Writer Joseph O’Neill had two grandfathers, just like everybody else. After that, it gets unusual. Grandfather Joseph (above, left) was a Syrian who found himself living in Turkey when that country came into existence. Grandfather Jim was born in that part of the United Kingdom that is known today as the Republic of Ireland. Shifts of sovereign boundaries contributed to putting both men in prison during World War II. Beyond that, the men had nothing in common — except grandchildren. Joseph O’Neill’s reconstructive memoir of their lives, Blood Dark Track, is a classic of modern life.

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