Into Dust and Fire: Five Young Americans Who Went First to Fight the Nazi Army

The untold story of five young American friends who left the ivory towers at Harvard and Dartmouth to take on the Nazi's…

In the spring of 1941, with Europe consumed by war and occupation, Britain stood alone against the Nazi menace. The United States remained wary of joining the costly and destructive conflict. But for five extraordinary young Americans, the global threat of fascism was too great to ignore.

Six months before Pearl Harbor, these courageous idealists left their promising futures behind to join the beleaguered British Army. Fighting as foreigners, they were shipped off to join the Desert Rats, the 7th Armored Division of the British Eighth Army, who were battling Field Marshal Rommel’s panzer division. The Yanks would lead anti-tank and machine-gun platoons into combat at the Second Battle of El Alamein, the twelve-day epic of tank warfare that would ultimately turn the tide for the Allies.

A fitting tribute to five men whose commitment to freedom transcended national boundaries, Into Dust and Fire is a gripping true tale of idealism, courage, camaraderie, sacrifice, and heroism.

Rachel S. Cox writes regularly for the Washington Post and CQ Researcher. Her articles have appeared in AARP Bulletin, Preservation, Landscape Architecture, and other national magazines. She was formerly an editor of Preservation magazine, and as a writer/editor at Time-Life Books, she wrote for the Civil War and Fighting Jets series. A resident of Washington, D.C., she holds a BA cum laude in English from Harvard. Inspired by the experience of her uncle, Rob Cox, Into Dust and Fire is her first book.