Thanks for this book review, I just got my copy of Turning the Tide in the mail yesterday so, I haven't finished reading it yet (I admit I spent most of the day writing a new post on my rants. So far I love Turning the Tide for anyone interested in WW2 this is also a real page turner. As stated in the Foreword there wasn't a whole lot of reporting about the Mediterranean front during the war. But my Uncle Archie (my Dad's younger brother) was a medic who's hospital boat was sunk in the Mediterranean - fortunately Uncle Archie escaped and made in home in 1945 alive and only somewhat disoriented. So thank you Tom for this really fascinating report on what was going on from the American point of view. My uncle was a medic in the Royal Canadian Army.
I didn't know about (or had forgotten about) the Allied landings in France. Most of what I had learned about was Italy, especially the events resulting in the destruction of Monte Cassino. Serendipitously, in August 1994, I was in a southern France hill town liberated by Allied troops in August 1944. Sadly, I had train and plane reservations so had to leave just a few days before the celebrations.
I've traveled several times in southern France, particularly enjoy the hill towns inland from the Cote d'Azur. In talking with locals who lived through the Nazi occupation and, to a person, they still express their deep appreciation of the United States liberating them from German occupation - this despite the destruction that Allied bombardments wreaked on their historical towns. One such included a medieval bridge across a gorge that had been a critical element of the salt trade from Italy to western Europe. Just a short distance from the reconstructed bridge, our hotelier held forth on how much he admires the U.S., and there's a 3' x 5' etched stone tablet on the adjacent modern bridge recounting the history and thanks for liberation. Every town we visited, we strolled the cemetery and viewed the monuments erected to their own, members of the resistance executed by the Germans. As the saying goes, travel is so educational!
What really made us welcome was the Marshall plan. After WW1 the allied forces shrugged and said let Germany pay for your rebuilding. That worked well, the Germans were flat broke, and instead of 'reparations' they graced us with fascism, Adolf Hitler and mass murder of Jews, Slavs, mentally deficient and physically handicapped.
After WW2, under the Marshall Plan, named after our General George C Marshall where by America, Canada and others supplied materials and labor to help rebuild Europe, including Western Germany (Eastern Germany was under Russian occupation until the fall of the Berlin Wall
I've no doubt that all you write is true but the emphasis in my conversations, and on the 3'x5' stone plaque, was on the liberation from German occupation by Allied troops.
I must echo this rave review. After reading about the series here, I also read the entire 18 book series, borrowing them digitally from the Brooklyn Public library. They were readily available since there didn’t seem to be a great demand and I didn’t have to wait at all for most of the titles. Highly recommended as “ripping yarns” as well as for historical accuracy .
I'll check those out, probably literally if my library has them. They may be out of print but haven't checked. I was pleased to read that this historical fiction series about war is written by a woman. We don't see many of those.
I heard Pat Barker interviewed on radio 10-12 years ago. She was talking about The Ghost Road. I was stunned to learn she had written a WWI trilogy. I was impressed by her and immediately ordered the books. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I think you're correct, Tom. This morning on TCM, I watched a WW II film titled "Cockleshell Heroes". Based on a real operation, a group of Royal Marines kayak and paddle up the Gironde River to Bordeaux in order to attach explosive 'limpets' to ships in the harbor. The real operation was called Operation Frankton and, no surprise, the film strays from the actual details but is a decent film anyway (mainly, for me, is Jose Ferrer who directed and played the lead character). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frankton
The British WW2 films of the 50s tried to stick pretty close to history. or at least what was thought of at the time as history. "The Dam Busters," which everybody saw, stuck to the "RAF Official Version." The big difference was - as revealed by Sir Max Hastings (my favorite historian) in "Operation Chastise" - that Guy Gibson, the guy who led the mission, was in reality the polar opposite of Richard Todd. He was - as one of the surviving pilots said of him in "Secrets of the Dead" - "a bloody little English schoolboy," and that is not a compliment. Since learning that, I was always interested in how a guy like that got the "legends" who volunteered for it, none of whom would have been faulted if they had passed on it, to sign up with him since he was well-known as the personal little shitter he was. "Operation Chastise" is excellent because Sir Max had the opportunity 50 years ago to interview all the principals of the Dams Raid, all of whom (save for Gibson and Hopgood) were still alive, including Barnes Wallis. He also goes the extra mile and tells what happened in the German towns and villages downstream of the dam after it was broken.
