David chose this unit of men because, with inevitably massive personnel changes, it was in action from the beginning to the end of the Pacific war: from Guadacanal, on the outer limit of Japanese expansion and a relatively short hop from the north coast of Australia, in August 1942, to Okinawa in the summer of 1945 via New Britain, off New Guinea, and Peleliu, east of the Philippines. A Times History Book of the Year 2022 A Daily Telegraph History Book of the Year From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last. To access your ebook(s) after purchasing, you can download the free Glose app or read instantly on your browser by logging into Glose. Gripping, intimate, authoritative and far-reaching, this is a unique and incredibly personal narrative of war.

Fascinating account of how the Pacific war progressed through the involvement of one group of Americans. It covers all the same stuff in Ambrose's Pacific, from Guadalcanal, to New Britain, Peliu, Iwa Jima and Okinawa, with a brief mention of the naval battles. David has a claim to be our finest living military historian, with a string of highly acclaimed books about a range of conflicts behind him. From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last.Devil Dogs: First In, Last Out – King Company From The Guadalcanal To The Shores of Japan by Saul David | 9780008395766. Absolutely frightening account of how these men became embroiled in the intense fight with the Japanese military forces to reconquer all the territory lost. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942 – the first US ground offensive of the war – and were present when Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. Sledge and his NCO comrade RV Burgin are the two threads that run more or less through the whole book: they were lucky enough to survive (Burgin sustained a minor wound to his neck on Okinawa; Sledge was a rare marine to see years of fighting and come home without a Purple Heart).

David decided to tell the story of the Pacific this way – about one unit fighting all the way through – following the example of Stephen Ambrose’s celebrated Band of Brothers, which looked at the progress of a unit from the D-Day beaches through to victory against Germany. For this work he has combed American government papers and, more importantly, accounts written by the men themselves both at the time (even though it was against regulations to keep a diary) and afterwards. It does not take long for the Marines to gauge the bestiality to which this equates: on Guadalcanal they come across a river awash with body parts of their slaughtered comrades, hacked to pieces for the gratification of the Japanese who have killed them. Although their own bravery is conspicuous – officers and men will expose themselves in the open to try to flush out snipers, for example – there remains a sense of astonishment that the enemy continues to go on its own suicide missions when it knows the battle is lost. His recent books include Operation Thunderbolt , which was turned into the movie Entebbe ; Crucible of Hell , picked as a Best Book of 2020 by The Times and The Telegraph ; and SBS: Silent Warriors , which reached No.It is accepted by you that Daunt Books has no control over additional charges in relation to customs clearance.