With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Book Cover

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

Book Overview: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

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

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

Read More
ISBN-1397808914191989780891419068
ISBN-1008914191950891419063
PublisherPresidio PressRandom House Publishing Group
Publication Date2007-09-252007-05-01
EditionReprintFirst Edition
Languageenen
Pages384352
Dimensionsin x in x in
Weight lbs

“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 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

E. B. Sledge

Eugene Bondurant Sledge, better known as E. B. Sledge, was an eminent American author, molecular biologist, and marine veteran of World War II. Born on November 4, 1923, in Mobile, Alabama, Sledge, often referred to as “Sledgehammer” by his comrades, had an indelible impact on war literature with his autobiographical works. His unparalleled ability to blend science with historical storytelling offered readers a uniquely insightful perspective into the realities of warfare.

E. B. Sledge’s military service in the Pacific Theater of World War II laid the groundwork for his acclaimed books “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa” and “China Marine.” These memoirs, marked by their authenticity and raw depictions of the horrors of war, demonstrated his exceptional talent as a skilled and captivating raconteur. His combat experiences significantly shaped his literary oeuvre, contributing to his legacy as a celebrated author in the genre of war literature.

Following the war, Sledge pursued an academic career in biology, illustrating his versatility. He earned his PhD in the field from the University of Florida and spent most of his career teaching at the University of Montevallo in Alabama. E. B. Sledge’s contribution to literature and science until his passing in 2001 is a testament to his extraordinary life as a soldier, a writer, and an academic. His multi-dimensional legacy continues to inspire and resonate with readers and scholars alike.

More from the Veterans and War Heroes Collection

View Collection
Explore the trenches of war through our curated collections of books about American veterans and war heroes. Learn first-hand what...
Shake Hands with the Devil book cover
Shake Hands with the Devil
Starting at $21.99
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
War As I Knew It book cover
War As I Knew It
Starting at $18.99
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Fire in the Hole: A Mortarman in Vietnam book cover
Fire in the Hole: A Mortarman in Vietnam
Starting at $12.95
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging book cover
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
Starting at $22.00
Format: Hardcover
Condition: New
The Yellow Birds book cover
The Yellow Birds
Starting at $35.00
Format: Hardcover
Condition: New
Thank You for Your Service book cover
Thank You for Your Service
Starting at $20.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Redeployment book cover
Redeployment
Starting at $17.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific book cover
Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific
Starting at $18.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Flags of Our Fathers book cover
Flags of Our Fathers
Starting at $20.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
American Sniper The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U. S. Military History book cover
American Sniper The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U. S. Military History
Starting at $9.99
Formats: Hardcover, Mass Market Paperback, Paperback
Condition: New
All Quiet on the Western Front book cover
All Quiet on the Western Front
Starting at $8.99
Formats: Hardcover, Mass Market Paperback, Paperback
Condition: New

You May Also Like

A curated selection of books we think you'll love, matey 🏴‍☠️
Alexander Hamilton book cover
Alexander Hamilton
Starting at $22.00
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback
Condition: New
The Diary of a Young Girl book cover
The Diary of a Young Girl
Starting at $7.99
Formats: Hardcover, Mass Market Paperback, Paperback
Condition: New
Grant book cover
Grant
Starting at $24.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Vietnam: A History book cover
Vietnam: A History
Starting at $25.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 book cover
Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956
Starting at $20.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey book cover
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt’s Darkest Journey
Starting at $18.00
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
The Life and Times of William Henry Harrison book cover
The Life and Times of William Henry Harrison
Starting at $19.99
Format: Paperback
Condition: New
1776 book cover
1776
Starting at $18.99
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback
Condition: New
King: A Life book cover
King: A Life
Starting at $35.00
Format: Hardcover
Condition: New
And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle book cover
And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
Starting at $25.00
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback
Condition: New

Reviews

There are no reviews yet.

Be the first to review “With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa”

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *