This book tells the stories of four canine heroes from different eras. For the most part, the stories lead me to other books that are dedicated to the dogs.
First is Smoky from WWII. She's a little Yorkie that meant a great deal to the men around her, especially William Wynne. Wynne later wrote a book called Yorkie Doodle Dandy. The chapter in this particular book was a bit tedious, because there was so much background to the overall war that wasn't really relevant.
Next up is Antis, also from WWII. A Czech soldier takes his dog up into the air. There are two books I found that caught my eye on this one. The first is mentioned in this book, Freedom in the Air by Hamish Ross. Then there's The Dog Who Could Fly by Damien Lewis. I think this was probably my favorite section of the book.
After Antis, I read about Tangye, during the 2000s in Afghanistan. An energetic Labrador, he was important enough that a mission was undertaken by the Nowzad charity to bring him to the UK. The book I feel would pair with this story is by the founder of the charity, Pen Farthing. He's written a few books, but the one I'm referring to is called One Dog at a Time.
Finally, I read about one of the most famous military dogs, Sergeant Stubby from WWI. A lot of books were written about this dog, including one by this author. You can learn a ton about him by reading his obituary from the New York Times. Stubby was a good dog, and while I'm glad they kept his coat, I'm not sure how I feel about displaying his remains. Taxidermy always freaks me out...
Overall, the book is okay. There were some typos here and there, but those didn't bother me much. The writing didn't flow as well as some of the things I've read in the past. The main thing the book accomplished was to make me interested in reading the other books I've mentioned.
No comments:
Post a Comment