A different way to tell a familiar story. There is very little that is new but it is told in a different way, through the eyes, thoughts, and words of certain participants. It is a very effective way to tell history. ( )

I first encountered Jeff Shaara with his prequel to his father's novel, The Killer Angels. Gods and Generals was excellent and in many ways Mr Shaara repeats the format and approach of that novel, in The Rising Tide. This time his theatre of conflict is North Africa in 1943. The story initially follows Rommel and Monty as they fight east and then west across the North African desert. Later the book engages with the Americans, led by Eisenhower. The book is fictionalisation and Shaara draws upon records and diaries to build a more intimate picture of the main characters, and a few minor ones, to tell the toils and terrors of the campaign. I thoroughly enjoyed the insights into the motivations of these men, which Shaara provides. I found the view to be well balanced, not favouring any particular viewpoint excessively. I think if you have enjoyed Jeff Shaara's other works then you will enjoy this. If you haven't I wouldn't dissuade you from this, but I would say try Gods and Generals first ( )

This is the first book in a four-part series, about the tumultuous events that pull America into the monumental conflict that becomes World War II. Available in Large Print, and on
Overdrive in both Audio and Kindle format.

Tight, crisp prose characterize this fact-based retelling of the first part of WW II. That style worked great for the combat scenes, but tended to shortchange individual character development. Nevertheless, Shaara captured the personalities of Rommel, Patton and Eisenhower quite well, in my opinion.

The more interesting stories were of the line soldiers, Adams and Logan. Their daily struggles, precise detail of the essence of combat—chaos, brutality, the waste of life, inner fears—was nicely chronicled.

My preference for historical novels leans toward Leon Uris' style—novels about individuals or small groups set against the background of major world events like WW II. But this book will appeal to fans of WW II who are more interested in the strategy, politics, and high-level power struggles that have the greatest impact on the day-to-day events. ( )

This book is an amazing multi-perspective book about the landings of Sicily and North Africa in World War two. The first person that you get a perspective from is a random British tank commander. Then you get the perspective of the quick witted and charismatic Field Marshal Rommel. Then you get one short chapter of Montgomery's point of view preceding the battle of El Amien which shows up nowhere else in the book. Then you have the invasion of North Africa given from both Eisenhower's and a tank gunner named Logan's point of view. After the invasions and Logan is taken captive then released he is sent home and no more is said about him. Then you meet a paratrooper named Adam who then gets sent to be one of the first men to jump into Sicily. This book ends with the invasion of Italy and the build up to D-day.
This book was made good because of the multi-perspective views. The way that Jeff Shaara puts it it has many high brass moments where you can get your thoughts gathered for the next front line experience. This mix of High ranking planning and lowly soldier fighting makes this book great. The Prelude that seems to always be in his latter books also gives you the point of view of an inferior or lesser group of troops also gets you interested. The few seconds of action in this book give flavor to an otherwise flat out history book. The planning is only interesting when put into context with action. Which this author does. ( )