With the Old Breed
By E.B. Sledge
- Release Date: 2007-05-01
- Genre: History
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Eugene Sledge became more than a legend with his memoir, With The Old Breed. He became a chronicler, a historian, a storyteller who turns the extremes of the war in the Pacific—the terror, the camaraderie, the banal and the extraordinary—into terms we mortals can grasp.”—Tom Hanks
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—3rd 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.
“In all the literature on the Second World War, there is not a more honest, realistic or moving memoir than Eugene Sledge’s. This is the real deal, the real war: unvarnished, brutal, without a shred of sentimentality or false patriotism, a profound primer on what it actually was like to be in that war. It is a classic that will outlive all the armchair generals’ safe accounts of—not the ‘good war’—but the worst war ever.”—Ken Burns
Reviews
Semper Fi!
5By Old Corps MarineBest firsthand account of WWII combat by the storied First Marine Division. Those who seek knowledge past the history books it is a must read.Sobering
5By Zach861I read this memoir cover to cover in a time frame of about 24 hours. Extremely well-written, this detailed account of one Marine’s experiences in the Pacific give great insight to the triumphs and tragedies associated with heavy combat.A honest look at fear and esprit
5By Patrick_inSt.LouisIs was a compelling and disturbing view of combat through the eyes of a Marine Corps private in the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa.Absolutely amazing.
5By N535SRA masterpiece. Should be required reading.WAR BOOK
4By Prophet AmosGod Bless these men, if you like this, you will love BRAVE MEN by Ernie Pyle the greatest war correspondent ever.Wonderful book
5By Gopher1986Great depiction of the conditions a marine infantryman had to endure during WW II in the Pacific theater.Best book ever
5By Lillypop2000This is truly one of the best books I have EVER read in my life. I felt as if I was right there with them through it all.Great read
5By L D HerringAfter reading, I now understand how easy it was for Tom Hanks and HBO to team up and create the mini series on the War in the Pacific.It feels like you were there!
5By New York RyanI think every American should read this book.Old Breed
5By Dano from FloridaGreat book-glad I was not part of the action- this book is why they describe the marines and other veterans as the Greatest Generation. I doubt that the current crop of teenagers could even come close to what they endured and accomplished in the war and then came home and started a new life. I saw the series “Pacific” and still don’t know how they made thru and were still sane. .