If you need to be reminded that war is hell, here's a book that will do it. Interesting as history and as a tribute to human endurance and the strength most of us don't know we have. The names of the places and some of the history are familiar, but the perspective from one in middle of the "action" is fresh. The characters are people we can relate to, and feel for. This is a good reminder of the sacrifices that were made by so many, who even if they survived left a part of themselves in those faraway lands.