STRIPPED OF PROPAGANDA

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA-THE anniversary of Operation Overlord, commonly known as "D-Day" during World War II, is fast approaching. Fifty-seven years ago on June 6th, 1944, Normandy was invaded and the direction of the war changed dramatically. World War II has been dramatized for years with such films as "Casablanca," "Saving Private Ryan," "The Thin Red Line," and this summer's epic "Pearl Harbor." It is amongst these dramatizations that author Bidwell Moore releases his fact-based narrative Steel Shards.

Steel Shards, Moore tells his readers, is not just another book set in World War II. This novel tells it like it was. Stripped of propaganda, the conduct and character of the Americans, British, French, and Germans are depicted with searchlight clarity. It is through the experiences of the novel's protagonist, Captain Kimbro Sawyer that the author brings to life what really happened during World War II.

The action of the book begins in August 1942 with the New York embarkation of Sawyer's division aboard the Queen Mary. Training in England is relieved by his friendship with the beautiful Nadine Denis. Both Nadine and Sawyer have German connections, in Nadine's case they constitute serious entanglement. The action builds through fighting in North Africa and Sicily to the climactic invasion of Hitler's FESTUNG EUROPA and its epilogue, the Battle of the Buldge.

Moore, who himself served with the 1st Division under General T. Roosevelt, Jr., stresses that the actions in this book are not manufactured for the audience. Instead, he reminds his readers that all major actions of military units in the novel are historic. The heroics ascribed to Roosevelt are equally genuine.

Bidwell Moore graduated from the Punahou School in Honolulu in 1935 and from West Point in 1940. He served with the 1st Division from 1940-1945 under Roosevelt, the colorful Terry Allen, Huebner, and Andrus. His touch with WWII concluded with his assignment as escort officer to the visiting NATO ground force chief, General Hans Speidel, former chief of staff to Field Marshal Rommel.

Bidwell Moore currently lives in McLean, Virginia.