In Fire and Fortitude—winner of the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History—John C. McManus presented a riveting account of the US Army's fledgling fight in the Pacific following Pearl Harbor. Now, in Island Infernos, he explores the Army’s dogged pursuit of Japanese forces, island by island, throughout 1944, a year that would bring America ever closer to victory or defeat.

“This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be.”
—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian

“A very fine account of war in the Pacific founded on wide research and excellent judgement.”
—Antony Beevor, New York Times bestselling author of D-Day: The Battle for Normandy and Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge

“This eloquent and powerful narrative is military history written the way it should be. John C. McManus has seamlessly blended the strategic and tactical story with deep analysis of the political context and social composition of armies that embodied the cultures of the nations from which they were formed. During the two years covered by this book, American forces in the Pacific theater transitioned from fighting on a shoestring defensive to the beginning of mighty offensives that would prove irreversible.”
—James M. McPherson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Battle Cry of Freedom

The book sheds new light on the world of American combat aviators both Europe and Pacific--who they were, why they fought, how they dealt with combat, their morale, their attitudes about facing death on an almost daily basis, their opinions about their enemies, plus much more.

“From the training camps to the combat missions, this is war from the perspective of the young Americans who lived through it: the pilots, the bombardiers, the navigators, and the gunners of all the combat services in both Europe and in the Pacific. It is an engaging and vivid portrayal of war in the skies from 1941 to 1945.”—Craig L. Symonds, Author of The Battle of Midway and Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings

“These extraordinary eyewitness accounts put a human face on the bombing campaign against Nazi Germany, and tell the story of its savagely contested battles with rare power and empathy. McManus is master of the art of oral history and one of the outstanding historians of World War II.”—Donald L. Miller, Author of Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany

Release Date: October 15, 2015.
On April 4, 1945, United States Army units from the 89th Infantry Division and the 4th Armored Division seized Ohrdruf, the first of many Nazi concentration camps to be liberated in Germany. In the weeks that followed, as more camps were discovered, thousands of soldiers came face to face with the monstrous reality of Hitler’s Germany.

These men discovered the very depths of human-imposed cruelty and depravity: railroad cars stacked with emaciated, lifeless bodies; ovens full of incinerated human remains; warehouses filled with stolen shoes, clothes, luggage, and even eyeglasses; prison yards littered with implements of torture and dead bodies; and―perhaps most disturbing of all―the half-dead survivors of the camps. For the American soldiers of all ranks who witnessed such powerful evidence of Nazi crimes, the experience was life altering. Almost all were haunted for the rest of their lives by what they had seen, horrified that humans from ostensibly civilized societies were capable of such crimes.

Military historian John C. McManus sheds new light on this often-overlooked aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on a rich blend of archival sources and thousands of firsthand accounts―including unit journals, interviews, oral histories, memoirs, diaries, letters, and published recollections― Hell Before Their Very Eyes focuses on the experiences of the soldiers who liberated Ohrdruf, Buchenwald, and Dachau and their determination to bear witness to this horrific history.

In the summer of 2007, McManus traveled to Montana to retrace the steps of the 7th Infantry in the Battles of Little Bighorn and Big Hole. He discovered some fascinating new information, in the archival libraries, and on the battlefields themselves. You can read all about this in 'American Courage, American Carnage: The 7th Infantry's Combat Experience, 1812 through World War II' (TOR-Forge, 2009)
In lengthy and detailed battle narratives, as the regiment's official historian, McManus (U.S. military history, Missouri Univ. of Science & Technology), covers the unit's pre-Cold War combat experiences, forming a prequal to his The Seventh Infantry Regiment: Combat in an Age of Terror. Will be popular with some readers.
—Library Journal

U.S. Military History For Dummies presents concise and revealing accounts of all of the nation's armed conflicts from the French and Indian War to Iraq. It explains how the U.S. military is organized and how its branches operate, both independently and together.

