The fourth volume of the Black Sabre Chronicles continues the saga of the Sharps family of military men and women as it narrates the effects of the controversial Vietnam War on Franklin LeBaron Sharps, a young paratrooper sent to Vietnam in 1965. 10,000 first printing. In the fourth book of the Black Sabre Chronicles series, Willard continues to recount the often extraordinary personal efforts and professional exploits of five generations of a distinguished African American military family. Unlike his great-grandfather, a legendary cavalry officer; his grandfather, a World War I hero; and his father, an original "Tuskeegee Airman" and the first black brigadier general, young Franklin Sharps initially spurns a career in the military. After his older brother, Adrian, is killed in Vietnam, however, Franklin joins the 101st Airborne Division as a medic. Determined to avenge Adrian's death and to prove his independence to his estranged father, he initially enters the combat arena utterly unprepared for the barbaric cruelty of a bush war. Because the author is himself a veteran of the Vietnam War, the graphic battle scenes feature a gritty, realistic edge. The result is a stirring family saga as well as a compelling look at the controversy surrounding the conflict in Vietnam, especially as it applied to the disproportionate number of black soldiers involved. Margaret Flanagan Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved