Kershaw, Alex

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Home—VT. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Da Capo Press, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

Jack London: A Life, HarperCollins (London, England), 1997, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1998.

Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa, Macmillan (London, England), 2002, Da Capo (New York, NY), 2004.

The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice, Da Capo (Cambridge, MA), 2003.

The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon, Da Capo (Cambridge, MA), 2004.

Also author of introduction to The Call of the Wild: And Selected Stories, Signet Classic, 1998.

WORK IN PROGRESS: The Few (novel).

SIDELIGHTS: In his first biography, Jack London: A Life, Alex Kershaw looks at the American novelist who penned Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf among some forty-seven works of fiction. A tremendously popular writer during his lifetime, London was read around the world and was, as reviewer Frank McLynn wrote in the London Sunday Times, "the first real celebrity author." London was also an interesting figure due to his adherence to Nietzsche's maxim "Live dangerously." A former oyster pirate, tramp, and prospector, London continued to live on the edge after becoming a successful writer, and served as a war correspondent, lived incognito in the slums of London, and sailed his yacht for two years on the Pacific.

Kershaw's presentation of the novelist's life is "written like a film script," noted McLynn, adding, "this book is pacy and readable." The reviewer, however, sought more insight on London's possibly bisexual or homosexual leanings and less emphasis on episodes that collectively present him as mentally unbalanced. London was a deeply unhappy man who killed himself with alcohol; his motivation and events in his life remain ambiguous. Kershaw relies primarily on the diary of London's second wife, Charmian Kittredge, and papers from the Huntington library in Los Angeles for answers. McLynn noted that the resulting biography is "workmanlike" and "not without merits."

In Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa, Kershaw recounts the life and exploits of the famous Hungarian war photographer, who became a legend and friend of such notables as Ernest Hemingway, Gary Cooper, and John Huston, and lover of actress Ingrid Bergman. In a review of Blood and Champagne in News Photographer, Bruce Young commented on Capa's reputation, noting, "He's the guy the writers start telling stories about when they come back from some dangerous overseas assignment. He's the model that everyone thinks of for war photographers … even other war photographers." Young went on to note that the biography "dives into this story with an admirable thoroughness." New Republic contributor David Thomson noted that the book "seizes on the speed and the verve of a great adventure story." Raymond Bial called the book a "fine biography" in a review in the Library Journal.

The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice recounts the story of Company A, 29th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, and the twenty-eight young men from Bedford, VA, who were part of the group who landed on Omaha Beach in 1944. During the landing and ensuing battle, twenty-two of the Bedford natives were killed. In addition to chronicling the military careers of the Bedford soldiers, the author also recounts the impact that their deaths had on the small town of Bedford. "Kershaw … includes combat sequences that give a vivid private's-eye view of the particular hell that was Omaha Beach," wrote a Publishers Weekly contributor. Brian K. DeLuca, writing in the Library Journal, noted the book's "powerful and heart-wrenching final chapters."

Kershaw maintains his focus on World War II with his book The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon. The story focuses on Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 394th Infantry, 99th Infantry Division, and its heroic defense of a strategic hill against elite German troops at forty-to-one odds. The author recounts how the platoon had no choice but to eventually surrender, which began their ordeal in a prisoner-of-war camp. Michael J. Carson, writing in Reviewer's Bookwatch, called the book "an impressively written military history." Booklist contributor Roland Green noted that the author "handles both combat and internment skillfully and respectfully." In a review in Army, Kevin M. Hymel wrote: "Kershaw is a fantastic storyteller and excels at describing small-unit action."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Army, December, 2004, Kevin M. Hymel, review of The Longest Winter: The Battle of the Bulge and the Epic Story of World War II's Most Decorated Platoon, p. 61

Booklist, May 1, 2003, George Cohen, review of The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice, p. 1568; June 1, 2003, Donna Seaman, review of Blood and Champagne: The Life and Times of Robert Capa, p. 1736; December 15, 2004, Roland Green, review of The Longest Winter, p. 702.

Journal of Military History, April, 2005, Mannie Liscum, review of The Longest Winter, p. 596.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2003, review of The Bedford Boys, p. 588; May 1, 2003, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 659.

Library Journal, May 15, 2003, Brian K. DeLuca, review of The Bedford Boys, p. 102; July, 2003, Raymond Bial, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 76; December 1, 2004, Edward Metz, review of The Longest Winter, p. 136.

New Republic, August 18, 2003, David Thomson, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 31.

News Photographer, October, 2003, Bruce Young, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 30.

New York Times, November 2, 2003, David P. Colley, review of The Bedford Boys, p. 24.

People, Neil Graves, June 9, 2003, review of The Bedford Boys, p. 43.

Publishers Weekly, May 19, 2003, review of The Bedford Boys, p. 66.

Reviewer's Bookwatch, February, 2005, Michael J. Carson, review of The Longest Winter.

Spectator, June 8, 2002, Caroline Moorehead, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 49.

Sunday Times (London, England), June 29, 1997, Frank McLynn, review of Jack London: A Life, p. 85.

Time International, July 8, 2002, Maryann Bird, review of Blood and Champagne, p. 61.