About the Book
Title: The Improbably Journeys of Billy Battles Book 2
Author: Ronald E. Yates
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 472
Publisher: Xlibris US
Publication Date: June 10, 2016
Synopsis: Billy Battles is definitely not in Kansas anymore.
As Book 2 of the Finding Billy Battles trilogy opens, Billy is far from his Kansas roots and his improbable journeys are just starting.
The year is 1894 and Billy is aboard the S S China sailing to the inscrutable Far East. Trouble is not far behind. He has met a mysterious and possibly dangerous German Baroness. He has locked horns with malevolent agents of the German government and battled ferocious Chinese and Malay pirates in the South China Sea.
Later, he is embroiled in the bloody anti-French insurgency in Indochina–which quite possibly makes him the fi rst American combatant in a country that eventually will become Vietnam. Then, in the Philippines, he is thrust into the Spanish-American War and the brutal anti-American insurgency that follows. But Billy’s troubles are only beginning.
As the 19th century ends and the 20th century begins, he finds himself entangled with political opportunists, spies, revolutionaries, and an assortment of vindictive and dubious characters of both sexes. How will Billy handle those people and the challenges they present? The answers are just ahead.
Author: Ronald E. Yates
Genre: Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 472
Publisher: Xlibris US
Publication Date: June 10, 2016
Synopsis: Billy Battles is definitely not in Kansas anymore.
As Book 2 of the Finding Billy Battles trilogy opens, Billy is far from his Kansas roots and his improbable journeys are just starting.
The year is 1894 and Billy is aboard the S S China sailing to the inscrutable Far East. Trouble is not far behind. He has met a mysterious and possibly dangerous German Baroness. He has locked horns with malevolent agents of the German government and battled ferocious Chinese and Malay pirates in the South China Sea.
Later, he is embroiled in the bloody anti-French insurgency in Indochina–which quite possibly makes him the fi rst American combatant in a country that eventually will become Vietnam. Then, in the Philippines, he is thrust into the Spanish-American War and the brutal anti-American insurgency that follows. But Billy’s troubles are only beginning.
As the 19th century ends and the 20th century begins, he finds himself entangled with political opportunists, spies, revolutionaries, and an assortment of vindictive and dubious characters of both sexes. How will Billy handle those people and the challenges they present? The answers are just ahead.
My Review
The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles finds William Battles in the 1890's on a steamship headed to the Far East in an effort to escape the pain of losing his wife. The adventure Billy finds is much more than he bargained for and he finds himself in life or death situations on several occasions. Billy encounters many colorful characters from history and each event seems to shape him into a remarkable man who lives a full and abundant life.
The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles is an intriguing story of struggles and triumphs in American history, at home and abroad, as experienced by William Battles. As the second book in the trilogy, I have to say the author did not disappoint. Picking up right where the first book, Finding Billy Battles, left off I was immediately engrossed. As a gifted storyteller the author draws readers in with his vivid details, rich characters and a plot so mesmerizing I didn't want it to end.
I definitely recommend picking up a copy.
The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles is an intriguing story of struggles and triumphs in American history, at home and abroad, as experienced by William Battles. As the second book in the trilogy, I have to say the author did not disappoint. Picking up right where the first book, Finding Billy Battles, left off I was immediately engrossed. As a gifted storyteller the author draws readers in with his vivid details, rich characters and a plot so mesmerizing I didn't want it to end.
I definitely recommend picking up a copy.
About the Author
I am a former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and Dean Emeritus of the College of Media at the University of Illinois where I was also a Professor of Journalism.
My book, "The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles," is the second in my Finding Billy Battles trilogy of novels and will be published in April 2016. The first book in the trilogy, "Finding Billy Battles," was published in 2014.
I am also the author of The Kikkoman Chronicles: A Global Company with A Japanese Soul, published by McGraw-Hill. Other books include Aboard The Tokyo Express: A Foreign Correspondent's Journey Through Japan, a collection of columns translated into Japanese, as well as three journalism textbooks: The Journalist's Handbook, International Reporting and Foreign Correspondents, and Business and Financial Reporting in a Global Economy.
During my career as a foreign correspondent I lived and worked in Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America where I covered several major stories including the fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975; the 1989 Tiananmen Square tragedy in Beijing; Afghanistan during the last year of the Russian occupation; and revolutions in Nicaragua, El Salvador an Guatemala.
My work as a correspondent was rewarded with several awards, including three Pulitzer nominations; the Inter-American Press Association's Tom Wallace Award for coverage of Central and South America; the Peter Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists; and three Edward Scott Beck Awards.
I am a proud graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.
You can find out more about Ronald Yates and his books by visiting http://ronaldyatesbooks.com/.
My book, "The Improbable Journeys of Billy Battles," is the second in my Finding Billy Battles trilogy of novels and will be published in April 2016. The first book in the trilogy, "Finding Billy Battles," was published in 2014.
I am also the author of The Kikkoman Chronicles: A Global Company with A Japanese Soul, published by McGraw-Hill. Other books include Aboard The Tokyo Express: A Foreign Correspondent's Journey Through Japan, a collection of columns translated into Japanese, as well as three journalism textbooks: The Journalist's Handbook, International Reporting and Foreign Correspondents, and Business and Financial Reporting in a Global Economy.
During my career as a foreign correspondent I lived and worked in Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America where I covered several major stories including the fall of South Vietnam and Cambodia in 1975; the 1989 Tiananmen Square tragedy in Beijing; Afghanistan during the last year of the Russian occupation; and revolutions in Nicaragua, El Salvador an Guatemala.
My work as a correspondent was rewarded with several awards, including three Pulitzer nominations; the Inter-American Press Association's Tom Wallace Award for coverage of Central and South America; the Peter Lisagor Award from the Society of Professional Journalists; and three Edward Scott Beck Awards.
I am a proud graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism at the University of Kansas.
You can find out more about Ronald Yates and his books by visiting http://ronaldyatesbooks.com/.
