Spearhead / Adam Makos

RATINGS

Overall: 5/ 5 stars

Text Level: Easy

Entertainment: High

Self-Help: Low

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II, American History, World History

Page Count: 395

Is this book right for my inmate and me?

This book is great for history fans.

Buy on: Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Review By: Recyclops1

A first-hand look at war with a story of healing.

Being a World War II history buff, this book drew me to it instantly. In the European theatre, Clarence Smoyer goes from being a loader to a gunner in his Sherman tank, where he has a knack for shooting. Clarence, with his crew, being in the 3rd Armored Division, believes that their Sherman tank is the best in the war until they meet the dreaded German panther. As the war progressed, the Sherman tanks were improved but still had a reputation of being out-gunned and under-armored which lead to unforgiving names such as “Tommy Cooker.” Clarence soon realizes that the lead tank always gets hit. After seeing his friends get cut down, his crew is given a “super tank,” a Pershing which they hope is their salvation> Their salvation is tested now that they are always the lead of the army’s push into Cologne, Germany, where they face a duel with a panther captured by a combat cameraman in this suicidal engagement.

Adam Makos takes Spearhead from being just another history book, to looking at it through a personal lens with interviews, first-hand accounts and research of the personal experiences of their thoughts and emotions instead of simple historical storytelling. Through reading spearhead twice, I thought I knew a lot about the war until I read that only 33.1 percent of Germany actually voted and supported the Nazi regime, that every neighborhood had “block leaders” who kept tabs on which households were being good Nazis and that German tankers were afraid to surrender thinking they would be mistaken being an SS that shared a black uniform which hard skill pins on it. I would recommend Spearhead to anyone that likes to read about impossible odds and the human toll that war exerts.

Book Quotes:

“One of our tanks is better than ten of yours. But you always have eleven.”

“Lord, please keep this big bullet away from us.”