"Choice" Outstanding Academic Title 2003
"Schrijvers' book is a valuable addition ot the literature on
the war in the Pacific."
-- "H-Net Book Review"
"Schrijvers builds upon earlier works and successfully goes
beyond them to provide a scholarly account of the full range of
American experiences in the Pacific and Asian theatres. He makes
excellent use of diaries, letters, training manuals, and official
reports. The book is an impressive scholarly achievement.
Schrijvers's vivid portrayal of the American experience in the war
against Japan permits us to see that experience in a broader
historical context and reveals patterns of thought and action that
are enduring features of the American character."
--"The International History Review"
"One cannot read this volume without coming away with a fresh
way of thinking about the subject. Peter Schrijvers has broadened
our perspective of the sociology of the American fighting man in
the Second World War."
--"War In History""Schrijvers' book can increase the understanding
of the Pacific War amoung students and scholars alike."
-- "Journal of Asian Studies"
"This terrifying, remarkable work examines the attitudes,
perceptions, and behavior of U.S. fighting men in the Pacific
theatre. . . . Among the most unsettling books I've read in
years."
--"The Atlantic Monthly"
"Schrijvers's linking of that frustration to the massive
destruction unleashed by American armed forces in the Pacific War
is provocative."
--"Multicultural Review"
"A rich and compelling cultural and social history of American
servicemen and -women serving in Asia and the Pacific during World
War II."
-- "The Journal of American History"
"Just when it appeared that little remained to be said about the
Pacific War, Schrijvers produces the best social history of the
conflict to date...This is an important book, not only about WWII
but also about the nature of war itself...Highly
recommended."
--"Choice"
Even in the midst of World War II, Americans could not help
thinking of the lands across the Pacific as a continuation of the
American Western frontier. But this perception only heightened
American soldiers' frustration as the hostile region ferociously
resisted their attempts at control.
The GI War Against Japan recounts the harrowing experiences of
American soldiers in Asia and the Pacific. Based on countless
diaries and letters, it sweeps across the battlefields, from the
early desperate stand at Guadalcanal to the tragic sinking of the
U.S.S. Indianapolis at war's very end. From the daunting spaces of
the China-India theater to the fortress islands of Iwo Jima and
Okinawa, Schrijvers brings to life the GIs' struggle with
suffocating wilderness, devastating diseases, and Japanese soldiers
who preferred death over life. Amidst the frustration and despair
of this war, American soldiers abandoned themselves to an
escalating rage that presaged Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The GI's story is, first and foremost, the story of America's
resounding victory over Japan. At the same time, however, the
reader will recognize in the extraordinarily high price paid for
this victory chilling forebodings of the West's ultimate defeat in
Asia--and America's in Vietnam.
General
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