One of the most vivid and moving of recent books, ["The Skies of Crete"] has as its theme the futility of war….

Every element in the book rings true: the Cretans' picture of their long, heroic and colorful history; their passionate love of their island; the bravery, desperation and bewilderment they felt in the face of mechanized warfare and mass destruction, and the fumbling attempts of each individual to come to terms with the irrational evil that faced him.