A review by mdunnbass
The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All For the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II by Gregory A. Freeman

3.0

The story of a series of daring rescues of downed American (and other Allied) airmen from Yugoslavia during WWII. The actual story of the rescues is phenomenal, the book itself is mediocre. The vast majority of the book is spent discussing the political history of 20th century Yugoslavia, the origins of the CIA, and the personal backstories of half a dozen Americans involved on either side of the rescue. After 3/4 of the book, we finally get to the story of the rescue, which was actually a 9 month long series of separate missions, and he tells the story of the first one in fabulous detail with very heightened (and warranted drama). Then he basically says, "and they did it over and over for 9 months without a hitch." I found that left the entire story feeling incredibly flat. I dunno. I'd give it 3/5 stars overall. Very important to get the story out, I just wish it was told better. Recommended.