Two armies. One flag. No honor.
Mired in the Great Depression, the United States teeters on the brink of revolution. And as the summer of 1932 approaches, a charismatic, rail-riding hobo leads twenty thousand desperate World War I veterans across the country to the steps of the U.S. Capitol to demand jobs and payment of their service compensation.
The tragic events depicted in this sweeping historical novel are unfolded through the eyes of eight Americans, all from widely different backgrounds, who survive the fighting in France in 1918 and come together again fourteen years later to determine the nation's fate:
- Herbert Hoover, the beleaguered president.
- Douglas MacArthur, the ambitious West Point general.
- Pelham Glassford, the compassionate District of Columbia police chief.
- Walter Waters, the troubled leader of the Bonus veterans.
- Floyd Gibbons, the war correspondent and famous radio broadcaster.
- Joe Angelo, the Italian immigrant who serves as George Patton's orderly.
- Ozzie Taylor, the street musician turned Harlem Hellfighter.
- Anna Raber, the Mennonite nurse.
This timely epic leads the reader across a memorable panorama of American history, from the Boxer Rebellion in China to the Plain of West Point, from the persecution of conscientious objectors to the horrors of the Marne, and from the Hoovervilles of the heartland to the pitiful Anacostia encampment in the bowels of the nation's capital.
Here is the shocking but little-known story of the political intrigue and government betrayal that culminated in the only violent clash between two American armies under the same flag.
Foreword Reviews Book-of-the-Year Finalist
Chaucer Award Book-of-the-Year Finalist
indieBRAG Medallion Honoree
"[A] wonderful source of historical fact wrapped in a compelling novel.… Each of the characters is written in a depth that makes them come alive. … If you want to learn about one of America's darkest days, one that rarely gets any attention, this is a book that will both teach and entertain."
"Craney has written an outstanding social and military historical novel of the United States covering the crossing over from the nineteenth century mentality into the twentieth century. Simply put, an outstanding novel."
"I was very impressed with his in depth character development and his creative skills to later braid each individual together within the story. His grasp and comprehension of historical events in the time period is outstanding."
The Yanks Are Starving is "chock full of really interesting historical figures" and that "the writing is one of the most stand-out things about it." She concludes: "[H]istorical fiction readers will appreciate the great characters and very good detail within this book."
"Glen Craney … has drawn a vivid picture of not only men being deprived of their veterans' rights, but of their human rights as well. … The Veterans Bonus March was a momentous event in American history and Craney performs a valuable service by chronicling it in this admirable book."
"[S]tands out as one of the best and most memorable that I have ever read.... If there is anyone involved with producing television mini-series, this is one that I feel would be a sure fire hit."
"[I] know of no other fiction writer who has made this brave, tragic protest movement the main theme of a novel, until now. Glen Craney deserves praise for recognizing the significance and dramatic potential of the Bonus Army story and developing it in The Yanks are Starving."
"Masterful and courageous...[E]ssential reading for those who found truth and beauty co-existent in the works of John Steinbeck and John Dos Passos."
