Tom Glenn
Tom Glenn has worked as an undercover agent, a musician, a linguist (seven languages), a cryptologist, a government executive, a caregiver for the dying, and, always, a writer. Many of his prize-winning stories came from the 13 years he shuttled between the U.S. and Vietnam on covert signals intelligence assignments before escaping under fire when Saigon fell. With a doctorate in public administration, he toured the country lecturing on leadership and was named dean of the Management Department at the National Cryptologic School. His writing is haunted by his five years of work with AIDS patients, two years of helping the homeless, and seven years of caring for the dying in the hospice system. These days, Tom is a reviewer for the Independent and the Internet Review of Books, where he specializes in books on war and Vietnam. His Vietnam-novel-in-stories, Friendly Casualties, is now available on Amazon. Apprentice House of Baltimore brought out his novels No-Accounts (in 2014) and The Trion Syndrome (in 2015). In 2017, the Naval Institute Press published his novel Last of the Annamese, set during the fall of Saigon. Adelaide Books of New York published his latest novel, Secretocracy, about the Trump administration, in March 2020, and his new short-story collection, Coming to Terms, in August 2020. You can access his blog here.
95 entries by Tom Glenn
Triumph Regained
By Mark Moyar
A controversial conflict is recounted in precise detail.
Benghazi!
By Ethan Chorin
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The story of the now-infamous attack told in intricate detail.
This cerebral work explores music’s power to capture an age.
No Human Contact: Solitary Confinement, Maximum Security, and Two Inmates Who Changed the System
By Pete Earley
A compelling look at an ugly subject.
Wandering Souls: A Novel
By Cecile Pin
Vietnamese siblings build a new life abroad in this ambitious, frustrating debut.
76 Hours: A Novel of Tarawa
By Larry Alexander
A vivid reimagining of a real-life WWII battle.
Sell Us the Rope: A Novel
By Stephen May
Though heavy on facts, this work is light on fiction.
Triumph Regained: The Vietnam War, 1965-1968
By Mark Moyar
A controversial conflict is recounted in precise detail.
Bloodbath Nation
By Paul Auster
It’s the guns.
Benghazi!: A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink
By Ethan Chorin
The story of the now-infamous attack told in intricate detail.
An American serviceman dives headlong into the Troubles.
The Kingdom of Sand: A Novel
By Andrew Holleran
Gay life in Florida is chronicled to tedious effect.
Parker Hitt: The Father of American Military Cryptology
By Betsy Rohaly Smoot
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The life of a remarkable man told in detail.
The Marauders: Standing Up to Vigilantes in the American Borderlands
By Patrick Strickland
Meet the extralegal actors harassing immigrants and the brave folks pushing back.
A gripping reimagining of Operation Halyard.
The novelist talks Texas, King Midas, and the appeal of quiet characters.
A Guardian Angel Recalls
By Willem Frederik Hermans; translated by David Colmer
The German invasion of Holland forms the background of a man’s struggle to find himself.
The Fighting Bunch
By Chris DeRose
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American GIs overthrow Tennessee autocrats in this inspiring, if overstuffed, real-life tale.
We March at Midnight: A War Memoir
By Ray McPadden
A searing recollection of life on the battlefield.
Conquering Jerusalem: The AD 66-73 Roman Campaign to Crush the Jewish Revolt
By Stephen Dando-Collins
A detailed history of a truly savage war.
The graphically told tale of a notorious 19th-century slayer.
A Quiet Cadence
By Mark Treanor
A grisly, searing portrayal of how combat and its aftermath affect Marines in Vietnam.
My Good Son: A Novel
By Yang Huang
A tailor in post-Tiananmen China strives to make a better life for his grown child.
Two Vietnamologists discuss the fall of South Vietnam.
Endpapers: A Family Story of Books, War, Escape, and Home
By Alexander Wolff
Untangling the legacy of a German grandfather and father who stood on opposite sides in WWII.
The Mountains Sing
By Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
An historical novel that portrays Vietnamese strength in the face of adversity.
False Light: A Novel
By Eric Dezenhall
Humorous suspense makes for a fun read, occasional stumbles aside.
A Promised Land
By Barack Obama
Our 44th president tells his expansive, inspiring story.
The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution
By Chris DeRose
American GIs overthrow Tennessee autocrats in this inspiring, if overstuffed, real-life tale.
Self-Portrait with Russian Piano: A Novel
By Wolf Wondratschek; translated by Marshall Yarbrough
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This fragmented, gauzy story may leave readers scratching their heads.
Children of the Ghetto
By Elias Khoury; translated by Humphrey Davies
A haunting, sometimes muddled tale of Palestinian defeat.
A Quiet Cadence: A Novel
By Mark Treanor
A grisly, searing portrayal of how combat and its aftermath affect Marines in Vietnam.
Don’t Shed Your Tears for Anyone Who Lives on These Streets: A Novel
By Patricio Pron; translated by Mara Faye Lethem
This ambitious, challenging work breaks with form and reflects on the psychology of fascism.
The League of Wives
By Heath Hardage Lee
Meet the courageous spouses who beat the odds to help their POW partners.
The Mountains Sing: A Novel
By Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
An historical novel that portrays Vietnamese strength in the face of adversity.
Say Nothing
By Patrick Radden Keefe
A gruesome tale, graphically told.
