WITH THE OLD BREED At Peleliu and Okinawa

Hearing this history is sobering. Late in WWII, in the Pacific, two of the most harrowing and costly battles took place between U.S. Marine and Army units, and Japanese Imperial forces. One was on the tiny island of Peleliu, the other on Okinawa, just a hop from mainland Japan. This audiobook is one of the most plainly written and, perhaps because of that, emotionally wrenching accounts of the entire war. Narrator Joe Mazzello's voice sounds like that of a young Marine, a little clipped, plainspoken, with fear and horror barely under control. The soldier's idealism is almost tangible as it is slowly eaten away. Marc Vietor narrates the shorter, less intimate historical portions of the text, sounding like a professor filling in some gaps. Tom Hanks delivers the brief introduction. D.R.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2014]