Fire and Fortitude Fire and Fortitude

Fire and Fortitude

The US Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943

    • 4.0 • 44 Ratings
    • $5.99
    • $5.99

Publisher Description

WINNER OF THE GILDER LEHRMAN PRIZE FOR MILITARY HISTORY

An engrossing, epic history of the US Army in the Pacific War, from the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die

“This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.”—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian


"Out here, mention is seldom seen of the achievements of the Army ground troops," wrote one officer in the fall of 1943, "whereas the Marines are blown up to the skies." Even today, the Marines are celebrated as the victors of the Pacific, a reflection of a well-deserved reputation for valor. Yet the majority of fighting and dying in the war against Japan was done not by Marines but by unsung Army soldiers.
 
John C. McManus, one of our most highly acclaimed historians of World War II, takes readers from Pearl Harbor—a rude awakening for a military woefully unprepared for war—to Makin, a sliver of coral reef where the Army was tested against the increasingly desperate Japanese. In between were nearly two years of punishing combat as the Army transformed, at times unsteadily, from an undertrained garrison force into an unstoppable juggernaut, and America evolved from an inward-looking nation into a global superpower.
 
At the pinnacle of this richly told story are the generals: Douglas MacArthur, a military autocrat driven by his dysfunctional lust for fame and power; Robert Eichelberger, perhaps the greatest commander in the theater yet consigned to obscurity by MacArthur's jealousy; "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell, a prickly soldier miscast in a diplomat's role; and Walter Krueger, a German-born officer who came to lead the largest American ground force in the Pacific. Enriching the narrative are the voices of men otherwise lost to history: the uncelebrated Army grunts who endured stifling temperatures, apocalyptic tropical storms, rampant malaria and other diseases, as well as a fanatical enemy bent on total destruction.
 
This is an essential, ambitious book, the first of three volumes, a compellingly written and boldly revisionist account of a war that reshaped the American military and the globe and continues to resonate today.

INCLUDES MAPS AND PHOTOS

GENRE
History
RELEASED
2019
July 30
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
640
Pages
PUBLISHER
Penguin Publishing Group
SELLER
PENGUIN GROUP USA, INC.
SIZE
47
MB

Customer Reviews

dffyuytrc ,

Darn good battles and good book

A very detailed account of the action - but not overly detailed or overly explicit.

Benguerel ,

Worth The Read

Difficult read but worth the effort.

kreuklf ,

Historically interesting.

The author is obsessed with race like all liberals. Quit castigating people for prevailing attitudes on race in the 1940s.

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