I stumbled upon a book that I ended up really liking, so I thought I would share it.
The book is called "Roll Me Over". The author is Raymond Gantter. It is a personal memoir of his time as an infantryman in World War II. Gantter was first deployed as an infantryman in Belgium in 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge. The memoir covered his time from that point until shortly after the end of the war.
I don't want to oversell the book. It isn't phenomenal. He was neither a famous author nor a famous soldier. I stumbled on it because I have a "Kindle Unlimited" subscription. If you've never had one, it basically opens up a lot of books to you, for free, but most of those books are unheralded volumes that wouldn't be worth taking up shelf space in a real, brick and mortar, bookshop, or advertising space. I mostly read second rate murder mysteries and historical writings. You won't find Stephen Ambrose "Band of Brothers" in Kindle Unlimited.
nevertheless, I have read a few first person accounts of World War II life in the army, and this one was probably one I enjoyed the most. I'm not exactly sure why, but in part, I simply liked his style. He was an intellectual. A scholarly type, immersed in war, surrounded by ordinary people. A college man in a time when most people were not college men. He was also thirty years old when he got to the front lines, so he had an "adult" perspective, being above average age. He arrived at the front as a private. He left the war as a lieutenant.
As for what he describes, he describes the life of an infantryman at that time. That means he describes combat, but he also describes mud. He spends more time describing mud than describing combat. He describes interaction with German civilians in a rather straightforward and honest way.
It's not a super-awesome book. It wasn't a book that offered insight unavailable anywhere else. It wasn't a best seller when published in 1977, but I liked it, and the price is right, especially if you have Kindle Unlimited. I would recommend it, if you're into that sort of thing.
The book is called "Roll Me Over". The author is Raymond Gantter. It is a personal memoir of his time as an infantryman in World War II. Gantter was first deployed as an infantryman in Belgium in 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge. The memoir covered his time from that point until shortly after the end of the war.
I don't want to oversell the book. It isn't phenomenal. He was neither a famous author nor a famous soldier. I stumbled on it because I have a "Kindle Unlimited" subscription. If you've never had one, it basically opens up a lot of books to you, for free, but most of those books are unheralded volumes that wouldn't be worth taking up shelf space in a real, brick and mortar, bookshop, or advertising space. I mostly read second rate murder mysteries and historical writings. You won't find Stephen Ambrose "Band of Brothers" in Kindle Unlimited.
nevertheless, I have read a few first person accounts of World War II life in the army, and this one was probably one I enjoyed the most. I'm not exactly sure why, but in part, I simply liked his style. He was an intellectual. A scholarly type, immersed in war, surrounded by ordinary people. A college man in a time when most people were not college men. He was also thirty years old when he got to the front lines, so he had an "adult" perspective, being above average age. He arrived at the front as a private. He left the war as a lieutenant.
As for what he describes, he describes the life of an infantryman at that time. That means he describes combat, but he also describes mud. He spends more time describing mud than describing combat. He describes interaction with German civilians in a rather straightforward and honest way.
It's not a super-awesome book. It wasn't a book that offered insight unavailable anywhere else. It wasn't a best seller when published in 1977, but I liked it, and the price is right, especially if you have Kindle Unlimited. I would recommend it, if you're into that sort of thing.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3h2dBnh
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire