The Last of the Doughboys

Grover Gardner provides the perfect easy-toned American voice for these personal stories of WWI. Less than a dozen years ago, author Richard Rubin went in search of the last living veterans of the Great War. He was able to track down and interview a few dozen--all between the ages 101 and 113. The result is the remarkable, candid memories of foot soldiers, nurses, ambulance drivers, and loggers. (Somebody had to cut the timber that lined the walls of the trenches at Amiens and the Somme.) These recollections, along with Rubin's own well-researched insights, weave together an important and moving portrait of our nation in the years 1917-18, when we were just entering the world stage. Gardner's reading is warm and clear. Most important, it reflects the author's satisfaction at knowing that these men and women, who all simply said they were just doing their duty, will never be forgotten. A very special listening experience. B.P. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

February 11, 2013
To write this affecting book, Rubin (Confederacy of Silence) traveled the country to interview the last American survivors of WWI. At the time (10 years ago), all were over 100 years old, and one was 113. Even with their understandably imprecise memories, they could recall the realities of their long-ago service, much of it in battle. While their recollections add little to our overall understanding of that distant “War to End All Wars” and the United States’ contributions to it, they give fresh texture to what’s already known. Rubin is skillful in his interviewing, remorseless in his efforts to chase down his subjects, thoughtful of their age. He also wisely fills in their stories with biographical facts and establishes the contexts of the specific battles they fought in and what was at stake. In tying his forgotten men—as the parents of WWII combatants—to the vogue of the “Greatest Generation,” Rubin stretches things a bit too far. They stand, as they stood, on their own record. Nevertheless, he has brought them back to life. His book is a fitting epitaph to brave men too often overlooked. Agent: Kristine Dahl, ICM.