The Mighty Fallen: Our Nation's Greatest War Memorials

by Larry Bond, F-stop Fitzgerald

The Mighty Fallen is a beautiful, evocative presentation of more than 150 never-before-seen photographs of the nation's greatest monuments and war memorials, along with text that describes the memorials and tells their stories. This extraordinary collection calls attention to the power of memory and the ways in which we immortalize people and events. As Larry Bond notes in the Introduction, "Memories of a war or battle are unpleasant, but few veterans would want them erased." This book is a unique tribute to veterans and a commemoration of some of the most significant conflicts in our history. Most battlefields leave little record of the historic confrontations that occurred there. Those who fought in epic struggles want us to remember not just the outcome, but the cost of victory and those who paid the price for the freedoms we enjoy today. Memories fade, so we raise monuments of stone and bronze to carry their message of sacrifice through the centuries. The Iwo Jima Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC are instantly recognizable, but there are monuments all over North America honoring more than 300 years of military service. The Mighty Fallen shows you hundreds of monuments, memorials, and statues conveying the message their designers wanted you to hear—these are more than just a date and location.

Genres: History

144 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2007

About the author

Larry Bond is the author of several bestselling military thrillers, including Crash Dive, Cold Choices, Dangerous Ground, Red Phoenix and the Larry Bond’s First Team and Larry Bond’s Red Dragon Rising series. He was a naval officer for six years, serving four on a destroyer and two on shore duty in the Washington DC area. He's also worked as a warfare analyst and antisubmarine technology expert, and he now writes and designs computer games, including Harpoon and Command at Sea. He makes his home in Springfield, Virginia.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/larrybond

Reviews

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely and inspiring book which is dedicated to "the mighty fallen'.....memorial sculptures from around the country with a short text about each one. Many, such as the Iwo Jima, the Korean War and Vietnam in DC, are ,of course, included but there are also those that most readers didn't even know existed. They honor not only military leadership such as Robert E. Lee and John Paul Jones but also the common foot soldier of various wars in which the USA fought. These memorials are truly striking and one doesn't have to be a buff of military history to enjoy this book. It also makes a great gift.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only a small portion of the war memorials of Canada and the U.S. are represented in this book, but they denote the bravery and suffering of those who served. The American Civil War seems to have the most pictures, but also represented are the wars of the 20th century and 18th. I found this book to be of great interest and can only wish there were more pictures.