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A Real Good War is a grippingly authentic autobiographical novel and the author's fictional debut at the age of seventy-seven. Set during the last months of World War 11, it is the story of a B-17 bomber crew from basic training in the US to their missions from British airfields to destroy the vital and heavily fortified industrial sites of Germany. It renders those experiences in muscular, controlled prose that enables the reader to taste the terror of flying these missions through heavy barrages of flak, through impenetrable fog, often in crippled aircraft bearing wounded or dead bodies. As his crew carry out their brutal duty with humour and despair, fear and courage, coping with ever-mounting casualties, the young navigator who tells the tale is forced to learn the real meaning of war.
book reviews
- New York Times
What makes this book engrossing is its evocation of the fine line between a close call and a tragedy, not to mention the way guilt is detonated by war's deadly absurdity. Robert Olen Butler (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction)"A Real Good War is gritty and funny and rich with authenticity. The long overdue debut of a very talented writer. - Leonard Michaels
Sam Halpert shines his light on a well-worn subject, war, and gives us material glowing with stoic humor and a crusty humanity. This is a wonderful, unique and moving book. - Publication
If you want to know what World War II air war was like; the blood, fire, death and hell for American boys, A Real Good War is the book to read
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