UPDATE: Downey also wrote this 1944 article.
I finished reading “Jezebel The Jeep” last month, a fun, quick read written by Fairfax Downey. Mr. Downey was a writer and military historian who served in both World War I and II. During World War II he went to North Africa, the same place he sends the book’s protagonist. The book, only 150 pages, tells a story about a soldier, his jeep, and the difficulties the soldier faces, both personal and professional.
The book’s prose is accompanied by sketches from Paul Brown. I’ve included a few below, scanned courtesy of John. He enjoyed Paul’s work so much he digitized all the drawings, many including jeeps. You can see all of them at John’s Google+ page. Also on the page is a piece of ‘Jezebel’ jeep art featured on the cover of Adventure magazine in 1944, an issue that included Mr. Downey’s story.
The last book I read recently was Bill Mauldin’s autobio The Brass Ring. It was a good read. When I saw the post above, I thought it would be a good idea to try it. I received a copy today from ebay for about $19 including shipping. I did this without doing any research first. What the hell! As I waited for the book to arrive I thought that the name Fairfax Downey sounded familiar. I found out today that this is because Downey also wrote War Horse! Though it doesn’t look like a long read, I’m sure this will fill some idle time well. Thanks for the heads up!
Nice piece of detective work! While I did research on the Jezebel book, I never did any research on Downey. In fact, just last month I watched the movie War Horse for the first time. I did do some research on the accuracy, or lack there of, of the War Horse movie. It turns out that the movie perpetuated a variety of myths about No Man’s Land, which weren’t quite true. I wish I had that link at my finger tips. I’ll look for it.
My book finally shipped yesterday. I’m looking forward to reading it, too!
Amazing!!!! I have just checked Paul´s google page and I´´m shocked! It´s the first time I have got any info regarding this book and that incredible artwork by Paul Brown. Do you have any more info regarding this last one?
Again, Dave, many thanks for your incredible research and work!!! Keep up the good work!
More on Fairfax Downey:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairfax_Downey
and on Paul Brown:
http://www.horseandhoundart.com/Paul_Brown.htm#
Fairly complete list of Fairfax Downey works:
http://www.librarything.com/author/downeyfairfaxdavis&all=1
FYI,
I also added a pic of Fairfax Downey and a montage of some covers of Downey books to my Picasa page.
Novasctoy, many thanks for the info too!!!
You are most welcome!