Synopses & Reviews
Chosen for 2015 One Book One Nebraska
In 1961, equipped with a masterand#8217;s degree from famed Columbia Journalism School and letters of introduction to Associated Press bureau chiefs in Asia, twenty-six-year-old Beverly Deepe set off on a trip around the world. Allotting just two weeks to South Vietnam, she was still there seven years later, having then earned the distinction of being the longest-serving American correspondent covering the Vietnam War and garnering a Pulitzer Prize nomination.
In Death Zones and Darling Spies, Beverly Deepe Keever describes what it was like for a farm girl from Nebraska to find herself halfway around the world, trying to make sense of one of the nationand#8217;s bloodiest and bitterest wars. She arrived in Saigon as Vietnamand#8217;s war entered a new phase and American helicopter units and provincial advisers were unpacking. She tells of traveling from her Saigon apartment to jungles where Wild Westand#8211;styled forts first dotted Vietnamand#8217;s borders and where, seven years later, they fell like dominoes from communist-led attacks. In 1965 she braved elephant grass with American combat units armed with unparalleled technology to observe their valorand#8212;and their inability to distinguish friendly farmers from hide-and-seek guerrillas.
Keeverand#8217;s trove of tissue-thin memos to editors, along with published and unpublished dispatches for New York and London media, provide the reader with you-are-there descriptions of Buddhist demonstrations and turning-point coups as well as phony ones. Two Vietnamese interpreters, self-described as and#8220;darling spies,and#8221; helped her decode Vietnamand#8217;s shadow world and subterranean war. These memoirs, at once personal and panoramic, chronicle the horrors of war and a rise and decline of American power and prestige.
Review
“When We Walked Above the Clouds was written for those who want to know what it was like to dig trenches in 110 degree heat, rip off leeches, zip a buddy inside a body bag, or pull the trigger on a complete stranger. This is what the war in Vietnam was like as told from a grunts level. Barnes pulls no punches in his gritty account of the teammates he served with, and of those he lost, at a mountain jungle village called Tra Bong.”—Lt. Col. (Ret.) Raymond C. Morris, U.S. Army Special Forces, author of The Ether Zone: U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment B-52, Project Delta
Review
“As beautifully written as it is heartbreaking, Lee Barness memoir probes through the conventional views of the Vietnam War and finds, amid the squalor, the banal, and the absurd in the Tra Bong action of 1966, the truly heroic.”—Mary Clearman Blew, author of All but the Waltz
Review
“Lee Barnes growls his profane hymn not just to this war but to all wars. In the process, he justly scuttles Hollywood hyperbole, REMF embroidery, and self-serving short-rounds. The writing is stark. Hard. Honest. Do you and yours a favor. Own this book. You will be left with the scent of blood and cinnamon and something more: the need to shake the hand of a returning warrior.”—Bill Branon, Captain (DC) USN (Ret.), author of Let Us Prey, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year
Review
“Lee Barnes sets words the way a fine jeweler sets gems—we are not distracted from the beauty of his language by obvious writerly touches. An old street saying from the seventies sums up this book: ‘You can fool the fans, but you can’t fool a player.’ Lee Barnes is, in the finest sense, a player. He pays respect not just to the places and complexities of war but to his comrades.”—Mary Sojourner, author of
She Bets Her Life --Mary Sojourner
Review
"In the grand scheme of things, not much happened at Tra Bong; "the life of Kirkus Reviews
Review
“This rare look into life as a Green Beret makes a compelling read.”—Joint Forces Journal Joint Forces Journal
Review
"Perhaps the best aspect of the book . . . is the attention Barnes pays to the words he puts on the page. Each one carries with it a meaning and a weight that makes his story far more than a war memoir or even a coming of age story."—Caleb S. Cage, Nevada Review Caleb S. Cage
Review
“Sharp and unsentimental prose. . . . A war remembrance of beauty and unadorned brutality.”—Kirkus Reviews Kirkus Reviews
Review
“This is what the war in Vietnam was like as told from a grunts level. Barnes pulls no punches in his gritty account of the teammates he served with, and of those he lost, at a mountain jungle village called Tra Bong.”—Lt. Col. (Ret.) Raymond C. Morris, U.S. Army Special Forces, and author of The Ether Zone Lt. Col. (Ret.) Raymond C. Morris
Review
andldquo;
The Melon Capital of the World is a very important book. . . . Allmendingerandrsquo;s voice is unique and profound, making an excellent read.andrdquo;andmdash;Margaret Randall, author of
More Than ThingsReview
andldquo;This story provides a therapeutic framework for envisioning hope in dark moments as well as being very connectable, readable, and enjoyable. . . . Itandrsquo;s a fun and provocative ride.andrdquo;andmdash;Mark Spitzer, author of
