THE SOLDIER’S FRIEND

Boomhower portrays Pyle, still the most renowned war correspondent ever, as a journalist whose special gift was capturing extraordinary moments in the lives of ordinary people. Sandwiched between an opening overview chapter and four sample columns, he traces the Indiana native’s career from school days to death by sniper fire, describing his restless travels to every part of the country, and later through every theater of WWII in which U.S. troops fought. If the narrative sometimes gets bogged down in detail—readers are unlikely to gain much insight from learning the exact costs of Pyle’s New Mexico house, or his hotel room in London during the Blitz, for instance—it does capture Pyle’s character and outlook, while being frank enough to note the battles with alcohol and depression both he and his troubled wife fought. Illustrated with well-chosen photographs and providing at least a taste of Pyle’s distinctive prose (“ . . . the fields and pastures are hideous with thousands of hidden mines”), this profile makes a good companion or replacement for Barbara O’Conner’s Soldiers’ Voice: The Story of Ernie Pyle (1996). (multimedia resource and address lists, index) (Biography. 11-14)