The Black Cathedral: A Novel
By Marcial Gala; translated by Anna Kushner
Death and destruction plague impoverished Cubans in this visceral, confounding tale.
Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers
By Andy Greenberg
The threat of Russian malware is severe and ever present.
The Devils Came in from the Country
By James Anderson O’Neal
In modern-day Liberia, it’s possible — though not easy — to go home again.
Road to Disaster
By Brian VanDeMark
A monumental take on the war that scarred the psyche of the U.S.
Children of the Ghetto: My Name Is Adam
By Elias Khoury; translated by Humphrey Davies
A haunting, sometimes muddled tale of Palestinian defeat.
The writer talks Vietnam with an interviewer who witnessed the fall of Saigon.
The League of Wives: The Untold Story of the Women Who Took on the U.S. Government to Bring Their Husbands Home
By Heath Hardage Lee
Meet the courageous spouses who beat the odds to help their POW partners.
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
By Patrick Radden Keefe
A gruesome tale, graphically told.
To honor the author, who passed away Wednesday in New York, we rerun here an interview he did with the Independent in 2011.
Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam
By Brian VanDeMark
A monumental take on the war that scarred the psyche of the U.S.
Raven Rock
By Garrett M. Graff
An encyclopedic assessment of how the feds would weather the apocalypse.
Our Year of War: Two Brothers, Vietnam, and a Nation Divided
By Daniel P. Bolger
The story of the only siblings to serve side-by-side in the controversial conflict.
Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government’s Secret Plan to Save Itself — While the Rest of Us Die
By Garrett M. Graff
An encyclopedic assessment of how the feds would weather the apocalypse.
Arizona Moon: A Novel of Vietnam
By J.M. Graham
An action-packed story that peers into the culture of Marine combat.
Vietnam: A New History
By Christopher Goscha
In this compelling account of the country, culture (not war) takes priority.
Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story
By Matti Friedman
Looking back at combat: Was it worth it?
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts
By Joshua Hammer
The triumph of art and literature over Al Qaeda
Chicago: A Novel
By Brian Doyle
An unorthodox fictional celebration of a great city
Sweetgirl: A Novel
By Travis Mulhauser
A flawed but captivating tale of bravery and loss set in a fictional Michigan town.
Disciples: The World War II Missions of the CIA Directors Who Fought for Wild Bill Donovan
By Douglas Waller
A well-researched, accessible account of America's foremost spymasters.
The author discusses his new book, Black Flags, which chronicles how ISIS came to be and America’s role in creating it.
Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
By Joby Warrick
A journalistic, sometimes gruesome look at a nascent movement's reign of terror.
The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
By David E. Hoffman
Meticulous research and the author's studied neutrality lend authenticity to this saga of Soviet-era intel.
An unflinching look at the true cost of battlefield bloodshed.
“My great hope for Dave Haggard is that he can provide a few hours of page-turning entertainment…”
Detonator: A Dave Haggard Thriller
By Larry Matthews
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A radio reporter tangles with Middle-Eastern terrorists set out to blow up Nationals Park in Washington, DC.
Blue-Eyed Boy: A Memoir
By Robert Timberg
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Disfigured during combat in Vietnam, Robert Timberg transformed his life by becoming a distinguished journalist.
I Heard My Country Calling: A Memoir
By James Webb
How the U.S. senator and former Marine persevered through sheer determination and hard work.
Brothers Forever
By Tom Sileo and Col. Tom Manion
A Navy SEAL and a Marine who were Naval Academy roommates become brothers in death as well as in life when buried side by side in Arlington National Cemetery.
Two veterans and a war correspondent ponder the consequences of war.
Seriously Not All Right: Five Wars in Ten Years
By Ron Capps
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A soldier-diplomat bears witness to atrocities beyond imagination.
A foreign correspondent and a veteran reminisce about the brotherhood and raw courage that characterized the 1968 battle of KheSanh.
A commanding history of this longest battle of the war asks questions that time cannot answer.
“The Wages of Combat: No Exit” is Tom Glenn’s survey of books by and about veterans. Americans write about the combat that changed them forever.
Thank You for Your Service
David Finkel
Home after their deployments, the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion struggle with their day-to-day lives in this moving and graphic follow-up to The Good Soldiers.
David Finkel’s newest book, Thank You for Your Service, is a no-holds-barred study of soldiers striving for normalcy after being pushed beyond the limit of human endurance in combat.
Tom Glenn, the author of Friendly Casualties, a book about Vietnam, asked two other writers who have published books about that war - Karl Marlantes and Grady Smith - to explain why they wrote.
Tom Glenn speaks with the author of Blood Chit about his book and his experiences in Vietnam.
A continuation of a conversation between novelist John Locke and WIRoB reviewer Tom Glenn.
Tom Glenn discusses the differences between men and women with the author of Duels and Duets.
The author of Red Flags on the Vietnam War responds to our review by Tom Glenn.
Tom Glenn speaks with the author of Verdi's Shakespeare.
Tom Glenn interviews the author of Red Flags.
More than 40 years after his service in Vietnam, Karl Marlantes describes coming to terms with the emotional scars of combat in What It Is Like to Go to War.
Tom Glenn reviews this final book of Rabb's trilogy, set during the Spanish Civil War.
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