The End of It

"a horrifyingly vivid account of an American artillery battalion's advance through northern Italy in World War II" Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr., The New York Times

Gil Freeman was a normal, young, American man before the events of Pearl Harbor.

His life was forever changed when the United States was thrust into the most bloody conflict of the twentieth century.

Posted with the American Fifth Army to fight against the forces of Fascist Europe in Italy he quickly grows disillusioned with the realities of modern warfare.

When he and his fellow soldiers land in Italy they view the inhabitants of this land as little more than enemies, but in time they "began to speak of the villagers not as guineas or wops but as these people."

He entered the war with hope of experiencing brotherhood and excitement, but instead it loss, tragedy and heartbreak that are the emotions that fill Freeman as he moves through Italy.

Will Freeman overcome these feelings?

Or will the toll of the war prove too much for the young man?

And how will he ever be able to return to normality after everything that he has seen?

Mitchell Goodman's novel The End of It is an arresting depiction of one man's battle through the course of the Second World War.

The End of It received widespread praise including from prominent literary figures, such as William Carlos Williams and Norman Mailer.

"Goodman's style is powerful, sensitive, and incisive. This is an exciting and provocative addition to contemporary, avant garde American literature" Kirkus Reviews

"an effective and poetic antiwar treatise" Professor Sandy Cohen
Mitchell Goodman was an American writer, teacher, and activist. He was at college when the U.S.A. entered the Second World War. He was trained as a Second Lieutenant forward observer in an artillery battalion, but was not deployed overseas. He traveled to Europe following the war and used many of these experiences to shape his novel. The End of It was first published in 1961. Later in his life he became famous for his role in the Vietnam draft resistance movement, which drew the high-profile 1968 federal prosecution of the "Boston Five." He passed away in 1997.


Genre: Historical