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The Yanks are Starving: A Novel of the Bonus Army by Glen Craney is a novel set in the pivotal decades of the opening of the twentieth century. Craney is a graduate of Indiana School of Law and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. As a member of the Washington Press Corps, he covered the Iran Contra Trial for Congressional Quarterly magazine. Previously Craney practiced trial law.

World War I is my favorite period of history to read about because so much of what the twentieth century became can be directly tied to the war. From standing armies, communism, mechanized warfare, alliances, and the rise of the United States are a result of the war. By the end of the century the Serbs would draw Europe into limited fighting, Russia would become a country again, and artificial borders created after the war would vanish. It was the beginning of the modern times.

Initially, I was expecting a short novel covering that single page in history books about Hoovervilles and McArthur facing off against the WWI vets protesting in Washington DC. Admittedly, this incident is barely mentioned in history books and probably has escaped most American's historical memory. There is a reason for this. Not only is it part of the deep depression, it is also a national embarrassment. Probably the first in a long line. I remember the treatment Vietnam veterans received coming home and how problems reintegrating into society were ignored. I also remember Gulf War Syndrome being called a hoax, and I don’t seem to see many “I Support the Troops” flags or car magnets any more. The Bonus Army was the first of many lessons in the disposability of military veterans after they served their purpose.

I was a little surprised to see this book had nearly six hundred pages to cover a single event. The surprise, it turns out, was very pleasant. The Yanks are Starving covers three decades through the eyes of eight major characters and a few supporting ones. There are supporting characters like a young Eisenhower, Smedley Butler, George Patton, and James “Big Jim” Reese Europe. Of the main characters, Herbert Hoover is a compassionate man who reminds me much of Jimmy Carter both as during and before his presidency. Douglas Macarthur is shown on a personal side much different than his image in World War II and Korea. There are two common working class characters Joe Angelo and Walter W Waters who are drawn together by WWI. Anna Raber, a Mennonite, experiences WWI as a nurse in Europe. Ozzie Taylor, a black street musician, and Pelham Glassford, a West Point plebe, round out the sexes, races, and classes of America.

Reading advance praise for the book I saw a glowing review by a Marine veteran. As a Marine veteran myself, that peaked my interest since Marines are mostly interested in Marine Corps history. I found out quickly the Marines had their role in this story. The book opens with Smedley Butler in China during the Boxer Rebellion and the Marines role expands through the last major character in the novel Floyd Gibbons, a reporter from the Minnesota Star. It was only last year I found out about Floyd Gibbons. He is responsible for immortalizing the second most important Marine Corps’ event after the raising of the flag at Mount Suribachi -- The Battle of Belleau Woods.

One problem I typically find in historical fiction is that the author will take an event and choose and discard events that he wants to include and exclude from history. Basically uses what he needs to fabricate a good story. In the end, many novels end up no more accurate than a “based on a true story” television movie. Craney manages to keep history honest and, although a few characters are fictional and conversations cannot be verified, there is little need to fact check his work.

As I mentioned above the history is accurate, but it is the storytelling that pulls you in. The writing, flow of the story, and characters make The Yanks are Starving very difficult to put down. Craney does an outstanding job at bringing the history to life and keeping it alive. There isn’t that usual long dry spot in the middle of the novel that the reader feels obligated to trudge through. The Yanks are Starving is event and character driven. When some of the characters are having down time the reader is quickly switched over to another character or group of characters, and there is no filler in nearly six hundred pages of the novel.

Although the book centers around mostly the army and army veterans, there is enough Marine Corps in this book to keep any Marine veteran reading. I will admit to being drawn into this story and thoroughly enjoying it, although I usually avoid military novels that do not center around the Marines. This is also much more than a military book. It is about American classes, race, the sexes, and the role of government and the military. It is also a story about threats to America, real or imagined, and the changes in American culture. Craney has written an outstanding social and military historical novel of the United States covering the crossing over from the nineteenth century mentality into the twentieth century. Simply put, an outstanding novel. ( )

The Yanks Are Starving, by Glen Craney is a poignant look at a piece of American history that is an embarrassment to the nation. The story (I would ‘almost’ call it historical fiction, although most of it is factual) tells of the Bonus Army, a contingent of nearly 20,000 First World War veterans who marched, with their families, on Washington DC in 1932, trying to collect on a bonus promised by the federal government. Because of the economic hardship of the time caused by the Great Depression, they hoped to receive their money early (it was technically only payable in 1945), as nearly all of them were having great difficulty finding employment, with some on the brink of starvation. Considering that the bonus included compound interest, it would have been in the government’s favour to actually pay them out early. President Herbert Hoover however, blundered through the situation, with the help of his advisors and steadfastly refused to pay the veterans.

