Whitlock, Flint

views updated

WHITLOCK, Flint

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Home—Denver, CO. Office—Colorado Military History Museum, Inc., 6840 Richthofen Parkway, Denver, CO 80220. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Basic Books, 387 Park Ave. S, 12th Fl., New York, NY 10016.

CAREER: Writer. Military historian, 1986–. Colorado Military History Museum, Inc., Denver, CO, president. Military service: U.S. Army, 1965–70, served as officer in Vietnam.

WRITINGS:

MILITARY HISTORY

Soldiers on Skis: A Pictorial Memoir of the 10th Mountain Division, Paladin Press (Boulder, CO), 1992.

The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau, a History of the 45th Infantry Division, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1998.

The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 2004.

Given up for Dead: American GI's in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga, Basic Books (New York, NY), 2005.

OTHER

Denver, Mile-High Magic: Hundreds of Things to See and Do in and around the Mile-High City, Trident Communications (Denver, CO), 1996.

Contributor to periodicals, including World War II and WW II History.

SIDELIGHTS: An officer in the U.S. Army in the late 1960s, Flint Whitlock translated his love of military history into a career as an historian and writer focusing on World War II. His books, which relate the stories of American troops undergoing the tribulations of war, are particularly noteworthy for their vivid depiction of life on the battlefield.

In The Rock of Anzio: From Sicily to Dachau, a History of the 45th Infantry Division, Whitlock traces the footsteps of this pre-war National Guard unit as it fought its way across Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany.

The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day focuses on the First Infantry Division, particularly its training for and ultimate role in the Normandy invasion. Robert J. Rielly, writing for Military Review, commented that "Whitlock's ability to place the reader in the middle of the action and to describe the soldiers' emotions makes this a gripping tale of courage, perseverance, and tragedy." Rielly added that "many books describe D-Day, but few so vividly recount the physical and emotional exhaustion that affected the troops as they pushed their way forward to expand the beachhead." Neil M. Heyman, a contributor to History: Review of New Books, called Whitlock's work a "compelling picture of the United States Army's First Infantry Division." According to Heyman, "Whitlock presents a superb picture of that 'gray, nasty day—with a feeling of death in the air,'" adding: "The author makes exemplary use of materials drawn from lower-ranking members of the armed forces: memoirs, interviews, and especially questionnaires." In a review for Library Journal, Rich Nowicki commended Whitlock's writing, which, the critic noted, conveys "the utter fear of men knowing they may be facing almost instant death—even when the men are battle-hardened veterans of the earlier Italian campaigns."

Given up for Dead: American GI's in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga was published in 2005 and tells the story of 350 American GI's, many of them Jewish, who were captured by the Germans in the final years of the war and imprisoned in concentration camps. New Leader reviewer Steven P. Remy commented that "Whitlock's efforts at rescuing this story from relative obscurity are certainly praiseworthy." Remy added, "The personal accounts of former POW's in Given up for Dead give the hardships of capture and imprisonment—not to mention the years spent wrestling with the physical and psychological scars—a human face."

Based in Denver, Colorado, Whitlock headed Colorado Military History Museum, Inc., during the early 2000s. The organization endeavored to establish a permanent exhibit of American military artifacts, but the plan was scrapped in 2005 due to lack of financial support.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 1, 2004, Roland Green, review of The Fighting First: The Untold Story of the Big Red One on D-Day, p. 1344; March 15, 2005, George Cohen, review of Given up for Dead: American GI's in the Nazi Concentration Camp at Berga, p. 1262.

History: Review of New Books, fall, 2004, Neil M. Heyman, review of The Fighting First, p. 11.

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005, review of Given up for Dead, p. 223.

Library Journal, February 15, 2004, Rich Nowicki, review of The Fighting First, p. 142.

Military Review, March-April, 2005, Robert J. Rielly, review of The Fighting First, p. 81.

New Leader, March-April, 2005, Steven P. Remy, review of Given up for Dead, p. 23.