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theshaggyshepherd's review against another edition
5.0
No Surrender by Christopher Edmonds and Douglas Century is a gripping historical memoir like no other I have read before. Books about World War II are available everywhere you turn right now but this is one you should really pick up and read. After his passing, Edmonds goes on a journey to find out all he can about his father, who was a prisoner of war of the Nazis during World War II. This is a look into the experiences of not only Edmond's father but also those who he served with and whose lives he saved. He grants us a look into the life of a remarkable man, a hero, that lived his life not only for himself, but in the service of others without looking for recognition for doing so. I highly recommend this read!
jkbailey's review against another edition
4.0
Chris Edmonds discovers, in serendipitous fashion, that his father was a war hero during his time in a Nazi POW camp. He sets out to discover the role his father played in saving the lives of Jewish POWs and it’s last impact years later. Roddie’s story was fascinating, and there were quite a few historical facts mentioned in this book about other areas of the war that were new to me.
The first tow or three chapters were fairly clumsily written and I felt like they were disjointed. But then the story picks up, the writing improves, and I was riveted, especially for the last half. I do wish there had been more follow up for certain characters. I felt like Roddie’s actions were incredibly impressive and this book is so sincere in how it handles the story.
I enjoyed the scope of the book, it’s point of view, and the story. Thank you Netgalley for a free digital advanced copy!
The first tow or three chapters were fairly clumsily written and I felt like they were disjointed. But then the story picks up, the writing improves, and I was riveted, especially for the last half. I do wish there had been more follow up for certain characters. I felt like Roddie’s actions were incredibly impressive and this book is so sincere in how it handles the story.
I enjoyed the scope of the book, it’s point of view, and the story. Thank you Netgalley for a free digital advanced copy!
krystal_swan5's review against another edition
4.0
Listened to this with the kids as part of our WWII unit study. We all enjoyed it and learned a lot.
sherwoodreads's review against another edition
This book is part biography, part detective story, part history, and part a story of heroism and of faith.
I was a kid during the fifties, born six years after the war ended. The economic and cultural aftermath of WW II surrounded me as I was growing up--kids regularly played good guys vs. "Nazis" (not differentiating them from Germans) and "Japs" as parents looked on in approval. And yet those older male relatives who had survived being soldiers or sailors in the war talked little about it, or didn't say anything at all. One friend's father drank himself to death, after being one of the first in at a death camp, an experience that shattered him, his family pieced together later. My grandfather, who signed up as a kid in his middle teens, using his older brother's ID so he could get away with it, had a hidden cache of extremely gruesome Kodak black and whites, taken after his naval units retook Iwo Jima and a couple of other blood-drenched islands.
Edmonds' father was another of these, staying silent and stoic through the remainder of his life. According to his son, pretty much all he'd say was that he and his fellow prisoners of war were humiliated.
But after his father's death, Edmonds took a look at what little was left, mainly an extremely cryptic diary, decided for his children's sake to uncover the whole story, and so began the detective work.
The account is colorful and gripping as he tracks down surviving members of his father's fellow prisoners, and men of his unit. Their stories are woven into his father's biography, creating a thought-provoking picture of ordinary American men swept into the meat-grinder of war. Those who survived did not come back the same as they had been.
Edmonds sometimes dips into fictionalizing, putting in dialogue and thoughts behind Nazi leaders, but he's not writing an academic text, so these dramatic additions can be forgiven when set against the fascinating whole. There are plentiful snapshots included, which add to the overall canvas.
Fight, capture, and then the grim reality of POW life in disintegrating Germany as men tried to hang onto their humanity through the few small acts and decisions they were permitted to make. One of the grimmest moments was when the Germans forced the prisoners to out the Jews among them, knowing what was going to happen to them, leading to Edmonds' act of heroism.
After liberation, which was another exercise in agonizing tension, they would discover stockpiled Red Cross packages never given to them--and their letters home never sent. There was no debriefing in those days, or offers of counseling. They were shipped home to pick up their lives again, including those like Edmonds, who had gotten "Dear John" letters before, or during their service. (When the writer found out he had a half-sister by his father's first marriage, he was able to connect with her.
Edmonds brings everything up to the present, including emotional evolution as well as recovery. It's an absorbing book, depicting both the best and the worst of the human spirit.
A content warning: it's written about a man of deep faith by another equally faithful, so if readers are offended or upset by Bible quotes and Christian thought, they probably should take a pass.
