Against All Odds

October 1, 2021

Ranging from when New York City was inhabited by the Lenape people to the present day, from grubby brothels to chic hotels, Bird tells the story of New York by focusing on A Block in Time that's bounded east-west by Sixth and Seventh avenues and north-south by 23rd and 24th streets and is overlooked by the famous Flatiron Building (45,000-copy first printing). Chief editor for Le Monde diplomatique, Chollet argues In Defense of Witches, whom she sees as symbolic of female resistance to male oppression throughout history, with the women most likely to be perceived as witches--independent-minded, childless, or older--still being outcast today (75,000-copy first printing). Having reported from Hong Kong as well as South East Asia, journalist England offers Fortune's Bazaar, the story of kaleidoscopic Hong Kong through the diverse peoples who have made the city what it is today (75,000-copy first printing). A former senior editor at The New Yorker and author of the multi-best-booked Ike and Dick, Frank returns with a reassessment of our 33rd president in The Trials of Harry S. Truman. Influential Brown economist Galor, whose unified growth theory focuses on economic growth throughout human history, tracks The Journey of Humanity to show that the last two centuries represent a new phase differentiated from the past by generally better living conditions but also a radically increased gap between the rich and the rest. Following A Thousand Ships, which was short-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction and a best seller in the United States, Haynes's Pandora's Jar belongs to a growing number of titles that put the female characters of Greek mythology front and center as less passive or secondary than they've been regarded (25,000-copy hardcover and 30,000-copy paperback first printing). In Against All Odds, popular historian Kershaw tells the story of four soldiers in the same regiment--Capt. Maurice "Footsie" Britt, West Point dropout Michael Daly, soon-to be Hollywood legend Audie Murphy, and Capt. Keith Ware, eventually the most senior US general to die in Vietnam--who became the four most decorated U.S. soldiers of World War II. After World War II, six women were given the daunting task of programming the world's first general-purpose, all-electronic computer, called ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) and meant to calculate a single ballistic trajectory in 20 seconds rather than 40 hours by hand; internet law and policy specialist Kleiman interviewed four of the women over two decades, eventually writing Proving Ground and producing the award-winning documentary The Computers (50,000-copy first printing). From former Wall Street Journal reporter and New York Times best-selling author Lowenstein (e.g., When Hubris Failed), Ways and Means shows how President Abraham Lincoln and his administration parlayed efforts to fund the Civil War into creating a more centralized government. New York Times best-selling author Rappaport (Caught in the Revolution) shows what happened After the Romanovs to the aristocrats, artists, and intellectuals who fled the Russian Revolution for Paris (60,000-copy first printing).

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 20, 2021
Kershaw follows up The First Wave with another gripping chronicle of WWII, this time focusing on the U.S. Army’s 3rd Division. Documenting the group’s invasion of North Africa in 1942 and subsequent advance across Italy, France, and Germany, Kershaw highlights the exploits of Medal of Honor recipients including Maurice Britt, Audie Murphy, and Keith Ware. At the four-month siege of Anzio, Italy, Britt, a former football player for the Detroit Lions, lost his right arm. Evacuated to the U.S. as a “vital propaganda figure,” he made radio appearances while 3rd Division regiments liberated Rome and landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy. Audie Murphy and Keith Ware earned their medals of honor for leading counterattacks in the Colmar Pocket, an area of “formidable German resistance” in Alsace, France, during the harsh winter of 1944–1945. After crossing the Rhine River into Germany, 3rd Division units stormed Nuremberg, concluding “an epic odyssey of combat and liberation” fought by “arguably the finest U.S. infantry division of World War II.” Though the transitions between top commanders and frontline soldiers are sometimes awkward, Kershaw describes his subjects’ heroic acts with earthy exuberance and lucidly explains military strategy. WWII buffs will be enthralled.

January 15, 2022
World War II heroics with a touch of melancholy. In his latest book of popular World War II history, bestselling author Kershaw tells the stories of four Americans who won the Medal of Honor and lived postwar lives that sometimes kept them in the public eye. The best known is Audie Murphy, diminutive son of a dirt-poor Texas family and an underage enlistee whose spectacular marksmanship and fearless aggression won him not only a host of medals, but a career in Hollywood. He often served under Keith Ware, a captain from Officer Training School who won the medal but also became the first draftee in history to end his career as a general. He played an important role in the Vietnam War before dying in a helicopter crash in 1968. Maurice Britt was playing professional football when he was called up. Seriously injured in 1944, he became "the first American in history to gain every medal for valor in a single war." Michael Daly entered West Point in 1942, hated its brutal hazing and regimentation, quit, and immediately enlisted as a private, anxious to prove that he had the right stuff. Landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, he performed feats of bravery until the very end. With a serious facial injury, Daly's public exposure was minimal, and he lived modestly, dying in 2008. Movie-star handsome, Murphy appeared on the cover of Life, becoming the "Sergeant York" war icon of WWII. Actor James Cagney offered a film contract if he went to acting school and lost his Texas accent. Murphy enjoyed a successful career through the 1950s but had drifted out of the spotlight before dying in a plane crash in 1971. These men fought at the sharp edge, so Kershaw pours out a steady stream of vicious small-unit actions filled with merciless brutality and bloodshed. Some readers may feel the urge to skim some of the mayhem, but the accomplishments of the soldiers shine through. Realistic portraits of four American superheroes.

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February 1, 2022
Kershaw (The First Wave, 2019) vividly chronicles 600 days of WWII combat endured by the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division while focusing on the personalities and exploits of four exceptional soldiers who experienced missions in Morocco, Italy, southern France, Germany, and Austria. Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy racked up medals for valor at a record pace while pushing the Axis forces back into the Third Reich. These four heroes and their comrades demonstrated that both individual and group bravery counts in battle at least as much as superior weapons systems. Kershaw recounts how courageous soldiers turned the tide and defied the odds at Anzio beachhead and the Siegfried Line, among other key locations, to bring the war to a successful conclusion. He tapped many primary sources and conducted interviews with descendants of the four Medal of Honor recipients to produce an engaging, well-written narrative that delivers readers right to the battlefields. Against All Odds is a timely reminder of the horrors of war and valor and sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.

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February 1, 2022

Military historian Kershaw (The Liberator; The First Wave) tells the story of the U.S. Army's 3rd Division in World War II, who saw action in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Nicknamed the "Marne Men" for the unit's actions during World War I, the 3rd Division had, by the end of the Second World War, accumulated some 635 days in combat--the most of any unit in the European Theater. It also became the most decorated, as its soldiers earned more Medals of Honor than any other unit. Men like Lt. Maurice "Footsie" Britt, a former NFL football player, and Audie Murphy earned every medal for bravery that can be bestowed by the U.S. Army, including several Purple Hearts. Based on extensive research into U.S. Army records and interviews with veterans and their family members, Kershaw's book details the heroics and sacrifices of the men of the 3rd Division and deals honestly and forthrightly with the men's struggle after the war to come to grips with the horrors they faced and their effects. VERDICT Fans of James Holland or Kershaw's earlier works, as well as readers interested in military and World War II history, will enjoy the sharp storytelling and prose on display here.--Chad E. Statler

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.