|
Product Description
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. 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." Even today, the Marines are celebrated as the victors of the Pacific, a reflection of a well-deserved reputation for valor. Yet the majority of fighting and dying in the war against Japan was done not by Marines but by unsung Army soldiers.
John C. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
INCLUDES MAPS AND PHOTOS
Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought
- Deadly Sky: The American Combat Airman in World War II
- Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible
- The War for the Seas: A Maritime History of World War II
- Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign That Broke the Confederacy
- Four Hours of Fury: The Untold Story of World War II's Largest Airborne Invasion and the Final Push into Nazi Germany
- Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (Vol. 3)
- Saipan: The Battle That Doomed Japan in World War II
- Normandy '44: D-Day and the Epic 77-Day Battle for France
- Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939
- The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach
*If this is not the "Fire and Fortitude: The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943" product you were looking for, you can check the other results by clicking this link. Details were last updated on Nov 23, 2024 01:10 +08.