John Oliver's character has much to do with the loyalty of his men. In Griffin, characters often seem expressly created to generate admiration, charm, perhaps a little raffishness, but seldom disdain or disgust. Griffin's major characters may often be drawn in one dimension, but those single dimensions still have considerable texture. General Bob Bellmon, for example, is a man whose first and foremost concern is for the Army and Duty. Yet Griffin takes us inside Bellmon's mind, and we watch him mull over the development as an officer and future leader of John Oliver. Oliver is somewhat more complex; Griffin gives him a love life as well as an Army life. His almost lovehate relationship with widow Eliza Wood shows him to be more than simply a youthful hell-raising flyboy. Liza Wood is an exception to David Murray's statement that [Griffin's] womenfolk are "so brave and cheerful that...