Soldier of Misfortune

Résumé du livre

The tragic life story of Private Eddie Slovik and his controversial legacy as the last American soldier shot for desertion.Toward the end of World War II, private Eddie Slovik deserted his unit in France. Like thousands of other convicted deserters, the homesick draftee was determined to sit out the war in jail. General Eisenhower, however, looking to set an example during the Battle of the Bulge, confirmed his execution instead, and Slovik was shot to death by firing squad. He remains the only American executed for desertion since the Civil War. Slovik's story continues as his widow, Antoinette-sickly, despondent, and destitute-struggles to clear his name and have his body returned from a dishonored overseas grave. Soldier of Misfortune revitalizes Slovik in a fresh and vigorously written narrative that tells the complete story of one of the most compelling, controversial-and, yes, romantic-chapters of World War II.