Thomas Booth

This is a biography of James Gavin, leader of the 82nd Airborne division in WW II, and a trailblazer for the new tactics related to paratroopers, who played a hugely important role in that war. The book traces his life from his humble beginnings as an orphan raised by foster parents in a small town, who joined the army at 17 and made his life there.

He's an interesting character, but I thought the book was not very well-written. The authors run through his life in great detail, and the descriptions of the WW II campaigns are fascinating, but the writing for much of the book is a little too much "he did this, then he did that"). Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin write much more engagingly about history and important historical figures.… (mehr)