Pre-ordered and eager to read it. Your reminder that this series is better read in order is, I think, a crucial aspect for appreciating the characters and the development of characters as the books proceed. The stories evolve as the war itself evolved so you also learn a lot of American & British WWII history that we never learned in school.
Among the real-life, historical characters in the series, the grandfather of one of our favorite substack writers appears during the Battle of Anzio.
Thanks for this book review, I just got my copy of Turning the Tide in the mail yesterday so, I haven't finished reading it yet (I admit I spent most of the day writing a new post on my rants. So far I love Turning the Tide for anyone interested in WW2 this is also a real page turner. As stated in the Foreword there wasn't a whole lot of reporting about the Mediterranean front during the war. But my Uncle Archie (my Dad's younger brother) was a medic who's hospital boat was sunk in the Mediterranean - fortunately Uncle Archie escaped and made in home in 1945 alive and only somewhat disoriented. So thank you Tom for this really fascinating report on what was going on from the American point of view. My uncle was a medic in the Royal Canadian Army.
I didn't know about (or had forgotten about) the Allied landings in France. Most of what I had learned about was Italy, especially the events resulting in the destruction of Monte Cassino. Serendipitously, in August 1994, I was in a southern France hill town liberated by Allied troops in August 1944. Sadly, I had train and plane reservations so had to leave just a few days before the celebrations.
I've traveled several times in southern France, particularly enjoy the hill towns inland from the Cote d'Azur. In talking with locals who lived through the Nazi occupation and, to a person, they still express their deep appreciation of the United States liberating them from German occupation - this despite the destruction that Allied bombardments wreaked on their historical towns. One such included a medieval bridge across a gorge that had been a critical element of the salt trade from Italy to western Europe. Just a short distance from the reconstructed bridge, our hotelier held forth on how much he admires the U.S., and there's a 3' x 5' etched stone tablet on the adjacent modern bridge recounting the history and thanks for liberation. Every town we visited, we strolled the cemetery and viewed the monuments erected to their own, members of the resistance executed by the Germans. As the saying goes, travel is so educational!
What really made us welcome was the Marshall plan. After WW1 the allied forces shrugged and said let Germany pay for your rebuilding. That worked well, the Germans were flat broke, and instead of 'reparations' they graced us with fascism, Adolf Hitler and mass murder of Jews, Slavs, mentally deficient and physically handicapped.
After WW2, under the Marshall Plan, named after our General George C Marshall where by America, Canada and others supplied materials and labor to help rebuild Europe, including Western Germany (Eastern Germany was under Russian occupation until the fall of the Berlin Wall
I've no doubt that all you write is true but the emphasis in my conversations, and on the 3'x5' stone plaque, was on the liberation from German occupation by Allied troops.
I realize that Judith, my information was intended as additional and I do appreciate your original post.
I always appreciate a history lesson.
That cover art is so 1940’s! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
All the covers are.
I must echo this rave review. After reading about the series here, I also read the entire 18 book series, borrowing them digitally from the Brooklyn Public library. They were readily available since there didn’t seem to be a great demand and I didn’t have to wait at all for most of the titles. Highly recommended as “ripping yarns” as well as for historical accuracy .
Thanks for this TC. It is a new series for me. I will start from the beginning.
I don’t know if you also enjoy WWI novels, but there is an excellent trilogy by Pat Barker called the Regeneration Trilogy. It is excellent!
I'll check those out, probably literally if my library has them. They may be out of print but haven't checked. I was pleased to read that this historical fiction series about war is written by a woman. We don't see many of those.
I heard Pat Barker interviewed on radio 10-12 years ago. She was talking about The Ghost Road. I was stunned to learn she had written a WWI trilogy. I was impressed by her and immediately ordered the books. I thoroughly enjoyed them.
