With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by E.B. Sledge
from Presidio Press

Editorial Review:

In The Wall Street Journal, Victor Davis Hanson named With the Old Breed one of the top five books on epic twentieth-century battles. Studs Terkel interviewed the author for his definitive oral history, The Good War. Now E. B. Sledge's acclaimed first-person account of fighting at Peleliu and Okinawa returns to thrill, edify, and inspire a new generation.
An Alabama boy steeped in American history and enamored of such heroes as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene B. Sledge became part of the war's famous 1st Marine Division-3d Battalion, 5th Marines. Even after intense training, he was shocked to be thrown into the battle of Peleliu, where "the world was a nightmare of flashes, explosions, and snapping bullets." By the time Sledge hit the hell of Okinawa, he was a combat vet, still filled with fear but no longer with panic.
Based on notes Sledge secretly kept in a copy of the New Testament, With the Old Breed captures with utter simplicity and searing honesty the experience of a soldier in the fierce Pacific Theater. Here is what saved, threatened, and changed his life. Here, too, is the story of how he learned to hate and kill-and came to love-his fellow man.
From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0

• Outstanding personal account of war in the Pacific
  The late Mr Sledge 'hammer' wrote this compelling and often brutal account of his experiences during the grim and bloody battles on Peleliu and Okinawa. He was one of a scant handful of Marines that made it through both battles without a wound. His first hand account draws the reader into the daily routine of Marine life but also splashes mud and blood into your face when he lands on the two contested islands. Although a 60mm mortarman, he shared many of the same brutal conditions the infantry did: enemy... more info

• Exceptional Account of the Pacific Theatre During WWII
  This is one of the most intimate and exceptionally written books about combat I have every read. Eugene Sledge portrays the war in the Pacific in such a way that you feel the pain and suffering of the men who sacrificed everything for eachother in combat. You will be humbled by Sledge's memoirs. A must read for all.

• The best on WW2 overall.
  There are so many reasons to pan a book like this, writting, viewpoint, historical accuracy, but this book gets 5 stars in all catagories. So true, so full of action, so sad, so much to say. My true interest lies on the Eastern Front between Germany and Russia, but this was so good it is my favorite of WW2 in spite of the subject matter. Wow.

• Realistic Portrait of War
  I have told people that war is the Second worse thing that could happen to a human. The first? Slavery - which is the battlefront against Hitler's National Socialists and the Imperial Japan in World War II.
  That's where this story takes place. I have read few books that convey the realism and horror of war so well, without reservation. This is one.
  Eugene B. Sledge, an Alabama boy, heads into War in the Pacific as a member of the U.S. Marines. He lands with the famous 1st Marine Division - 3rd... more info