Still going on the books that I purchased almost a year ago at the moment so here is the latest book review:

The Book is With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. This a book described as one of the best books about the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. They are not wrong. Those of you who have seen “The Pacific” will find this book very very familiar. That is because it is pretty much about one of the men followed in the book/tv series.

Eugene Sledge, also known as “Sledgehammer”, was a Marine with the United States Marines 1st Marine Division. He belonged to K/3/5 (Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment) during the battles on Pelilu and Okinawa. This book follows his time during these two campaigns. This is not a detailed book about the battles themselves but more an account of life as a marine during these battles.

It is a personal account of his time and nothing more than that. It looks at the humanity, the ferocity and the savageness of war. It takes a personal look at all of these things and it looks at the way the battles felt to a young man who volunteered to fight for his country in what was a very bloody and vicious portion of the war and how it has been described as the futility of some events.

I haven’t read much about the pacific campaign before and this was a fantastic read looking into this side of the war. It was so well written that I felt that I was with him during these events and I wondered to myself just how I would cope had I been put into the same situation. If you read this, I would be surprised if you didn’t have similar thoughts.

I have to agree that this is a must read if you are at all interested in the war such as I am.