeff Shaara is the first book of a series about WWII. The book explores the lesser known African campaign(s) which began in late1942. Mr. Shaara goes into the minds of such military greats as Eisenhower, Montgomery and Rommel as well as other generals and even the men in the field.

The story moves chronologically to the shores of Italy and beyond following the day-to-day events through different minds, as is the Shaara style. Even though I did not think this is Mr. Shaara’s best work, I still enjoyed this book.

This is an entertaining book but I think Mr. Shaara did not do justice to some of the character development as he did in several of his previous novels. I know it’s not fair to compare one novel to another, even if it is the same author but I’m bringing up the issue because I tremendously enjoyed previous works by Mr. Shaara.

However…

This is the first book in a series and Mr. Shaara used it to introduce the players. Many of the players we have heard about (Eisenhower, Mark Clark, Rommel, Bradley, Montgomery, Rommel) but several we did not because they were the frontline soldiers.

As a former grunt, those were the stories I found most interesting, the tank crew gunner, paratrooper and their stories from the proverbial trench. The prose is clear, and while I’m sure this book won’t satisfy everyone, I found it very appealing with its details, maps and most of all, the afterwards where the reader is informed of what happened to the non-fictional cast. While overlooking the roles of the navies and air-power, the story is still a powerful one and I’m looking forward to read the rest of the series.

So tell me, do you compare a work of an author to a similar work he/she has written?

Synopsis:

The day to day lives of the fighting men in the unforgiving Libyan dessert were tough. Not only fighting heat and exhaustion, but the British Army Dessert Rats, the Australians and New Zealanders were battling the Dessert Fox (Rommel). Rommel used what he knew about other generals to his advantage and the results were German victories.

The story moves on to 1943 where the Allies believe that Italy will be a piece of cake and they could move on the Germany. Italy did surrender but the Nazis kept on fighting. The book ends after the battles in Naples and Salerno where the Allies paid a high price for the victory and the beginning of the plan to attack the French coast.

Pur­chase The Rising Tide from Amazon.com*
More Books by Jeff Shaara*

Zohar – Man of la Book

Thoughts: This is the first book of a series about WWII. The book explores the lesser known African campaign(s) which began in late1942. Mr. Shaara goes into the minds of such military greats as Eisenhower, Montgomery and Rommel as well as other generals and even the men in the field. The story moves chronologically to the shores of Italy and beyond following the day-to-day events through different eyes, as is the Shaara style. Even though I did not think this is Mr. Shaara’s best work, I still enjoyed this book. This is an entertaining book but I think Mr. Shaara did not do justice to some of the character development as he did in several of his previous novels. I know it’s not fair to compare one novel to another, even if it is the same author but I’m bringing up the issue because I tremendously enjoyed previous works by Mr. Shaara. However… This is the first book in a series and Mr. Shaara used it to introduce the players. Many of the players we have heard about (Eisenhower, Mark Clark, Rommel, Bradley, Montgomery, Patton) but several we did not because they were the frontline soldiers. Those were the stories I found most interesting, the tank crew gunner, paratrooper and their stories from the proverbial trench. The prose is clear, and while I’m sure this book won’t satisfy everyone, I found it very appealing with its details, maps and most of all, the afterwards where the reader is informed of what happened to the non-fictional cast. While overlooking the roles of the navies and airpower, the story is still a powerful one and I’m looking forward to read the rest of the series. So tell me, do you compare a work of an author to a similar work he/she has written? Synopsis: The day to day lives of the fighting men in the unforgiving Libyan dessert were tough. Not only fighting heat and exhaustion, but the British Army Dessert Rats, the Australians and New Zealanders were battling the Dessert Fox (Rommel). Rommel used what he knew about other generals to his advantage and the results were German victories. The story moves on to 1943 where the Allies believe that Italy will be a piece of cake and they could move on the Germany. Italy did surrender but the Nazis kept on fighting. The book ends after the battles in Naples and Salerno where the Allies paid a high price for the victory and the beginning of the plan to attack the French coast.
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Wrap Up

The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II by Jeff Shaara

Rising Tide

5 Comments

  • 5a9a71e62343a90d94243b4db36a573b
    bookspersonallyApril 26, 2011 at 9:17 pm

    Interesting review of a book I might not otherwise have known about! I think it is almost impossible not to compare an author’s works to his/her other works, nor do I think it is necessarily a bad thing. But self awareness of the comparing, as you have, definitely makes for a more thoughtful opinion!

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