This is a book review of Death or Glory – The Last Commando by Michael Asher.
World War II and the deserts of north Africa. Runefish is an officer and important courier. Her plane has been shot down, and it’s up to a commando unit to go behind enemy lines to recover her. I was expecting heroics and survival against the odds, of course this book offered this in spades and a lot more.
Sergeant Caine is a commando, his sense of morals and justice have gotten him into trouble in the past. His respect for women, especially when meeting so few during conflict, noble and right. Yet will he be tripped up not due to the respect, but due to his ‘perception’ of women. His perception of fragility?
Rommel’s Afrika Korps are on the march, the allies are in retreat. Runefish’s message from GHQ is of uptmost importance. Sergeant Caine has been tasked to recover Runefish, a female officer. The odds are stacked against.
Okay enough of the story background. I’ve been reading science fiction again lately and wanted something different. This book offered just that. It’s a book about war and a period all too many are forgetting. Especially north Africa, which played a major part of the second world war, yet my history lessons at school primarily covered the European aspect.
This book was a story of people, not just the military conflicts, but the conflict within the people and with each other. The team of men that Sergeant Caine led in his mission wasn’t surprising, there was the range of characters you would expect, but I still enjoyed to read about them. Though as you would expect from a book about conflict involving commando’s there was some gruesome scenes.
This book obviously isn’t to be confused with real life, but the fine detail regarding equipment, living conditions, ranks, settings etc and more were no doubt well researched. The book was well written and it was an enjoyable read.
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