Synopses & Reviews
Twenty-year-old Charles Felix was drafted in the US Army in May, 1943,
and sent overseas in late 1944 as an artillery replacement. He
quickly drew a far tougher assignment: Infantry, Fifth Division,
Third Army. This was Patton's army, which stiff-armed the furious
German assault known as the Battle of the Bulge and fought the
fiercely resistant German army in the winter and spring of 1945.
Felix, a radio operator, contracted yellow jaundice in April, 1945,
and was evacuated, ending his war. This is his story.
But CROSSING THE SAUER is quite unlike other war memoirs, and other
recent books on World War II and the "Greatest Generation." Felix is
writing not of history, nor often of heroism, but of war at a personal
level, offering the reader a startling and vivid rendering of the
reality of combat. His account mirrors the toughness and cynicism of
the average "dogface," while following the author and a cast of
real-like characters worthy of the best fiction. We join in the
terror of the assault platoon, the fatigue of days under constant
shelling, the incoherent madness of life at the front.
Review
"Felix's is one of the most honest, unforgettable memoirs of the war
I've read....For this, I admire him and recommend his book." Paul
Fussell, author of Doing Battle and Wartime
Review
"This is absolutely the best volume I've ever read on the GI in World
War II. True to Life? Wow! Every former GI will love this
one....Get out of the way Mr. Ambrose. Sorry, but here come the
ghosts of the real ones." Alvin M. Josephy, Jr., former editor,
American Heritage, and author of The Long and the Short and the Tall
Review
"There are no heroes in Charles Reis Felix's memoir... The reader is
left with a feeling that this is how it was, and relief at not having
been there." Edwin P. Hoyt, author of The GI's War
Review
"The account of his three months has a rawness, earthiness, and sense
of immediacy not usually found in the combat histories of the
period.....For anyone wanting to know how it felt to participate in
the events of World War II, this memoir is highly recommended."
Library Journal
Review
"Extensive reconstructed conversations reminiscent of Lester Atwell's
classic Private lend authenticity and immediacy to Felix's account . .
. .Felix describes his war as 'a profoundly "good" experience' that
sits, 'casting its shadow over everything.' One need not be an
enthusiast to enter that shadow's ken, making this book a good
experience by any measure." Publishers Weekly
Review
"His recollections are vibrant, hilarious, descriptive and, most
importantly, strike the reader as something real... This is a story
told by a man who has had the opportunity to reflect, for over fifty
years, on why Chance decided to let him survive." Foreword Magazine
Synopsis
Crossing the Sauer is a tough, vivid, honest, and tautly written memoir of advancing through Germany with Patton's Third Army.
Synopsis
Crossing the Sauer is a tough, vivid, honest, and tautly written memoir of advancing through Germany with Patton's Third Army. Join Charlie Felix on a tour of duty with characters worthy of MxAxSxH or Catch-22: loyal Berseglaria, bombastic Major Busey, happy-to-be-alive Harry Folenius, hot-headed Hillbilly, and more. By turns hilarious and poignant, grim and inspiring, Crossing the Sauer bears the earmarks of a classic.
About the Author
Charles Reis Felix, son of Portuguese immigrant parents, was born in
1923 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was a University of Michigan
sophomore when drafted in 1943. After the war he completed his BA in
history at Stanford University, and went on to become an
elementary-school teacher. He lives near San Francisco. This is his
first book.
Table of Contents
Prologue
1.Fontainebleau 2
2. Berseglaria 16
3. The Artillery Replacements 30
4. The First Week 46
5. Crossing the Sauer 54
6. Jelich 84
7. Nobody Gets Out 91
8. "Ich Spreche Deutsch ein Wenig" 98
9. The Assault Platoon 103
10. Whitewash 114
11. Jelich and the Roll 118
12. Footsteps 124
13. The Luger 132
14. A Dirty Trick 137
15. Major Pusey 145
16. The Rear 163
17. Captain Baker 179
18. The Priest Protecting the Furniture 187
19. Commanders 197
20. Folenius 206
21. Frankfurt 220
22. Finis 225
Epilogue