The World War II focus pushes onward this week. In all my stumbling around the Internets dark cellars I managed to trip over a review for graphic novel Alan’s War.

Alan Cope was just eighteen when Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and he was immediately drafted into the army. From Fort Knox to New York, to the battlefields of France and the final push from Patton into Czechoslovakia this graphic novel tells us the story of Alan’s War. But if you go into Alan’s War expecting a real boy’s own experience of wartime, you’re due to be disappointed. For a book set around the memories of a soldier in WWII, Alan’s War is remarkably devoid of warfare of any sort. This book charts the remarkable luck of Cope in his short service, as he manages time and time again to be where the action isn’t. As such, it consists of a beautifully rendered series of reminiscences about the quiet times between the fighting, quiet times that made up 99% of Cope’s wartime experiences.

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