To the Last Man - Jeff Shaara [1]
As the twentieth century dawned, philosophers and social scientists were trumpeting the arrival of the Modern Age, a breathless optimism that the thundering stampede of new technology would radically improve the quality of life for people the world over. Overlooked was that human nature had not evolved along with its machines. Humanity’s worst instincts—for conquest, domination, aggression, jealousy, and barbaric cruelty—would become plainly evident. The killing machines had improved as well.
It might be best that I describe this book by defining what it is not. This is not a comprehensive, blow-by-blow history of the First World War. This book does not take the reader to every corner of the immense war. This is not a history book at all, certainly not in the way that you may be familiar with that term from high school. This is the story, primarily, of four men, told through their points of view, as they might have told the story themselves. They are four distinctly different characters, who are involved in the war from four very different perspectives. This is a novel, by definition, because you are in their minds, hearing their words, and experiencing the war, and their world, as they saw it. The events, and each character’s participation or observation of those events, are as accurate as I could make them, an accuracy to which I am fiercely dedicated.
This story does not always focus on those characters who are the most familiar, or the most legendary. If this diminishes the book for you, I apologize. What I have tried to construct is a story that will carry the reader through this time alongside the more familiar as well as the virtually unknown. Many of the characters (and events) in this book are household names; many definitely are not.
If you are familiar with my previous books, then you know that typically I have followed the points of view of commanders, the people at the top. Such an approach here would simply not work. The more modern the war, the farther the commanders are from what is happening in front of them. However, I do not ignore the men who were responsible for engineering what took place in the field, and thus one of the principle characters in this story is General John J. Pershing. The other characters are Baron Manfred von Richthofen (far better known as the “Red Baron”), Raoul Lufbery of the Lafayette Escadrille, and Private Roscoe Temple, United States Marine Corps. Though these men do not share the same experiences, they have one thing distinctly in common. Each man’s life is radically changed by his experience, and each one provides an insight into his time. And each one is very much a hero.
In all my stories, I hold tightly to the rule of avoiding anachronisms, both in vocabulary and in speaking styles. While the language of the early twentieth century was not so radically different from that of today, differences do exist, and I have made every effort to be true to the time. In addition, it is obvious to anyone reading this story that the German characters spoke German, and most (but not all) of the French characters spoke French. Indeed, many of the conversations between General Pershing and various French commanders took place in French. I have purposely avoided most references to interpreters, and I have made no attempt to differentiate what language is being spoken in each passage of dialogue. Only occasionally do I mention a character’s accent. It has always been my feeling that emphasizing the obvious accent or inflections of speech is a distraction, interrupting the flow of the story, and, frankly, shows disregard for the intelligence of the reader.
It is my hope that this story will both surprise and entertain you. If occasionally you find the images uncomfortable, or the story line unexpectedly tragic, I can offer no apology for that. The story is true; the images are real. And we must never forget.