The White Guns

Rating:
Summary: A fitting story to close out the sea battles of WWII
Review: I am an avid fan of Reeman's WWII novels dealing with the heroics of British seamen in sea battles. However, the sea action, althought exciting and easy to read, usually dominates his books with too little development of his characters. In this book, which begins with the end of WWII, the guns have stopped firing. As Fraulein Geghin, a German civilian, says to her lover, British naval officer Lt. Marriott, the protagonist in this book, when a British vessel passes them: "Look at her guns. All white...the snow. They do not look so dangerous any more. He replied. "I know." This book is about the uneasy calm after the war as the conquering naval heroes now must confront the problems of a vanquished foe. Reeman intertwines several interesting personal stories-including a tender love story about Geghin and Marriott, blackmarket activities, a confrontation between the British and the Russians about dealing with the Germans, several close calls at sea-all against the backdrop of clearing up the wrecked vessels in an around the German port of Kiel. The cessation of hostilities allows Reeman room to dwell upon and develop his characters and make them and their individual stories interesting. Unlike the usual battle dominated books by Reeman, this one presents a literary slice of what it must have really been like in the first days after the war ended when the victors met their defeated enemy on the latter's soil.

Rating:
Summary: A fitting story to close out the sea battles of WWII
Review: I am an avid fan of Reeman's WWII novels dealing with the heroics of British seamen in sea battles. However, the sea action, althought exciting and easy to read, usually dominates his books with too little development of his characters. In this book, which begins with the end of WWII, the guns have stopped firing. As Fraulein Geghin, a German civilian, says to her lover, British naval officer Lt. Marriott, the protagonist in this book, when a British vessel passes them: "Look at her guns. All white...the snow. They do not look so dangerous any more. He replied. "I know." This book is about the uneasy calm after the war as the conquering naval heroes now must confront the problems of a vanquished foe. Reeman intertwines several interesting personal stories-including a tender love story about Geghin and Marriott, blackmarket activities, a confrontation between the British and the Russians about dealing with the Germans, several close calls at sea-all against the backdrop of clearing up the wrecked vessels in an around the German port of Kiel. The cessation of hostilities allows Reeman room to dwell upon and develop his characters and make them and their individual stories interesting. Unlike the usual battle dominated books by Reeman, this one presents a literary slice of what it must have really been like in the first days after the war ended when the victors met their defeated enemy on the latter's soil.

Rating:
Summary: Transition from hot to cold war.
Review: The White Guns is a story of officers and men of the Royal Navy at the end of World War II in Europe and how they deal with people who the day before were deepest enemies and now are a mass of destitute survivors. It is a story of men in transition and how they deal with the changes they face. Some adjust quite well, others are still fighting the war. It is a view of Germany, at the end of World War II that many Americans never saw; bombed out streets, mothers and wives huddled at the train station waiting for trains coming in from the East that might have a few survivors from the Eastern Front aboard. Faded photos on a notice board in the station and pleas for information. It is a strange world for the men of the Royal Navy assigned to Northern Germany. There is humor, tragedy and drama; but there is also hope for the survivors on both sides of the lines of World War II. A book well worth reading. This review is based on the book of the same name.