The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

James D. Hornfischer
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
February 2004

I usually do not tend to read many nonfiction books. When I first learned that it was needed in this class I set myself on a quest rummaging through my house to find any intresting nonfiction books. I was suprised to find that there were quite a few lying around. A few biographies and others such as this.
I was first intrigued by this book because of the topic. I have found that I do lean toward War stories because they present good emotional tales. They captivate me to a great extent. I expected a big fighting, bloody, gore and guts tale about heroes and great deeds done by American Soldiers. I wanted a banging, bashing, book that was gruesome. These topics do intrest me usually.
I expected this because most of the war stories I have read have been about that. Also, it is a huge stereotype for war books or war things in general to have almost nothing but fighting, guts and glory. Reasonably, I thought that I was going to get a great shoot-em-up story that entralled my rebellious side. I have read a little into this book and so far, I have been suprised.
Instead of giving me a great battle with blood and gory, so far Hornfichser has given me sympathy. He has acutley described life on board the tin cans(navy ships in WW2.) Also, he has made the characters in the book real. I feel like I could be one of them. I had been caught completely off guard and so far, I still enjoy the book.