How can you beat it? Three of the great classics of World War II in one volume!

Tales of the South Pacific, by James Michener, was a Pulitzer prize winning novel by one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. Renowned for his detailed research, and for his storytelling ability, Michener has been described with every superlative in the book. This story may be his finest, and served as the basis for the Broadway musical and the movie, "South Pacific." The setting is a tropical paradise; windswept coral isles and the nurses, soldiers and sailors caught up by the war, and the inevitable romances that resulted.

Mr. Roberts, by Thomas Heggen, is the story of a much-loved navy lieutenant juxtaposed against the rigid, incompetent captain of a navy cargo vessel, the "Reluctant," whose duties take her from boredom to tedium and back again with little relief for the crew. The story is anything but boring, however, and the characters are unforgettable. In the movie version, Henry Fonda portrayed the herois Mr. Roberts movingly. The story mixes poignancy with satire, and is both hugely funny and profoundly tragic.

Battle Cry, by Leon Uris (another giant of literature), depicts life in the United States Marine Corps as it was during the great Pacific War. The story takes you from boot training to the foxholes with the fighting Marine Corps, who probably suffered more than any other branch of service in the Pacific in the early to middle 'forties. Faith, hope, and desire are all epitomized in this story, often described as the greatest novel ever written about the Marines.

Anyone interested in those days of Pacific conflict should have this book, unless they already have these three great stories in another form.

Joseph H. Pierre

I loved this book. When I was in seventh grade I checked it out of our little school library because it had a lot of points--we'd read books, take a test, and receive a certain number of points for that book. If we got everything correct, we got full points, and we needed many points to pass English every trimester.
I didn't realize I was going to fall in love with the characters. Each person is beautifully made, intricate, and unique. You grow to know everyone in the story. Margaret Mitchell doesn't let any detail slide. She describes Scarlett beautifully.
Scarlett is perhaps the most interesting character I've ever read. I hate her completely, and yet love her just the same. She was the most spoiled brat, and yet I felt like I was part of her, or she was part of me.
Also, Margaret Mitchell does a good job of justifying the Confederate's reasons for breaking off from the United States. Although I don't agree with slavery at all, I could see where the southerners came off, believing as they did, and even felt a little angry at the northerners for being so hotheaded themselves.
For those of you who have seen the movie and liked it, buy this book, its ten times better. And for those of you who disliked the movie, still get the book. It is very much different from the movie, you get in the whole world, and they left out so much in the movie. For instance, Scarlett ... well, just read it, it's good.

The attitudes which feature in this book, although sexist and racist to us now, were perfectly normal for Civil War Southerners - Margaret Mitchell really understood the way people behaved at this time, and did not make them behave out of period or in anachronistic ways. Like Georgette Heyer and Regency England, she has a true understanding and insight into the period she is writing about - she LIVES it, and her people could have been alive then without unduly standing out as unusual or unremarkable.

Scarlett is a rebel, but she does not go as far as a modern author might make her heroine go. She loves her family and her land, though she may deny it, and she is very proud. She is an inspirational woman, a true forerunner of the power woman of the 1980s - a sensational concept, even for the 1930s! The clever thing is how, in such a huge and spreading book, everything comes together. It may seem trivial and unnecessary to discuss Aunt Pittypat's drawing room, or go into the minutae of Scarlett's wardrobe, or to discuss events that happened a long time ago, but believe me, it is all very important in building up a coherent and very accurate (scarily accurate, for 1930s historical fiction - Heyer and Mitchell, as far as I know, were the only authors at this time who really bothered to research in depth for their "lightweight" historical fiction writing.) Gone With The Wind is a masterpiece. It must not be read with modern eyes, but as an amazing study of how people behaved, lived, and survived throughout the Civil War in America on the losing side.

At the end of a small alley was a hand scrawled sign that read "Alamo Bar". I followed the arrow and came to a tiny hole in the wall bar that had an upside down horseshoe over the door and a sign that said "Alamo Bar, open 8 til late". It seems that the people who ran the Alamo moved into a larger bar called the Stagecoach. According to the bartender, I was the second person who had found them because of the book. The other guy was from Poland and actually kissed the floor when he arrived. My copy of the book is still behind the bar waiting for the third visitor.

Five years later I met a woman who had just come back from Europe and I asked her where she visited. She replied "Have you ever heard of a book called "The Drifters"? A year and a half later she became my wife.

Read this book at the risk of changing your life too.

This is the first book I have read by Michener, my interest having been piqued when a friend responded to my praise of Edward Rutherfurd's "London" by describing Rutherfurd as "a poor man's Michener". My friend's point was that Rutherfurd borrowed Michener's often-used story structure for historical fiction, a structure perhaps best exemplified by "The Source". As much as I enjoyed "London", it pales in comparison to "The Source", one of the classics of the genre. I recommend it without reservation.

Being an early effort and given it's unusual structure vis-à-vis Michener's traditional style the book lacks some of the elements of structure and style that so characterize Michener's later works-specifically, this book lacks the overall story line and continuity that characterize later efforts. On the whole I think this is actually a positive. A lot of Michener's books seem to weigh me down as I read them-the structure seems at times more important than the story and the stories so overblown as to be beyond the ken of merely mortal readers. Those aspects are absent here despite the books length. And while they book is more or less short stories/novellas, they are sufficiently detailed and expansive that interest is maintained but not abused.

The work is dated. While there is a sense that Michener was making a real effort to be apolitical and historically accurate, the fact is that the book nevertheless reflects the underlying predispositions of the time. I suspect if he were around to undertake this effort now the book would have a somewhat different flavor. This fac tin no way detracts from the viability nor the vitality of the stories, however.

On the whole, while this probably can't be adjudged Micheners best work from a technical or literary standpoint, I think it's his best work from readability and enjoy ability standpoint. A truly instructive and compelling read.

As I write this, I'm waiting for a confirmation of my reservation to spend a long weekend in Cambridge MD and take a couple of days exploring the Choptank and surrounding area.

We vacation several times a year on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Baltimore, Annapolis, St. Michael's, Havre de Grace and the general Chesapeake area, so I'm somehwat familiar with the area. As a young adult, I first read the book when it was first introduced in the 70's. Now I'm retired, I just read it again to re-discover the fascinating stories and appreciation for the history behind them.

As a northern Pennsylvanian, I loved the chapter about the character who follows the Susquehanna River to its point of origin in upper New York state. That chapter touched very close to my home.

As others have said, don't let the size intimidate you. I've completely immersed myself in this wonderful combination of fiction and fact, including reading the book with two maps beside me and frequent visits online to gather even more details of significant events.

Now I can't wait 'til Spring thaw to take my trip back into time... I want to know more... I need to know more!

If you're traveling to Hawaii -- you must read this book. It will give you a better appreciation for that wonderful place and it's wonderful people. Just start it early, because the plane ride isn't long enough to read it all.