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Author Robert Timberg is an award-winning journalist. He brings impressive credentials to this project. Those credentials alone are enough to inspire a high measure of confidence in this book. It is a further measure of the trust one can place in this astounding work that author Timberg immediately addresses possible reader skepticism in the opening paragraph of the section in which he provides notes and explanations of his research. This is the intersected story of five graduates of the US Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. The men are John McCain, Robert McFarlane, Oliver North, John Poindexter, and James Webb. This is a story of courage and honor, of lying and deception, of politics and statesmanship. This is a story of the lingering effects of Viet Nam on those who bled there, and on those who didn't go; and on the entire nation. This is truth. No toneless, apparently neutral history text, THE NIGHTINGALE'S SONG is so well-written, it is difficult to put it down. The book examines the role of Viet Nam in their lives, and in the connection of those five to the Iran-Contra Affair. In fiction we often talk of suspense, passion, pace. It's all here in this astonishingly well-written, mesmerizing chronicle. By turns wry, cynical, humorous, and insightful, Timberg, an Annapolis graduate and ex-marine himself, is able to provide an insiders view of the way in which our Navy goes about choosing and promoting its officers. The contribution to our understanding of the political, military, and emotional events of these recent decades through this book is immeasurable. And it rings of truth. Author Timberg has thoughtfully provided an extensive bibliography, a good index, a list of interviewees and copious research notes. A memorable book, likely destined to become a classic of its type.
Reviewed by Carl Brookins, May 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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