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Blood and Iron by Dan MacGregor
Reviewed by Marc Schulman
Dan MacGregor has written what is being described as book one of the adventures of Levi Rankin. This book Blood and Iron which follows the career of Levi Rankin who begin the book as a marine corporal at the Battle of Manila, is a fine quick read. It was hard to put down, and the individual battle scenes were well done. The book takes us from Spanish American War to gunboats of China and the Boxer Rebellion; battles that are hardly remembered today. The book seems loosely modeled on the recent books of WEB Griffin and while not nearly as long, it read as well. My only criticism of the book is its length. In its 240 pages many details have been left out. Little is known of Rankin before we find him on the bridge of the Olympia next to Dewey. Hopefully, Macgregor plans to fill us in the following books. Also missing is a little more historic background to the battles. I am a big believer in the power of the novel to educate its readers on history I wish Blood and Iron had spent a few more paragraphs doing that. Despite these criticisms I for one am looking forward to the next in the series and highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a great military story,
Reviewed by Marc Schulman
Dan MacGregor has written what is being described as book one of the adventures of Levi Rankin. This book Blood and Iron which follows the career of Levi Rankin who begin the book as a marine corporal at the Battle of Manila, is a fine quick read. It was hard to put down, and the individual battle scenes were well done. The book takes us from Spanish American War to gunboats of China and the Boxer Rebellion; battles that are hardly remembered today. The book seems loosely modeled on the recent books of WEB Griffin and while not nearly as long, it read as well. My only criticism of the book is its length. In its 240 pages many details have been left out. Little is known of Rankin before we find him on the bridge of the Olympia next to Dewey. Hopefully, Macgregor plans to fill us in the following books. Also missing is a little more historic background to the battles. I am a big believer in the power of the novel to educate its readers on history I wish Blood and Iron had spent a few more paragraphs doing that. Despite these criticisms I for one am looking forward to the next in the series and highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a great military story,