I no longer remember where I stumbled across Vessel of Sadness. I recall that I was totally unfamiliar with this book and its author. I was puzzled by the title. But my attention was captured by the literary reviews on the back cover.

"How have you said so much and involved me so deeply with so few words?" Gunnar Myrdahl, Nobel laureate.

"One of the most sensitive and moving books of the war, both authentic and poetic" A.L. Rowse, Elizabethan historian and Shakespearean scholar.

This is a fictional account of the protracted and bloody Allied invasion of Anzio in 1944. The story is told through shifting points of view - an Italian child, a British general, a camp commandant, and Allied and German soldiers. This mosaic is slow to unfold, but a tragic, unrelenting story emerges. Overall the book is subdued and somewhat detached. But its impact is staggering.

This short book is quite remarkable. It has a haunting aspect to it, but it is not a blatant antiwar account. As others have noted, possibly the best comparisons are with The Red Badge of Courage and All Quiet on the Western Front. In a poetic style William Woodruff conveys a frightening sense of realism. High level strategic decisions move down through the chain of command and are translated into battle. Confusion, fear, and pain are pervasive. The focus is on survival.

The author participated in the initial invasion landing at Anzio on January 23, 1944 with the First British Infantry and fought for the next four months on the beachhead, trapped by German forces on the high ground. Woodruff tells the story of war with an emotional impact that ensures that this literary work will become a classic. I highly recommend Vessel of Sadness.

This is a brief, powerful story of life on the front lines in WWII. It is a quick read, but it will touch your soul.

This is a moving and vivid description of the Allies attempt to take Rome during World War II. The novel is brief and concise but reaches a level of greatness comparable to the best World War II literature. Woodruff has make an understanding effor to convey to all readers the stupidity of war and the suffering of those who were persuaded to fight for the betterness of humankind but were uncertain of their personal destinies. As a reader I was very impressed with the quality of the narrative, the interesting dialogues, the sense of inmediacy that the novel brings and the matter of fact approach to war. Woodruff has brought us a magnificient work that will leave an ever-lasting impression on those who read it.

As a British ex-pat with a Yorkshire childhood, I found the book well written and containing a great deal of relevant North Country social history (1916 to 1933). The only distractions were the frequently used Americanism, sidewalk (pavement)and while the book emphasized a lack of education for working class children generalizations such as,"Every Lancashire child know that Chester means the site of a Roman Camp." The word "Charabanc" meaning a tour bus, was, and is, commonly used in the UK. The author spelled the word "Sharabang" (which is how the word sounds)to describe the same vehicle. I have been unable to find the word sharabang in the Oxford dictionary. These were minor irritants in an otherwise fascinating family history.

Forget ANGELA'S ASHES. THE ROAD TO NAB END is less bleak, it is witty and relieved by warmth and humor. The story of a city boy, born in the mill and growing up in grinding poverty is relieved by an unsentimental irreverence for conventional piety, enlivened by his forays into the gentle Lancashire countryside, the love of family and an impossible teenage romance.Bill Woodruff tells it as it was. I know because I was there. Although we both found our way to America, Blackburn of the 20's and 30's is indelibly printed on our souls.

The Road to Nab End describes the life of a boy growing up in an English mill town in the early years of the 20th century. Here comes to life a proud working-class family that struggles against unemployment and poverty. As they face hunger and eviction, they become resourceful: when they are freezing in bed, they add layers of newspaper, as well as all their clothes! A case of appendicitis is cured with hot bread poultices. The book preserves unforgettable vignettes of a life that might have been forgotten, and it does so with a great sense of humor.

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