DECEMBER 30, 2005

ON AMERICAN SOIL, the true story of the largest and longest Army court-martial of World War II, has been named one of the ten best books of 2005 by John Marshall, the book critic of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper.

In his citation, Marshall writes:

A notorious World War II event in Seattle gets a convincing revisionist examination in this painstakingly researched first book by one of the Northwest's most respected television journalists. What has long been described as a "race riot" resulting in the lynching of an Italian prisoner of war at Fort Lawton in Magnolia turns out to be a much different story indeed, as well as a travesty of justice, thanks to the scrupulous spadework of the one-time attorney and his trusty research partner and wife, Leslie Hamann.

ON AMERICAN SOIL was previously named a “Discover Great New Writers” selection by Barnes & Noble, and the “Star of Washington” by Barnes & Noble booksellers in Washington State. It was also a “Top Ten Pick” by the American Booksellers Association.

A bill now before Congress, HR 3174, demands that the Secretary of the Army reopen the court-martial in light of the evidence disclosed in ON AMERICAN SOIL. The bill currently has 38 sponsors, and is before the Military Personnel subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee.

The Seattle P-I Top Ten Books for 2005:

A Sudden Country, Karen Fisher (Random House)

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (Alfred A. Knopf)

The Golden Spruce, John Vallant, (W.W. Norton)

The Worst Hard Time, Timothy Egan (Houghton Mifflin)

On Beauty, Zadie Smith (Penguin)

True Story, Michael Finkel (Harper Collins)

The Devil's Teeth, Susan Casey (Henry Holt)

On American Soil, Jack Hamann (Algonquin)

Clearcut, Nina Shengold (Anchor)

Around the World in 80 Dates, Jennifer Cox (Downtown Press)