Monday 16 January 2023

✧ Book Review ✧ The Yanks are Starving (A Novel of the Bonus Army) by Glen Craney #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub @glencraney @cathiedunn



Two armies. One flag. No honor.

The most shocking day in American history.

Former political journalist Glen Craney brings to life the little-known story of the Bonus March of 1932, which culminates in a bloody clash between homeless World War I veterans and U.S. Army regulars on the streets of Washington, D.C.

Mired in the Great Depression and on the brink of revolution, the nation holds its collective breath as a rail-riding hobo named Walter Waters leads 40,000 destitute men and their families to the steps of the U.S. Capitol on a desperate quest for economic justice.

This timely epic evokes the historical novels of Jeff Sharra as it sweeps across three decades following eight Americans who survive the fighting in France and come together fourteen years later to determine the fate of a country threatened by communism and fascism.

From the Boxer Rebellion in China to the Plain of West Point, from the persecution of conscientious objectors to the horrors of the Marne, from the Hoovervilles of the heartland to the pitiful Anacostia encampment, here is an unforgettable portrayal of the political intrigue and government betrayal that ignited the only violent conflict between two American armies.

Awards:

Foreword Magazine Book-of-the-Year Finalist
Chaucer Award Book-of-the-Year Finalist
indieBRAG Medallion Honoree

Review

The Yanks are starving is a brilliant, although sometime harrowing, novel about an almost forgotten era in American history. Everyone with an historical interest will have heard of The Great Depression, but the story that Craney has depicted is not one that I am familiar with. The Bonus Army’s story is a tragic one and Craney did not hold back in his depiction of these desperate families and the government’s response to them, which was appalling to say the least. A veteran army and the Army clashing, it really does beggar belief that this could have happened, but happen it did, with all of its tragic consequences.

It is very obvious that the author has really done his homework, this book screamed authenticity, and the historical depictions were second to none. And although there is a huge cast of characters in this novel I soon learned who everyone was and their role that they played in this story.

I thought this book was something very special indeed. If you are a fan of historical fiction set in America then this book has to be on your to-read list. It is gripping from beginning to end and it is one that I certainly recommend.

✧ Purchase Link ✧

Glen Craney


GLEN CRANEY is an author, screenwriter, journalist, and lawyer. 

A graduate of Indiana University Law School and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he is the recipient of the Nicholl Fellowship Prize from the Academy of Motion Pictures and the Chaucer and Laramie First-Place Awards for historical fiction. 

He is also a four-time indieBRAG Medallion winner, a Military Writers Society of America Gold Medalist, a four-time Foreword Magazine Book-of-the-Year Award Finalist, and an Historical Novel Society Reviews Editor's Choice honoree. 

He lives in Malibu and has served as the president of the Southern California Chapter of the HNS.

Social Media Links


3 comments:

  1. Thank you for hosting Glen Craney today, and for your wonderful review of The Yanks are Starving. xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the marvelous review!
    Glen Craney

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm eager to read this book, The Bonus march is related to how my mother, living with her father in central Pennsylvania with a 1930 B.S. in Chemistry, was finally able to land a job in 1935 - in Washington D. C., working for the government. She worked the night shift opening WWI veteran applications. Her job was simply to open the envelopes, assemble the contents in the required order, paper clip them together, and sort them into two piles: complete and incomplete. Day staff handled the applications.

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