This week, we feature military and war-related selections: the gripping memoir of a Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot and a biography of an enigmatic “Band of Brothers” hero.
Fiction We Need Our Heroes
‘Rising Tiger’
By Brad Thor
An American agent is assassinated in Rajasthan, India. An Indian Air Force helicopter is downed. The threat is global, and the enemy is powerful. Time to unleash America’s deadly operative Scot Harvath, who has the unparalleled skill set to bring the bad actors to justice.
Atria/Emily Bestler Books, 2022, 336 pages Boots on the Ground
‘Fields of Fire’
By James Webb
An Annapolis graduate and former U.S. senator, James Webb saw combat as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam and delivers that experience in this novel. Here, we meet several Marines serving in the An Hoa Basin in 1969, young Americans battling a tough enemy in an unpopular war. The combat scenes come alive through Webb’s vivid prose, his knowledge of tactics and small-unit fighting, and his understanding of the hearts and minds of these Marines. The final 20 pages masterfully capture the ambiguities of this war….