Never in Finer Company, Edward G. Lengel
Never in Finer Company, Edward G. Lengel
4 Rating(s)
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Never in Finer Company
The Men of the Great War's Lost Battalion

Author: Edward G. Lengel

Narrator: James Lurie

Unabridged: 10 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Da Capo Press

Published: 09/18/2018

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

Uncover the larger-than-life story of World War I's "Lost Battalion" and the men who survived the ordeal, triumphed in battle, and fought the demons that lingered. In the first week of October, 1918, six hundred men attacked into Europe's forbidding Argonne Forest. Against all odds, they surged through enemy lines—alone. They were soon surrounded and besieged. As they ran out of ammunition, water, and food, the doughboys withstood constant bombardment and relentless enemy assaults. Seven days later, only 194 soldiers from the original unit walked out of the forest. The stand of the US Army's "Lost Battalion" remains an unprecedented display of heroism under fire.

Never in Finer Company tells the stories of four men whose lives were forever changed by the ordeal: Major Charles Whittlesey, a lawyer dedicated to serving his men at any cost; Captain George McMurtry, a New York stockbroker who becomes a tower of strength under fire; Corporal Alvin York, a country farmer whose famous exploits help rescue his beleaguered comrades; and Damon Runyon, an intrepid newspaper man who interviews the survivors and weaves their experiences into the American epic. Emerging from the patriotic frenzy that sent young men "over there," each of these four men trod a unique path to the October days that engulfed them—and continued to haunt them as they struggled to find peace.

Uplifting and compelling, Never in Finer Company is a deeply moving and dramatic story on an epic scale.

About Edward G. Lengel

Edward G. Lengel is senior director of programs at the National World War II Museum's Institute for the Study of War and Democracy. Lengel has written fourteen books on American history, including General George Washington: A Military Life and Never in Finer Company: The Men of the Great War's Lost Battalion.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Ben on November 29, 2018

Here is my experience in reading this book: I have been teaching on World War I for the past month or so in my Humanities class on the Modern Age. We have been reading from Barbara Tuchman’s Pulitzer Prize winning book The Guns of August. Then the class read Erich Marie Remarque’s great novel All Qu......more

Goodreads review by Lori on October 03, 2018

This is the story of 4 men whose lives were intertwined through extraordinary circumstances. Lengel begins this tale along the waterfront, in 1916. Can you imagine living then? These were years when everyone watched baseball and boxing. The years where masses of people crowded silent movies, Vaudeville......more

Goodreads review by DD on April 13, 2020

I really enjoyed this book. You could really feel the pain and hopelessness the soldiers had to endure. Recommend for anyone looking for World War I history.......more

Goodreads review by Cassandra on July 15, 2021

In a world where the US's role in the First World War is tragically overlooked, Lengel's work is essential reading for any student of the conflict. Never In Finer Company removes the rosy tones of patriotism from this horrific siege, giving the reader a real glimpse of the men who struggled and suff......more

Goodreads review by Mike on November 11, 2018

The story of the legendary Lost Battalion also features another WWI legend, Sergeant Alvin York whose division was part of a flanking attack which took pressure off the lost Battalion and allowed their relief in fairly short order. Besides York, Lengel's book focuses on the Battalion's leadership -W......more

Quotes

"An exceptionally vivid tale of men at war. Unsparing and dramatic, Never in Finer Company illuminates the sacrifice, courage, and leadership of American doughboys in combat, as well as the toll wrung from them after the shooting stopped. Edward G. Lengel has written a rich and compelling story."--Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author of The Liberation Trilogy

"A powerful and timely reminder of American sacrifice and heroism a century ago in the war to end all wars. Lengel tells a deeply human and unforgettable story."--Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter

"The Great War remade our world and continues to cast its shadow more then one hundred years later. Edward G. Lengel, one of the great chroniclers of that conflict, has revealed a hidden war within that war and masterfully tells one of WWI's paramount stories. By carefully building the backstory of the main characters of the Lost Battalion, Sergeant York, and the intrepid war correspondent who initially captured this story, Lengel's powerful prose transports the reader back in time in a gripping, searing narrative of the men who transcended the bounds of human endurance and courage."--Patrick K. O'Donnell, bestselling author of The Unknowns: The Untold Story of America's Unknown Soldier and WWI's Most Decorated Heroes Who Brought Him Home

"Edward G. Lengel body-slams us into the muddy trenches of the Argonne Forest alongside the besieged doughboys of the Lost Battalion to confront the very nature of courage, cowardice, and heroism. Through the eyes of four men whose lives intersected in those awful woods, Never in Finer Company reveals how World War I not only changed them fundamentally but how it transformed America as well."--John F. Ross, author of Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawning of the Age of Speed

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