The Rising Tide

"Don't fight a battle if you don't gain anything by winning."

- Ermin Rommel

The Rising Tide is written by Jeff Shaara and is the first book in a planned three part historical fiction series covering World War II. Jeff Shaara has written a number of historical novels that span from the American Revolution to World War I and this is his first foray into WWII. Shaara successfully puts the reader into the middle of North Africa, into the mind of the Desert Fox (Erwin Rommel), into the complex and 'impossible to fill' shoes of Dwight Eisenhower, and into the thick of battle with a tank gunner and a paratrooper invading Sicily.

Overall, Shaara tells the story of the North African campaign in a remarkable fashion. As a reader who feels deficient in WWII history, this story was an incredible way to dive into some of the events of this war and understand the political landscape and the personalities involved. I won't say that this book helped me understand the horror and hardship of fighting in that campaign, but it certainly gave me some insight into what it may have been like.

It has been almost one year since Blades of Blue kicked off, and in at least one area I have gone full circle as of today. Back on 2/20/2006, I had just finished reading The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. In that inaugural post I noted how I did not consider myself to be a history lover or a big reader of historical fiction. My reading habits of the last year have proven that statement to be false. This story definitely gets put on my list of recommendations and the Shaara novels (father and son) have converted me to someone who actively looks for strong historical fiction.