Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II

Mr. Kershaw has written another excellent history of the combat in W.W. II. This time he focused primarily on four men of the 3rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army in the European Theater (from North Africa through Sicily, Italy, Southern France, to Germany and Austria). The men he chose for this study all won the Medal of Honor, among many other awards such as the Bronze and Silver Stars. He found stories very much worth telling. What the author has done is follow these remarkable soldiers through their combat experiences with a great amount of detail and an eye for the most riveting aspects of each of their experiences. In fact, I found myself keeping a finger in the footnotes pages so I wouldn't miss any of the pertinent details he puts there (and there are several good ones!). In short, Mr. Kershaw has written a fantastic tribute to these gallant soldiers and the division and regiments to which they belonged. As another reviewer has pointed out, the author missed a finer point on ballistics between the M1 Garand and carbine (nobody is perfect!). But this in no respect takes much away from the over-all impact of this excellent W.W. II history. It is a masterful undertaking, and other than that one flaw, I found it highly informative and well researched! Mr. Kershaw has consulted a vast number of sources to pull this book together. I could hardly put it down and enjoyed reading it tremendously! I highly recommend it to any reader with even a moderate interest in this time period, especially if your interest includes the war in this part of Europe. Don't miss it!

This is a very good book. I purchased it from an Amazon recommendation and most of the time I find their recommendations to be exactly what I enjoy reading. This author did not spend anytime at all jumping into the story. Often it seems authors spend and exorbitant amount of time developing the characters. In this case one just jumps right into the story almost making me think I had skipped an intro somewhere. However, once the reader becomes engaged with the story, background information is casually filtered throughout. I was surprised to read in the first few pages about Maurice Footsie Britt. As a young man I remembered him becoming Arkansas Lt. Governor but I really didn't know much else about him. His name and nickname after all is unforgettable. Never had I realized what a hero he was. The author suggested that perhaps if he hadn't had lost an arm in the war he would have been more popularized by the military. Audie Murphy, at least visibly, met the definition of someone that could be showed off to the public. To me it's very difficult to distinguish one Medal of Honor hero from another. Anyone that earned that Medal has paid an incredible price. So this book is about WWII heros and the story is brilliantly told. The story is all tied together and not a series of individual stories. The flow is perfect and exhausting from the standpoint that the reader feels the action. This book is so worth your time! It's amazing.

The bravest among the greatest generation. The narrative was good but slightly confusing because it jumped from solder to solder. I'm glad I read this book. These men were true heroes and are slowly being forgotten.

there are some books that just take you along for the ride and this is one of them , the type of book you can't put down , especially if you like a lot of details

Hard back book. Bound great with dust jacket. Love the details outlining activity from great individuals in WW history. Recommend

I have read many books about true combat. This book is by far the best book ever on combat. The telling of the lives after the war of the Medal of Honor winners makes one feel strong emotions. Can't say enough about how good this book is.

My dad was there for part of this so the book means a lot. It is well written and researched. A stunning story.

This was amazing and heart wrenching and the same time. No holds barred. We follow four soldiers, Maurice "Footsie" Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy through their experiences through WWII, close to 2 years of campaign to free Europe from Hïtler and the N@zi grip. From French Morocco to Hïtler's Mountain Top Fortress. These men being part of the "Marne Men" go through some terribly terrific ordeals and Kershaw does an amazing job of capturing and keeping you attention. I definitely want to check out some more from this Author. My absolute favorite Quote at the end was from Michael Daly when he was read his last rites as he was passing in July 2008. He said "[the] world needs peacemakers. Any one can shoot a gün." AMEN! Wish we still had the mentality as the people back then. Things were a lit simpler back then too. What those meen went through to stop evil and then them not wanting anyone else to go through that. One man was actually worried his kids would follow in his footsteps and try to live up to the medals he had received in WWII. One thing they all seemed to have in common, and I don't know if the thoughts were the same for every soldier, but these guys didn't accept these medals for themselves, they said they carried them as a memorial to those who made the ultimate sacrifice. That blew me away. Gonna focus on some lighter stuff for a while.

Uma desilusão. A premissa parecia interessante, mas o livro não conseguiu concretizar aquilo a que se propunha. A narrativa é arrastada e confusa, tanto que não consegui chegar ao fim. Tinha expectativas mais altas, mas infelizmente não correspondeu.

Wasn't sure if I would enjoy this book, but I really did. Never really knew too much about Audie Murphy or his comrades. Ok The story is well told & kept me riveted. Would recommend as a great read.

Great read, but too bad that the writer never mentioned the role that the Canadians played, and hence helped win the war.

This was a gift. Book was clearly used

I follow the author Alex Kershaw on social media and have bought several of his books (The First Wave is particularly brilliant) after seeing him discuss them online and this book was no different. Its a great read with plenty of detail but it never gets bogged down in minutae. It's basically a history of the 3rd division which featured the famous Medal of Honor recipient Audie Murphy. It taps into one of the lesser known units and their mostly unrecognised efforts. Buy it now.