If I had read this book, without knowing that the premise behind the story was actually true, I would have credited Craney with having a slightly over-active imagination. Sadly however, the story is true, and even sadder still, some of the United States’ most popular military leaders played a large part in it. After being ordered to remove the veterans from certain areas of the city, General Dougal MacArthur, made a horrific decision to attack the veterans and expel them completely. He was supported by, and it pains me to type this, Major George S. Patton, one of my military heroes, who during the conflict with the veterans, ignored a man who had saved his life in France. In the ensuing carnage, lives were lost, the veterans understandably, lost all hope, and their families lost almost all of their meager belongings.

A short time later Franklin D. Roosevelt became President and some of the veterans, hoping for a better outcome, marched on Washington again. That is when we see the kind of man Roosevelt was, and why to this day he is loved by so many. He couldn’t afford to pay the bonuses then, but unlike Hoover, he ordered the veterans taken care of, given proper meals, and put nearly all of them to work on the many projects he created to bring the United States out of the Depression.

The Yanks Are Starving is well written and researched. Craney has done an excellent job of interweaving the stories of real people with the few fictional ones he created to bring a balance to the narrative. I like that his creations are based on people who probably were there, and who did the best they could to help this ‘army’ of men who had risked everything for their country, only to find that country wanting in the end.

www.daniellittle.com ( )

The Yanks Are Starv­ing: A Novel of the Bonus Army by Glen Craney is a his­tor­i­cal fic­tion book telling the long for­got­ten story of the Bonus Army of World War 1 vets and how they were treated.

The Yanks Are Starv­ing: A Novel of the Bonus Army by Glen Craney is a long book, but is very enjoy­able for his­tory buffs and those who enjoy his­tor­i­cal fic­tion. I have heard of the Bonus Army before read­ing this book, it is one of those events we don’t like to talk about very much, but never read any­thing about it besides and arti­cle or two.

From my lim­ited read­ing about the World War 1 and the Bonus Army, it seems that the events depicted are based on facts and is worth read­ing. From the treat­ment of our vet­er­ans, to that of con­scious­ness objec­tors. While some of the main char­ac­ters are fic­tional, I found them to be most inter­est­ing and engag­ing, even more than the one who did exist.

This is not a “war” book, even though there is plenty of that as well. The book talks about the strug­gles of vet­er­ans which par­al­leled the strug­gles of the coun­try. The com­plex rela­tion­ships of the peo­ple, the com­man­ders, and the coun­try are well illus­trated in this book.

When I fin­ished the book I was very impressed with the scope of what it cov­ered and the author’s won­der­ful effort to cover it. You can cer­tainly tell that the author picked a side, but he han­dles the sub­tleties gen­tly and elegantly.

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For anyone who enjoys history and wants many pages to read this might be the book for you. The introduction of all the characters is interesting but at times I had trouble keeping track of who everybody was. I was intrigued by the treatment of conscientious objectors during the First World War and hated to think that such things happened. From reviews written by others it seems this is a novel based on fact and one well worth reading. I believe I enjoyed the story of Anna, the Mennonite coerced into becoming a nurse, the most as I could most relate to her story. If you are reading about this time period, want to learn more about the Bonus Army and the way the veterans were treated after the war this book might be the one for you. I will admit that when I got bogged down I would read from another book but always wanted to return to this book and continue reading. (3.5 stars) ( )

I kept plugging on even though this was a very long book because it contained great material. I wanted to think that most were true events but still am wondering. I think the author showed us how many have forgotten the men that have fought for our freedom. ( )