Reading recommendations
by Combat! fans for Combat! fans

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Jan 24, 1999
Marty Black recommends:

The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II, by John C. McManus

I just finished a book that I recommend for fans of Combat! and students of WWII, in particular the American Infantryman.  It deals solely with my main interest in WWII...how the young, terrified, cold, and hungry GI coped in combat.  In reading it, I was reminded several times of Combat! episodes or situations.  It's titled "The Deadly Brotherhood, the American combat soldier in WWII."

It's 300 pages, but a quick read for someone who doesn't want to get bogged down in a book that's hard to finish, or overly detailed. I had a tough time putting mine down. It's divided into two sections-

Part 1- The World of the Combat Soldier...who was he, food, equipment, weapons, the conditions in Europe and the Pacific, the fighting, becoming a casualty. (Under "the fighting," the author repudiates Army Historian S.L.A. Marshall's controversial "ratio of fire" study, in which Marshall stated that only 15-25% of GIs ever fired their rifles in combat.)

Part 2- The Soul of the Combat Soldier...Attitudes toward the Japanese and the Germans, the leadership factor, motivation, attitudes, and effects of combat, the truth about replacements, and "The Deadly Brotherhood."

If you have an interest in the psyche of the WWII combat GI, or perhaps writing stories about WWII GI's, this is a great book for you. 

 

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