The Vietnam War has sparked numerous arguments over the roles of diverse groups and vocations.  One that has been dominant is the role of nurses, particularly women.  How many served in what capacity, their experiences dealing with combat, and interactions with wounded soldiers all come to mind.  There have been a few works of non-fiction that stand out in the discussion of nurses during the war, they include; AMERICAN DAUGHTER GONE TO WAR by Winnie Smith; HEALING WOUNDS by Diane Carlson Evans; and HOME BEFORE MORNING by Lynda Van Devanter.  Recently, Kristin Hannah, the bestselling  New York Times author has published her latest novel that deals with the issues faced by American nurses during the war, entitled THE WOMEN.

Hannah’s work of fiction begins with Frances Grace McGrath, a twenty year old nursing student asking the question “why couldn’t women be heroes?” after examining the photos in her father’s study displayed on what he called his “wall of heroes.”  McGrath noticed there were no women on display, and with her brother off to fight in Vietnam she surmised that he too would soon be exhibited on the “wall.”  Tired of being primed by her parents to marry and have children, McGrath decides to enlist in the US Army Nursing Corps and join her brother in Vietnam.  Almost immediately after joining up she learns that her brother has been killed in a helicopter accident, with the Pentagon offering few if any details about how he died.

Hannah’s work returns the reader to a time in American history where faith in government was decreasing daily and people took to the streets because of war – sounds familiar.  The book chronicles the evolution of Francis McGrath from an inexperienced nurse who was raised with the values of the 1950s to an independent women who found her calling in the surgical ward in Vietnam.  Hannah’s description of operating rooms, triage, the friendships and love she found, the impact on the Vietnamese people and American GIs rings true.  McGrath would soon learn that the rules of “polite society” that she left in Cornado Island, California was unimportant in Southeast Asia.  The only way she felt she could survive was develop a “hard shell” to protect her heart.  She quickly learned to focus, tune out the noise and napalm to help the wounded in pre-Op, Post-Op, and try to recover each day from what she experienced by returning to her “hootch” and commiserate with her fellow nurses.

(Lt. Cmdr. Dorothy Ryan, a Navy nurse, checks on a Marine aboard the Repose in 1966).

The horrors of war are on full display in THE WOMEN.  The descriptions of injured soldiers and Vietnamese peasants are raw and for McGrath it reminded her of her brother’s death.  Hannah’s approach to the daily existence of Vietnamese peasants is accurate as she describes the effects of napalm, agent orange, the destruction of their fields, and the loss of their men.

As the novel evolves you can discern McGrath becoming more and more disillusioned with the conduct of the war and the slaughter of the Vietnamese by American bombing.  Despite these feelings McGrath will reup for a second tour as she believes that nursing in Vietnam was now her calling.

There are a number of important storylines to the novel.  First and foremost is McGrath’s growth as a person, then her world crashing down upon her return to the United States, the loss of loved ones, and the betrayal she felt fostered by others.  Her experiences in a field hospital in Pleiku made her an exceptional nurse and achieved a competency that she believed she could never attain.  But the war created demons, particularly as everyone she loved seemed to perish in the war or lied to her.  Soon she would develop an emptiness that called for alcohol, pills, and rage, especially when she returned home and was spat upon by anti-war demonstrators and the fact that even her father did not recognize her experiences in a war zone and society in general held the belief that women did not fight in Vietnam.

Hannah creates a support system for McGrath through the friendship of fellow surgical nurses; Ethel Flint from a Charlottesville, Va. farm and Barb Johnson, a black nurse from a one stoplight town in Georgia.  The bonds of friendship, emotional support, and general love for each other made the war and post-war situation almost palatable.  This relationship and other aspects of the book take the reader on an emotional rollercoaster which is common in Hannah’s other novels.  Here, at times it is a bit overblown as McGrath passes from one crisis to another suffering from PTSD, and an inability to face the truth about her feelings and relationships.

(Air Force 2nd. Lt. Kathleen Sullivan comforts a Vietnamese child as part of the military’s Medical Civic Action Program, MEDCAP, which assisted people in villages).

The book is a time capsule of the 1960s through 1970s in American history.  As a historian who has taught and studied the war for decades I found the book factual, emotional, with an accurate representation of the scars that afflicted American society at the time.  From McGrath’s experiences one sees the elements of the lies and horrors of war which I am certain still haunt thousands of Americans.  With the current situation in Gaza and the demonstrations across college campuses I found myself back in the 1966-1974 period with the Tet Offensive, anti-war demonstrations, POWS, Kent State, and it is not a comfortable feeling.

Hannah knows how to pull every emotional string a reader can feel, especially for those of the Vietnam generation.  At times, McGrath’s personal chronology seems a bit much as she experiences so much tragedy, misinformation about life, a rejection by her family, and an inability to deal with her demons. The many plot twists that Hannah creates for McGrath are analogous to what many veterans experienced when they returned home.  Hannah does not offer anything new about the war and its aftermath, but she places women at the center of her novel, playing a significant role saving the lives of American soldiers.  This is an important story which needed to be told to a wide readership, which Hannah has accomplished very well.

