With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E. B. Sledge, Paul Fussell (Introduction)
In his own book, Wartime, Paul Fussell called With the Old Breed one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war. John Keegan referred to it in The Second World War as one of the most arresting documents in war literature. And Studs Terkel was so fascinated with the story he interviewed its author for his book, The Good War. What has made E.B. Sledge's memoir of his experience fighting in the South Pacific during World War II so devastatingly powerful is its sheer honest simplicity and compassion. Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the vitality and bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1923 and raised on riding, hunting, fishing, and a respect for history and legendary heroes such as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene Bondurant Sledge (later called Sledgehammer by his Marine Corps buddies) joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. In those years, he passed, often painfully, from innocence to experience. Sledge enlisted out of patriotism, idealism, and youthful courage, but once he landed on the beach at Peleliu, it was purely a struggle for survival. Based on the notes he kept on slips of paper tucked secretly away in his New Testament, he simply and directly recalls those long months, mincing no words and sparing no pain. The reality of battle meant unbearable heat, deafening gunfire, unimaginable brutality and cruelty, the stench of death, and, above all, constant fear. Sledge still has nightmares about the bloody, muddy month of May on Okinawa. But, as he also tellingly reveals, the bonds of friendship formed then will never be severed. Sledge's honesty and compassion for the other marines, even complete strangers, sets him apart as a memoirist of war. Read as sobering history or as high adventure, With the Old Breed is a moving chronicle of action and courage. Editorial Reviews Review The best personal account of World War II. Sledge never loses sight of the honor and the glory of war. Excellent in all respects.?Kevin S. Fontenot, Tulane University I feel like I should have a campaign ribbon for Pelelin and Okinawa. I have shared the fox hole. I have felt the heat. It is the closest thing to being there. After reading the book my buddies in K-3-5 are real. It has to be among the best works of its kind. The forgotten soldiers tell one story. These Marines are remembered,?William J. Ikeriran, Univ. of North Alabama The book is a superb supplementary text for any American survey course or class on World War Two.?Daniel P. Murphy, Hanover College It is a fine text to use for WWII?and for combat studies.?Perce C. Mullen, Montana State Univ. Classic....Should be required reading for all students, especially now that we are once again unleashing the dogs of war.?John F. Cox, University of Arizona In what may be his finest feat as a critic, Fussell introduces the reader to a hitherto unsung but remarkable author named Eugene B. Sledge....This book richly merits a wider audience....The searing honesty of [Sledge's] words makes them...a fitting epitaph for the ordeal that began in Danzig fifty years ago.?Newsweek One of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war.?Paul Fussell, in Wartime Among the thousands of soldiers' stories, I am haunted by one from the Pacific War....[Sledge's account is] one of the most arresting documents in war literature.?John Keegan, in The Second World War Although rendering his war experiences is painful, the effort to bring them to the folks back home is ultimately worthwhile if not necessary....In every word appear Sledge's urgency of purpose, the immediacy of his experience of war, and the mark of that on his character. I am not alone in claiming this memoir to be the most comprehensive?and scathing, compelling, sorrow-laden?rendering of the marine infantryman's experience in World War II.?Sewanee Review One of the most important personal accounts of war that I have ever read. I believe that it will become a classic, and will be read and cited as long as the Pacific campaign is remembered.?John Keegan On of the best and real accounts of war I have ever read. My students were astonished after reading the book.?Steven Murra, Hawkeye Community College About the Author E.B. Sledge, who served in the First Marine Division in World War II, is now Professor of Biology at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. Paul Fussell, Donald T. Regan Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania, is the author of many books, including The Great War and Modern Memory and Wartime.
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Binding: Paperback
Published by: Oxford University Press: , 1990
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ISBN: 9780195067149 | 0195067142
352 pages.
Book Condition: Very Good
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