Five Minute Book Review – The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War Ii by John C. Mcmanus

Book Review – by Gary Daly

The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II By John McManus

For those interested in Second World War history a vivid insight into the experiences of American combat troops.  Significantly the book highlights the dichotomy of combat troops and the rest of the military whose principle role was to support the frontline soldiers. The ‘few’ as opposed to the ‘many’ who experienced the frontline belonged to a special group of men. The combat soldier was tethered to a fate where they were expected to be wounded, killed, taken prisoner or unlikely survive until the war’s end! The latter being reserved for a select few as the majority of frontline combat soldiers in overwhelming numbers were either KIA, WIA or POW (MIA= POW or blown to smithereens leaving nothing to identify the soldier).

 From the easy paced narrative the author presents a series of interesting, ghastly and exhaustive vignettes on a wide spectrum from how a combat soldier took a morning shit under direct fire to dealing with the trauma, horror and the absolute displacement in a moment to moment existence of life and death. The book does not purport to be speaking for all combat soldiers, it is specifically about the American experience and before any of you get your knickers in a twist, there are plenty of historical narratives covering the experiences of a multitude of combat soldiers from all over the globe, you just have to do your own browsing and researching!

 It’s an easy read because of the author’s flowing narrative style, however, the content is another matter. It’s a blend of oral history and academic historical storytelling where the author carries the ‘voices’ and experiences of the soldiers he interviewed, researched and spoke for through their diaries, letters and unpublished memoirs.

 An excellent and invigorating read that maintains your interest and curiosity. It also helps to break down some of the myths surrounding the experiences and events of American combat troops in World War II because movies (including the over indulgent ‘Saving Private Ryan’) has become a source of historical inquiry rather than that of storytelling where the clichés and icons of the human experience can be contained without resorting to be documented truth. That cigar-chomping raconteur of film and poetry Samuel Fuller, who was himself a combat infantryman in WWII, said that if he made his war movies based on his real experiences no one would go and see them because of the ugliness and nastiness of combat! The difference between Fuller and Spielberg in their approach to WWII storytelling is the latter’s being sentimental.