(U.S. Army nurses at the 93rd Evacuation Hospital in Long Binh, near Saigon, in 1968, work to stabilize a patient. Nurses in Vietnam often faced not only intense demands for patient care but also the threat of attacks on close-by military facilities and even the hospitals themselves).

(Jean-Bertrand Aristide, centre, a former Catholic priest, won Haiti’s first free election in 1990 – he was removed in a coup in 1991)

The images out of Haiti that appear on the nightly news each day are horrible.  Starving children, gang violence, lack of government control, and a society still reeling from recent earthquakes seem almost normal.  Haiti is afflicted by constant gang wars fighting for control of Haitian cities, villages, and neighborhoods.  It is important that a new novel that highlights these difficulties has been released.  Ben Fountain’s fourth work, DEVIL MAKES THREE takes place in the early 1990s with Haitian instability at its height as a violent coup de’ état led to the overthrow of President Jean-Betrand Aristide’s government.  The novel tells a fascinating story which is fictional, however, the background commentary lays out the terror of the daily existence of the Haitian people.

Fountain develops his novel focusing on American expat Matt Amaker who is forced to abandon his beachfront scuba business because of the chaos that dominates the Caribbean country.  Amaker will team up with his friend Alix Variel, a member of a prominent Haitian family, and a partner in the defunct scuba business to pursue priceless treasures rumored to be buried on historical shipwrecks off a remote section of Haiti’s southern coast.  Admirers of the work of Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and John Le Carrie should see similarities in Fountain’s approach as he develops this deeply humane political thriller.

The novel opens with the 1991 coup in full swing.  The coup resulted from the first democratic election in Haiti’s history as Aristide, a populist Catholic priest was elected president of Haiti.  Aristide, a member of the National Front for Change and Democracy party, was one of the only church figures to speak out against the repression that existed under the dictatorships of the Duvalier family.  Aristide’s populist Lavalas movement which advocated the use of legislation and popular mobilization as vehicles for economic reform , an end to corruption, and justice for victims of the Haitian military and the Tonton Macoutes, (a Haitian paramilitary and secret police force created in 1959 by dictator François “Papa Doc” Duvalier) earned 67.5% of the popular vote.  Since Aristide’s program threatened the power of some of the Haitian elite, many of which were supporters of the Duvalier’s and the Haitian military it is not surprising that his election was soon negated. The coup took place on September 28, 1991, and was led by General Raoul Ceras and the Haitian army. The military immediately targeted pro-Aristide officials, rural and peasant organizations, neighborhood and community associations, and trade unions.  The press and radio stations were soon silenced.  Because of human rights abuses over 14,000 Haitian refugees arrived at Guantanamo seeking asylum.

As Fountain’s novel evolves the reign of terror of the Haitian military and gangs seem to permeate each scene.  As he proceeds Fountain provides an insightful description of Haitian politics and society with poverty, corruption, and violence on full display. 

Fountain introduces a number of important and interesting characters as the novel progresses.  Alix who convinces Matt to move to Haiti from the United States to set up a scuba business on land owned by his family and led by its matriarch Lena Varie plays a significant role.  Audrey O’Donnell aka. Shelly Graves is a “clandestine service trainee” who arrived during the coup as an assistant political attaché as her CIA cover.  Graves will fall in love with Alix creating a rather unusual relationship.  There is Tommy Rittenhouse who runs the Kokiyaj Beach Resort; Dr. Jean-Hubert Laroque who operates his family’s hospital which has existed in Haiti for generations; Misha Variel, a Ph. D candidate in French literature at Brown University who Matt adores; General Romeo Concers, second in command during the coup; Sonia Delambre, the mistress of Colonel Rene Delvas and a CIA asset; Charles Durham “CD” Nelms who helped finance the treasure hunting scheme and then abandoned Matt and Alix; and a host of other characters that remind one of Conrad, Greene, and Le Carrie.

The role of the CIA is important as Chief of Station Lorenz and his people grew concerned that Matt and Alix would discover gold and silver which would be seized by the Haitian army and used to stabilize its dictatorial regime.  This scenario was complex because Shelly and Alix’s affair will end, and she is distraught.  An undercurrent throughout is the role of the US government as people wonder if newly elected President Bill Clinton will allow boat people into the United States, a departure from the policies of the Bush administration.  Fountain integrates American duplicity, support for corporate interests, and in effect the exploitation of the Haitian people on a daily basis.

Employing Matt’s expertise, Fountain leads the reader through the deep exploration of the Haitian coast in search of treasure located in Anse Serrat. Matt is convinced there are bronze cannons, gold, and silver inside a shipwrecked Spanish galleon.  Fountain describes the intricacies of mapping the site, the types of tools used and other equipment in minute detail.  If you are a scuba aficionado, this book is for you!  In addition, Fountain describes flora, coral, and aquatic life as Matt’s team uncovers evidence of the Philippvs crest on one of the canons.

There are many layers to Fountain’s story.  There is the everyday existence of the Haitian people.  Starvation, poor or no medical care, murders and political assassination along with the seizure of private property by coup leaders, and little or no income for families who live in uninhabitable homes pervade the novel. The importance of vodou also dominates the story through constant references and the role of Duvie, a Vodou priest who tries to educate Matt and others of the importance Vodou plays in the lives of ordinary Haitians.

