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With the Old Breed
384 pages
A harrowing, unvarnished descent into the physical and psychological hell of combat, anchored by the profound bonds of brotherhood.
What it feels like
Reading this memoir is a visceral, deeply sobering experience that strips away all romantic illusions of warfare. The narrative moves with a steady, grueling momentum, mirroring the relentless slog of the Pacific island campaigns. The prose is remarkably unadorned and humble, yet it hits with devastating force, immersing the reader in a dread-soaked atmosphere of mud, shrapnel, and unimaginable terror. It is not a book of grand strategic overviews, but rather an intimate, ground-level testament to human endurance and the brutalizing effects of violence. Despite the grim and harrowing mood, a quiet, enduring warmth emerges through the profound brotherhood forged in the crucible of combat. It will deeply resonate with readers seeking an unflinching, profoundly honest exploration of the human cost of war.
- Mood
- harrowing
- grim
- dread-soaked
- visceral
- claustrophobic
- Tone
- unflinching
- earnest
- humble
- stark
- reflective
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- loss of innocence · brutalizing effect of war · profound brotherhood · terror of combat · moral endurance
- The writing
- Stripped-down, unadorned, and searingly direct, the writing prioritizes raw truth over literary flourish.
- The arc
- The journey moves from naive, patriotic anticipation to profound, traumatized disillusionment, ultimately finding solace only in the unbreakable bonds of shared suffering.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking the unvarnished, ground-level reality of war and those who appreciate deeply human, unsentimental historical memoirs.
Content notes
- graphic war violence
- gore
- psychological trauma
- death and dying
About the book
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--3d 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.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Description from Open Library.
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