| Title | : | Army of Shadows: The WWII Collection |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 318 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1977 |
France, Winter 1944: The long-awaited liberation is at hand
The bombing missions had gone well, and the crew of the Lancaster bomber had begun to relax. Then the Messerschmitt came out of the darkness, its guns blazing.
Of the nine-man crew only Neville and Urqhart survive, parachuting into the heart of occupied France. Joining forces with the men of the French Resistance, they must enter a deadly game of cat and mouse with a ruthless enemy...
A nerve-shredding thriller of the Second World War, steeped in historical research, perfect for fans of Alistair MacLean, Jack Higgins and Wilbur Smith.
Army of Shadows: The WWII Collection Reviews
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Spoilers ahead.
This book is about a small village of Nery in France, under German occupation during WW2. Two downed British airmen reach the village just as a new German unit arrives to take it over.
The main story is about the lives of the villagers under German occupation. Threads of the story include romance between the villagers and the airmen, the German search for valuable art that belongs to the mayor and resident nobility of the village and disagreements between the German officers.
As D-Day draws near, more weapons are dropped for the villagers and they plan to take revenge on the Germans who get more antsy as they realize that the war is not going well for them.
The big ending is the big battle at the end between the villagers and the departing Germans. I found the long set-up rather long winded and not really much happens except for the romance between the characters. All of the Max Hennessy books I've read so far contains romance, sometimes a lot of it. I guess it was de rigueur for books written during this time but I find it mostly gratuitous and if it's not written well, boring.
As usual Hennessy puts too many characters in his books and it's hard to build them up when there's so many. But generally I think he did a good job especially the Germans. The ending was the best part, and I don't mean just the action part but the emotions that went through the villagers' heads as they realize that the war is over for them. The book is a nice departure from his usual work which deals mostly with regular armed forces characters. -
A Look at Occupied France WWII
An interesting take on how the French faced the rigors of occupation during the war. It details the efforts of locals and how they fought back. The story tells of two English airmen escaping from their mortally wounded aircraft and fighting with the locals till the allies arrived. I felt that the book was a little long but was an interesting read. -
A good read
Bedtime reading at its best. If you know anything about the Second World War this book is a delight and the Germans don’t come out of it very well either!! -
I really enjoyed reading this book even though it reminded me of Allo Allo without the comedy
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Good read
Good story and we'll written, I'm sure in truth there were some Airmen and Soldiers who stayed behind when it was all over.