 As the novel evolves it is clear that coup leaders like General Concers are obsessed with the 500^th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage and want Matt to locate the shipwrecked Santa Maria which would enhance his regime’s reputation.  This places Matt, Alix, and others in a precarious position as Concers requests are more like demands with consequences if they are not met.  At the same time Shelly, who thinks she knows everything through her sources, works to install a government that favors American interests.

Francine Prose writes in her New York Times review and succinctly gets to the core of Fountain’s novel writing, “Not only a skillful author, but a brave one, Fountain is drawn to difficult subjects. An earlier novel, the award-winning BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK featured a damaged veteran of the Iraq war who was promoted, by the news media, as a conquering hero. It takes courage to set an extremely complicated work of fiction in Haiti, to write across the lines of class, color, gender, ideology and nationality. And it’s nervy to blow the whistle on how the C.I.A. has engineered regime changes worldwide, often with disastrous results.

(General Raoul Cedras, Haitian military dictator)

Over 500 pages long, the novel has its slow spots. Some readers may be more interested than I was in the specs of diving equipment. Others may question why so much of the book is devoted to Matt and Alix’s harebrained plan to solve their money woes by finding sunken treasure off the Haitian coast. When a fabulously awful character, Davis, seems to wander in from an Elmore Leonard novel — ‘Someone needed to slap a warning on his forehead: Contents Under Pressure’— you can’t help wondering why Matt and Alix (neither of them fools) believe they can do business with him or with the rich, sketchy owner of the ship from which they dive in search of gold. But it all makes perfect sense when we realize that, during a time of lawlessness, a historically significant and potentially lucrative treasure hunt is just another ScubaRave, on steroids.

Given the thrum of political anxiety that keeps many of us awake at night, some readers might think: The last thing I need right now is a novel about a crisis that has worsened over time in one of the world’s poorest nations. I understand the sentiment, but I was grateful for the old-fashioned pleasure of immersion in a long book with engaging characters, a sense of history and place, and a multifaceted vision of people trying to figure out what to do when the world around them is changing.”*

• Francine Prose, “Treasure and Trouble,” New York Times Book Review, October 15, 2023, p. 18.

(Port Au Prince circa 1992)

(The Kremlin, Moscow)

Since February 2022 when Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine a plethora of books have been published or reissued that deal with the mindset of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  The most important include works by  Philip Short, Steven Lee Myers, Catherine Belton, Masha Gessen, Mark Galeotti, Owen Matthews, Luke Harding, Christopher Miller, Serhii Plokhy, Angela Stent, Shaun Walker, and Samuel Ramani.  These authors explore Putin’s rise to power, his Pan-Slavism ideology designed to restore the Kremlin to its previous world power status, his domestic agenda, and the reason behind his invasion of Ukraine.  These monographs are works of non-fiction and rely on intensive research that includes interviews with the relevant personages and scouring available documentation to foster insights and critical viewpoints.  Turning to the fictional genre it has a recent addition to this subject matter with the publication of THE WIZARD OF THE KREMLIN: A NOVEL by Giuliano Da Empoli that attempts to explain Putin’s realpolitik and other aspects of his reign employing the format of a novel.

The central character in Da Empoli’s work is Vadim Baranov, a lover of literature, also known as “the wizard of the Kremlin” who was a television producer before becoming Putin’s political advisor.  After fifteen years at Putin’s side, Baranov decides to escape Putin’s grasp and explain the inner workings of the Russian state where Putin’s sycophants and oligarchs battle for the attention of the Russian Tsar.  Russia finds itself in a dark place because of Baranov’s work as the Kremlin “spin doctor.”  Baranov is ensconced in a system he helped create but realizes he must leave – not an easy thing to accomplish in Putin’s Russia.

(Russian President, Vladimir Putin)

Da Empoli conveys his story by employing Baranov as a conduit for the narrator of the novel.  The novel opens with an unnamed narrator visiting Moscow to research the early 20^th century writer, Yevgeny Zamyatin.  It turns out that Baranov is an admirer of the novelist and through social media the narrator visits Baranov in his remote country house.  As the novel evolves Baranov shares his life story with his visitor moving with energy through Russia in the 1990s to the invasion of Ukraine.

As the Soviet Union comes to an end in 1991 it appears that Russia may be on the verge of some sort of democratic edifice with the end of censorship and a new cultural freedom.  As we know this did not come to pass and Baranov, who resented the new intelligentsia realizes that the future will belong to more practical individuals as a result he will join Putin as a political/media advisor and consummate insider.  In this capacity Da Empoli relates Putin’s rise to power and through dialogue with the Russian autocrat he explains in rather crude form his view of power, how it should be used, and what it can accomplish – the restoration of Russia as a force in the world.

(Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky)

Da Emploi’s fictional account borders on reality as he weaves in historical events and characters into his novel.  We are witnessed to Putin’s actions and reactions to the sinking of a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea in which the entire crew drowned; terrorist attacks by Chechen rebels that some believe was carried out by the FSB; employing Putin’s large labrador in a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, knowing her fear of dogs, among many other examples.  Influential figures appear and reappear.  Oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky, a billionaire who for a time owned ORT the main Russian television station; Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an opposition activist who had owed Yukos, the largest Russian energy company; Igor Sechin, Putin’s Deputy Chief of Staff and energy issues who would eventually take over Yukos; Yevgeny Prigozhin, a gangster who became Putin’s caterer and eventually opponent, and other important individuals.

(Igor Sechin, Putin’s Chief of Staff)

Da Empoli employs a sarcastic sense of humor and a great deal of irony in carrying out his plot as he compares the old Soviet state to the nouveaux riche of the new Russia.  Through Baranov’s autobiography the author offers interesting comparisons of Joseph Stalin and Putin, and descriptions of Russia in the 1990s when it seemed to be on the cusp of some sort of democracy with the present autocracy.  Da Empoli explains the need of the Russian people for stability and unity after the chaos of the 1990s – for Putin this could only be accomplished through raw power, never admitting an error, appealing to Russian nationalism by calling for a restoration of its Soviet Empire, interfering with the internal mechanism of western democracy, and never giving in to those who oppose him.

The author is right on as he parrots Putin’s critique of Russian docility toward the west under Boris Yeltsin.  As Baranov recounts “our docility called for the harshest punishment.  NATO flooded into the Baltic States, and American military bases into central Asia.  The oversight of financial institutions was no longer sufficient; now they wanted to take power directly.  Send us back to the basement and replace us with agents of the CIA and the International Monetary Fund.  First in Georgia, then in Ukraine, the very heart of our lost Empire.”  For Putin, American actions in Ukrainian elections and its move toward the European Union and NATO was the last straw resulting in the invasion.

The book is ostensibly about cunning and the manipulation of reality as Baranov, a wonderful storyteller that the reader falls under his spell.  Baranov uses his prowess of creating a new reality, a vision of Russian specialness, a new national myth, and cultivates grievances against the west carrying out Putin’s mission.  Da Empoli has created an important character to carry out his novel in Baranov, a cynic who possesses sharp political analysis.  His character is loosely based on Vladislav Surkov, a politician and strategist whose Machiavellian approach to politics made him a perfect advisor for Putin as he accompanied him from St. Petersburg to the Kremlin.  The novel succeeds as a work of fiction, but its origin in reality makes you shudder as you read on.

(The Kremlin, Moscow)

(Early 19th century British factory)

For those devotees of Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series his latest addition will not disappoint.  His new book, THE ARMOR OF LIGHT is the fifth novel in the series and contains elements from earlier Kingsbridge works.  It follows ordinary working people whose lives were altered by historical crises.  Follett introduces inventors that change history and have profound impact on everyone.  Further, it presents the battle for freedom as people fight for lives free of oppression and lastly, Follett develops impactful female characters who play significant roles in the flow of the novel.

Follett is a master storyteller who has a firm grip on historical detail.  The current storyline is set during the Industrial Revolution and relates the tale of a group of intertwined families whose lives are greatly impacted by mechanical and technological change.  Follett’s characters are involved in food riots, worker strikes, and resistance to forced military service.  The English Parliament responds with a series of repressive laws making it a crime to speak out against the government.

The story’s background focuses on the year 1792 amidst what English historian, Eric Hobsbawm describes as the Age of Revolution.  Highlighted by the dual revolutions of industry and ideology in France that commenced in 1789 the story proceeds to the Age of Napoleon as the French dictator launches a series of wars across Europe that will culminate by 1814 with the Congress of Vienna.  The story continues for another ten years with the story concluding in 1824.

(A hand loom weaving)

Follett’s mythical village of Kingsbridge is a center of textile production where work is moving from piece work at home to mills equipped with more productive machinery.  In addition to being forced to work in pseudo-factories, labor must deal with inflation induced by war and a government that is cracking down on dissent.  The propertied classes take advantage of the situation as they control Parliament and make it difficult for workers to unite resulting in low wages, dangerous working conditions, and poor housing.

The story accurately rehashes the plight of English workers at the turn of the 19^th century and their relationship with the new industrial aristocracy fostered by the mechanization of the industrial revolution.  Follett depicts many scenes that correctly replicate historical events.  From attempts at unionization of weavers to government institution of laws preventing workers from combining; the effects of decades of war with France resulting in increasing inflation and poverty for the masses; action and results from the battlefield; the arrest and prosecution of the poor, even hanging a seven year old boy; the press gang of the poor into the Royal navy; the fears of the gentry first, the French Revolution and later the machinations of Napoleon are just a few themes that Follett develops.

