by Hugh Ambrose
First published 2010
Hugh Ambrose examines the Pacific Theater through five American servicemen whose paths crossed by chance during World War II. The author traces their journeys from America's withdrawal from China in November 1941 through General MacArthur's arrival in Japan during August 1945. These men experienced the major campaigns that defined the war against Japan. They witnessed the disaster at Bataan and the victory at Midway. They endured Guadalcanal's brutal fighting and participated in the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Some fought on Peleliu's coral defenses, others on Iwo Jima's volcanic slopes, and still others in Okinawa's deadly terrain. Ambrose shows how each man served in different capacities, some as career military professionals, others as civilian volunteers. They faced an enemy that chose death over defeat, demanding maximum courage and endurance from every American fighter. Three of these five men received medals for their bravery, though all paid heavily for their service. The book expands beyond the HBO miniseries it inspired, revealing the personal experiences of these warriors who survived the Pacific's vast battlegrounds and returned home forever changed by what they had witnessed and endured.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, biography-memoir, military-history, american-history
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-accounts, true-story
Setting: China, Japan, Bataan, Midway, Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa
Period: November 1941, August 1945
489 pages · Hardcover · NAL