To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War

Rating:
Summary: The war was great, the book is just good
Review: First of all, ignore the spotlight reviews. This book is not remarkable or a masterpiece. I'd give it two-and-a-half stars, if that were available. It's pretty much what Jeff Shaara has done all along and, other than the subject itself, the same mechanics are at work as they were in his Revolutionary and Civil War epics. I didn't expect more so I wasn't disappointed. Neither was I thrilled or surprised. My greatest criticism is in the length. Shaara tries, as he always has, to tell the story from the points of view of many characters serving at differing levels, a difficult technique I've always admired. In "To the Last Man," this means the fighter pilots, the politician/generals, and the foot soldiers. Unfortunately, he dwells entirely too much on the pilots, rambling for nearly half the book about plodding, pointless details that do nothing to propel the story (pun intended). The story of Pershing and his staff is adequate if not compelling. But it's in the tale of the courageous doughboys who slugged it out in the trenches where Shaara really rescues this book from near disaster. Relating the action and horror of combat has always been his greatest talent and in this regard the book does not dissapoint. Too bad you have to wait so long to get to it. Cut 150-200 pages out of this and it's a much tighter, more engaging novel. But, if you're a fan of historical fact/fiction and Jeff Shaara's other works, you'll probably enjoy this.






Rating:
Summary: Among the Best of World War I novels.
Review: Having successfully finished off his novels on the American Revolution, Jeff Shaara turns to a different war in a different time period. For the first time he tackles an era with totally different characters and environments. The people in World War I, are new and different compared to the more recognizable characters Shaara has dealt with before. He does not attempt to narrate the entire war, but he deals with some of the more recognizable characters including the Red Baron and General Pershing. But at the same time his others characters are not as well known, but they are made incredibly human. From people like a raw British recruit to Captain Patton, Shaara gives a very unique and realistic look at the first World War. This book is not as abstract as the classic All Quiet on the Western Front, but it is an incredible story and should be required reading for any person who wants to understand exactly what war is about and what people think during a war. While I consider Shaara's revolutionary war books to be his best, this one is among his strongest. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Good effort on overlooked subject
Review: I am a big fan of historical fiction and have always enjoyed the books written by Jeff Shaara. If you are familiar with his style you will not be surprised to find the story unfolding through the eyes of select individuals all of whom bring a slightly different perspective to the conflict. If you are new to Jeff Shaara I believe you will find his style very approachable and enjoyable. This is no great departure from other books written by Shaara but resonates with the same depth as his other books. I am a big history buff but admittedly have not studied World War I in detail and this was a great way to learn something and enjoy a good book at the same time.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Reading
Review: I enjoyed this book. Shaara gave personalities and humanity to people who, to me, were merely names in history books. Black Jack Pershing, the Red Baron, George Patton, Eddie Rickenbacker, and Billy Mitchell are all here and I now have a better understanding of who they were and what they did. I also learned how the armistice which "ended" the first world war was actually part of the circumstances which led to the second world war. Shaara provides vivid descriptions of early aviation and trench warfare. If you like history and human drama then this book is well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Not what I expected. Disappointing.
Review: I feel a little duped here...

The title of the book, "To the Last Man", implies that the book is about the soldier in the trenches. The cover art shows soldiers coming out of the trenches as well. I was excited about the prospect of reading fiction about the soldiers in the trenches. And the introductory chapter came through for me in fine style. Very well written and should have gotten the book off to a good start.

Then Shaara spends the next dozen or so chapters on fighter pilots! How did his story of the pilots related to the title "To the Last Man"? I can understand a need to place the entire story of the war into its historical context, but this facet of the story went on forever and ever!

My attentions were barely holding on when we got to General Pershing and the AEF, but even then it fell a little flat. Too much politics and not enough on the soldiers themselves.

Not Shaara's best work in my opinion. Though I shall remain a loyal fan.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful "Through The Eyes Of" Treatment of WWI
Review: Jeff Shaara has written and written well about famous Americans fighting America's wars . . . he has brought the Civil War, the American Revolution, and the Mexican War to life magnificently.

Fortunately for us, Shaara set his sights on America's involvement in World War I, which is a surprisingly overlooked conflict in America's military history. After reading "To the Last Man," one wonders how WWI can be so neglected -- the events chronicled in Shaara's new novel rival anything that WWII or Vietnam could offer.

True to form, Shaara follows a few characters around as his novel explores the different aspects of the war. The lion's share of the novel focuses on four men: General "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force; Raoul Lufbery, one of the first American pilots to fly in combat; Manfred von Richtofen (the Red Baron), the hunter of the skies; and Roscoe Temple, a Marine in the front lines. Shaara focuses on each character one chapter at a time, and he manages to balance these often-independent storylines very well.

