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To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War
Author: Jeffrey M. Shaara
ISBN: 0345461347
Publisher: Ballantine Books - 2004-10-26
Format: Hardcover
Book Details Customer Reviews
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Customer Reviews:

A Masterpiece

You can't go wrong with a book by Jeff Shaara. His historical "novels" are really a true history that cannot be told within the confines of a historical work. A historian can't take his best guess at how actual (undocumented) dialogue took place or give you insight into the undocumented thoughts and feelings of historical characters. In other words, a "nonfiction" historical work cannot really make the story come to life in the same way that this wonderful craftsman does. I loved reading about the dawn of arial combat. The incredible prowess and courage of the Lafayette Escadrille as well as that of Germans such as the Legebdary Red Baron. Shaara is very balanced and strives to present a very interesting and informative story that is as close to the truth as practical. There is a character, Roscoe Temple, who is a composite. Shaara used him to tell the story of several different actual US Marines. But I believe that all the other characters, the main ones at least, were actual histtorical figures.

I was impressed and felt more than a touch of pride (in spite of the fact that I am anti-war and feel that we probably should have kept out of it) at how the US changed the course of that war. The Marines can be especially proud of their tradition. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to be entertained while they are being informed and made to feel like you were actually there.

AWESOME ON AN OFTEN OVERLOKKED WAR

Typically great Shaara novel explaining such things as why this was the first time the Marines went to war in Army uniforms.

Winning the War/Losing the Peace?

Skillful writing of realistic war scenes: I'll grant Shaara that. However, he is too sure about the wisdom of American involvement in World War 1. The last one & 1/2 sentences Shaara writes are telling: "...clear consensus[sic].If the United States army had not arrived when it did and had not fought the way it did ,the Allies would have lost the war." There is no "clear consensus" grounds here since neither side might have won-If the U.S. had not entered the war.

Even Winston Churchill,whose name is not even mentioned in the book,had strong opposition to the U.S. entering the war; even though Churchill was probably at least partly responsible for the "Lusitania" tragedy. Maybe Churchill wanted the threat of American intervention without the actuality. The Germans were apparently ready for an early armistice in 1917, but with the American entry they made horrific attacks,hoping to win the war before the Americans turned the tide. So, millions more died. And the "peace" was lost as both Russia and Germany, outcasts, went on to even worse plans than those of 1917-1918. Without Germany to rein in Russia tens of millions died in the Soviet Union due to Stalin's misrule. One could say that the current world empire was born in 1917-1918; it is this empire which must bear major indirect responsibility for the catastrophic wreckage create by Stalin, Hitler, Mao,etc as well more direct responsibility for the millions dead in war,famine and disease in Korea, Vietnam, Latin America, Iraq & Iran, Africa,etc. Such "glory"! One could argue, of course, that empires have always been "inefficient", to be euphemistic about it, but let's own up to our responsibilities so that more thoughtful days may come.

Shaara actually ends his book with two quotes from French Field Marshal Foch[a nine word platitude] and a more telling quote from the French general Mangin, commander of the 10th Army: "...I am proud to have fought with you [American comrades] for the deliverance of the world."

May we receive God's glorious peace:Deliver our world from human "glory".

Good but not Shaara's best

This novel, like most of Shaara's novel's is entertaining. However, it may be just me but WW1 isn't as interesting as the Civil War or WW2. His most recent novels on WW2 ('The Rising Tide' and 'The Steel Wave')are better stories and better novels. I personally have found them much more enjoyable, but "To The Last Man" is a good read in it's own right. it does deal a bit much in the 'grunt' aspect with a large part of the novel based on the fighter pilots (dog fights). However, if dog fights and fighter pilots are your cup of tea, than this is definetly the novel for you.

An enlightening look at the American experience in The Great War

The First World War was aptly named "The Great War" in the belief that it had been so terrible that mankind would never repeat the experience. Alas for complacency! In literature the Second World War has to a large degree overshadowed WWI as a topic, and for that reason this novel by Jeff Shaara is a particularly welcome piece.

This novel is largely about the American contribution to the Allied cause, although it does deal quite a bit with Foch, Petain, and other Allied figures. There is also an interesting sub-story about Baron von Richthofen and his "Flying Circus." The battle narratives (both aerial and the infantry battles) are graphic and pretty interesting for the most part.

My favorite parts of the book are the portions that dealt with the Lafayette Escadrille (the American pilots who flew for France even before the American intervention), the sections dealing with von Richthofen, and above all the chapters about General Pershing. The latter was extremely insightful, and for the first time I had an appreciation of the daunting task faced by General Pershing and the American nation in creating and equipping, in a short time, a large modern land army out of essentially a frontier guard force. After reading this book I now see that General Pershing was indeed a giant of his time, and it was for good reason that America made him the first five-star general ("general of the armies") since General Washington.

The novel also enlightens the reader concerning the unique contribution that the American Army made to the Allied cause. The English and French soldiers had suffered horribly for several years and were exhausted, as were the Germans. Only the Americans, who had not endured such suffering, had the vigor to credibly threaten the Germans with repeated offensives that might ultimately have resulted in an Allied invasion of Germany had the war persisted. Further, by rejecting conventional trench warfare, Pershing's forces kept the Germans off-balance by pursuing a more mobile approach to battle.

Another perspective by Shaara--the American casualties in WW1 were similar in number to those we later suffered in the Vietnam War--but occurred over a much shorter time period. This war was a tragedy for many American families, although unlike the British and French, America did not lose essentially an entire generation of fine young men.

I was quite impressed with this one, and it is highly recommended.

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Editorial Reviews:

Jeff Shaara has enthralled readers with his New York Times bestselling novels set during the Civil War and the American Revolution. Now the acclaimed author turns to World War I, bringing to life the sweeping, emotional story of the war that devastated a generation and established America as a world power.

Spring 1916: the horror of a stalemate on Europeâs western front. France and Great Britain are on one side of the barbed wire, a fierce German army is on the other. Shaara opens the window onto the otherworldly tableau of trench warfare as seen through the eyes of a typical British soldier who experiences the bizarre and the horribleâa âTommyâ whose innocent youth is cast into the hell of a terrifying war.

In the skies, meanwhile, technology has provided a devastating new tool, the aeroplane, and with it a different kind of hero emergesâthe flying ace. Soaring high above the chaos on the ground, these solitary knights duel in the splendor and terror of the skies, their courage and steel tested with every flight.

As the conflict stretches into its third year, a neutral America is goaded into war, its reluctant president, Woodrow Wilson, finally accepting the repeated challenges to his stance of nonalignment. Yet the Americans are woefully unprepared and ill equipped to enter a war that has become worldwide in scope. The responsibility is placed on the shoulders of General John âBlackjackâ Pershing, and by mid-1917 the first wave of the American Expeditionary Force arrives in Europe. Encouraged by the bold spirit and strength of the untested Americans, the world waits to see if the tide of war can finally be turned.

From Blackjack Pershing to the Marine in the trenches, from the Red Baron to the American pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, To the Last Man is written with the moving vividness and accuracy that characterizes all of Shaaraâs work. This spellbinding new novel carries readersâthe way only Shaara canâto the heart of one of the greatest conflicts in human history, and puts them face-to-face with the characters who made a lasting impact on the world.

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