If you have somebody on your Christmas list who loves World War II history books, The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II
The story really is untold — 500 downed American airmen are behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia, and the OSS (the early CIA) plans an audacious rescue mission. Freeman has done a lot of research, interviewed people who were there, and paints a picture of political posturing that lets one of the heroes be sentenced to death in a public mock trial.
Perhaps the most striking part of this book is that it has never been told before. Or rather, when it was told in the 1940’s it was hushed up and largely ignored. Before the people who were there are gone from this earth, it’s good to get the real story told and published.
It’s fast moving, historically accurate, never told before, and (for the most part) the good guys win. Fans of history will love it.
