Customer Reviews

Liberation Road: A Novel of World War II and the Red Ball Express

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although ardent fans of his eastern front trilogy might disagree, David Robbins' latest book strikes me as his finest story yet. It is appropriate that a national periodical described him as the "Homer of World War II." The pathos of war is timeworn, as old as the western literary tradition itself, but Robbins has captured the profundity of this subject in a manner that is fresh even as it is familiar. On the one hand, his prose is magnificent, his turn of the phrase certain to capture and enthrall. On the other, he has crafted characters with whom the reader can identify. We are privy to the hopes and fears of Ben Kahn and Joe Amos. They are people we know. These men are our neighbors. They live and they breathe. This is no mean feat given that both men speak to us across time and race. Moreover, both men have to compete with the larger story unfolding around them for our attention. Nevertheless, Robbins successfully weaves their two tales into one account that conveys as well the enormity of the allied drive on Paris in the summer of 1944. Anyone reading this book will come away from it with a better understanding of that crucial campaign, Robbins' research, as always, is superlative. More immediately, however, readers will be reminded that this great crusade was the sum of millions of individual accounts, most of which are lost in the maelstrom of history. In this work of fiction, Robbins has provided two such imagined histories, and left us with a universal story of humanity striving to assert itself in the face of mortal carnage and moral confusion. This book is a study of war, but most particularly, of the American experience of war. As such, it is also a commentary on the American character, on our inimitable national optimism, and the shadows that have darkened our national experience. I cannot recommend enough that you read it yourself, that you encourage your friends to do so as well, and that you leave your thoughts on the book in this forum.

I have to admit I was impressed with the erudition and the effort clearly on display in the review below. I normally don't write Amazon reviews, but I felt the opinion expressed prior to this should be countered. Mr. Robbins is a familiar author for many of us who love historical fiction; his prose is first quality and his research unquestioned and, I believe, on a par with no contemporary writer - you have to go back to a Leon Uris to find a writer who packs as much information and authenticity into his books as does Robbins. This being said, I disagree strongly with any contention that Liberation Road delivers less than a powerful punch. The reviewer who follows me seemed to feel cheated that Robbins spent time developing memorable and conflicted characters; apparently he wanted more blood and less heart. Robbins's books have always been a splendid combination of the two - action that resounds off the page combined with fine shavings of the human will to fight, survive, and, yes, even love. Liberation Road, after an exhilirating ride of grueling battles, swift heroism, deep historical context, and intense moral confusion, gave me a shattering ending to the novel. I did not see it coming and was moved to a real tear, something rare from a book or movie. This happened not because I was treated to just a cavalcade of action but because I was touched by the authenticity of the characters, their delimmas, and their pain. Throw in that Robbins deals with a tale of combat told from the postures of two non-combatants, that he exposes the history of the famous Red Ball Express, that he makes heroes out of a chaplain and a humble African American soldier, that he addresses issues of racism and anti-Semitism, and that his characters sacrifice themselves in the name of greed, or passion, or hatred, or bravery - then can you ask more from an author? Not me. Robbins has again upheld the very high expectations I have of him. If you have enjoyed his work before, trust this book to be more of the same, and perhaps his best yet. I'm a former Marine gunnery sergeant, and to be fair, I think I know a good war story when I see one. This is certainly one of the best this year. I recommend it to those who want more than smoke and explosions. Turn to other writers for that (Jeff Schaara, Pressfield). Robbins lays it all out, the human spirit, asd well as the machinery, of war. Highly recommended.

Robbins has again cast light on a little-recognized corner of World War II. The Civil Rights movement in America had its beginnings in that war, and the desegreation of the military was the first great step forward for our integrated society. The black Red Ball drivers were really the pioneers, because of their intrepidness and courage in the face of not only combat but the inbred racism in the army. Add to that the power of the novel's story of a rabbi chaplain, gone to war to determine the fate of his pilot son, and you have a moving mix of characters, a fascinating backdrop, and Robbins' proven abilies with action, fact, place and people. Read this and learn while you enjoy a marvelous, fast-paced novel about a little known corner of WWII. Excellent and recommended.

Let me start off by saying I am very disappointed in David Robbins most recent effort. I found that it spent all of its time on the characters, who were stereotyped and who should be more irritated than the reader, that it pandered to issues both current and past in an effort to generate a 'lifetime channel' view of the simplicity of humans, and finally it nearly mocked the efforts of millions to target the flaws of a few.

OK. I recognize that to comment negatively on the enormously complex topics of racism and anti semitic behavior is foolish, certainly wrong, and insensitive. The WWII German treatment of its Jewish citizens is so horrific that it deserves solitary, focused treatment. Not third rate actors in a fourth rate story. I don't mean to do that here.