I've placed reserve requests on all three at my branch library since my previous post 7 minutes ago. Isn't technology marvelous? Most of the time...
Wonderful! Read them in order if you can.
Any chance the Boyle books could end up as screenplays and made into a series? They seem ripe for it.
Unfortunately, the way Hollywood is now, I kinda doubt it. But I totally agree with you - so long as I am the one who adapts them. :-)
I think you're correct, Tom. This morning on TCM, I watched a WW II film titled "Cockleshell Heroes". Based on a real operation, a group of Royal Marines kayak and paddle up the Gironde River to Bordeaux in order to attach explosive 'limpets' to ships in the harbor. The real operation was called Operation Frankton and, no surprise, the film strays from the actual details but is a decent film anyway (mainly, for me, is Jose Ferrer who directed and played the lead character). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frankton
The British WW2 films of the 50s tried to stick pretty close to history. or at least what was thought of at the time as history. "The Dam Busters," which everybody saw, stuck to the "RAF Official Version." The big difference was - as revealed by Sir Max Hastings (my favorite historian) in "Operation Chastise" - that Guy Gibson, the guy who led the mission, was in reality the polar opposite of Richard Todd. He was - as one of the surviving pilots said of him in "Secrets of the Dead" - "a bloody little English schoolboy," and that is not a compliment. Since learning that, I was always interested in how a guy like that got the "legends" who volunteered for it, none of whom would have been faulted if they had passed on it, to sign up with him since he was well-known as the personal little shitter he was. "Operation Chastise" is excellent because Sir Max had the opportunity 50 years ago to interview all the principals of the Dams Raid, all of whom (save for Gibson and Hopgood) were still alive, including Barnes Wallis. He also goes the extra mile and tells what happened in the German towns and villages downstream of the dam after it was broken.
I’m gonna check it out on your recommendation. Thank you.
Pre-ordered and eager to read it. Your reminder that this series is better read in order is, I think, a crucial aspect for appreciating the characters and the development of characters as the books proceed. The stories evolve as the war itself evolved so you also learn a lot of American & British WWII history that we never learned in school.
Among the real-life, historical characters in the series, the grandfather of one of our favorite substack writers appears during the Battle of Anzio.
https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-battle-of-anzio-2361483
Did I say I can't wait to read this new chapter of the series?!
I haven't gotten through the whole Billy Boyle series yet, but they're good reading. As you say, definitely page turners!
Thanks, I love good book series! Will look for #1 and start.
If you go here, the books are listed in order:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=billy+boyle+series+by+james+benn+in+order&crid=3D4C6NXCXYIZ9&sprefix=Billy+Boyle%2Caps%2C429&ref=nb_sb_ss_pltr-xclick_1_11
Bought #1 this morning. Thanks!
Reading the first one now - thanks for the rec!
Where can we find Turning the Tide?
You can get it here!
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Tide-USAAF-Africa-Sicily/dp/147286025X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DMM1JA03NCI3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.KEICa2zM0GtNcYFX7wRFm0PSYn0qpXu8JzsSusKQBPtgFdIiBypH8c6uxOEN_NEkYJhVhmCu6pbpl_14Dfy6P33Wjmi66Eka0Kl-dAt5AE_OBHSagrZex4h_RaHzf0n3uXYxc5n1PLlPdeALGslrb3Y0srmGdfGyf-muuR210YyPZzuT9FaetEq8Ad8fYbF_7v34cCCeoh5w-aKHVJ3c26kkBbGxn1bYbQmN1rysgsS1_sOw00Q-8qHug29kjCH6ktR0DVDVGAq6TPGyL_nDphUUhWsv7zaYVJLNRzgNyRU.Z2q3zKUfQcURNQazsWv6u870s8G-vZTNqm2W23vpM7w&dib_tag=se&keywords=thomas+mckelvey+cleaver&qid=1723739694&s=books&sprefix=thomas+mckelvey%2Cstripbooks%2C379&sr=1-1