(Rioting mob of Luddites)

Of course, as in any of Follett’s historical novels there are a series of characters, some heroes, others villains.  Among those who stand out are Sal Clitheroe and her son Kit.  Sal’s husband dies and she remarries and becomes a leader in trying to organize the weavers.  Jarge Box, Sal’s second husband, a laborer with a temper who loved his wife.  Amos Barrowfield, a clothier who begins engaging in the “putting out” system and graduates to owning his own mills as the novel progresses.  He is in love with a woman he cannot have, and of course there is another woman who is in love with him who he rejects.  The Riddick brothers.  Will who is a self-absorbed nasty person who is also a crook.  Roger, a mechanical genius who supports the workers, lastly, George, who is the Rector of Bradford.  A key individual is David Shoveller, known as Spade, a generous and caring person who works with Sal to help the plight of the poor.  Arabella Latimer, married to the Bishop of Kingsbridge who she deplores and eventually has an affair, a child, and a new marriage!  Henry Viscount of Northwood, a soldier who is married to Elsie, Arabella’s daughter, is also married to a man she does not love and cannot have the man she desires.

As far as villains are concerned we can generalize and state it is the English Parliament, judicial system, monarchy, and the British aristocracy for the most part lacks any empathy for its workers and subjects in general.  It is highlighted by the policies of Prime Minister William Pitt and others who occupied the office.  As for individuals that Follett carefully develops, Alderman Joseph Hornbean stands out as a person who survived extreme poverty as a child including the witnessing of the hanging of his mother.  He goes on to become a very rich and influential mill owner with under the table contracts with the English military to supply uniforms.  He opposes all progress except machines that will make him even wealthier.  Arrest, trials, bribery, hangings are all aspects of things that he is ultimately responsible for.  There are many others that Follett introduces, and he is very successful in developing their personalities and their impact on the evolution of the novel.

(The impact of the Industrial Revolution)

The story is constructed chronologically, and it follows the course of the wars of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars.  Follett has excellent command of the war’s progression and its impact on British society, especially the working poor.  The lifestyle of the aristocratic households is deftly compared to that of the underclass and how certain characters strive for inclusion with the upper classes.  Follett develops a number of important themes, the foremost of which is the precarious nature of work for the poor as mechanization threatens the loss of their livelihood.  Other themes include the schism between Anglicanism and Methodism. In addition, the aristocracy’s fear of the ecumenical revolution fostered by the French and a possible invasion of Britain by Napoleon which would destroy their way of life, and the fear of mill owners of the Luddites who were crossing the country smashing machines.   This is highlighted by the growth of a number of characters highlighted by Sal as she overcomes widowhood to become a leader and spokesperson of the poor and Amos and Spade as they leave their comfort level to take on more responsibility and leadership in Kingsbridge.

(Coal pits and factories)

THE ARMOR OF LIGHT continues Follett’s remarkable success that began thirty-four years ago with the publication of THE PILLARS OF THE EARTH.  Over the decades the series has sold over 27 million copies stunning readers and critics with its rich detail, amazing architectural research, and brilliant storytelling.  THE ARMOR OF LIGHT is written with the author’s gift for personal and political drama creating a story that moves gratifyingly through over 700 pages.  It is so engrossing that you might want to return to the earlier volumes, the first of which appeared in 2007 presenting a saga that covers 800 years and well over 4,000 pages.

As one reads on and you are as Katherine Powers writes in her Washington Post review,  “propelled by acts of highhanded cruelty answered by the resourcefulness and pluck of its victims, a dynamic so predictable that we know that, in most cases, it’s only a matter of time before good triumphs and comeuppance is delivered — whereupon the cycle repeats itself. Yes, we’re being manipulated, but we can’t stop turning the pages: What now? What next? Beyond that, however, it is Follett’s generosity and adeptness with historical detail and nimble depictions of technical matters that set this book, like its predecessors, above mere historical melodrama.”

(Early 19th century British Factory)

(The Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia)

All novelists who engage in historical fiction must develop their subject matter by conducting the necessary research, creating a cogent and believable story, and presenting it in a well written and engaging manner.  This criteria has been easily met in John Boyne’s THE HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE as the author has chosen a well known topic that has already produced hundreds of historical monographs and works of fiction.  What sets Boyne’s effort apart from others is a fascinating storyline and wonderful characters integrated with historical events.  Some might refer to the work as Nicholas and Alexandra Volume II and criticize it for  stretching the genre of historical fiction.  However, the point is that it is fiction, and well done fiction as the author has accomplished in previous novels such as THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS and THE HEART’S INVISIBLE FURIES.

The novel encompasses the period from World War I through 1981 witnessing the Russian Revolution, the reign of Joseph Stalin, World War II, to a time when cracks in the Soviet edifice begin to appear.  Boyne organizes the novel around the life of Daniil Vladyavich Jachmenev (Georgy) who we first meet in his eighties as he looks back on a lifetime where he experienced the usual range of aches, pains, and failures, highlighted by his devotion to his wife, Zoya who is dying of cancer but had a rich marriage undaunted by the many hardships and tragedies they endured.  The book is organized as a double narrative as Boyne begins in 1981 as Georgy visits the British Museum library where he worked for decades and provided him with a sense of security and a life of books that began when Tsar Nicholas II allowed him access to the Romanov library.  From that point we turn to 1915 and the deteriorating situation in Russia and alternating historical periods that will come together in an interesting, somewhat  implausible conclusion.

(Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra)

Georgy’s amazing life carries him from a small village in Kashin, Russia to St. Petersburg and the Winter Palace as he is appointed the guardian of the Tsarevitch, Alexei after achieving heroic status by inadvertently stopping a bullet meant for the Tsar’s uncle and commander of Russian forces during WWI.  He will develop a relationship with one of the royal daughters as he is ensconced in the royal palaces with the Romanov family.  Boyne maintains his pace as he shifts the locus of the story to London during the German air blitz where he works at the British Museum library and lives with his wife, Zoya, and daughter Arina.

Boyne possesses an excellent command of world history as he weaves major events and characters throughout the novel.  The author presents insightful historical and personal observations especially dealing with the hypocrisy of Romanov rule during WWI as the Russian upper class maintains their lifestyle as the situation on the war front rapidly deteriorates.  Boyne does an exceptional job creating dialogue which he invents but seems real, i.e.; conversations between Nicholas II and Georgy, and conversations between Rasputin and Georgy.

(Rasputin)

Georgy and Zoya are forced to escape the Bolsheviks in the early 1920s beginning a lifelong desire to return to St. Petersburg, a wish that seems would never be unfulfilled.  These feelings are among the many poignant experiences depicted throughout the novel.  Among these include certain characters like Rachel Anderson, a lonely English woman who becomes a surrogate grandmother to Arina, earlier as Georgy develops a relationship with Anastasia, a royal daughter, or how Georgy treats Zoya who suffers from a deep depression for most of their marriage.  Boyne is a wonderful storyteller and creator of numerous characters.  One who stands out is Mr. Tweed or perhaps his name is Mr. Jones who works for the British War Office during WWII who recruits Georgy as a translator.  Throughout the novel Georgy and Zoya consider themselves refugees despite the fact they spent five years in Paris and over twenty in London.  They had to cope with suspicious neighbors, co-workers and others on a daily basis because of their accents.  This led to an insular life as they tried to remain isolated from the larger society, which was difficult, particularly hiding in the Underground tunnels which served as a shelter from German bombing during WWII.

(Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Aleksandra (far right), with their four daughters and son. The tsar was forced to abdicate in 1917 and he and his family were shot and stabbed to death by Bolshevik troops, in 1918, before their bodies were doused in acid and dumped into a mine shaft.)

Boyne expertly conveys the mood of his characters throughout be it the Russian Imperial family during WWI, Georgy and Zoya who constantly fear being identified and captured by the Bolsheviks, and how they react when their daughter is killed in a car accident and the driver responsible tries to apologize.

Many important historical characters play a major role in the novel including the mad monk, Rasputin; the hated German princess, Alexandra, the Tsarina of Russia; Nicholas II, Tsar of  Russia; and  even Winston Churchill and Vladimir Lenin will make appearances.  Georgy’s role in events involving these characters is presented seamlessly applying the memories of Georgy and Zoya.

The expanse of the novel is intriguing as Boyne carries the reader from place to place through diverse historical periods.  The ending of the novel is a bit far fetched, as are many scenes in the book, however, it remains a wonderful fictional rendition of history.  Despite this the reader is left with high quality fiction, and a spellbinding, passionate story as he brings a fresh eye to important historical events and characters.   I highly recommend Boyne’s work and I expect to enjoy many of his other historical efforts especially his latest, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES.

(The Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia)

(Lt. Colonel Theodore Roosevelt)

When ranking American presidents Theodore Roosevelt is usually positioned among the top five in American history.  His life is fascinating as a number of biographies highlight.  Probably the most impactful is Edmund Morris’ biographic trilogy among many others.  Roosevelt’s life reflects a weak child growing up in New York City who overcame his physical limitations who thrived on being physically fit; a career that included being New York City Police Commissioner, Governor of New York, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and the presidency.  Along the way he evolved into a central figure in the Spanish-American War and a committed naturalist and conservationist.  After his political career ended his exploits continued as he engaged in sustained travel and continued his writing centering on history and nature.  Clearly, a full life.

To tackle Theodore Roosevelt as a subject of historical fiction is quite an undertaking.  However, novelist Jeff Shaara was undaunted and committed to the task resulting in his eighteenth historical novel, THE OLD LION: A NOVEL OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT.  Shaara originally made his mark authoring GODS AND GENERALS and THE LAST FULL MEASURE, which are the prequel and sequel to his father’s award winning novel, THE KILLER ANGELS.  Among his novels are topics that include the American Revolution, the Mexican War, the Civil War, World War I and II, the Korean War and his latest which he is about to complete on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

(First Lady, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt)

Choosing Roosevelt as the focus of his novel created a dilemma.  How does an author pick and choose areas of concentration in such a rich life when the book is not supposed to be a traditional biography?  Shaara has done so with ease and class as he delves into important public and private aspects of the former Rough Rider.

Shaara begins the novel pointing to two important components of Roosevelt’s development, his battle with asthma and his relationship with his father.  Both provide the key motivations developing physically as Alfred Adler, an important Neo-Freudian has written that individuals who suffer from a self-perceived inferiority complex strive their entire lives to achieve superiority to overcome it.  In Roosevelt’s case his lungs and his father’s encouragement and acting as a role model for his son allowed him to develop “the strenuous life,” which led to his obsession with natural history and his love of nature.

