On the 80th anniversary of the war's end, 5 classic memoirs capture firsthand the shock, terror, and courage of the American fight against the Axis powers in Europe
"The emotional environment of warfare has always been compelling," writes J. Glenn Gray in his incomparable World War II memoir and mediation, The Warriors. "Reflection and calm reasoning are alien to it." The struggle to make sense of the experience of war, to find some meaning in the savagry and senseless destruction, animates the five brilliant and unforgettable memoirs gathered here.
Company Commander (1947), by Charles B. MacDonald, describes with startling immediacy and candor the “cold, dirty, rough, frightened, miserable” life of the infantryman and company commander from the aftermath of D-Day in September 1944 through the war's terrifying final days.
The Warriors (1959), by J. Glenn Gray, a counterintelligence officer who served in Italy, France, and Germany and a scholar with a PhD. in philosophy, is a sensitive and revelatory meditation on the nature of war and its effects on both soldiers and civilians, interspliced with his letters, journals, and wartime memories.
All the Brave Promises (1966) is novelist Mary Lee Settle’s memoir of her year as an airfield radio operator in the Royal Air Force. Settle brilliantly evokes both the working-class culture of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force’s “other ranks” and the petty and demeaning regimentation inherent in military life.
The Fall of Fortresses (1980), by former B-17 navigator Elmer Bendiner, vividly recalls the fear and excitement he experienced flying bomber missions deep into Germany in 1943 without fighter escort.
The Buffalo Saga (2009) is James Harden Daugherty’s heartfelt account of his frontline service as a Black soldier in the 92nd Infantry Division, as he fights the Germans, endures the harsh Italian winter, and confronts the racism of his own army.
This deluxe Library of America volume includes full-color endpaper maps of the European Theater, an eight-page photo insert, an introduction by West Point professor Elizabeth D. Samet, and detailed notes.
Author Biography:
Elizabeth D. Samet, editor, is professor of English at the United States Military Academy at West Point and the author of Soldier’s Heart: Reading Literature Through Peace and War at West Point and Looking for the Good War: American Amnesia and the Violent Pursuit of Happiness, among other works. Charles B. MacDonald (1922–1990) commanded two different rifle companies in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, in northwest Europe, September 1944‒January 1945 and March‒May 1945. His memoir Company Commander was published in 1947. J. Glenn Gray (1913–1977) served with three different infantry divisions in Italy, France, and Germany in 1944–45. After the war he resumed his academic career and became a professor of philosophy at Colorado College. He published The Warriors: Reflections on Men in Battle in 1959. Mary Lee Settle (1918–2005), a native of West Virginia, volunteered for the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) in 1942 after being rejected by the U.S. military for poor eyesight. After the war she became a full-time writer, publishing fourteen novels and five works of nonfiction, including her war memoir All the Brave Promises: Memories of an Aircraft Woman Second Class 2146391 (1966). Elmer Bendiner (1916–2001), a reporter for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle before the war, enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in December 1941 and flew twenty-five combat missions over northwest Europe, June‒November 1943. He resumed his journalistic career after the war and published his memoir The Fall of Fortresses in 1980. James Harden Daugherty (1923–2015), a native of Washington, D.C., was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in Italy in 1944‒45 with the only Black division sent to fight in Europe. Daugherty wrote a first version of The Buffalo Saga in 1947 but was discouraged when he was unable to find a publisher. He eventually self-published the book in 2009, when it received national attention.
