Shadows of Glory

by William Woodruff

Woodruff's novel is about the fortunes of an Oxford University rowing eight, leading up to and during the Second World War. Ultimately this book, like the Nab End stories, is about common humanity and the importance of virtues such as faith, loyalty, and self- sacrifice.

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

William Woodruff was born in 1916 into a family of Blackburn, Lancashire cotton workers. At 13 he left school and became a delivery boy in a grocer's shop. In 1933, with bleak prospects in the north of England, he decided to try his luck in London and migrated to the filth and squalor of the East End. Then in 1936 with the encouragement of a Jesuit priest and the aid of a London County Council Scholarship he went to Balliol College, Oxford. There he became an idealistic undergraduate who mingled with George Woodcock and Harold Wilson. During the Second World War he fought in North Africa and the Mediterranean region as a major and then a colonel. All these experiences formed the basis of a series of memoirs, including The Road to Nab End, originally published as Billy Boy, and Beyond Nab End, which emerged only years later.

After the war, he turned down the chance of a political career in favour of academia. He was lured to Harvard on a scholarship and remained in America teaching economic history in Illinois, Princeton and Florida, until he was 80. 61 published titles - hardbacks, softbacks and translations - bear his name.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disappointed. My mistake perhaps for having read the author's biography, Beyond Nab End recently, and I had to force myself to pick this, his novel and read until the end.

Shadow of Glory is set in oxford where we are introduced to the crew of the 'eight', plus cox and coach and a raft of support characters. Having read Beyond Nab End, you are struck immediately with the familiarity of the setting. The difference is that this time his protagonist is the cox and the collective crew are the combined spirit of the characters of the previous book. He shows no misgivings about his place here at Oxford or his place amongst the gentlemen that are the crew. It's odd, it's almost as you can see a small piece of William Woodruff in each of the characters - things that he was and things that he could never become.

War intervenes soon enough and the crew go and play at being soldiers and pilots and 'doing their duty, eh what?, discussing politics and religion and social ideologies all the while. The reality soon catches them out and they face the full horrors of war. The cox himself is badly injured and loses his leg before his first posting and so has to stay at home in Oxford, from where he relates the tales of his crew-mates.

The tales he tells you have read before, just with a different name is the lead role, and unsurprisingly, all the members of the crew come to their demise; each senseless death underlining the stupidity and futility of the war being fought.

The Woodruff style that I praised in his previous books is still there, and If I hadn't already read them I may have found this a riveting read, but as it was, it was all a bit repetitive and predictable for my liking.

[Cody Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have bought it for the cover alone, I have to admit. World War Two lovers really do it for me. I love this time period and there isn't enough historical fiction that deals with it - although there is non-fiction in abundance. This is a more literary book than some of the world war two novels I've read - filled with great characters, graceful narrative and a keen eye for the tensions between people.

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would give the book 3.5 easily. It draws one in, and makes one want to know what will happen to the characters. What prevents me giving it 4stars is the fact that the one person who should have been able to understand redemption and forgiveness does not find it. Again a very sad war story. When will I stop tormenting myself?