Join the Charleston Library Society as we host best-selling author and journalist, Alex Kershaw, as he speaks on his most recent book, Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II.
This event has been made possible through the generosity of Friends of the National World War II Memorial.
About the Book:
The untold story of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War II—all Medal of Honor recipients—from the beaches of French Morocco to Hitler’s own mountaintop fortress, by the national bestselling author of The First Wave
“Pitch-perfect.”—The Wall Street Journal • “Riveting.”—World War II magazine • “Alex Kershaw is the master of putting the reader in the heat of the action.”—Martin Dugard
As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice “Footsie” Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy. In the campaign to liberate Europe, each would gain the ultimate accolade, the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Tapping into personal interviews and a wealth of primary source material, Alex Kershaw has delivered his most gripping account yet of American courage, spanning more than six hundred days of increasingly merciless combat, from the deserts of North Africa to the dark heart of Nazi Germany. Once the guns fell silent, these four exceptional warriors would discover just how heavy the Medal of Honor could be—and how great the expectations associated with it. Having survived against all odds, who among them would finally find peace?
About the Author:
Alex Kershaw is the widely-acclaimed, prize-winning, New York Times best-selling author of eleven books, including The Longest Winter, The Bedford Boys, The First Wave and The Liberator. He has been a journalist for over thirty years, is a popular public speaker, and designs/leads history tours around the world. He is also a board director of the Friends of The National WWII Memorial and chairs the Colby Award selection committee. His book, Blood and Champagne, is currently being adapted into a tv series. His 2012 book, The Liberator, is now a four part series on Netflix. His books have been translated into over a dozen languages.
