“Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.

The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.

Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals

What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.

We marked some passages for further thought:

(Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”

(About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”

(Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.

Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.

About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”

On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”

In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”

We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
>
> The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
>
> Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
>
> What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
>
> We marked some passages for further thought:
>
> (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
>
> (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
>
> (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
>
> Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
>
> About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
>
> On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
>
> In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
>
> We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.

Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> >
> > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> >
> > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> >
> > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> >
> > We marked some passages for further thought:
> >
> > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> >
> > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill.. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> >
> > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> >
> > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> >
> > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> >
> > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> >
> > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> >
> > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > >
> > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > >
> > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > >
> > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > >
> > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > >
> > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > >
> > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > >
> > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > >
> > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > >
> > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > >
> > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > >
> > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > >
> > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.

Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
“What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > >
> > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > >
> > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > >
> > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > >
> > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > >
> > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > >
> > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > >
> > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > >
> > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > >
> > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > >
> > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > >
> > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > >
> > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.

We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > >
> > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > >
> > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so.. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > >
> > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > >
> > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > >
> > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > >
> > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > >
> > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > >
> > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > >
> > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > >
> > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > >
> > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > >
> > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.

Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further.. If I could suggest:

“Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > >
> > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez.. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > >
> > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
>
> “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.

The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.

Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France..” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> >
> > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
>
> Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:46:18 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> > >
> > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> > The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
> >
> > Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.
> I don’t know what you meant, but “preemptively establish” sounds silly, and paranoid.
Then you haven't read enough of the tits.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:52:32 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:46:18 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > > > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > > > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> > > >
> > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > > > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> > > The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
> > >
> > > Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.
> > I don’t know what you meant, but “preemptively establish” sounds silly, and paranoid.
> Then you haven't read enough of the tits.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France..” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> >
> > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
>
> Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.

On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 11:59:24 PM UTC, michaelmalef...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> > >
> > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> > The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
> >
> > Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.
> I appreciated your telling us Mr. Kershaw's credentials at the outset -- it lets us know that the author's account can be trusted to a large extent.
Yes, that was our plan--to push back against those might say he isn't an historian, so what does he know? Just a name without a bio isn't enough.

