Check it out
by SHIRLEY LUCAS
On one wall of my home hangs a portrait of a young man in a World War I uniform. It is a picture of my father-in-law and he was only 16 years old when it was taken. It evokes my curiosity about the war “to end all wars.” So it was with some personal interest that I picked up Jeff Shaara’s novel, “To the Last Man.”
“To The Last Man” is much more than a novel – more than just a good story. It is a journey into the minds and hearts of four men: General John J. Pershing, Baron Manfred von Richthofen (better known as The Red Baron), Raoul Lufbery of the Lafayette Escadrille, and Private Roscoe Temple, United States Marine Corps.
The author tells his story from a historically accurate point of view, but with an intense personal insight into the lives of these men. The reader is taken into the skies over Europe; into the horrible trenches of France; and into the minds of powerful world leaders. It captures your mind as well as your heart and provides an incomparable history lesson that will be difficult to forget.
Did you realize that 10 million men died in that war? Did you know that Germany never “surrendered?” Did you know that America officially didn’t enter the war until the final year – but that 50,000 Americans died in those few months?
This book will delight history buffs and those who simply like a “good story.” You won’t be disappointed.
Shirley Lucas is a board member of the Kyle Public Library.
