Brendan (History Nerds United)'s Reviews > A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men: The Forgotten British Special Operations Soldiers of World War II

Shannon Monaghan's A Quiet Company of Dangerous Men is an example of good writing undone by an unwieldy scope. In this case, Monaghan chooses to follow four British special operatives through World War II and the Cold War afterwards. Does that sound like a lot? Because it is too much.

It is a crying shame, though. Monaghan clearly has an affection for these characters and has done her research. This is not a "bad" book by any stretch of the imagination, but the fatal flaw is a big one. The problem is that in order to do tell each story, she needs to introduce dozens of other characters while often doubling back in time to catch the reader up. This results in a strange habit of Monaghan telling stories backwards, such as when one character was in jail. The author states he just got out and then goes back in time to explain what happened. This temporal whiplash happens often and does not let anyone's story truly resonate.

The best example is Julian Amery's brother, Jack. Without giving too much away, he was demonstrably different from Julian and his ultimate fate suggests a fascinating backstory. Unfortunately, Monaghan has to condense much of the story into a few pages, when this could probably be its own book. Often, we get told what people are like instead of seeing what they are like through their actions.

However, there is a lot to learn from the book, especially the overall conditions within Albania and the surrounding area in World War II. This area is often overlooked and I learned quite a bit even if it felt a bit superficial. Ultimately, I wouldn't tell anyone not to read this book, but I would suggest that you may not get the full story you are hoping for.

(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Viking Books.)