Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War

by William Manchester

Overview

This emotional and honest novel recounts a young man's experiences during World War II and digs deep into what he and his fellow soldiers lived through during those dark times.

The nightmares began for William Manchester 23 years after WW II. In his dreams he lived with the recurring image of a battle-weary youth (himself), "angrily demanding to know what had happened to the three decades since he had laid down his arms." To find out, Manchester visited those places in the Pacific where as a young Marine he fought the Japanese, and in this book examines his experiences in the line with his fellow soldiers (his "brothers"). He gives us an honest and unabashedly emotional account of his part in the war in the Pacific. "The most moving memoir of combat on WW II that I have ever read. A testimony to the fortitude of man...a gripping, haunting, book." —William L. Shirer

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316501118
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	04/12/2002
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	146,464
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.38(h) x 1.12(d)

About the Author

William Manchester was a hugely successful popular historian and biographer whose books include The Last Lion, Volumes 1 and 2, Goodbye Darkness, A World Lit Only by Fire, The Glory and the Dream, The Arms of Krupp, American Caesar, The Death of the President, and assorted works of journalism.

Table of Contents

	Illustrations	xiii
	Preamble: Blood That Never Dried	3
	Prologue: The Wind-Grieved Ghost	9
	Able: From the Argonne to Pearl Harbor	15
	Baker: Arizona, I Remember You	37
	Charlie: Ghastly Remnants of Its Last Gaunt Garrison	55
	Dog: The Rim of Darkness	77
	Easy: The Raggedy Ass Marines	119
	Fox: The Canal	159
	George: Les Braves Gens	215
	How: We Are Living Very Fast	255
	Item: I Will Lay Me Down for to Bleed a While ...	305
	Jig: ... Then I'll Rise and Fight with You Again	349
	Author's Note	397

Editorial Reviews

The author's gift for words features a dry, dark sense of humor that brings a smile a minute. He recounts his memories, both tragic and droll, of being a Marine sergeant in the Pacific during WWII. Narrator Barrett Whitener takes the role of straight man. Although he occasionally imitates characters—the Japanese pilot shouting “Tora! Tora! Tora!” into his microphone, for example—he never becomes silly or intrusive. He knows how to keep the writer in the limelight, letting the fun come from Manchester's style and content. Whitener’s quiet manner sometimes morphs to a whisper in a delivery perfect for a warrior's memories. Although this is an entertaining memoir, it also serves as an excellent history of the Pacific Campaign. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

AUG/SEP 07 - AudioFile