Throughout the book, Shaara formulates a Roosevelt that is never far from his need for adventure and his naturalist education.  Shaara picks and chooses very carefully scenes from his protagonist’s life.  Each segment is well written, and it allows the reader to develop an intimate relationship with future “Bull Moose.”  Shaara does not provide a writer’s note, a la Steve Berry, which would explain his sources and what he considers fact and fiction.  Doing so would greatly enhance the reader’s experience and trust in the material presented.

Shaara’s tool in organizing the novel is a series of interviews conducted by New York Times reporter Hermann Hagedorn which took place at the end of December 1918 which allows Roosevelt to look back on his life and fill in gaps that are not fully developed by the author.  Shaara uses the interviews as a bridge between the time Roosevelt left for the Dakotas in 1887 and his experiences in the war with Spain in 1898.  Shaara focuses on his family and career and his commitment to reform – rooting out corruption as Civil Service Commissioner, New York City Police Commissioner, and Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

(Kermit Roosevelt)

The structure of the novel is effective with Hagedorn’s interviews filling in the gaps.  At first Roosevelt’s constant battle with asthma and his relationship with his father is stressed.  Shaara moves on to a section, perhaps his best dealing with Roosevelt’s commitment to ranching and living in the Dakota Badlands as a vehicle to decompress after the deaths of his mother and his first wife Alice within a twenty-four hour period.  The section highlights his relationship with “real” cowboys and cattle ranchers and the difficulties of running a successful cattle business.  This is followed with a detailed discussion of events leading to and the actual fighting of the Spanish-American War which turned Roosevelt into a hero and a viable candidate for high office.  Shaara moves on to an exploration of Roosevelt’s rise to the Vice Presidency and Presidency once William McKinley is assassinated and implementing a progressive agenda.  Shaara’s last section brings the novel to a close.  Entitled “The Old Lion,” the author again employs Hagedorn to ferret out of Roosevelt his reactions to The Treaty of Portsmouth, taking the Panama Canal, difficulties with William Howard Taft, escaping assassination, and dangerous sojourns to Africa and the Amazon where he almost perishes.

Shaara’s Roosevelt is a dichotomy.  He employs his effusive personality and energy to his legislative agenda as President.  His “Square Deal” includes a reform agenda which mostly passes Congress and encompasses issues of improving working conditions, controlling trusts, and race.  It is interesting to read his views dealing with non-white Americans and trying to improve their lot, and at the same time engaging in a foreign policy based on Social Darwinism.  Foremost, Shaara’s Roosevelt is an egoist which he balances with great empathy for others especially members of his Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War for which a great deal of respect and trust for him by his men is reciprocated.

The book is clearly not a complete biography in novel form as Shaara stresses certain aspects of Roosevelt’s life.  The two most important components are his family whose credit goes to his childhood companion Edith Crow who becomes his second wife and his children.  Second is his commitment to the environment developing nature preserves, national parks, and conservation.  A wonderful book that encompasses this aspect of Roosevelt’s life is historian Douglas Brinkley’s mammoth work; THE WILDERNESS WARRIOR: THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND THE CRUSADE FOR AMERICA.

Against the backdrop of the Wild West, San Juan Hill and the jungles of Brazil, the White House appeared to be less satisfying for Roosevelt. Perhaps this explains why the sections of the novel that follow his presidency read more like straightforward and familiar history. Many of the details and events in this section are nevertheless significant and lively. We see Roosevelt confront racism in Congress after meeting with Booker T. Washington at the White House, we learn how the term “Speak softly and carry a big stick” evolved and we discover the origin of teddy bears.  The novel, if that is a correct characterization of Shaara’s work, is thoughtfully written and provides many insights into the most energetic and effusive person who dominated his presidency and the time period in which he lived.

(Fort Duquesne – near Pittsburgh)

If you are a fan of Ken Follet and other practitioners of well-developed historical fiction in books that weigh a great deal then screenwriter and director John Sayles’ latest work THE RENEGADE’S JOURNEY: JAMIE MacGILLIVARY is one you should seriously consider.  Sayles, the author of YELLOW EARTH  and A MOMENT IN THE SUN now tackles the adventures of two fictional 18^th century Scots – the main character is Jamie MacGillivary, a landless follower of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Jenny Ferguson, a poor crofter’s daughter swept up in the avenging British against the Jacobite Rebellion.  The two characters dominate and leave historical figures such as Generals George Washington, James Wolfe, Robert Monckton, James Braddock, and the Marquis de Montcalm in the background as Sayles captures the competing alliances of the mid-18^th century and the horrors of war through the trials and travails of Jamie and Jenny.

Sayles frames his novel with the Battles at Culloden in Scotland and the Plains of Abraham in Quebec, Jamie and Jenny will find themselves imprisoned under demeaning conditions and sent into indentured servitude in the English colonies.  From there their lives will diverge before they  come together later in the novel.