On Wednesday, June 22, 2022 at 6:39:50 AM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 11:59:24 PM UTC, michaelmalef...@gmail.com wrote:
> > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 4:24:42 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 8:02:09 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:43:51 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:34:05 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 3:21:45 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 7:15:48 PM UTC, HC wrote:
> > > > > > > > On Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at 2:56:47 PM UTC-4, NancyGene wrote:
> > > > > > > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” by Alex Kershaw, is a bestselling book that was published in 2022. Mr. Kershaw is a graduate of University College, Oxford and the author of 11 books, many of them about World War II.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > The book follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners—Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy, all infantry men and from the same unit. The soldiers move from North Africa to Italy to France to Germany, fighting all the way. The narrative tells the stories (and sometimes stories within stories) of the harrowing experiences that these men somehow survived. This was not a sterile, push-button war, but a series of long marches and hardships, seeing one’s buddy being shot instead of you, and having the enemy close enough to see you and kill you.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Maurice Britt won every major medal for valor, the first to do so. Michael Daly wanted to prove to his father that he had what it took to succeed as a soldier. Keith Ware was a great leader in WWII and also served in Vietnam (by then a general), where he died when his helicopter was shot down. Audie Murphy was the most decorated soldier in United States history, earning 24 medals
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > What struck us in reading the book was the “you are there” style that Mr. Kershaw used. The reader was forced to ask himself “could I do that?” when being horrified by the happenings on the battlefield. Many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and friends did not come back from the war—so many lives lost. It is a terrific read but simultaneously very upsetting.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > We marked some passages for further thought:
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (Maurice Britt – p. 6) “It was a pretty sight,” he remembered, “until suddenly we realized with a sickening feeling, that the men in these bombers were trying to kill us. No lectures on the subject, no crawling under carefully aimed machine gunfire, will ever make a soldier. He becomes one the instant he realizes the gunfire he hears is intended to kill him.” Maurice Britt lost an arm in battle, but he was pragmatic about it. [In a letter to his wife Nancy] “The Nazis finally got lucky and laid me up. However, the only permanent injury will be the loss of my old pitching arm, but I still have my left arm to give you plenty of big hugs and I will soon Nancy. I will soon.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (About Audie Murphy – pp. 54-55) The narrative introduces Murphy’s best friend on the battlefield, Lattie Tipton. “Murphy was determined to do all he could to protect Tipton so he’d see his daughter again.” Murphy was not able to do that. Tipton trusted a white flag from two Germans and was shot through the heart at Pill Box Hill. Murphy wrote, ”Once again I saw the war as it was. […] It was an endless series of lethal problems, some big, some small, that involved the blood and guts of men. Lattie was dead, and I was alive. It was as simple as that. The dead would lie where they had fallen, the living would move on and keep fighting. There was nothing else to do.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > (Keith Ware – p. 158) [about Besançon] “The Germans weren’t going to give up the birthplace of Victor Hugo without a scrap. All three regiments from the 3rd Division would be thrown into what would quickly become the fiercest combat since arriving in France.” […] “Ware’s battalion kept going, along the winding E-23 to Vesoul, exactly four hundred miles north of Saint-Tropez. His men had covered the distance in less than a month.” The marches were fast and punishing.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > Michael Daly’s father was a colonel in the Army who was wounded in 1944 and sent back to the States. Michael Daly was given a choice of being at the side of General Alexander Patch or going back to the infantry. He chose the infantry. (p. 184) Michael Daly earned the Medal of Honor on April 18 for extreme bravery, and as (bad) luck would have it, on April 19 he was shot in the head. He recovered from the extreme facial injury after a long recuperation period and became a successful businessman.
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > About the fanatical SS defense of their country: (p.195) “It was not unusual to see a German standing completely exposed in the center of the street,” remembered one soldier, “firing a bazooka or sometimes only a rifle at our tanks as the armor relentlessly mowed him down or the doughboys took pot shots at him.” According to one account, the SS “attacked tanks with rifles, several standing up in the middle of the street until run over and crushed beneath the treads.” It was indeed the most fanatical resistance the regiment had faced in more than four hundred days of combat, worse even than in Cisterna during the breakout from Anzio.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > On what promotes courage: (p. 267) “Wanting to go back to Texas,” said Murphy, “lack of sleep, anger, disgust, discomfort and hate—those things won me my medals, and they’ve won many other medals for many other guys.” Murphy had massive PTSD after he left the service. “I had nightmares about the war—men running and shooting and hollering and then my gun would fall apart when I tried to pull the trigger.” When asked if he was excited about appearing in a movie (“The Red Badge of Courage”), “[…] Murphy answered honestly: “Well, after the war and all, there’s not too much left that really excites me.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > In the Notes at the back of the book (p.329), “Private William Weinberg remembered: “The Company was in awe of Murphy. I found him rather reserved. He was not a braggart. His straight accounts needed no exaggeration. He seemed to favor incidents when he could shoot to kill. Few of us talked about killing. He was a great marksman; few of us were. He could be caustic, but rarely would ride someone. He had a deeply ingrained, unflinching, immediate response to what needed to be done. You could always count on him. There was one major flaw that was said occasionally in admiration, or could be used as a fault, a dangerous blemish that could be an integral part of his sense of responsibility and a manifestation of his bravery: he seemed to be looking for a fight.”
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > We highly recommend the book—it is not an easy read but is engrossing and gives an honest look at the "glory" that is war and the men who fight in the wars. The four men who are profiled in the book are now dead, but will not be forgotten.
> > > > > > > > Your review lacks engagement, and reads like a student completing a
> > > > > > > > book assignment. Just an opinion. No offense intended. I’d give it a B+.
> > > > > > > Thank you for the B+. How would you suggest we include engagement in our review? We are not soldiers and never fought in battles. We can read about the battles but we will never be there. It is not a story with a happy ending.
> > > > > > Tense is important, and should be consistent. If you say,
> > > > > > “What struck _us_ in reading”, then “The reader(s) w(ere)
> > > > > > forced to ask (themselves)” should follow. Hope it helps.
> > > > > We will take that suggestion under advisement, but that does not demonstrate engagement.
> > > > Okay, so first two sentences are factual, but frankly left me flat, uninterested, and
> > > > unengaged. If I were pressed for time, I wouldn’t have read further. If I could suggest:
> > > >
> > > > “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II,” is a bestseller
> > > > by Alex Kershaw that follows the service experiences of four Medal of Honor winners”, etc.
> > > The reason we did that (state Mr. Kershaw's credentials) was to preemptively establish that Mr. Kershaw is a distinguished writer and historian. (He has also taught history.) We are sorry that you didn't feel compelled to read further, but it is a serious book, and we didn't think inserting jokes in the middle of battles in which thousands of men lost their lives would be appropriate. We also needed to introduce the protagonists and give some background on these men. Most people have heard of Audie Murphy, but perhaps have not heard of the other three men who were profiled. We also wanted to give any reader of our post/review (one who perhaps had the time to read past the first paragraph) an in-depth idea of what the book describes and (in frequently in the men's own words) what they went through.
> > >
> > > Read the book, if you like, and give us a different point of view, in a different style than we use.
> > I appreciated your telling us Mr. Kershaw's credentials at the outset -- it lets us know that the author's account can be trusted to a large extent.
> Yes, that was our plan--to push back against those might say he isn't an historian, so what does he know? Just a name without a bio isn't enough.
> >
> > Stylistically, I would combine the opening sentences: “Against All Odds, A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II” (Random House, 2022), is a bestselling book by Alex Kershaw, a graduate of University College, Oxford and author of 11 books, many of which are about World War II.
> That makes an awfully long first sentence for the opening paragraph--in fact the only sentence in the paragraph. That would lose readers such as HC, who would not make it to the end of the sentence. Good suggestion if the sentences were further into the review.
> >
> > But that's just me. I enjoyed your review, and liked how you used selections from the book to touch on each of the four heroes.
> We did want to feature each of the soldiers, as they get their own stories told in the book. Sometimes the stories converge. We thought the quotes were a good way to illustrate who and what the men were.