The Last Liberator (Signet) [Paperback]

Jerry Yulsman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Signet | Publication Date: February 1, 1993

Hiding from the mob after turning state's witness against his boss, Lucky Luciano, Army Sergeant Abraham Cohen, once Danny Esposito of Hell's Kitchen, finds himself hunted by Luciano, his anti-Semitic commander, and the FBI. Reprint.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Abe Cohen, the hero of this WW II novel, is actually Danny Esposito, a two-bit hood who turned state's evidence at the trial of Lucky Luciano. To evade retribution from the Mafia, Esposito adopts a Jewish identity (though uncircumcised) and enlists in the Army Air Force, becoming a flight engineer on a B-24 Liberator bomber. The action centers on the ill-conceived and poorly executed air raid on Ploesti, the Romanian oil center that provided Axis forces with much of their petroleum. Interspersed with the account of the raid are flashbacks to Cohen's prior life and descriptions of his transformation into the man he pretends to be. The object of anti-Semitic slurs, he eventually becomes a supporter of the Zionist underground. The story of Ploesti (and an earlier attack on Rome) switches back and forth between the points of view of the Americans and the enemy, and mixes historical figures with fictional characters, a la Samuel Fuller's Big Red One. Although the combat sequences are compelling, the emotional heart of the book, Cohen's metamorphosis, lacks drive, while the Luciano subplot is muddled and contrived. Yulsman ( Elleander Morning ), who participated in the Ploesti raid, clearly knows his subject, and readers may wish that he had instead concentrated solely on the history of the battle.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The author, who was involved in the World War II Ploesti mission in Rumania, vividly portrays the Ploesti oil fields through the actions of the crew of a B-24 Liberator bomber. Abe Cohen, flight engineer, is not really Jewish but pretends to be. Captain Maguire, anti-Semitic, comes to admire Cohen, who is really a former Mafia informant. Swift-moving chapters alternate between the Ploesti mission and the turbulent and romantic days preceding it, including a period in Palestine and American involvement with arms for Jews. Exciting and readable, this should appeal to World War II buffs.
- Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Signet (February 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451173341
• ISBN-13: 978-0451173348
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,284,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story of the men who fought WWII, October 8, 2006

By 

Andrew W. Johns "ResQgeek" (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Last Liberator (Hardcover)

Danny Esposito, aka Abe Cohen, is a man hiding from his past. He's changed his identity and joined the army, in an effort to escape those who might want to find him. What he doesn't count on is the war. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, he finds himself sucked into the vast conflict. What he learns about himself and the world while fighting we change his destiny forever.

Interweaving Danny/Abe's story with a detailed acounting of the fateful attack on the Rumanian oil fields at Ploesti, this story combines a gripping story of the terrors and triumphs of combat with one man's story of self-discovery. The descriptions of combat are detailed and utterly convincing, and provide the backdrop for Abe's growing realization that there is more to life than he's ever expected. As someone who has always been fascinated by the men and machines that made up the Army Air Forces in World War II, this story kept me engrossed from beginning to end.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Liberator, February 12, 2000

By 

Ralph R. Echtinaw (Livonia, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Liberator (Hardcover)

I haven't read a book this good in a long time. Author Jerry Yulsman himself flew on the Ploesti mission and evidently remembers all the sights, smells and feelings clearly. What's more, he has the skill as a writer to communicate these sensations well. I've read a lot of World War II aviation stuff, and this book comes closer than anything else I've seen to showing what the total experience was like. Yulsman's attention to detail in describing the bomb loading, aerial gunnery, moving around inside the Liberator, etc. is as welcome as it is rare in my experience. Yet the scene-setting description and attention to detail never overwhelms the plot of the story. Yulsman sets us up to believe that the protagonist's pilot is a jerk, and he is, but he turns out to be a stand-up guy in battle, which wasn't uncommon in reality. The protagonist, an Italian-American from "Hell's Kitchen" in New York, comes to embrace the Jewish faith in the end, but Yulsman handles this without getting heavy-handed. To sum up, anyone with an interest in World War II aviation will probably love this book. However, you probably won't like it as much if you don't have an interest in World War II aviation.