Stand in the Fire

"From the first shot fired by his grandfather on a jungle trail in 1903 to the day his father captured plans for the Chinese invasion of South Korea, William Crawford Woods's family has found its way into several American wars. Drawing on letters, journals, and other artifacts and documents, Woods has retrieved their stories-accounts of his grandfather, Louis Crawford, who served in the Philippine War and in World War I; of the author's uncle, who rose from West Point cadet to staff command in the 11th Airborne and died in action in the World War II battle for Manila; and of the author's own father, who transformed himself from a sedentary lawyer into a soldier and a spy. To lighten the load, Woods occasionally calls on memories of his own army service, which he calls "brief, bloodless, and largely comic." The book is nonfiction fortified by dramatic scenes in which the author, drawing on his skills as a novelist, offers more than battlefield stories. He explores the wider impact of war, as we learn of his grandfather's struggles with his wife's patrician parents; his uncle's involvement with Cy Caldwell, a superstar aviator of the 1930s; and his father's swift ascent from civilian to counterspy"--