A Review By Monica West

What is the meaning of the word courage?

Alex Kershaw has written the book “Against All Odds” to define the word courage.

Kershaw does so by showcasing the lives of four men who all serve in the same unit during World War II.

The book is a detailed work of the lives of these men spanning 600 days of combat from North Africa to Nazi Germany.

They knew each other, liked each other, and fought together to keep themselves and each other alive.  

This read was compelling and frightening.

The burden of deaths that they witnessed and the gritty show of love and purposefulness in what they were doing during the whole of the war was an incredible feat of the writer to make it so real and heart-breaking as well as heart-warming. 

I am quite in awe of Kershaw’s ability to have the reader become so involved with their feelings.

Kirkus Reviews said, “In his latest book of popular World War II history, bestselling author Kershaw tells the stories of four Americans who won the Medal of Honor and lived postwar lives that sometimes kept them in the public eye.” The most famous was Audie Murphy. “Realistic portraits of four American superheroes.”

  Informative, heart-felt and interesting. It was interesting to relate so deeply and witness how these men handled such intense tragedy for so long.

 What became of the four men?  You will learn what happened to them after the war and you will really be glad that you have read this book.    It is in the library stacks under 940.54  KER   

Monica West reviews books for InDepthNH.org. Monica is known for her love of history and her lifelong love for reading. She has a bachelor’s degree in History, with a minor in English. “My years of reading for leisure and pleasure have given me the insight to read a book and analyze the author’s baggage, cargo and ability to write the language of his/her mind and utilize the gift of prose to educate and entertain the reader. Go get a book, read it and enjoy the adventure.”