Sgt. York: His Life, Legend & Legacy : The Remarkable Untold Story of Sergeant Alvin C. York (Hardcover)

by John Perry (Author) "The battle for the Argonne Forest began before dawn on September 26, 1918..." (more)
Key Phrases: hog rifles, agricultural institute, second elder, Sergeant York, Pall Mall, Alvin York (more...)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: B&H Publishing Group (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805460748
• ISBN-13: 978-0805460742
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #136,878 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sgt. Alvin York, a true American hero., January 26, 2000

By	John Crowley (Wheaton, Illinois) - See all my reviews

After traveling to Pall Mall Tennesse and meeting the son of Sgt. York, seeing his home and visting his final resting place.I had to learn more about this amazing man. John Perry's book did an outstanding job of introducing this great man. This is not a blood and guts account of the horrors of WWI. While it is detailed at times it is through those details you learn what a true hero is. If you are looking for books about an Americans we should never forget this should be one of them.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone wanted a piece of him, March 7, 2005

By	Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

After reading his life of Mary Custis Lee, which was quite impressive and turned up many unique insights into a tragically misjudged lady, I sought out other books by Tennessee's own and only John Perry. I found a copy of UNSHAKABLE FAITH, but it had mildewed badly and was nearly unreadable. But faith must have led me to a path of light because on a dark shelf in an East Bay bookstore my hand crept down past a row of Elizabeth Peters books, and landed almost by a miracle on this earlier book by Perry.

I knew very little about Alvin York, except that my grandfather, whose name was Alvin, always blamed the remarkable fame of Sgt York on the popularity of this previous unknown name. He said when he went to school there were thirty-four boys in his graduating class called Alvin. John Perry addresses this amazing renown. His exploits in the Argonne Forest became the stuff of legend, and the Gary Cooper biopic in 1941 muffed the facts a bit to give York more of a country background than actually he had. Many members of his extended family were quite erudite, and my grandfather always used to say that one of York's aunts had written the very first home economics textbook in English, predating Boston's Fannie Farmer by some years.

Perry has a sincere way of writing, and the excitement doesn't let down when York comes back home a hero. You see him doing good works in the name of the Lord and, although many politicians and lawmakers were ever ready and anxious to buy up a piece of his ass, hoping to enlist him into one or another misbegotten crackpot scheme. To his credit York paid them no mind and just continued on his humble way. As with his life of Mary Lee, Perry shows how a good writer concentrates on the facts and lets the legend go its own way, like a small boy cutting the string to a kite and waving it goodbye. The truth is, what becomes a myth is something we have no control over, and Perry acknowledges this with good grace and a wry smile.

Highly recommended not only to Tennesseans and to Christians, but to everyone out there interested in a good life story.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A DETAILED account of an amazing mans life!, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

John Perry does an exceptional job writing this book on a very remarkable mans life. He writes of his war experience and of his devout, uncompromising faith in God. This book is however; a little to detailed in the last half. It can become quite tiresome in certain sections. Despite this I highly recommend it as a good book and as an accurate account of SGT. Alvin C. York's life. It is obvious that John Perry put forth an incredible amount of research to write this book and make it as accurate as possible.