A fascinating and inspiring book that’s about football, yes, but also about a great deal more… Curtis brings to life, without glamorizing or sanitizing, the courage and determination of these young men… Deftly, never belaboring his message, he makes it clear that, sports metaphors notwithstanding, playing football is nothing compared to fighting for your life and freedom.” —Greensboro News & Record
“Fields of Battle is not a sports book or a war book as much as it is a history book, telling the story of these men from the ‘Greatest Generation’ who played in a historic football game, then represented their country—many of them on the battlefields—in World War II… [Curtis paints] a vivid picture of what it was like for the teams of Duke and Oregon State, blending war on the gridiron with war on the battlefields, ably telling the characters’ individual stories.” —Portland Tribune
"History, sports, Durham, World War II, Duke University—it's all there ... It's a story far beyond the field at Duke, and takes readers into war, too." —Durham Herald-Sun
"For history buffs Fields of Battle is worth a read." —Florida Times-Union
“In this remarkable book, Curtis masterfully connects two seemingly unrelated events: the 1942 Rose Bowl and WWII… [Fields of Battle] has much in common with Laura Hillenbrand’s best-selling Unbroken and should evoke similar strong emotions.” —Booklist
“A fine sports book with a stirring extra dimension.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Following the players on the best two college football teams in 1941, veteran sportswriter Curtis charts a group biography of young athletes interrupted by war.” —Boston Globe
“Fields of Battle is a detailed intersection of sport and war in World War II that is gripping, occasionally tragic, but always rewarding, as heroes on the field become heroes in war.” —The Daily Herald (Everett, WA)
"Fields of Battle is a compelling true tale of how a Pacific wind blew the Rose Bowl from the West Coast to the East Coast and scattered its participants around the world to win history’s largest war." —James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers and The China Mirage
“Brian Curtis’s gripping story about the Greatest Generation reminds us that the freedom we enjoy today came at a steep price. Fields of Battle vividly captures the uncertainty, fear, sacrifice, and heroism of a critical time in our history, and serves as a tribute to those who carried the scars of war with them—and to those who never came home.” —Senator John McCain, author of Faith of My Fathers
"With meticulous research and elegant writing, Brian Curtis has put together a page-turning narrative about a group of football players turned war heroes, men who entered gridiron lore and then did their part as members of the Greatest Generation. Football fans will enjoy reading about the unusual circumstances that enveloped the 1942 Rose Bowl, but all readers will appreciate the chance to learn about the times these men lived in and the sacrifices they made for all of us. This is a terrific piece of work." —Seth Davis, CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated and author of Wooden
"College football aficionados know that the 1942 Rose Bowl was played in North Carolina, but the stories of the men who played that game and went on to fight in World War II were, until now, largely unknown. In Fields of Battle, Brian Curtis brings the WWII generation alive through the stories of these young men who moved so rapidly from the big game to the war to defeat the German, Japanese, and Italian fascists. Curtis gives us a vivid, invaluable portrait of life as it was lived in the face of so much uncertainty and danger, when nothing less than the fate of the free world hung in the balance." —Jeremy Schaap, author of Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics and Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History
"In Fields of Battle, Brian Curtis takes you back to a time when honor and duty were more than mere video game taglines and athletes placed their patriotic duty above sport. Yes, it's a football story. But really, it's an American story." —Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Sweetness and Showtime
"Where another, less careful observer might have found coincidence in these events, Brian Curtis's keen eye found a confluence of historical circumstance. In Fields of Battle, Curtis chronicles, contextualizes, and makes meaning of the meeting of boys and men on both the ball field and the battlefield...Where Curtis most profoundly succeeds is in never once allowing the reader to forget that what happens on the gridiron isn't war, and that what war has never been—and never will be—is a game. It's a timely message." —Julie Checkoway, author of The Three-Year Swim Club
“Fields of Battle is a riveting account of the men who faced off against each other in the 1942 Rose Bowl; the only [one] to be played outside of Pasadena as a result of the Pearl Harbor attack. Tossing aside football rivalries, the men who played went on to fight alongside each other on WWII’s battlefields. Football fans and military buffs will enjoy this powerful tale of courage, leadership, grit, and greatness.” —Bobby Bowden, former head coach of Florida State University’s football team
“A brilliantly told evocation of a time and a place… This is truly a needed book for our time interweaving the war and the game and the young men who went off the field of play to battle for their country. It is all about courage and patriotism, timely and timeless.” —Harvey Frommer, Sports Bookshelf
“The stories Curtis tells are riveting… Fields of Battle is a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by young men and women during World War II. The players and coaches were affected, but so were their families. Football is often used as a metaphor for war, but the reality is much harsher.” —The Sports Bookie
"For your hard-to-shop-for Dad or father-in-law who only wants to read about history and football: a nonfiction book about a largely forgotten slice of football—and American—history ... in the vein of Unbroken." —Modern Mrs Darcy
06/15/2016
Curtis (Go Long!) is familiar with both sports and history, having written for Sports Illustrated and Fox Sports among other outlets. This latest book, at least to begin with, is about college football, specifically the Rose Bowl, which has been played every year since 1902 on New Year's Day in Pasadena, CA. The game is now one of the most preeminent college football games of the year. Curtis does a fine job describing the history of the Rose Bowl through the years, including the addition of a parade. The bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 resulted in the 1942 Rose Bowl, between Oregon State and Duke University, being held in Durham, NC. Later chapters hurriedly shift from the gridiron to the battlefield, creating a close-up of the World War II battles and journeys of the players from the 1942 game. One wonders if the author chose the subject of this book because of the anomalous rescheduling of the game. Although there were heroic moments described, there is nothing distinguishing these men from anyone else from their era. VERDICT As football season fast approaches, recommend this title to college football fans who love their history. World War II buffs might not have the patience or desire to sift through the early play by play.—Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY
2016-07-04
A veteran sports journalist revisits “the most unusual yet meaningful Rose Bowl Game” ever.In 1941, Duke University was a national football power. Under legendary coach Wallace Wade, the Blue Devils were undefeated and slated for their second trip to the Rose Bowl to face Lon Stiner’s Oregon State Beavers, surprise winners of the Pacific Coast Conference. West Coast security concerns following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor forced officials to move the game from its customary venue in Pasadena, California, to Duke’s home field. As he prepares us for this extraordinary match-up, Curtis (Every Week a Season: A Journey Inside Big-Time College Football, 2004, etc.) explores each school’s distinct culture, introduces coaches and select players, and summarizes the evolution of each team’s season, including the unusual logistical challenges posed by the last-minute site change and the game's charged wartime atmosphere. He doesn’t neglect the big game’s details (an Oregon State upset), but he focuses mostly on what came after, the horror of a world war into which more than 70 of the game’s participants immediately plunged. Yes, Curtis invokes the hoary football-as-war analogy in his title, exhortatory quotations from the likes of Wade and Vince Lombardi, but mainly he’s careful to distinguish between an arduous game and savage war. In Europe and the Pacific, the boys of the Rose Bowl became men. Four were killed, many wounded; some won medals, and not a few returned to lives marked by alcoholism, depression, and divorce. Especially memorable are the tales of OSU’s Stan Czech, who before his capture as a POW shared a hasty cup of coffee with Duke’s Wade in a foxhole; Jack Yoshihara, the “alien” prohibited from traveling with his team to the Rose Bowl and who spent the war in an internment camp; and Frank Parker, the Beaver standout who rescued a Duke player near death on the battlefield. A fine sports book with a stirring extra dimension.
