Jeff Shaara

Shaara continues his run of outstanding historical novels! The Fateful Lightning is about the ending days of the Civil War, seen through the lens of Sherman's "March To The Sea". As he has done before, Shaara once again lays his story out by telling it through the eyes of multiple characters. The main character, General Sherman; two Confederate soldiers; and, perhaps most interesting, a slave who was freed by Sherman's army. As with all of his books, it is extremely well researched. It show more vividly describes the day to day struggles of the march as well as the battles along the way. And allows you insight into what may have been going through the character's minds at the time.
I have studied a lot of Civil War history, but have to admit that I really never considered it through the eyes of a slave. But when you think about the situation they found themselves in, freed from their "owners" without any real knowledge of the world outside their plantation, it's amazing. Not to provide any spoilers, but I found several instances worth mentioning. On seeing money being exchanged for the first time, Franklin (the slave) states, "If we're being delivered, God won't be needing none of this. I ain't seen nothing in the Bible about tradin' paper to get into heaven". Also interesting was Franklin's amazement at something as simple as a letter, which he couldn't believe could be used to communicate over long distances. He was far from ignorant though, as when asked why the poor Southern white men would fight for the rich, he stated, "When the war broke out, the rich folk told the poor folk that if they win the war, they can have the land up north, and all the coloreds they want".
Even though the book was very well written, and the plot moves along well, I found myself purposefully slowing down, in order to savor the book for as long as I could. I'm sorry that Shaara's series has come to a conclusion. I wish he could go on and on, but then, all good things must end eventually. Bravo, Mr. Shaara! show less

After many volumes in which Jeff Shaara added a personal touch to almost every war that the United States ever participated in, he has now told another story, the story of what was almost the last war we were a party to. Although the events of October 1962 are now fading into obscurity, for a few days the earth was the closest it had ever come to what the pundits call Mutually Assured Destruction. A single rash act by a Russian or American military officer could easily have triggered a chain show more reaction that ended in a global catastrophe.

It is easy to joke about in-home bomb shelters and duck-and-cover drills sixty years after the fact but these things actually existed. I was born in DC and attended elementary school in nearby Bethesda, and I still recall the air raid drills. Later, when we moved to Colorado, our next-door neighbors had a bomb shelter. It’s ridiculous to think that any of these would have provided any protection but people were terrified and felt that doing something, anything, was preferable to doing nothing.

If the Cold War really was a war, then the Cuban Missile Crisis is the closest we came to turning it into a hot war. As Shaara ably portrays, a young and relatively inexperienced President John Kennedy went head-to-head with the wily and pugnacious Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in the most consequential game of chicken ever played. Kennedy, still smarting from the Bay of Pigs debacle, was considered by many on both sides to be unqualified for the kind of brinksmanship that was needed in dealing with the Soviets. Khrushchev wanted to support Cuba, their new ally in the Western Hemisphere and also, by installing nuclear missile batteries on our doorstep, achieve parity with the missiles that we had installed on the Russian border with Turkey. He gambled that if the Americans learned about the project, Kennedy would take no actions other than complain loudly. It’s what the Americans had done in the past and likely would do again.

This is where Sharra’s skillset is so valuable. Although much information can now be gleaned with serious research of memoirs, presidential archives and other sources, no transcripts existed of what was actually said. Almost everything that happened in this story happened behind closed doors and in the highest levels of secrecy. I know this because at the time this was happening my father was a deputy director of a certain ‘Agency’ and for several days he didn’t come home from work. No reasons or excuses were given, just a call to say he wouldn’t be home.

Bottom line: Shaara’s exhaustive research combined with his ability to turn historical documents into human drama. I particularly enjoyed his interpretation of Nikita Khrushchev, one of the most entertaining premiers that the Soviet Union produced. Not only is this a well-written, compelling story, it should remind us today of the perils of inept statesmanship.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. show less

What an exciting, fascinating book. Even though based on a well-known historical event author Jeff Shaara brings it to life and tells a story not just of heroes and villains but of people on the ground participating as well as everyday citizens afraid but not quite sure what they should be afraid of and how afraid they should be.

Shaara has a knack for using historical fiction to make larger-than-life figures relatable and recognizable, to put them in challenging situations and show human, show more real-life thoughts and reactions. For example, both John and Bobby are mostly remembered as brave men from a famous family, assassinated, cut down in their prime, martyrs. But Shaara zeroes in on this particular political situation - the Cuban Missile Crisis – and portrays a tense few days where they are confronted with a situation they inherited, trying to find a path through the literal minefield of missiles being installed by the Soviet Union in Cuba, missiles quite in range of the coast of the United States. The bravery is still there, but so is the other side: assumptions and prejudices, unwarranted criticism, off-the-cuff inappropriate remarks, anger breaking through. This makes for a very believable story.

From the highest-level heads of government – in the United States, the Soviet Union and Cuba – to support staff and the military to the men in Cuba installing the missiles to regular people living in Florida wondering just what is going on, Shaara describes reaction, overreaction, fear, bluster; a wide range of emotions and opinions on what the solution should be.

The Shadow of War is fast-moving and suspenseful, taking us through the days before an agreement was reached. Taking us into the bomb shelters and the duck and cover drills. Taking us into the living rooms of those responsible for making a move that could result in nuclear war. It was thoroughly enjoyable first page to last. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of The Shadow of War via NetGalley. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. show less

I am a big Jeff Shaara fan, but this is not one of his best. For some reason, like many others he has chosen to ignore most of the War in the Pacific. Apparently he was badgered into writing this book by Marines who complained about the situation. Unlike his other books, this one doesn't cover a time period of the war, it covers the attack on Okinawa and the very end of the war. It is a very brutal and personal account of the shocking fighting that took place on Okinawa. As is usual for his show more books it is well researched and very in depth, written from the point of view of several participants, including a Marine private and a Japanese commander. Very insightful and clear and detailed. However, like some of his books it lacks a bit of an overall tactical and strategic view and stuck to 1 point of view a bit too much. These are minor points though, it is still a very good book about the end of the war, just a little limited in scope. show less