397 pages Revell publisher publication date May 2,2023

About the Book

Jimmy Propfield joined the army for two reasons: to get out of Mobile, Alabama, with his best friends Hank and Billy and to forget his high school sweetheart, Claire.

Life in the Philippines seems like paradise–until the morning of December 8, 1941, when news comes from Manila: Imperial Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. Within hours, the teenage friends are plunged into war as enemy warplanes attack Luzon, beginning a battle for control of the Pacific Theater that will culminate with a last stand on the Bataan Peninsula and end with the largest surrender of American troops in history.

What follows will become known as one of the worst atrocities in modern warfare: the Bataan Death March. With no hope of rescue, the three friends vow to make it back home together. But the ordeal is only the beginning of their nearly four-year fight to survive.

Inspired by true stories, The Long March Home is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope.

My Thoughts

The Long March Home is raw, gritty and very realistic. The thing I appreciated is it’s based on true events. Very well researched, I learned a lot and I have read many WWII books so that’s saying something.

Childhood friends from Mobile, Alabama have no idea what they will be facing once they enlist. The Philippines where they’re sent is a world away from Mobile and a whole new culture and many different experiences. Vowing to stick together, always the teens enjoy themselves training waiting for the war to come.

I had not heard of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines or how the Japanese immediately invade the country after bombing Pearl Harbor. The teens are not prepared for the realities of war, the death, the daily struggle for survival with little to eat, standing guard not knowing who’s going to be sneaking up on you.

They are all determined to come back home alive to their loved ones who are desperately waiting for mail and any word of how they’re doing.
Full of hope and determination The Long March Home is a very powerful read. Highly recommended!

Pub Date: 02 May 2023
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

The Author

Marcus Brotherton is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author or coauthor of more than 25 books that have been called “fascinating,” “brilliantly arranged,” “magical,” and “refreshingly frank.”

Tosca Lee is the New York Times bestselling author of 11 novels, including The Line Between, The Progeny, The Legend of Sheba, and Iscariot. Lee’s work has been praised as “deeply human,” “powerful,” and “mind-bending historical fiction.”

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