Book description
On 10 July 1943, Felix Sparks arrived with the Allied forces in
Italy, a captain in the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 45th Division -
nicknamed the Thunderbirds. Just twenty-five years old, Sparks soon
proved a leader of immense fortitude and stamina, participating in
four amphibious invasions and leading his men through the mountains of
Italy and France before enduring intense winter combat against the
diehard SS on the Fatherland's borders. Sparks's entire company had
been sacrificed to save the Allied beach-head at Anzio and,
tragically, his rebuilt battalion soon found themselves surrounded and
overcome in the dark forests of the Vosges.
Miraculously, despite numerous brushes with death, Sparks survived
the long bloody march across Europe and in the last days of the Third
Reich was selected to lead a final charge to Bavaria to hunt down
Adolf Hitler. But what Sparks and his men would find as they finally
reached the gates of Dachau, Hitler's first and most notorious
concentration camp, would be a horror greater than any they had so far
experienced. With victory within his grasp, Sparks had to confront the
ultimate test of his humanity: after all he had faced, could he resist
the urge to wreak vengeance on the men who had caused such untold
suffering and misery?
Alex Kershaw is the author of seven previous books, including the
bestsellers
The Bedford Boys
and
The Longest Winter
. He has written for several British newspapers, including the
Guardian
,
Independent
and
Sunday Times
. Born in York, England, he now lives in America with his wife and son.
