Easter Day, 1941 - Softcover

With extraordinary polish and the attention to detail of a practiced firsthand observer, this excellent debut novel depicts one day during the North African campaign in World War II. Four men in a small tank, remnants of the British Second Armored Division destroyed by Rommel's elite troops, are caught behind enemy lines. Led by an expatriate American named Peter, an embittered veteran of the Spanish Civil War, the isolated tank team begins a treacherous retreat against seemingly impossible odds. Through a series of taut and utterly convincing battles and adventures, Borden graphically captures the feeling of the moment, with a precise sense of dialogue and an instinctive ability to dramatize the conflict. Permeated by a stinging irony, the work is distinguished by the dry, realistic voice of its protagonist, for, in Peter, Borden has created an unscrupulous soldier who has seen war in the least romantic of terms.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

On Easter Day, four soldiers steer a captured Italian tank across the Libyan desert, fleeing from Rommel's forces. The British crew is led by an American veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Lost and isolated, they head for the fortress of Tobruk. Amid scenes of desperate fighting, death, and survival, they encounter other soldiers, some as lost as they, others who are wolves hunting in the desert. This novel is eloquent, full of frightening problems of strategy, conscience, and command. By the time these men have come within sight of Tobruk, we have become deeply involved in their struggle to outwit an enemy who is known to be strong and close, and who will inevitably appear. A first novel, this is highly recommended. Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army TRALINET Ctr., Fort Monroe, Va.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.