An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.--James M.
McP.
INCLUDES MAPS AND PHOTOS WINNER OF THE GILDER LEHRMAN PRIZE FOR MILITARY HISTORY An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.--James M.
This is an essential, ambitious book, the first of two volumes, a compellingly written and boldly revisionist account of a war that reshaped the American military and the globe and continues to resonate today.
Enriching the narrative are the voices of men otherwise lost to history: the uncelebrated Army grunts who endured stifling temperatures, apocalyptic tropical storms, rampant malaria and other diseases, as well as a fanatical enemy bent on total destruction.
At the pinnacle of this richly told story are the generals: Douglas MacArthur, a military autocrat driven by his dysfunctional lust for fame and power
Robert Eichelberger, perhaps the greatest commander in the theater yet consigned to obscurity by MacArthur\'s jealousy
Vinegar Joe Stillwell, a prickly soldier miscast in a diplomat\'s role; and Walter Krueger, a German-born officer who came to lead the largest American ground force in the Pacific.
In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower.
McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor--a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war--to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese.
John C.
Yet the majority of fighting and dying in the war against Japan was done not by Marines but by unsung Army soldiers.
Even today, the Marines are celebrated as the victors of the Pacific, a reflection of a well-deserved reputation for valor.
McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Out here, mention is seldom seen of the achievements of the Army ground troops, wrote one officer in the fall of 1943, whereas the Marines are blown up to the skies.
An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.--James M