However, Sayles will first engage the reader with the details of the Battle of Culloden, a nasty confrontation that saw the British rout a Jacobite* army of Highlanders, Irish, Scots in the French service and English deserters, a rather difficult group to herd together as a formidable force.  The army was created to support the claims of Bonnie Prince Charlie, so named for his boyish good looks who was the grandson of the exiled English King, James II who was removed during the Glorious Revolution and was replaced by William and Mary on the English throne.  His father, James III, known as the “Old Pretender” in exile and in September 1745 his son, the would be Charles IV landed with a small army on the west coast of Scotland and with 2400 men entered Edinburgh.  Within two months with 5500 men, he crossed into England and headed toward London.  However, on April 16, 1746, the third son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland defeated this rag tag army at Culloden.  The “Young Pretender” would escape by ship to France where he would continue to try and recover the English crown for his father and himself.

(Bonnie Prince Charlie)

The main protagonists will find themselves in desperate situations.  Jamie was wounded and survived under a pile of bodies before being captured by the Redcoats, and later by Native-Americans.  He would meet Jenny, who had been beaten and raped by British soldiers as they are separately sent to the English colonies.  Sayles describes Jenny’s plight as she is sent to Martinique where she is purchased by a French artillery officer, Lt. St. Cyr who will take her under his wing as his lover and friend showing off a white woman in Creole society.  Later, St. Cyr is ordered to Canada to fight the British, taking Jenny with him.   Jamie finds himself a slave on the Georgia plantation of Jock Crozier, a nasty individual that results in Jamie and his slave cohorts escaping, only to be captured by the Lenape tribe where he is put to work. Sayles uses Jamie as a vehicle to explain the shifting alliances in Europe as Hapsburg Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction to gain support for his daughter, Maria Theresa, to succeed him on the throne.  At first, Frederick the Great of Prussia agrees then conquers Silesia, and the result is the beginning of the Seven Years War in Europe in 1756, a continuation of the French and Indian War in the colonies between France and England that began in 1754.  The situation lends itself to Sayles’ entertaining phrasing as Native-Americans describe negotiations in Europe as “old men wearing other men’s hair while they dicker over a treaty across the great water.” (328)  The key in the colonies is the Ohio Valley which the French and English desire for the Fur trade and military outposts.  As English colonists in Pennsylvania and Virginia want to move west this presents the French with the opportunity to ally with Native tribes.

In telling his story Sayles has the marvelous ability to create scenes whereby it feels as if the reader has an intimate relationship with the main characters.  His description of the Atlantic passage and enslavement in the Caribbean and the English colonies mirrors the historical record.  It is clear that Sayles has engaged in prodigious research and travel to the sites he has written about which allow him to convey intimate details of battle, treatment of prisoners, life on a plantation, interacting with Native tribes, and how his characters experience misfortune and at times luck as Jamie realizes how lucky he is to be alive as he states, “a French invasion scuttled by storms at sea, a bullet made to cripple or kill him only passes through his flesh, the whim of a bewigged magistrate on the day before hanging – all seems more accident than design.” (243

Sayles creates a series of characters, but there are a number who are key to the story.  Apart from Jamie and Jenny there is Macheod Lachlan, a bard whose mission in life is to amuse his clan brethren.  His goal in life is to entertain all who come in contact with him.  There is Keach, an evangelical Christian who spots the glories of God as he tries to convert everyone.  Jamie’s brother Dougal, thought dead at Culloden, miraculously survives, and Ange, who develops a loving relationship with Jamie.  Numerous characters come and go.  Some disappear for hundreds of pages then all of a sudden reemerge.

(British Major-General James Wolfe)

Jamie must have passed through an identity crisis as at the outset of the novel he is portrayed as a Highland Scotsman fighting with the French against the British.  He is captured and sold as a slave in Georgia.  Later he is taken in by the Lenape Indians whose tribe he will eventually become a trusted member.  Jamie’s life mirrors the wars that are described throughout.  First, the British and French fight in Scotland.  Then the fighting moves on to the Ohio Valley in the American colonies.  As the fighting shifts across the Atlantic, both powers try to convince various Indian tribes to join their crusades.  White settlers are seen by Native-Americans as squatters stealing Indian land resulting in extreme violence.  Lastly, the French  and British find themselves fighting different Indian tribes.  As Sayles describes the many conflicts we witness guerilla and conventional warfare which at times produces modern weaponry such as long range artillery.

As the novel follows Jamie and Jenny through servitude, revolt, escape, and romantic entanglements — pawns in a deadly game other historical figures of the era appear – the devious Lord Lovat, future novelist Henry Fielding, the artist William Hogarth, a young and ambitious George Washington, the doomed General James Wolfe, and the Lenape chief feared throughout the Ohio Valley as Shingas the Terrible.

Sayles is an excellent wordsmith; however, it does take time to adapt to the Erse, a Scottish or Irish Gaelic language as well as the French phrasing which appears regularly.  Sayles does this to create authenticity, but at times it detracts from the reading experience and makes it difficult at times to follow what is occurring.

*Jacobite’s were the supporters of James VII of Scotland and II of England.  Jacobus is Latin for James.

(Fort Duquesne – near Pittsburgh)