A review by bgg616
Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride

4.0

Based on the true story of a group of 4 African American soldiers separated from their Division - the 92nd Division which was for black soldiers only. The movie by Spike Lee was pretty faithful to the novel. However, the novel provided more of the background and inner thoughts of the soldiers, and the abuse of Black soldiers by the Army. All Black Divisions had white commanders and the practice was to select southerners. Many of these white southerners were racists, and places no value on the lives of black soldiers. War is vicious and this book makes that vivid. This novel also brings to light the extreme suffering of the Italian civilians, and the barbarism of the Nazi SS. The value of this book is not only in highlighting the reality of the lives of black soldiers in World War II, but their bravery.