{"product_id":"9780226181097","title":"WWII: A Chronicle of Soldiering","description":"In 1975, James Jones—the American author whose novels \u003ci\u003eFrom Here to Eternity\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Thin Red Line\u003c\/i\u003e had made him the preeminent voice of the enlisted man in World War II—was chosen to write the text for an oversized coffee table book edited by former \u003ci\u003eYank\u003c\/i\u003e magazine art director Art Weithas and featuring visual art from World War II. The book was a best seller, praised for both its images and for Jones’s text, but in subsequent decades the artwork made it impossible for the book to be reproduced in its original form, and it fell out of print and was forgotten. This edition of \u003ci\u003eWWII\u003c\/i\u003e makes available for the first time in more than twenty years Jones’s stunning text, his only extended nonfiction writing on the war that defined his generation.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Moving chronologically and thematically through the complex history of the conflict, Jones interweaves his own vivid memories of soldiering in the Pacific—from the look on a Japanese fighter pilot’s face as he bombed Pearl Harbor, so close that Jones could see him smile and wave, to hitting the beach under fire in Guadalcanal—while always returning to resounding larger themes. Much of \u003ci\u003eWWII\u003c\/i\u003e can be read as a tribute to the commitment of American soldiers, but Jones also pulls no punches, bluntly chronicling resentment at the privilege of the officers, questionable strategic choices, wartime suffering, disorganization, the needless loss of life, and the brutal realization that a single soldier is ultimately nothing but a replaceable cog in a heartless machine. As the generation that fought and won World War II leaves the stage, James Jones’s book reminds us of what they accomplished—and what they sacrificed to do so.","brand":"University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078065537264,"sku":"9780226181097","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780226181097_p0.jpg?v=1769913217","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780226181097","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}