Heart of a Soldier

Heart of a Soldier
by James B. Stewart, James Stewart

Heart of a Soldier
List Price: $22.95
Our Price: $13.02
You Save: $9.93 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.77 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: James B. Stewart, James Stewart
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-05-06
ISBN: 0743244591
Number of pages: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780743244596
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of Heart of a Soldier

Book Review: Enduring and endearing
Summary: 5 Stars

With the tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 rapidly approaching, I just reread this book. I found it every bit as stunning and moving as the first time I read it eight years ago. This book is the perfect combination of a brilliant subject and superior writing and reporting. The life of Rick Rescorla, from his humble beginnings in Hayle, UK, to his noble end in the World Trade Center, is fascinating, particularly against the backdrop of his close friendship with Dan Hill and his tender end-of-life relationship with his wife Susan.

It was surprising and a little amusing to read the one-star review of Heart of a Soldier by F. Sever (noting that the vast majority of the 35 reviews gave the book five stars, with a few four-star reviews; there were no three- or two-star reviews, and no other one-star). F. Sever thought the book was "thrown together" to capitalize on the events of September 11? He believed that Rescorla's story "could have been written so much better"? Did we read the same book? I can't imagine anyone telling this story any better, and even someone unfamiliar with Stewart's famously meticulous reporting on even the shortest New Yorker story must be able to see from the book's painstakingly recreated dialogue how many people the author had to interview to craft this incredible, moving read. Maybe that's why Time magazine voted Heart of a Soldier its 2002 non-fiction book of the year.

It is also interesting to note that, while Heart of a Soldier has not been made into a film, as many other reviewers suggested, it has achieved a much more amazing fate: composer Christopher Theofanidis has transformed it into an opera by the same title. "Heart of a Soldier," the opera, will premiere in San Francisco on September 10, 2011. What a fitting tribute to Rick Rescorla and to the unparalleled writing skills of James B. Stewart.

Summary of Heart of a Soldier

Heart of a Soldier is the extraordinary story of war, love and comradeship, danger and heroism, told by a Pulitzer Prize winner who is one of our finest writers.

When Rick Rescorla got home from Vietnam, he tried to put combat and death behind him, but he never could entirely. From the day he joined the British Army to fight a colonial war in Rhodesia, where he met American Special Forces' officer Dan Hill who would become his best friend, to the day he fell in love with Susan, everything in his remarkable life was preparing him for an act of generosity that would transcend all that went before.

Heart of a Soldier is a story of bravery under fire, of loyalty to one's comrades, of the miracle of finding happiness late in life. Everything about Rick's life came together on September 11. In charge of security for Morgan Stanley, he successfully got all its 2,700 men and women out of the south tower of the World Trade Center. Then, thinking perhaps of soldiers he'd held as they died, as well as the woman he loved, he went back one last time to search for stragglers.

Historical Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Historical Books
Alexander Hamilton ImageAlexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
Penguin Audio; Published: 2004-04-26; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $141.72
America and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics) ImageAmerica and Americans and Selected Nonfiction (Penguin Classics)
by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-04-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $16.00
Sailing Alone around the World (Penguin Classics) ImageSailing Alone around the World (Penguin Classics)
by Joshua Slocum
Penguin Classics; Published: 1999-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops: $14.00
The Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters ImageThe Mitfords: Letters Between Six Sisters
by Charlotte Mosley
Harper; Published: 2007-11-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.02
Price in other shops: $39.95
Profiles in Courage (slipcased edition): Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americans ImageProfiles in Courage (slipcased edition): Decisive Moments in the Lives of Celebrated Americans
by John F. Kennedy
Harper; Published: 2006-10-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $35.00
Lost Years: A Memoir 1945 - 1951 ImageLost Years: A Memoir 1945 - 1951
by Christopher Isherwood
HarperCollins; Published: 2000-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops: $30.00
Thomas Jefferson: A Life ImageThomas Jefferson: A Life
by Willard Sterne Randall
Harper Perennial; Published: 1994-06-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.16
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Professor and the Madman ImageThe Professor and the Madman
by Simon Winchester
Harper; Published: 1998-08-26; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $23.00
Patton: A Genius for War ImagePatton: A Genius for War
by Carlo D'Este, este, Carlo D'
Harpercollins; Published: 1995-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $49.94
Stonewall Jackson ImageStonewall Jackson
by James Robertson
Macmillan Pub.; Published: 1997-02-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $48.00
Price in other shops: $51.00
Similar Books and other products
We were Soldiers Once...And Young: Ia Drang--The Battle That Changed The War In Vietnam ImageWe were Soldiers Once...And Young: Ia Drang--The Battle That Changed The War In Vietnam
by Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway
Random House; Published: 1992-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.98
Price in other shops: $30.00
We Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam ImageWe Are Soldiers Still: A Journey Back to the Battlefields of Vietnam
by Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway
Harper Perennial; Published: 2009-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.06
Price in other shops: $14.99
The Heart of a Soldier: A True Love Story of Love, War, and Sacrifice ImageThe Heart of a Soldier: A True Love Story of Love, War, and Sacrifice
by Dana White, Kate Blaise
Gotham Books; Published: 2005-12-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.74
Price in other shops: $25.00
Den of Thieves ImageDen of Thieves
by James B. Stewart
Touchstone; Published: 1992-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.92
Price in other shops: $18.00
Baptism: A Vietnam Memoir ImageBaptism: A Vietnam Memoir
by Larry Gwin
Ballantine Books; Published: 1999-11-02; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.28
Price in other shops: $7.99
Heart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th ImageHeart of a Soldier: A Story of Love, Heroism, and September 11th
by James B. Stewart
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2002-09-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: $24.00
Tangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff ImageTangled Webs: How False Statements are Undermining America: From Martha Stewart to Bernie Madoff
by James B. Stewart
Penguin Press HC, The; Published: 2011-04-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $29.95
Touched By A Hero: A 9/11 Widow's Journal of Love & Legacy ImageTouched By A Hero: A 9/ 11 Widow's Journal of Love & Legacy
by Susan Rescorla
CreateSpace; Published: 2011-07-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.88
Price in other shops: $12.95
Blind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder ImageBlind Eye: The Terrifying Story Of A Doctor Who Got Away With Murder
by James B. Stewart
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2000-06-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.72
Price in other shops: $20.99
We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam ImageWe Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
by Harold G. Moore, Joseph L. Galloway
Presidio Press; Published: 2004-11-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.50
Price in other shops: $18.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories