CYBILS REVIEWS JUNIOR HIGH NONFICTION: Secret Soldiers/1919: The Year That Changed America
ABOUT THE BOOK
What do set design, sound effects, and showmanship have to do with winning World War II? Meet the Ghost Army that played a surprising role in helping to deceive -- and defeat -- the Nazis.
In his third book about deception during war, Paul B. Janeczko focuses his lens on World War II and the operations carried out by the Twenty-Third Headquarters Special Troops, aka the Ghost Army. This remarkable unit included actors, camouflage experts, sound engineers, painters, and set designers who used their skills to secretly and systematically replace fighting units -- fooling the Nazi army into believing what their eyes and ears told them, even though the sights and sounds of tanks and war machines and troops were entirely fabricated. Follow the Twenty-Third into Europe as they play a dangerous game of enticing the German army into making battlefield mistakes by using sonic deceptions, inflatable tanks, pyrotechnics, and camouflage in more than twenty operations. From the Normandy invasion to the crossing of the Rhine River, the men of the Ghost Army -- several of whom went on to become famous artists and designers after the war -- played an improbable role in the Allied victory.
REVIEW
This account of the U.S. Twenty-Third Special unit revealed a little known aspect of World War II. This unit was formed, not for combat, but for deception operations. While deception was not considered an acceptable war tactic by many when the U.S. first joined the war, it soon became evident that it would be necessary in order to defeat the Germans. Thus the Twenty-Third Special was created. Each part of the unit had a unique role to play in fooling the Nazis. The 603rd Engineer Battalion focused on camouflage techniques. Signal Company Special worked on creating misleading radio communications. The 406th Combat Engineers provided security for the whole unit. And the 3132nd Signal Service Company Special created recordings and sound effects for the unit to use. Together this four groups would work to fool the Nazis regarding troop movements and locations. Janeczko provides information on the creation of the group, the training they received, their movements once they got to Europe and the missions they completed. While I found the book interesting and details fascinating, the missions did start to all sound the same after a while. Which makes sense though because that's what this unit was created to do. And while the missions all sound similar, there were unique aspects, such as how many men were sent into the field on each mission, and where the focus was for that mission. A well-written account of a unique aspect of World War II history for both junior and high school readers who can't get enough about the topic.
ABOUT THE BOOK
1919 was a world-shaking year. America was recovering from World War I and black soldiers returned to racism so violent that that summer would become known as the Red Summer. The suffrage movement had a long-fought win when women gained the right to vote. Laborers took to the streets to protest working conditions; nationalistic fervor led to a communism scare; and temperance gained such traction that prohibition went into effect. Each of these movements reached a tipping point that year.
Now, one hundred years later, these same social issues are more relevant than ever. Sandler traces the momentum and setbacks of these movements through this last century, showing that progress isn’t always a straight line and offering a unique lens through which we can understand history and the change many still seek.
REVIEW
After reading this book, I now know why it is a National Book Award Finalist. It is a superbly written account of some of the major events that occurred in 1919 that continue to have repercussions to this very day. Sandler focuses on six major events or series of events that changed the country for good. Women's suffrage, Prohibition, The Great Molasses Flood, racist violence, labor union strikes, and communist hysteria all left a mark on the United States, sometimes in good ways, sometimes in bad ways. But the door was opened to further change. None of these events/movements began in 1919, all of them had roots that ran deeper and back a lot farther, but for whatever reason, they all came to ahead in 1919 and the world was never the same. Sandler does a remarkable job summarizing the events and their roots without getting bogged down in too much detail. What I especially found intriguing though was the way he related each of the events/movements to issues, events, and movements that the United States faces currently. That makes this book a remarkably powerful example of how the past impacts the present and the future. The design of the book is also excellent with photographs and related sidebars of information adding to the power of the book. I can easily see why the book is a National Book Award Finalist. One of my 2019 favorites for sure.
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