'With the Old Breed' by E.B. Sledge offers a raw and unfiltered account of the brutal realities faced by Marines during the Pacific Theater in World War II. Through his vivid and harrowing descriptions, Sledge immerses readers in the chaos of combat, confronting the physical and psychological toll of war. The memoir's candid portrayal of courage, sacrifice, and the struggle for survival captures the essence of the human spirit amid unspeakable horrors. As Sledge wrestles with the moral complexities of warfare, he invites readers to reflect on the nature of bravery and the price of war. This gripping narrative challenges us to honor the sacrifices of those who fought and to understand the profound impacts of their experiences.
By E.B. Sledge
Published: 2007
"We were just a bunch of kids, thrown into a hell we couldn’t understand, caught in a war that would change us forever."
“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 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 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
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“We were just a bunch of kids, thrown into a hell we couldn’t understand, caught in a war that would change us forever.”
With the Old Breed
By E.B. Sledge
Discover a world of knowledge through our extensive collection of book summaries.
E.B. Sledge was an American author and World War II veteran, best known for his memoir 'With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa,' which offers a harrowing and honest portrayal of the Pacific theater during the war. His writing is characterized by its vivid, unflinching detail and deep emotional resonance, reflecting the intense experiences and psychological toll of combat. In addition to 'With the Old Breed,' he also authored 'China Marine: An Infantryman’s Life after World War II,' which continues to explore themes of survival and the challenges faced by soldiers returning from war. Sledge's works have been praised for their lyrical prose and often serve as crucial accounts of the realities of military service.
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