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Saint Patrick's Battalion
- A Novel
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
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Saint Patrick's Battalion
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Publisher's Summary
It is June 1845, and Paddy Quinn is a camp boy for the American army which, by order of President Polk, is bound for Mexico. A young man with journalistic aspirations, Paddy writes letters for illiterate soldiers and learns that, like him, many are Irish, including the enigmatic John Riley. Riley rattles camp hierarchy when he rails against the brutal treatment of Irish soldiers, but he soon goes further, sneaking away at night to switch sides. Riley is not alone. Fed up with mistreatment and drawn by a Catholic bond, Irish, German, and other soldiers join Mexico. Led by Riley, a corps of Irishman called the San Patricios in English, St. Patrick's Battalion fights for the enemy in the war's major campaigns. But when they are captured, their resolve is tested in the extreme, as are Paddy's loyalties to his country and to the man he most admires.
Alternating between Paddy's account and that of Augustin Juvero, a Mexican soldier, nationally best-selling author James Alexander Thom constructs an enlightening novel about war, duty, and loyalty, and draws intriguing parallels to our current conflict in Iraq. This is his most powerful and relevant novel since Follow the River.
What the critics say
"With its eerie parallels to modern-day warfare, this fine novel makes for gripping listening." (Booklist)
"Not only a striking (and often horrific) account of pre-Civil War army life, Quinn's narrative beautifully conveys the boy's coming of age against a backdrop of eerily familiar war and rebellion." (Publishers Weekly)