Season of the GarReview
"In this powerfully plainspoken account, one of the leading female journalists of the Vietnam War relays her personal experience of the bloody conflict that divided America and changed the global political landscape. . . . Whether reporting from the ditches of the siege of Khe Sanh, detailing the harried arrival of U.S. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, or fondly recalling her friendship with Pham Xuan An (one of the eponymous "darling spies"), Keever provides a ground-level lookand#8212;by turns shrewd, lucid, and humaneand#8212;of the war in Vietnam."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"Beverly Deepe Keever is a brilliant journalist, and her book is both a personal journal and a journalist's personal perspective on a long war."and#8212;Foreword Reviews
Review
"These memoirs, at once personal and panoramic, chronicle the horrors of war and a rise and decline of American power and prestige."and#8212;Bob Edmonds, McCormick Messenger
Review
andquot;Beverly Deepe Keever does an excellent job of recounting her unique Vietnam War experiences.andquot;andmdash;Marc Leepson, Books in Review II
Review
andquot;Keever is an excellent storyteller. . . . Death Zones and Darling Spies adds a woman's view to the many retrospectives on the Vietnam Warandmdash;a war covered and perpetrated mostly by men.andquot;andmdash;Carolyn Johnsen, Lincoln Journal Star
Review
"Crisp and well-documented."and#8212;James Boylan, Columbia Journalism Review
Review
"A beautifully written memoir with a spellbinding immediacy."—Kirkus
Review
“Ancient Furies is an utterly fascinating account of the plight of White Russians during World War II told by a new and riveting witness. In gorgeous language, through the eyes of an exceptionally gifted girl, the reader learns what it was to grow up in privilege in Russia and Yugoslavia, to be tutored in five languages by nurturing nuns, and then to have ones family torn asunder as the German and Soviet armies roar into action. This beautifully composed work is a wonderful companion volume to that of Anne Frank—a rich story of the wartime experiences of an observant and sensitive young woman. Saporitos is a voice of both grace and power. All who open the pages of this remarkable book will find themselves enthralled.”—Sara Mansfield Taber, author of Born Under an Assumed Name: The Memoir of a Cold War Spys Daughter
Review
"[A] classic."—Philip Caputo, Washington Post
Review
and#8220;A raw, heartfelt account of how a man of valor lost his bearings and eventually found the courage to share his story.and#8221;and#8212;Bing West
Review
and#8220;Searing. . . . In its depiction of combat, Shadow of the Sword ranks with Marcus Luttrelland#8217;s Lone Survivor.and#8221;and#8212;Wall Street Journal
Review
and#8220;This superior addition to the literature on the Iraq War is an exceptionally vivid account of combat and its aftermath. . . . Workmanand#8217;s testimony gives hope that those suffering the nightmare of PTSD can free themselves sufficiently to avoid becoming additional casualties of the current war.and#8221;and#8212;Booklist
Review
and#8220;An important book about a debilitating injury that thousands of warriors struggle with each day. It is only fair that Americans understand the true costs of war. Be informed. Be inspired. Read this book.and#8221;and#8212;Wesley R. Gray, U.S. Naval Instituteand#8217;s Proceedings magazine
Review
and#8220;A brutally honest account of Workmanand#8217;s daily struggleand#8230;, which, as the author reveals, has destroyed or crippled the lives of hundreds of thousands of combat veterans of America's wars.and#8221;and#8212;James C. Roberts, Washington Times
Review
and#8220;In writing this moving and incredibly honest book, Jeremiah Workman shows as much courage as he did in Fallujah. His story gives hope to everyone who struggles that they, too, can overcome if they just keep fightingand#8212;one day at a time, one battle at a time, one victory at a time.and#8221;and#8212;Donovan Campbell, author of the New York Times bestseller Joker One
Synopsis
There is the mythology of the Green Berets, of their clandestine, special operations as celebrated in story and song. And then there is the reality of one soldiers experience, the day-to-day loss and drudgery of a Green Beret such as H. Lee Barnes, whose story conveys the daily grind and quiet desperation behind polished-for-public-consumption accounts of military heroics. In
When We Walked Above the Clouds, Barnes tells what it was like to be a Green Beret, first in the Dominican Republic during the civil war of 1965, and then at A-107, Tra Bong, Vietnam. There, he eventually came to serve as the advisor to a Combat Recon Platoon, which consisted chiefly of Montagnard irregulars. Though “nothing extraordinary,” as Barnes saw it, his months of simply doing what the mission demanded make for sobering reading: the mundane business of killing rats, cleaning guns, and building bunkers renders the intensity of patrols and attacks all the more harrowing.