After some brief character exposition and a horrifying introduction to trench warfare through the eyes of an anonymous infantryman, Shaara focuses his story on Lufbery and the Red Baron. WWI saw the introduction of aircraft to the military as a combat vehicle, and these two men are pioneers in dogfighting. The Red Baron is a hunter's hunter, a killing machine whom Shaara imbues with a noble, reticent humanity (the Baron's scenes with his beloved Great Dane are heartbreaking).

Lufbery's situation is more complicated. Isolationist America won't enter this European war, but many Americans realize the plight we will be in if Germany's aggression is not beaten back. So wealthy Americans send their dollars and a handful of their sons to form the American contingent of the French Air Force. Initially outclassed by the German pilots and German aircraft, the fledgling Allied air force takes its lumps but quickly learns the game, and Lufbery is a master pilot. Shaara imbues the dogfighting scenes with a vivid realism that brings the reader into the cockpit.

Shaara also brings the reader into the hangars and the bars where the pilots spend their off-duty hours, and we see the psychic toll on both the Baron and Lufbery as their original cast of comrades grows smaller and smaller, and both men realize what the war is doing to them and their countrymen. The parallel tales of these two airmen meet a climax at the midpoint of the novel that is truly moving.

The second half of the novel follows General Pershing as he attempts to build an American army out of nothing . . . and in spite of the incompetence back in Washington D.C. and the dueling motives of the European allies. Pershing's achievements deserve greater recognition than he has received, but Shaara's book is a step in the right direction.

The second half of the novel also follows Marine rifleman Roscoe Temple as he journeys into the front lines and indeed the very teeth of the German army. Temple begins his sojourn as green as they come, but by the end of the book Temple is a haunted, scarred veteran who understands the vast gulf between a civilian and a veteran. Temple's tale may be the most powerful of them all, as Temple learns first-hand the shock and horror of what trench warfare can do to your friends, and what that means to your family back home.

Americans need to appreciate WWI more than we do. Our nation overcame its isolationist tendencies to send millions of young men overseas to fight for soil that was not theirs. This event laid the groundwork for our massive mobilization in WWII, but WWI was the first time America asserted itself so magnificently on the world stage. Shaara's novel is a great education for those, like me, who did not appreciate our involvement and the tremendous sacrifices made by so many.

Rating:
Summary: Shaara does it again!
Review: Jeff Shaara is without a doubt one of the best historical novelists writing today. To the Last Man is a vivid portrayal of World War I through the eyes of those who fought it. As usual, the author is historically accurate and is able to bring to life the battles and political problems as seen from all those involved, British, French, German and American. The characters are real people who come to life through the writers impression of what they may have thought and done. It's a remarkable story that will captivate you from start to finish. If you love history...this is a great book for you!

Rating:
Summary: To The Last Man
Review: This is the first book that I have read that was written by Jeff Shaara. It was a wonderfully written historical novel about a war that I knew little about. He describes the political, military and the personal aspects of the war very thoroughly. I especially liked his blow by blow account describing the combatants experiences both before and during battle. It was a book that I enjoyed from cover to cover. I came away from the book having a much better understanding of what transpired during that war.

Rating:
Summary: An Attempt that Simply Fell Short
Review: While I had high anticipations for Jeff Shaara's novel, being a lover of this particular historical period, I was sorely disappointed by my experience. Shaara's characters were fully fleshed and brought vividly to the pages and his descriptions of the terror, confusion, and futility of World War 1 trench warfare were gripping and seemingly accurate. My concerns arise from his frequent use of blatant and unnecessary foreshadowing, trite and overused themes in warfare, and the shockingly unexpected (and unwanted) ending. Throughout the novel, Shaara addressed the deepest fears of his characters often focusing on their fear of certain ways of dying. Low and behold, each of these fears was eventually realized. I won't spoil the details for the reader, but I was felt like my hand was being held throughout. The ending seemed like an afterthought added to make the reader feel warm inside about the aftermath of combat. I wondered why Shaara would take so much time and so many pages to attack the reader's senses and paint a horrifying picture of the hell of war, only to use the last pages to suddenly leave us with a rose-colored vision of the First World War. The novel made some admirable attempts in the right direction, in a too often overlooked genre of history, but sadly fell far short of expectations.

Rating:
Summary: The Pilots Of The First World War And More
Review: World War I is an overlooked war in American History. The author tells the story of the war. He most admires the pilots who were very brave and effective. The war had become a stalemate. The well-trained Americans were able to break the stalemate and win the war for our side. The author tells about a point in the war when saving Paris was the key to winning the war. He explains how the bravery of the American Marines saved Paris, changed history and helped win the war.