Harry Gailey

5843. Peleliu 1944, by Harry A. Galley (read 27 Apr 2024) This book, published in 1983, is a careful account of the battle on Peleliu in September 1944 and well shows that it was a fierce (and maybe unnecessary) battle as fierce and bloody as Tarawa and Iwo Jima. The telling is precise and since it was written long after it took place is more precise than it would be if compiled earlier. Somehow the account I found more compelling than accounts of other battles I have read, which I sometimes show more found non-entrancing. I cannot regret that I was a little too young to be the war show less

Unfortunately this book suffers from the relative obscurity of its subject matter. This is not a part of WW2 that is well covered in other books and the author does very little to engage the reader or set the larger setting. There aren't any maps and the author jumps right in with names of places most people will never have heard of. This makes it impossible to relate one battle to another, make sense of distances or terrain or timelines. It also could have used an overview of the island and show more its inhabitants and terrain too, as it was a unique setting for the war, but that was left out too. Unfortunately this makes it extremely difficult to read and place in the greater context of the war.
Luckily I bought this very cheaply at a library sale. show less

Unfortunately this book suffers from the relative obscurity of its subject matter. This is not a part of WW2 that is well covered in other books and the author does very little to engage the reader or set the larger setting. There aren't any maps and the author jumps right in with names of places most people will never have heard of. This makes it impossible to relate one battle to another, make sense of distances or terrain or timelines. It also could have used an overview of the island and show more its inhabitants and terrain too, as it was a unique setting for the war, but that was left out too. Unfortunately this makes it extremely difficult to read and place in the greater context of the war. show less