Books by E.B. Sledge
“This book is captured in the TV series The Pacific. Eugene Sledge was a young U.S. Marine who doesn’t even enter the fighting until September 1944, but he’s then in some of the most vicious combat as American naval forces ‘island hop’ through the South and Central Pacific to establish bases close enough to bomb Japanese cities and ultimately invade the country. Equally, Japan knows that they must not allow this to happen or it will be unconditional surrender. That’s where the ferocity of their defence turns suicidal and casualties mount on both sides. American forces lost more men in the final year of the war than in the previous three years combined. That’s where Sledge’s memoir begins…What I found emotive and why I chose it is that this book—above most other World War Two memoirs—is just incredible for capturing the psychological damage of being on the front line. It’s visceral.” Read more...
Iain MacGregor, Military Historians & Veteran
Interviews where books by E.B. Sledge were recommended
The best books on Battles, recommended by Iain MacGregor
The weapons and tactics of war may change, but the human experience of battle does not, argues Iain MacGregor, author of Battle: The Moments that Transformed Warfare from Ancient Greece to Ukraine. He highlights five books that bring that experience to life, from the ordinary soldier at Agincourt to the brutal realities of the Pacific War and the Falklands.
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1
The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific
by Alistair Urquhart -
2
A War of Empires: Japan, India, Burma & Britain: 1941–45
by Robert Lyman -
3
Tales by Japanese Soldiers
by Kazuo Tamayama & John Nunneley -
4
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by E.B. Sledge -
5
Defeat into Victory
by William Slim
The best books on World War 2 in Asia, recommended by Lucy Betteridge-Dyson
The best books on World War 2 in Asia, recommended by Lucy Betteridge-Dyson
The Allied army that ultimately won against the Japanese in Burma was one of the largest in the world, with a million men under command. Military historian Lucy Betteridge-Dyson, whose grandfather fought in the Burma campaign, talks us through the best books to understand more about it, from big-picture strategic overviews to heart-wrenching memoirs and firsthand accounts of soldiers who were there.
