TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE: A WW1 Windy City Novel by Robert W. Smith – Historical Fiction, WWI, Chicago History

In To Pledge Allegiance: A WWI Windy City Novel by Robert W. Smith, Conor Dolon, a defense lawyer, investigates the suspicious death of his friend, and ends up unearthing horrifying family secrets as well as deeply ingrained espionage activities.

Conor, Irish-American living in Chicago, receives shocking news. His wife Maureen has been abducted by a bunch of vigilantes walking the streets of the city and sporting flag armbands. The previous evening, Maureen had agreed that her outspoken support of the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in Ireland and her neutrality actions were becoming risky given the unpredictability of the current political climate.

Even when she eventually returns unharmed, the police officer who found her did not detain the kidnappers despite their evident presence. As Conor subsequently discovers, his wife’s captors questioned her attitude toward the Kaiser, involvement in Irish groups, and allegiance in the case of war.

When a friend is shot during a warehouse burglary, Conor is once more taken aback. He later finds out from a nurse that, despite the hospital saving his life, he unexpectedly passed away from an infection.

This friend had not previously suffered fever symptoms, so the nurse finds that stated cause strange. Conor goes out to look into his friend’s death, and bumps into a woman he’d saved earlier from hooligans pestering her during a peaceful demonstration. She turns out to be the daughter of one of his primary suspects, a ruthless and vindictive man who leads a prominent gang. But her elegant sense of style rapidly wins Conor over, almost shattering his marriage to his wife.

And as information about the affair surfaces, Conor’s wife reveals a fifteen year old secret about her involvement with one of Conor’s close friends from his early years in Chicago—the man who had helped him navigate the quagmire of the city’s politics.

The events of World War I in Europe in 1917 serve as the backdrop, instilling this story with real historical elements such as the Department of Justice approving a group of criminals and even giving them badges to carry out their violence.

An immigrant family of well-known Irish Republicans—the Clan-na-Gael—has also been well depicted. The author carefully shows the role that many organizations played in Chicago, a city which has been at the epicenter of powerful movements opposing the nation’s war policy. Readers fascinated with history and World War politics will appreciate the richness of material in this book, including details on the largest-ever patriotic group’s endeavor, fully backed by the US government, to suppress opposition and foster nationalism.

Robert W. Smith’s book To Pledge Allegiance: A WWI Windy City Novel is a story propelled by likable characters who remain true to their era.

It weaves action, romance, mistrust, familial insecurities, and war-related themes into a narrative that will hold the reader’s attention from beginning to end. An engaging, judicious and well-written work!