You just can't beat Shaara's style, the way he weaves historic figures together with the everyday soldier's experience. Eisenhower's stark warning, that if they can't stop the Axis in Africa, they can't stop them, period, really hits home. The paratrooper and tank commander combat scenes in "The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II" by Jeff Shaara are especially vivid. A must-read for WWII history buffs!

A whopping 23 hours in unabridged audiobook format.But here's the thing: in just two and a half hours of listening, we jump from the lead-up to the war all the way to August 1942. It feels rushed, almost like Jeff Shaara was sprinting to get to the parts he's most comfortable with – the American side of things. It's a bit jarring, to be honest.If you can get past that initial sprint, though, it's smooth sailing from there. My only other real critique is that Shaara seems to give his main charact...

I've just finished reading Jeff Shaara's first book in his WWII series, *The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II*, and it's a great starting point. Shaara does a solid job of presenting a novelized view of the war in Europe (and I stress 'European' war – more on that when I review the fourth book). While *The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II* is a work of fiction, the historical facts within are accurate. Shaara lays out the events of history as they happened. What makes it a novel are the ...

The first book in Jeff Shaara's series on World War II, *The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II*, focuses on the campaigns in North Africa and Sicily. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person. Some are famous historical figures like Eisenhower, Patton, and Rommel, while others are fictional characters. These fictional characters are actually composites of real GIs, providing the view of the citizen soldiers and their experiences. One of these fictional characters is Jack...

Jeff Shaara's books are consistently entertaining, and "The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II" was my first foray into his World War II novels. This one hones in on the North African and Italian campaigns. As is Shaara's trademark, each chapter unfolds through the eyes of a different character, alternating between well-known figures and ordinary soldiers. This approach paints both the grand strategic overview and the gritty realities on the ground. I especially savored the chapters focusing o...

"Victory comes from the strategy, the plan, the tools we are given.""The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II" is the first of four books historical novelist Jeff Shaara wrote about WW II. It was better than I expected it to be. This novel follows the North African and Sicilian campaigns of the war, a part of WW II I know little about, despite the fact that BOTH of my grandfathers served in those campaigns. Shaara does an excellent job demonstrating in this novel how pivotal those campaigns were...

As much as I love all things Shaara, having devoured a dozen novels from Jeff and his father, Michael, *The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II* is probably my least favorite. In my opinion, the book tries to cover way too much ground (literally). We read about the numerous conflicts between Rommel's panzer division (Germans), Montgomery's Desert Rats (Brits), Ike/Bradley/Patton (Americans), and Mussolini's Republican Army, initially taking place in Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, etc....

Jeff Shaara's *The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II* plunges you straight into the American experience of World War II in Europe. The action kicks off in Africa, with everyone waiting for Operation Torch to begin. Like Shaara’s other books, this one follows key players like Eisenhower, Patton, Montgomery, and, fascinatingly, Rommel and Kesselring. We see the Desert campaign in North Africa and the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy through their eyes. I really appreciated the insight into ...

I'm a big fan of Jeff Shaara's knack for blending history with compelling characters. He vividly brings the historical setting, context, and pivotal events to life through the eyes of characters rooted in reality. It's the kind of historical fiction that truly makes history feel real, reminding the reader of its profound impact and inherent fascination. If you're looking for captivating World War II novels, you should definitely check out "The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II" by Jeff Shaara...

My experience diverged from some other reviewers. I was really drawn into the staff meetings and the dynamic between the generals, especially the diplomatic tightrope Eisenhower walked compared to Patton's straightforwardness. But for some reason, the battle scenes didn't grab me as much. Overall, I didn't find "The Rising Tide: A Novel of World War II" nearly as captivating as Shaara's books about the Revolutionary, Mexican, and Civil Wars. That said, Jeff Shaara has earned my loyalty with his ...