Copy provided by NetGalley
I was a kid during the fifties, born six years after the war ended. The economic and cultural aftermath of WW II surrounded me as I was growing up--kids regularly played good guys vs. "Nazis" (not differentiating them from Germans) and "Japs" as parents looked on in approval. And yet those older male relatives who had survived being soldiers or sailors in the war talked little about it, or didn't say anything at all. One friend's father drank himself to death, after being one of the first in at a death camp, an experience that shattered him, his family pieced together later. My grandfather, who signed up as a kid in his middle teens, using his older brother's ID so he could get away with it, had a hidden cache of extremely gruesome Kodak black and whites, taken after his naval units retook Iwo Jima and a couple of other blood-drenched islands.
Edmonds' father was another of these, staying silent and stoic through the remainder of his life. According to his son, pretty much all he'd say was that he and his fellow prisoners of war were humiliated.
But after his father's death, Edmonds took a look at what little was left, mainly an extremely cryptic diary, decided for his children's sake to uncover the whole story, and so began the detective work.
The account is colorful and gripping as he tracks down surviving members of his father's fellow prisoners, and men of his unit. Their stories are woven into his father's biography, creating a thought-provoking picture of ordinary American men swept into the meat-grinder of war. Those who survived did not come back the same as they had been.
Edmonds sometimes dips into fictionalizing, putting in dialogue and thoughts behind Nazi leaders, but he's not writing an academic text, so these dramatic additions can be forgiven when set against the fascinating whole. There are plentiful snapshots included, which add to the overall canvas.
Fight, capture, and then the grim reality of POW life in disintegrating Germany as men tried to hang onto their humanity through the few small acts and decisions they were permitted to make. One of the grimmest moments was when the Germans forced the prisoners to out the Jews among them, knowing what was going to happen to them, leading to Edmonds' act of heroism.
After liberation, which was another exercise in agonizing tension, they would discover stockpiled Red Cross packages never given to them--and their letters home never sent. There was no debriefing in those days, or offers of counseling. They were shipped home to pick up their lives again, including those like Edmonds, who had gotten "Dear John" letters before, or during their service. (When the writer found out he had a half-sister by his father's first marriage, he was able to connect with her.
Edmonds brings everything up to the present, including emotional evolution as well as recovery. It's an absorbing book, depicting both the best and the worst of the human spirit.
A content warning: it's written about a man of deep faith by another equally faithful, so if readers are offended or upset by Bible quotes and Christian thought, they probably should take a pass.
Copy provided by NetGalley
dythmo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Excellent read and awe inspiring story behind Roddie! Thank you for your service.
positivewoman2013's review against another edition
5.0
Very powerful true story. WWII while a POW he made a decision as a Christian to lose no one Jew or Gentile. I hadn't really thought about Jews serving in the military during that war.
ceeemvee's review against another edition
5.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
No Surrender tells the story of Roddie Edmonds, a soldier from Tennessee who is plunked down into hell on earth, Stalag IXA, a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Roddie’s son, Chris, begins a look into his father’s past to help his daughter with a school assignment. What he discovers is a man who lived his life according to one of his favorite scripture passages: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Chris begins with his father’s wartime diaries, which are cryptic at best. They are not diaries in the strict sense, some entries consisting of just a single word. This leads him to search for men who served with and under his father. Through interviews, he learns what happened in the camp. I won’t spoil your reading by telling you, but it is a story of courage, bravery, faith, inspiration and righteousness that will restore your faith in humanity.
This is a powerful book, and reading it will make you understand why it is called The Greatest Generation. The young men who lived these horrors went on to become ordinary people and, as the author points out, an ordinary life lived well is, indeed, extraordinary.
www.candysplanet.wordpress.com
No Surrender tells the story of Roddie Edmonds, a soldier from Tennessee who is plunked down into hell on earth, Stalag IXA, a Nazi prisoner of war camp. Roddie’s son, Chris, begins a look into his father’s past to help his daughter with a school assignment. What he discovers is a man who lived his life according to one of his favorite scripture passages: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).
Chris begins with his father’s wartime diaries, which are cryptic at best. They are not diaries in the strict sense, some entries consisting of just a single word. This leads him to search for men who served with and under his father. Through interviews, he learns what happened in the camp. I won’t spoil your reading by telling you, but it is a story of courage, bravery, faith, inspiration and righteousness that will restore your faith in humanity.
This is a powerful book, and reading it will make you understand why it is called The Greatest Generation. The young men who lived these horrors went on to become ordinary people and, as the author points out, an ordinary life lived well is, indeed, extraordinary.
www.candysplanet.wordpress.com
beachboi01's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.25