FIFTEEN FLAGS

A serviceable and absorbing historical novel dealing with the men of the Siberian Expeditionary Force in Siberia after World War I when the Bolsheviks were on the march. Caught within conflicting positions and apathetic directions from miles away in Washington, the American force battles to keep the neutral position assigned to it, first supporting the White Russian troops and then backing away when they withdraw. Against this background, Captain Jack Carlisle, the Sioux, and Lieutenant Ira Leverett, the Jew, follow their affections and consciences but never finally possess the women they love. In an attempt to rescue Maryenka, widow of a likable American Sergeant, from the White Army (after Maryenka has assassinated a general whom she assumed guilty of liquidating her village) Ira almost reaches the withdrawing Americans but is killed. Carlisle, desperately loving the beautiful Czech Tatiana, at last accepts her unwillingness to close the gaps in their lives. . . . Although the plethora of foreign names may keep the reader flipping back to a thoughtfully provided cast of characters, this is a forthright, unpretentious, tale of guns and love, far removed from this author's humorous The Chaplain Raid (1965).