Note: this is a review of the audiobook version from Gildan Media. The hard copy may have had useful maps and images (and footnotes) that I am not aware of.

I Will Hold is a history book following future Commandant Clifton B. Cates and the 96th Company of the USMC during their campaigns in France during World War 1. It is *NOT* a biography of Cates, even if you wanted to frame that as a "biography of Cates focusing on his time in WW1" (although it's close to that). Similarly, it is *NOT* a history of the 96th Company (although, again, it's close to that). It splits the difference between these two things, which makes it something of a tweener; not enough of either aspect to be great. As a quasi-biography, I learn a lot about what Cates did and who he was, but not a lot enough about what he *thought* and how his experiences in France shaped him for the rest of his career and life. As a quasi-unit history, I don't learn enough about the formation of the unit and its role in the larger war to properly appreciate it as a unit history.

With that said, it's still a fine book and a good read (and for the audiobook, very nicely narrated). It feels like it could have been something more, though. ( )