More than anything, Barness story is one of loss—of morale lost to alcoholism, teammates lost to friendly fire, missions aborted, and missions endlessly and futilely repeated. As the story advances, so does the attrition—teammates transferred, innocence cast off, confidence in leadership whittled away. And yet, against this dark background, Barnes still manages to honor the quiet professionals whose service, overshadowed by the outsized story of Vietnam, nonetheless carried the day.
Synopsis
In this psychologically gripping memoir, Blake Allmendinger returns to his childhood home after a forty-year absence. His homecoming to the struggling farming community of Rocky Ford, Colorado, formerly known as the Melon Capital of the World, forces the author to confront his own sad and disturbing history, one that parallels his hometownand#8217;s decline.
Allmendingerand#8217;s family was dominated by his emotionally and mentally unstable mother, who became depressed while living in Rocky Ford as a young woman. For the rest of her life she abused the members of her family, creating tensions that remained unresolved until the end of the authorand#8217;s visit, when his mother died suddenly, a family member committed suicide, and a secret diary was discovered.
The Melon Capital of the World is a remarkable blend of personal narrative, memoir, and Allmendingerand#8217;s interviews with people who knew his mother and her family. His story is a gritty but compassionate, and at times humorous, portrait of a family trying to survive in the rapidly disappearing rural American West.
Synopsis
Wealth and family privilege are no match for the brutal forward march of two armies intent on eliminating each other. As a teenager, Anastasia Saporito discovered that truth as she and her family found themselves exiled, vulnerable, and no longer able to call on their social standing and accumulated riches as the Soviet and German armies converged during World War II. Saporito recounts in vivid detail the difficulties of her childhood as the daughter of White Russian aristocrats forced to flee their native Russia for refuge in Yugoslavia. In Ancient Furies Saporito skillfully depicts her family, her own struggles as a girl coming of age in war-torn central Europe, and the devastation incurred as a result of Nazi actions toward civilian populations of occupied countries. Personal recollections form the basis of this memoir, but the trials and tribulations faced by this young woman shed light on the often-hidden experiences of the once-wealthy elite of central and eastern Europe as the Nazi war machine tore much of that region asunder. Through the words of her teenage self, Saporito brings a different civilian experience of World War II into the open.
Synopsis
J. Glenn Gray entered the army as a private in May 1941, having been drafted on the same day he was informed of his doctorate in philosophy from Columbia University. He was discharged as a second lieutenant in October 1945, having been awarded a battlefield commission during fighting in France. Gray saw service in North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany in a counter-espionage unit.
Fourteen years after his discharge, Gray began to reread his war journals and letters in an attempt to find some meaning in his wartime experiences. The result is The Warriors, a philosophical meditation on what warfare does to us and an examination of the reasons soldiers act as they do. Gray explains the attractions of battle—the adrenaline rush, the esprit de corps—and analyzes the many rationalizations made by combat troops to justify their actions. In the end, Gray notes, “War reveals dimensions of human nature both above and below the acceptable standards for humanity.”
Synopsis
Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Workman is one of the Marine Corpsand#8217;s best-known contemporary combat veterans. In this searing and inspiring memoir, he tells an unforgettable story of his service overseasand#8212;and of the emotional wars that continue long after fighting soldiers come home.
In the Iraqi city of Fallujah in December 2004, Workman faced the challenge that would change his life. He and his platoon came upon a building in which insurgents had trapped their fellow Marines. Leading repeated assaults on that building, Workman killed more than twenty of the enemy in a firefight that left three of his own men dead.
But Workmanand#8217;s most difficult fight lay ahead, in the battlefield of his mind. He returned stateside, was awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry under fire, and was then assigned to the Marine base at Parris Island as a drill instructor. Haunted by the thought that he had failed his men overseas, Workman suffered a psychological breakdown in front of the soldiers he was charged with preparing for war.
In Shadow of the Sword, a memoir that brilliantly captures both wartime courage and its lifelong consequences, Workman candidly reveals the ordeal of post-traumatic stress.
About the Author
ANASTASIA V. SAPORITO was born in 1928 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Her father was a White Russian army officer and her mother was the daughter of the pre-revolution general governor of Ukraine. Anastasia taught conversational Russian at Dartmouth College while earning a graduate degree. DONALD L. SAPORITO was married to Anastasia for almost fifty years. He served with the library at Dartmouth College and as library director at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Donald and Anastasia worked together on this book, and he completed it after her death.