Selected Product:
| The Steel Wave: A Novel of World War II
Hardcover
Edition: 1
Author: Jeff Shaara
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: 2008-05-13
ISBN-10: 0345461428
ISBN-13: 9780345461421
List Price: $28.00
Average Customer Rating:
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Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Jeff Shaara, America’s premier author of military historical fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the Second World War.
General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler’s European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this unique blend of Allied armies can successfully confront the might of Adolf Hitler’s forces, who have already conquered Western Europe. On the coast of France, German commander Erwin Rommel fortifies and prepares for the coming invasion, acutely aware that he must bring all his skills to bear on a fight his side must win. But Rommel’s greatest challenge is to strike the Allies on his front, while struggling behind the lines with the growing insanity of Adolf Hitler, who thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Jesse Adams, a no-nonsense veteran of the 82nd Airborne, parachutes with his men behind German lines into a chaotic and desperate struggle. And as the invasion force surges toward the beaches of Normandy, Private Tom Thorne of the 29th Infantry Division faces the horrifying prospects of fighting his way ashore on a stretch of coast more heavily defended than the Allied commanders anticipate–Omaha Beach.
From G.I. to general, this story carries the reader through the war’s most crucial juncture, the invasion that altered the flow of the war, and, ultimately, changed history.
Wow
| Customer Rating: | | One of Shaara's outstanding works. This author knows how to create credible, moving dialogue which creatively places in you inside historical events. A must read for WW2 buffs and true students of history. Shaara is a literary genius. |
Outstanding!
| Customer Rating:  | | Very instightful. I am biased, for I like anything by Jeff Shaara. Really gets into all of the ramifications of the D-Day invasion, from both sides. |
History Comes Alive
| Customer Rating: | "The Steel Wave," the second book in Jeff Shaara's proposed World War II trilogy, covers a key period of the war, January-September 1944, months during which plans for the Normandy Invasion were finalized and a successful invasion of France allowed Allied troops to begin the push that would ultimately rid France of the occupying German army. This may sound like just another dry bit of American history, but Jeff Shaara does such a remarkable job of capturing the nerve-wracking tension experienced by those who lived through those nine months that this 493-page book is a page-turner from start to finish.
Shaara does a huge amount of research in preparation for each of his historical novels, largely relying on primary sources such as diaries, interviews, radio transcripts and memoirs in order to place his readers in the minds of those who saw the making of history firsthand. In The Steel Wave, he primarily uses three voices, in alternating chapters, to tell the story of the planning and successful execution of the Normandy Invasion: General Dwight Eisenhower, Field Marshall Erwin Rommel and Sergeant Jesse Adams, a paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne.
The book opens several months prior to the actual invasion with the description of a three-man commando raid on Normandy whose sole purpose was to obtain rock samples from the beach. Even at that late date, Eisenhower and his staff remained uncertain that the surface of the beaches of Normandy could physically support the tanks and heavy artillery pieces that needed to be unloaded there in support of the invading ground troops, and they hoped the gathered rocks would answer that question. But that was only one of the unknowns faced by the Allies as they worked toward a plan that they hoped would surprise the German defenders.
Therein lays the beauty of Shaara's style of historical fiction. The way that he contrasts the day-to-day activities and mindsets of Eisenhower, the aggressor, and Rommel, the defender, emphasizes the precarious nature of the invasion and just how big a gamble it really was on the part of the Allies. As Eisenhower worries about storm forecasts, German gun emplacements and making the Germans believe that the invasion will happen at Calais rather than at Normandy, Rommel is desperately trying to convince Hitler and Hitler's staff that the entire French coast needs to be defended, not just the port of Calais. Both men fear failure as the invasion approaches and takes on a life of its own, and the reader gets to spend time in both their heads.
Shaara also uses Rommel and Eisenhower to explore the politics and internal power struggles that nagged at both sides as the war progressed. Eisenhower unexpectedly finds himself defending Montgomery's lack of success when Churchill and British officers are calling for his head while at the same time he tries to keep George Patton, Montgomery's opposite in almost every way, under control. Rommel, on the other hand, is determined to do his duty to the German nation without being implicated in a plot to assassinate Hitler, something he was unable to do and which, of course, cost him his life.
"The Steel Wave" is one of those books that make history come alive and it will be enjoyed by more than just the history buffs who will be most likely to pick it up, but it will likely disappoint some readers because of the very limited number of pages it devotes to describing the beach landings themselves, a minor quibble, perhaps, but a noticeable omission.
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The Steel Wave
| Customer Rating: | | Jeff Shaara is the best author I have read on the World Wars l and ll. They are historically accurate and the way he writes one learns history without having to read a dull history book. I did not want to put the book down. He writes in a way that you get completely immersed in the situations and action. I highly recommend this book as well as his others. |
Insightful and well-written historical fiction
| Customer Rating: | "The Steel Wave" by Jeff Shaara is the second novel (following "The Rising Tide") in Shaara's planned Second World War historical fiction trilogy. The theme of this novel is the planning and execution of Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Northern France. In this piece Shaara uses his now-familiar technique of examining the time period in question from the perspective of historical figures -- some eminent indeed, such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, others less exhalted, i.e. a sergeant of paratroopers. In this novel the approach works superbly, because this novel passes the first critical test--it is one extremely engaging read. The novel moves along at a brisk pace, never loses the reader's interest, and has the ring of realism about it.
The other notable trait of this novel is that once again, Mr. Shaara appears to have done his homework. Shaara's insights into the problems faced by General Eisenhower, the various political leaders, and the men in the field, go well beyond the superficial. Here, the reader truly appreciates the risks and uncertainties that faced the planners and fighters of Operation Overlord. Shaara takes us into the infighting, indecisions, and ultimate risks with which the Allied generals had to contend. My sense is that here, Shaara is fairly evenhanded, although *very minor spoiler* partisans of British General Montgomery will probably not be pleased. And of course, Shaara does a creditable job showing us the invasion from the perspective of the incredibly brave men who actually undertook Operation Overlord and made it a success.
Overall, this is excellent historical fiction about a great subject, that is very well told. Highly recommended. |
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