Following A Thousand Ships, which was short-listed for Britain's Women's Prize for Fiction and a best seller in the United States, Haynes's Pandora's Jar belongs to a growing number of titles that put the female characters of Greek mythology front and center as less passive or secondary than they've been regarded (25,000-copy hardcover and 30,000-copy paperback first printing)

Kershaw follows up The First Wave with another gripping chronicle of WWII, this time focusing on the U.S. Army's 3rd Division. Documenting the group's invasion of North Africa in 1942 and subsequent advance across Italy, France, and Germany, Kershaw highlights the exploits of Medal of Honor recipients including Maurice Britt, Audie Murphy, and Keith Ware. At the four-month siege of Anzio, Italy, Britt, a former football player for the Detroit Lions, lost his right arm. Evacuated to the U.S. as a "vital propaganda figure," he made radio appearances while 3rd Division regiments liberated Rome and landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy. Audie Murphy and Keith Ware earned their medals of honor for leading counterattacks in the Colmar Pocket, an area of "formidable German resistance" in Alsace, France, during the harsh winter of 1944--1945. After crossing the Rhine River into Germany, 3rd Division units stormed Nuremberg, concluding "an epic odyssey of combat and liberation" fought by "arguably the finest U.S. infantry division of World War II." Though the transitions between top commanders and frontline soldiers are sometimes awkward, Kershaw describes his subjects' heroic acts with earthy exuberance and lucidly explains military strategy. WWII buffs will be enthralled. (Mar.)

Kershaw (The First Wave, 2019) vividly chronicles 600 days of WWII combat endured by the U.S. Army's Third Infantry Division while focusing on the personalities and exploits of four exceptional soldiers who experienced missions in Morocco, Italy, southern France, Germany, and Austria. Maurice Britt, Michael Daly, Keith Ware, and Audie Murphy racked up medals for valor at a record pace while pushing the Axis forces back into the Third Reich. These four heroes and their comrades demonstrated that both individual and group bravery counts in battle at least as much as superior weapons systems. Kershaw recounts how courageous soldiers turned the tide and defied the odds at Anzio beachhead and the Siegfried Line, among other key locations, to bring the war to a successful conclusion. He tapped many primary sources and conducted interviews with descendants of the four Medal of Honor recipients to produce an engaging, well-written narrative that delivers readers right to the battlefields. Against All Odds is a timely reminder of the horrors of war and valor and sacrifices of the Greatest Generation.

World War II heroics with a touch of melancholy. In his latest book of popular World War II history, bestselling author Kershaw tells the stories of four Americans who won the Medal of Honor and lived postwar lives that sometimes kept them in the public eye. The best known is Audie Murphy, diminutive son of a dirt-poor Texas family and an underage enlistee whose spectacular marksmanship and fearless aggression won him not only a host of medals, but a career in Hollywood. He often served under Keith Ware, a captain from Officer Training School who won the medal but also became the first draftee in history to end his career as a general. He played an important role in the Vietnam War before dying in a helicopter crash in 1968. Maurice Britt was playing professional football when he was called up. Seriously injured in 1944, he became "the first American in history to gain every medal for valor in a single war." Michael Daly entered West Point in 1942, hated its brutal hazing and regimentation, quit, and immediately enlisted as a private, anxious to prove that he had the right stuff. Landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, he performed feats of bravery until the very end. With a serious facial injury, Daly's public exposure was minimal, and he lived modestly, dying in 2008. Movie-star handsome, Murphy appeared on the cover of Life, becoming the "Sergeant York" war icon of WWII. Actor James Cagney offered a film contract if he went to acting school and lost his Texas accent. Murphy enjoyed a successful career through the 1950s but had drifted out of the spotlight before dying in a plane crash in 1971. These men fought at the sharp edge, so Kershaw pours out a steady stream of vicious small-unit actions filled with merciless brutality and bloodshed. Some readers may feel the urge to skim some of the mayhem, but the accomplishments of the soldiers shine through. Realistic portraits of four American superheroes. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.