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Praise for Patrick O’Donnell’s Work

Recent magazine and newspaper articles (click links to expand)

The Chicago Tribune - One More Mission

The Washington Times - "Shadow war" survivors

The Fayetteville Observer - The Unknown Story

The Columbus Dispatch - "Spook" heroism lets pilots live to fly again

History Book Club

Sea Power Magazine

Kirkus Reviews - Starred review

Men's Journal - Spies like us

Publisher's Weekly

Military Book Club

Booklist

Book of the month

Read what others say about Mr. O'Donnell's work

"A revealing look into the intrigue and extraordinary courage of our intelligence gatherers of World War II . A rare combination of suspense thriller and true heroism by a great American writer."
    —Clive Cussler

"Before there was a James Bond or a CIA, before there was a genre called the spy thriller, real-life spooks worked behind the scenes, often at tremendous risk, to win World War II. Deftly using oral history and recently declassified documents, Patrick O'Donnell gives us a fascinating look at the shaken-not-stirred life of these intrepid spies and soldiers, who are into intrigue before intrigue was cool."
    —Hampton Sides, author of GHOST SOLDIERS

"This is a unique and uniquely valuable contribution, casting a penetrating light into the war in the shadows during World War II. O'Donnell breaks new ground with these first hand accounts by people who never expected to tell their story. Just as there was nothing new to say, along comes a book like this."
    —Geoffrey Perret, Author of Eisenhower

"OPERATIVES, SPIES AND SABOTEURS is a superbly told story of the men and women of the OSS. Only by understanding the deeds of those who have gone before us can we appreciate the sacrifices made that paved the way for the outstanding records established by present-day special warriors."
    —Captain Robert A. Gormly, USN (Ret.), author of COMBAT SWIMMER and former commander SEAL Teams Two and Six and Naval Special Warfare Group Two

"These individual experiences are the heart of the book - and they are moving… This is not a book for those with weak stomachs. The oral histories paint a reality of infantry combat little understood by those who have not experienced it….It is not politically correct, and will not leave the reader feeling good. It is worth reading because it brings the war through the voices of those who experienced it, and because it is important to succeeding generations to know what they did."
    —General Carl Mundy, 30th Commandant of the Marine Corps - Naval History [Into the Rising Sun]

"An extraordinary book."
    —General Henry H. Shelton, Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [Beyond Valor]

"The stories Mr. O’Donnell elicited from our World War II Pacific veterans were often tragic, but always inspiring."
    —General Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [Into the Rising Sun]

"What Steven Spielberg accomplished visually for the cinema in Saving Private Ryan, Patrick O’Donnell has accomplished through the printed word."
    —Carlo D'Este, author of PATTON: A GENIOUS FOR WAR

"…is an important addition to the reporting of WWII oral histories - much like the seminal work of Stephen Ambrose. [Beyond Valor is] bound to be a WWII classic."
    —Col. Dominic Caraccilo, Book Editor Military Heritage, CO 503rd, former XO 75th Ranger Battalion

"O'Donnell does an excellent job of presenting the stories of a group of men who receive scarce attention… and does not sugarcoat their stories. Those who died can never tell their stories. With this book, however, O’Donnell will not let these men be forgotten."
    —Dr. Kathryn Barbier, Yale, The Journal of Military History

"Wonderful … the book brought tears to my eyes"
    —The Washington Times, February 25, 2001

"There are very few of us left who were there and we owe it to our buddies that didn’t return to let people know what happened."
    —Jack Trovato, WWII Veteran]

"Captures what the average soldier went through during combat."
    —USA Today, May 15, 2001, Front page, Section A-1

"A superb historian, Patrick O’Donnell has recaptured [World War II] in a way no one else has."
    —The Toledo Blade, May 27, Dr. Jack Lessenberry, Wayne State University

""....gives the flavor of being in the action not provided by other histories, with their emphasis on leaders at distant headquarters. Included are many interesting stories, such as the Finns offering to sell intelligence about America's secretive wartime ally, the USSR."
    —Library Journal

"An engaging and gritty look at combat from those who experienced it first hand. Grade A."
    —Rocky Mountain News, April 2001

"These riveting oral and e-mail accounts by glidermen and rangers and paratroopers are reminiscent of such books by Stephen E. Ambrose as D-Day and Citizen Soldiers."
    —Douglas Brinkley, director of the Eisenhower Center and Professor of History at the University of New Orleans

"Beyond Valor teaches realities of World War II combat that I have encountered in no other book."
    —Gerald F. Linderman, author of The World Within War: America's Combat Experience in World War II, Professor Emeritus Univ. Michigan

"Beyond Valor is a great war book. It has pathos, excitement, and sometimes suspense. Above all it reminds us that wars are fought by men on the ground, not in the war rooms of higher headquarters."
    —John S. D. Eisenhower, author of Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times of General Winfield Scott

"These narratives are highly charged, emotional, dramatic, intense. The horrific underside of war has seldom been exposed so graphically."
    —Stanley Weintraub, Professor Emeritus Penn. State University, author of MacArthur's War: Korea and the Undoing of an American Hero

"Told by the GIs of WWII in their own words, the extraordinary personal histories collected here prove that real war ultimately can only be explained by those who fought it, and that the true heroes too often go uncelebrated. Beyond Valor is a fitting memorial to these men."
    —W. E. B. Griffin author of The Corps and the Men at War Series

"Patrick O'Donnell may be the next Studs Terkel. Spending untold hours with proud and often laconic veterans, coaxing their stories with meticulous care, he has shown us the wet, dark, jungled truth of the Pacific War."
    —Hampton Sides author of Ghost Soldiers

"Browse through a few of these tales and you will probably gain new respect for the older men in the Veterans Day Parade."
    —The Wall Street Journal