The strength of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Vicente Blasco Ibanez
lies in tiny details, like a farmer swerving his plow around mounds that indicate buried corpses.
Archive for the ‘War’ Category
War’s Horror Is in the Details
Posted in 1919 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Propaganda, Psychological novel, War, tagged France, Germany, Vicente Blasco Ibanez, World War I on October 7, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
All Still Disquieting in WWI Tale
Posted in 1929 Bestselling Novels, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, War, tagged Erica Maria Remarque, Germany, soldiers, trench warfare, World War I on July 22, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque takes readers into the German trenches of World War I. As long as nations send their young people straight from schoolyards to combat zones, All Quiet on the Western Front will continue to be an important book.
Escape Is Impossible to Put Down
Posted in 1939 Bestselling Novels, Adventure, My Top Pics, Psychological novel, Suspense, War on June 10, 2009 | Comments Off
In the opening scene of Escape, a doctor tells actress Emmy Ritter she’ll be able to walk in a week.
“Just in time for my execution,” she replies.
Ethel Vance hooked me with that line, and she didn’t let go until I’d read the rest of her novel that evening.
Authorities refuse to allow Emmy’s son, Mark, [...]
Action and More Make Aquila a Keeper
Posted in 1938 Bestselling Novels, Historical, Romance, War, tagged cavalry, Civil War, Hervey Allen, Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan on August 6, 2008 | Comments Off
Action at Aquila is a Civil War novel that breaks the mold.
The plot appears predictable, but at the last minute Hervey Allen twists it to keep readers guessing. He tops off the story with a romance, and oddball characters that made me laugh out loud, and musings on how the Civil War changed America.
Mailer War Novel Is Hell
Posted in 1948 Bestselling Novels, Adventure, Psychological novel, Suspense, War, tagged battle fatigue, Pacific battles, World War II on April 2, 2008 | Comments Off
The Naked and the Dead follows an army platoon through the terror and boredom of war. Norman Mailer weaves stories of each man’s background into the story of their part in the victory over the Japanese on Anopopei Island.
House Divided is Good — and Long
Posted in 1947 Bestselling Novels, Historical, My Top Pics, War, tagged Ben Ames Williams, Civil War, Confederacy, Virginia on September 19, 2007 | Comments Off
House Divided deserves to be dusted off and reread. Ben Ames Williams gives us believable characters, high drama, and superb dialogue, all resting on an extensive base of facts about the War Between the States.
