Historical fiction intrigues me because it is a way to access different periods of history that are not always accessible or are restricted to what is taught in schools etc. As with most people, I studied WWI throughout my school years from a variety of viewpoints, and yet not one of those classes covered the fascinating part of history that is presented in ‘Nobody’s Heroes’, nor looked as deeply at the issues of race during this time. Not only does this book shed light on a – to me at least- unknown aspect of something that is ‘well known’, it does so in a way that makes no concessions, and demonstrates a high level of respect and research for the history. It broaches difficult questions, and topics openly and without sugar-coating, and that is what gives it such impact.

I enjoyed the way the narrative switched between the past and the present. Not least because you could see how the character had developed and changed, and the motivations for those past actions – and why he was trying to change. It also helped to place Ayer’s in the broader context of the world, and the war, without being too overbearing, and the switches were clearly defined so that you never lose sight of where you are.

For me personally, what I liked most about ‘Nobody’s Heroes’ beyond the window it gave on a part of history that I was unfortunately unaware of, is the way it presents war – focusing more on its impact, than fast-paced battles – and also how it looks at heroes. As someone who primarily reads fantasy, heroes are something that I have read presented in various ways, and yet even in grimdark where the ‘heroes’ are morally grey, or not even really heroes at all, there remains an underlying concept of heroes and what is expected of them. In this book that is taken and broken into tiny pieces,

‘War was not made of heroes. Yes, it made heroes, but only because soldiers did their duty. Courage had become just that, duty. Duty under fire. And to acknowledge the simplicity of it all depressed me. Wasn’t this all to be for some greater purpose. Weren’t we all here to become heroes?’

It is a book about people, about heroism – that is not the heroism of grand stories and fantasy – but that of duty and situation and is all the more powerful about it. It is about heroism that is not universal and doesn’t reach all areas or change the lives of those who wear that badge or even those they thought for. Ayers’ actions, and that of the people around him, do not solve the issues back home in Harlem, with racist policies and attitudes continuing long after this period of ‘heroism’.