First of all, Mr. Robbins has written enormously popular novels. For what it's worth, I have given them 5 stars as have many others. To write historical fiction is a difficult task. If you stick to just the facts, you've just written another treatise, frequently aloof, often sacrificing the human pathos for statistics. On the other hand, you can change the facts and end up being accused of rewriting history. Also a blunder of mammoth proportions.

Here Mr. Robbins leaves the brilliance of his former trilogy about Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin, and writes singularly of two characters, Joe Amos, an educated African American truck driver bringing supplies from the chaos of Omaha Beach to the front lines, and Rabbi Ben Kahn, struggling with his hatred of himself and the lives he took in the First World War and searching for his son, who unbeknownst to him has become a prominent black marketeer in occupied Paris. That's it. That's the story. Nothing more than that.

Was there racism in 1944? Yes. Hell. There's racism now. It's the most debilitating problem that this nation faces. But I thought that we applauded the universal effort of the battle of good over evil in 1942, 43, 44, and 45? I thought that when Brokaw wrote that 'this was the greatest generation ever' he was talking about everyone. Now I read Robbins and I find that the officers at Omaha in charge of the enormously complex supply train to ensure that the boys on the front line were never denied bullets, band aids, gasoline, mail and food, were for the most part racist, frequently willing to take bribes, and that the enlisted men Joe Amos and others were taking to St. Lo and beyond were overtly ignorant pigs, and that the Uniform Code of Military Justice had a set of white rules and a set of black rules. Frankly, I thought it pandered, trying to raise issues that had been addressed, were addressed, were still seeking resolution, that good men and women deal with every day, and that it was done just to get a reaction.

Chaplain Ben Kahn? Good man. But I wanted the history of how we supplied the war effort. That's what I thought Robbins promised me. That's what I thought the book was about. In the other trilogy, the most important character was the war, the hideous, immoral, evil effort of the two psychopaths, Hitler and Stalin. The human story was a distant second. Here we spend hundreds of pages dealing with Chaplain Kahn's post traumatic stress.

It took an effort to finish this book. Important issues? Most assuredly. Other authors frequently examine them in focused writing. "A Death in Vienna" for a fictional view. "Hitler's Willing Accomplices" for a non fiction view. But "Liberation Road" is misleading in the context of what Mr. Robbins told us he was going to write about. 2 stars. Larry Scantlebury

Robbins does his research, presents a great story and ends it all in one neat package. Robbins' biggest problem is that he can never out-do his previous works like "The War of the Rats" and "The Last Citidal." If you are interested in WWII and historical fiction Robbins and Jeff Shaara are the two best writers going. This is not his best, but it is still a great book. The story lines are wrapped around three characters: Joe Amos a black truck driver with the Red Ball Express, Ben Kahn a Rabbi chaplain who fought in WWI and relives plenty of trama while searching for his downed pilot son and White Dog an American pilot that rules the Paris black market. All three stories are intertwined after D-Day. All of it is well-researched and fast-pace. A great read, but not his best.

My name is Larry Gunsberg, from Farmington Hills, MI. I am a fan of historical fiction..as well as nonfiction, and have just finished reading Liberation Road.

I became emotionally involved with the story...I actually cried (I kid you not!), I got angry, I laughed out loud, shook my head in amazement over what people do to survive, and sighed with totally satisfaction at the end with the good Rabbi's redemption. I have NEVER read a WWII story from a Chaplains perspective, much less a working class Rabbi (and, even better, a WWI Vet)

I felt Robbins three perspective approach and its culmination in the stinking French garage and the battle torn fox hole with our heroic young black driver and our anti-hero Rabbi, was satisfying and believable. Robbins ability to capture the sick arrogance of the Nazi Major after reveling the truth of the camps, the stupid cracker mentality (I wanted to punch the sons of bitches out), the varying attitudes among the Black soldiers, involved and moving. It was readable, believable, and provided the feeling of being on the battle field, in the trucks and in their heads.

It is a great story...it just worked on so many levels. I'll be recommending it.

i've found out so far that only 'war of the rats' is quite readable. this new one and the other two are not quite possible to become popular read. this one is too jewish taste. the rabbi who searched for his lost son, a usairforce pilot shot down over the occupied french sky then turned a deserter and black marketeer, and the other black gijoe amos, jimmy sarge, entwined tastelessly together, with boring fighting scenes, lots of rabbi blahblahblah prayings.....well, it has tired and dragged me out in the middle. the white dog character is such a boring and vague creation that has failed to grab my focus from the very beginning. mr robbins should put aside his jewish burden to widen and enlarge his writing field. there are lota jewish background writers who are so focus on their own origin and simply want to emphasize their root canals. and after 1/2 century, they are still trying very hard to remind themselves and others that they were victims and have been victimized till todate. give it a rest, will you?