Description
By Nikos Ligidakis
“One of the most incredible WWII stories”
This book is about an American B24 bomber crew shot down in enemy territory while returning from a successful mission. The narrative recounts human tragedy and captures the triumph of the human spirit. These men’s heroic run for freedom bonded them in life and death. They walked for over six-hundred miles, climbing steep mountains, running through the German-occupied valleys and into dangerous lands divided by vicious bands of guerrilla warfare. These brave Americans made their way with the generous help of people who spoke a language that they could not understand. They were surrounded by famine and human misery and walked on land-mine infested territories. There were days of starvation, unbearable exhaustion, crossfires, bombings, and death. Despite these impossible odds, most of them made it through. Others did not. This book is also a tribute to all unsung heroes who engaged in the controversial conflict we call war. It is about the men and women who came from the ranks of civil societies, who left families and jobs behind, to fight in the wars that others created. It is about those who now history refers to with the anonymous word “troops.” Consequently, the eternal question remains unanswered; Should glory and victory surpass catastrophe and human suffering? I believe that wars demonstrate a chain of events that intertwine into a maze of disastrous outcomes. In wars, the destiny of those involved is determined by the simple gesture of somebody else using a mechanism that is alien to our wishes and our will. My friend, look at those butchered in wars. Anyone of them could have been your son, your daughter. These are your children sent to wars by those who have the privilege to hold the ultimate power, a power that is used capriciously to display absolute command. As long as humans create wars, the concept of killing to survive will remain unchanged and unchangeable; Yesterday, today, tomorrow, forever. This story is about the heroes who we will never hear about because they are on the stage for a short time because they are insignificant in the bigger scope of history. Their names must be in the narrative of the eternal story of the person who, in war, manifests himself in all his truth because nothing reveals as much as wars. Nothing exacerbates with the same strength, beauty, and ugliness. Nothing else but wars unmasks our courage and our cowardice. Countless writers use World War II as a prototype to chronicle other wars. World War II was an event full of ideologies and feelings, a war that covered reality and fantasy without separating them. It was a time that the whole population of this planet was affected. Even those who did not witness the death camps, the killing of children, the torture and rape, are still mentally brutalized by the images of unbelievable human suffering. Because of that, we have lost a part of our being.
About the Author
Award winning author, Nikos Ligidakis, writes with clarity and passion in an ardent voice, not to just recount adventures, but with an expression of feelings, to encourage the reader to think, to find hope in the eternal struggle for the meaning of life and the awareness of harmony. His culinary books, 5024 E. McDowell, A Man’s Journey Into Culinary Exploration and My Private Collection of Pieces of Art, Dessert Recipes of A Master, Ligidakis demonstrates his priceless culinary knowledge, gained during his days as a celebrated chef. Power and Defiance, The Human Struggle for Social Justice, it is the book Ligidakis calls, “The work of my lifetime.” It is a labor of love, a nearly eight hundred page saga about the integrity of individual freedom and the intense struggle for social justice. Such deep matter requires not only the profound thoughts in writing but also the equal reflective thoughts in the reading. The Extraordinary Life of Bill O’Brien, An Ordinary Arizona Irish Cowboy, is an inspirational story of adventure, excitement, achievement, the importance of character and how an “ordinary Arizona Irish Cowboy” overcame obstacles and challenges to achieve success in unique and creative ways. An entertaining and compelling narrative about one of Arizona’s most fascinated characters. His latest book, The Power of His Brush, The Evolution of R.C. Gorman, is a biography of the legendary Native American painter, Rudolph Carl Gorman. Born into poverty on the Reservation in Chinle, Arizona, R.C. Gorman was not expected to survive. However, under the nurture of his grandmother and others, this visionary Navajo distinguished himself as an extraordinary artist in the midst of a world dominated by white men. As the result of thousands of hours of research , Ligidakis has uncovered a story deeper than Gorman’s bigger-than- life persona. With 85 images of Gorman’s art, this hard-cover book will increase your understanding and appreciation of both the man and his work. In Trails of Tragedy and Triumph, his tenth book, Ligidakis introduces a group of heroes in a fascinated story of survival during World War II. This incredible story narrates their attempt to freedom by running hundreds of miles in an enemy territory full of danger, exhaustion, starvation, and death.
“As a writer, my aspiration has always been to share my perspective on what it means to be a human being, in all its complexities. I wanted to tell a story that reflects a comparative importance of political structures, religions and histories of the past. My books represents a lifelong dream of putting into narrative form, my many observations of the brilliance and kindness of the human spirit: people at their worst and people at their best. It is my intention to engage the reader in the process of observing history in both times past and in current day happenings for the sole purpose of gaining greater clarity in the shaping of one’s own approach to life and the deepening of individual insight.”
