WORLD WAR II - A British soldier's memoir - 1940-1945
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Add another facet to the World War II retrospectives ('The Greatest Generation' Brokaw, 'Saving Pvt. Ryan' Spielberg). Now, indefatigable British soldier Stanley Swift, member of the famed 'Desert Rats' under Field Marshal Montgomery, puts a human face on HIS war that sometimes criss-crossed beleagured paths of American and other Allied troops. 'Oh, What a Lovely War! mirrors Pvt. Swift's unforgettable innermost thoughts and feelings of his life in battle, long surpressed by a self-imposed half century of silence. You'll chuckle, laugh and shed tears following the strictly British account of his 'adventures' as a recruit in training during the 1940 London blitz and assignment to the Royal Horse Artillery, Seventh Armoured Division. Then it was on to historic desert battles with Nazi General Rommel's forces in north Africa, through Italy to the Normandy beaches in France, and more combat across Belgium and Holland to final victory in Berlin in 1945. It is his sister, Evelyn Swift Luscher, a Sacramento, California, author, who gives poignant voice to her brother's memoir through her dedicated transcribing and editing of his many irreplaceable audio tapes. Stanley Swift died in April, 1996, in Nottingham, England, at the age of 81. I liked the book because it told so much we never know from history books and evoked so many emotions. Everybody should know what war REALLY is. Truly, an excellent read. Elaine Adams California Writer's Club Sacramento, CA.
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