This was my father's war. What's in this book is a lot of what he wouldn't talk about. Yet I knew about a lot of it simply because he was there, in the Pacific, when all this was going on. What I wasn't truly aware of was the level of mistakes that were made. The SNAFUs, the Situation Normal All Fouled Up that went on with so many of the island landings. Much of what I learned about the Pacific war was after I myself became a Marine – but it still wasn't the same because I wasn't there. This book takes you there and no matter how hard you try, you may leave a bit of yourself behind with the men who didn't come home. I cannot think of another book that really makes the island war live. Flags of Our Fathers comes close but The Pacificcarries it all the way. There are some things in it you may not like hearing about but they happened and for a reason. As always, war changes those who fight them – good or bad. If you have a love of history and a sense of pride in our fighting men, I recommend this book. It had me riveted from the first page to the last.

Recommended by Lee