THE BOYS' CRUSADE The American Infantry in Northwestern Europe, 1944-1945

This work chronicles the U.S. infantryman from Normandy to V-E Day. The author emphasizes the youth of these G.I.s, a great many of whom were 19, 18, even 17 years of age, merely boys in fact. The author writes from experience, for he himself was one of these boys. We are told of the slaughter of the Huertgen Forest, desertion, the liberation of the concentration camps, and other events. There is nothing romantic in these "joyless" accounts as Fussell describes the dirty, grimy business of war. This no-nonsense work is performed skillfully by Joel Leffert. His delivery is relaxed and his speech clear, splendidly nuanced, and expressive. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 04/ JAN 05]