A renowned historian contends "that the American warrior, not technology, wins wars."
—Patrick K. O'Donnell, Author of Give Me Tomorrow

Will become one of the classics of the literature of World War II combat. (Thomas Fleming, author of The New Dealers' War)
—Thomas Fleming
Comprehensive and vivid...John C. McManus has taken a great old story and made it new again. (Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of An Army at Dawn)
—Rick Atkinson

“McManus masterfully captures the heart and soul of the warriors of the 7th—remarkable storytelling by a highly skilled historian.”
—W. E. B. Griffin, New York Times bestselling author of Victory and Honor

“Superb. Grab this book—and buy a copy for a soldier you know!"
—Ralph Peters, New York Times bestselling author of The War After Armageddon

“Terrific! This is military history that people will be reading fifty years from now. It takes the reader into the mystic soul of the U.S. Army.”
—Thomas Fleming, New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Trial of Robert E. Lee

“Gripping . . . These men were common warriors who fought with uncommon courage and thus shaped the destiny of our great nation.”
—FORMER SENATOR BOB DOLE

“A RIVETING AND EXTREMELY WELL-RESEARCHED ANALYSIS OF THE VIOLENT WORLD FACED BY THE AMERICAN GI DURING WORLD WAR II . . . Anyone who wishes to understand the experience of our citizen army of fifty years ago should read this book. Highest recommendation.”—ERIC BERGERUD, Author of Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific

“Do you want to know what the World War II foot soldier felt and how he fought? What he ate and how he liked it? What his life was like during periods he was not in combat? The Deadly Brotherhood goes a long way towards answering such questions. . . . Each chapter contains a wealth of supporting comments. This approach produces an extreme degree of authenticity. . . . This fine book provides a comprehensive understanding of a World War II infantryman’s troubles and travails.”—Military Review

“An exciting, moving book told in the words of those men who actually fought the enemy face-to-face on the front lines—the infantry, combat engineers, armor, and Marines; those unfortunate souls for whom war was a minute-by-minute struggle against terrifying odds.”—E. B. SLEDGE, Author of With the Old Breed

"An American Iliad"—Stephen Coonts

"Required reading on a bitter battle that won't be—and never should be—forgotten."
—W.E.B. Griffin

"Awesome! A definitive account of a turning point in American and world history."
—Thomas Fleming

"Far more gripping than Saving Private Ryan. Comprehensively detailed . . . Utterly fascinating. McManus' style fits the slam-bang fighting that characterized one of the most crucial periods of the war, and he makes every battle—-and every soldier—-count as if it were the last round in the clip."
—Walter J. Boyne, New York Times bestselling author of Operation Iraqi Freedom

"I thought I knew something about war and men at war until I read John C. McManus' deeply insightfiul book. I stand humbled by what I consider nothing less than a definitive work on a subject whose scope is simply so vast that no writer until now has put int in perspective and made it real."
—David Hagberg

“Magnificent! I could not put this book down. John McManus has expanded our knowledge of D-Day history by a considerable factor. It is a great read and will appeal to both devoted students of World War II as well as those with a more casual interest. Don't miss it!”
—Joseph Balkoski, author of Omaha Beach and Utah Beach

“The Dead and Those About to Die is a gripping, first-hand account of the desperate battle for Omaha Beach on D-Day by the legendary 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One. On the 70th anniversary of that momentous event, John C. McManus’s tale of courage under fire is a vivid reminder that freedom isn’t free and that when the chips are down stalwart American soldiers will always answer the call of duty.”
—Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius For War and Warlord: A Life of Churchill at War, 1874-1945

“A riveting and deeply moving story of uncommon courage.”
—Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Longest Winter

“A testament to men assigned the impossible who, through sheer willpower, almost pulled it off.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“McManus’s extensive research allows him to tell the story with verve and authority.”
—Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of An Army at Dawn

"McManus mines a rich and too-long-neglected vein of stories, many revealed here for the first time.”
—Mark Bando, author of 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy

“An absolutely riveting and vivid narrative that captures the full extent of the heroism of America’s troops in Operation Market Garden...Military history at its finest. ”
—Andrew Carroll, editor of the New York Times bestsellers War Letters and Behind the Lines

“McManus’s crisply written book tells of the campaign as seen through the eyes of the privates, sergeants, and captains who jumped into the Netherlands and the air crews who got them there.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Vividly portrays the brutality of the conflict."
—The Washington Post

"McManus has written an epic, an American Illiad."
—Stephen Coonts

"Required reading on a bitter battle that won't be—-and never should be—-forgotten."
—W. E. B. Griffin

"Far more gripping than Saving Private Ryan."
—Walter J. Boyne, New York Times bestselling author of Operation Iraqi Freedom