SUNDAY BOOKS & CULTURE - Historical Fiction
Penny A Parrish reviews Jeff Shaara’s “The Shadow of War,” a historical novel with timely modern connections.
THE SHADOW OF WAR
by Jeff Shaara
Published by St. Marin’s Press (May 14, 2024)
Paperback $14.50
Audiobook $14.99
Reviewed by Penny A Parrish
“How do you think this looks, like the great United States bullies its way into a neighboring country, without provocation.” That line could be from any newspaper today, but the author attributes it to John F. Kennedy. The words pertain to Cuba, and the build-up of Soviet nuclear warheads in Cuba.
Shaara’s book, which is a novel, takes readers from the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion through the end of October 1961 in Cuba, when Khrushchev backed down and agreed to dismantle the missile installations and return the weapons to Russia.
Chapters focus on historic figures who were involved in the months of negotiations and threats that bounced back and forth between the two leaders. The majority of the book is told from Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy’s — aka “Bobby” — viewpoint.
In RFK, readers find a quiet man who is his brother’s most trusted advisor and best friend. Bobby sees the physical pain (JFK’s back) and mental pain (fear of starting World War III) engulfing the president. A group made up of military leaders and the secretaries of state (Dean Rusk) and war (Robert McNamara), and the CIA meet to share opinions and possible solutions. JFK listens to them all.
Khrushchev heads other chapters. He is old, tired, and trying to save face in the midst of his military advisors who are itching to blow up the US. He bounces ideas off his son Sergei and his one good friend and trusted advisor Rodion Malinovsky.
A few chapters feature Issa Pliyev, the much-decorated Soviet General who is sent to Cuba to oversee the building of missile sites. The Russian soldiers doing the construction came from a frigid land and are unused to dealing with the heat in Cuba.
Other people who lived through the brink of nuclear war are also included in the book. One character, Joseph Russo, is a university professor, husband, and father living in Tallahassee. He has to try and reassure his children who train to duck and cover under their desks in the event of a nuclear strike. He has to deal with his bigoted neighbor who built a fallout shelter in his backyard. The Russo family is actually Shaara’s family who lived through this crisis in Florida.
I am most familiar with Shaara’s books dealing with America’s Civil War. The meticulous research that went into those novels is present in this one as well. It is a timely read for several reasons. Many aspects of global insecurity are still with us today. But the main reason this book resonated with me was the contrast between Kennedy and Trump and between Khrushchev and Putin. One surrounded himself with advisors with vastly different opinions. One pushed for negotiations before actions. One respected the sovereignty of individual nations. I don’t need to tell readers which ones did that.
Penny A Parrish is a local writer and photographer. View her pictures.
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