Brotherhood of Heroes, Bill Sloan
Brotherhood of Heroes, Bill Sloan
16 Rating(s)
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Brotherhood of Heroes
The Marines at Peleliu, 1944-The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War

Author: Bill Sloan

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 11 hr 53 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 06/01/2005


Synopsis

A Band of Brothers for the Pacific, this is the gut-wrenching but ultimately triumphant story of the Marines' most ferocious-yet largely forgotten-battle of World War II.

Between September 15 and October 15, 1944, the First Marine Division suffered more than 6,500 casualties fighting on a hellish little island in the Pacific. Peleliu was the scene for one of the most savage struggles of modern times, a true killing ground that has all but been forgotten-until now. Drawing on extensive interviews with Peleliu veterans, Bill Sloan follows the men of K/3/5 and a handful of others throughout the campaign and rescues the Corp's bloodiest battle from obscurity.

Misled by poor intelligence, the 9,000 Marine infantry-men who landed on Peleliu's beaches found themselves facing 11,000 Japanese who had turned the island into an intricate network of caves and underground fortifications unrivaled in the history of warfare. Sloan's gripping narrative seamlessly weaves together the experiences of the men who were there, producing a vivid and unflinching look at the nightmare that was Peleliu-a ferocious melee of non-stop infantry attacks, hand-to-hand combat, flame-thrower assaults, and night skirmishes, many in temperatures that topped 115 degrees. With casualties in some infantry units averaging more than sixty percent, Peleliu is the bloodiest battle in the Corps' history.

Surprisingly, Peleliu received little public notice back in the States even as it was being fought and was virtually forgotten after the war. At last rectifying this historical injustice, Brother of Heroes will stand with Ghost Soldiers and Flags of Our Fathers as a modern classic in military history as a riveting read.


About Bill Sloan

Bill Sloan is renowned military historian and the author of more than a dozen books, including The Ultimate Battle and Brotherhood of Heroes. During his ten years as an investigative reporter and feature writer for the Dallas Times Herald, he covered many of the major events and personalities of the second half of the twentieth century and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Dallas, Texas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by J B

I found a number of errors in the book, but they weren't so bad as to distract from the story. And the author refers to MOH recipients as 'winners', and calls the medal, incorrectly, the 'Congressional Medal of Honor'. Both of these errors are surprising from an author that spent as much time as he......more

Goodreads review by Sam

Well it’s summary doesn’t exaggerate the contents of the book. Its relatively straight forward it was cool to see how Americans troops advanced toward the Japanese in WWll. With the mostly fast overtaking of islands within Japans control, casualties were less than expected. Until D-day came around w......more

Goodreads review by Joshua

After spending a few weeks reading the top rated Pacific Front memoirs, I wanted to take a broader look at one of the major battlegrounds of the WWII Pacific campaign. Sloan expertly lays out the key points of the battle, including the masterminds, the plan, and the execution of the invasion. Reader......more

Goodreads review by Fritz

this is by far one of the best books on the pacific war and the Marines who fought there. it focuses on the battle of Pelelui and the First Marine Division. there are some familiar Marines in the book for anybody who has seen the HBO mini-series The Pacific or read the book by Hugh Ambrose of the sa......more