The Other Side of Time: A Combat Surgeon in World War II

Phibbs, now a retired Arizona cardiologist, used the ""flaming tedium'' and sleepless nights of WW II to record the events and impressions that comprise this engrossing, splendidly written memoir. He recounts a year spent as surgeon for a 3000-man combat command, which fought its way from Lorraine to the Bavarian Alps via newly liberated, typhus-ravaged Dachau. Both as participant and observer, his evocations of battles and the men who fought them and of the endless stream of wounded are extraordinarily vivid. He chronicles achievements, friendships and heroic acts along with terror, pain and the stupidity of bureaucracies of all kinds, treating with contempt comfort-loving chaplains, French collaborators and the arrogance of certain generals. Phibbs's compassion, appreciation of life and sense of humor make palatable the horrors he recreates. (June 5)