With the Old Breed
A Marine's harrowing memoir of combat on Peleliu and Okinawa.
The Verdict
If you read only one book about the Pacific War, this is the one. Eugene Sledge was a twenty-year-old college boy when he landed on Peleliu with the 1st Marine Division; what he wrote three decades later, reconstructed from notes hidden inside his pocket Bible, is the rare combat memoir with no swagger and no varnish. It is a book about fear, filth, the disintegration of men under sustained terror, and the strange tenderness that survives among them. Historians, veterans, and the Marine Corps itself regard it as the most honest account of infantry combat America produced.
Who Should Read It
Read it if you want
- The definitive ground-level account of Pacific combat
- An honest reckoning with fear and psychological strain
- A short, gripping entry point to the Pacific theater
- The book behind HBO's The Pacific
Look elsewhere if you want
- Strategy, maps, and the campaign's big picture
- The naval side of the Pacific war
- A gentle read — it is unflinching about atrocity
Why We Rated It 4.9
Historical Context
Peleliu (September–November 1944) is among the war's most controversial battles: a fortified coral island taken at a cost of more than 1,700 American dead, for an airfield that proved strategically unnecessary. Okinawa (April–June 1945), the last great battle of the war, was larger and even costlier. Sledge's descriptions of both — the Umurbrogol ridges, the mud and corpses of Okinawa — are among the most quoted passages in war literature.
Criticisms & Debates
Little about the book itself is disputed; its reliability is part of its reputation. Sledge's frank descriptions of Marines collecting gold teeth and other trophies from Japanese dead shocked some early readers, but scholars credit them as a corrective to sanitised accounts. He refused to soften them, and the book is stronger for it.
Events Covered
Editions & Reading Notes
Read It Alongside
Collector's Corner
Where to Buy
ISBN: 978-0891419068
Other Books About the Same Events
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is With the Old Breed historically accurate?
- Yes — it is considered one of the most reliable combat memoirs of the war. Sledge reconstructed it from notes made at the time, and historians frequently use it as a primary source.
- What should I read alongside it?
- Robert Leckie's Helmet for My Pillow covers the same division and was the other backbone of HBO's The Pacific. For the strategic picture Sledge omits, pair it with Ian Toll's The Conquering Tide.
- Do I need to know about the Pacific War first?
- No. It works as a standalone and is one of the best entry points to the theater.
- Is it connected to The Pacific TV series?
- Yes. The 2010 HBO miniseries draws directly on this book and Leckie's memoir; Sledge is a central character.