Written by: William Manchester
Submitted By: Jim Calvagna
Manchester has written a number of books about famous people viz. John Kennedy, Churchill, Douglas MacArthur. He is probably the most honest writer you will come across in this vein. He tells the story and lets the chips fall where they may. During WWII he was a very young combat Marine in the Pacific. A number of years later, the "ghosts" were still bothering him so he revisited all of his battle sites. Goodbye Darkness is the account of this. His book moves back and forth from the current to the 1940's. It is far and away the best telling of WWII in the Pacific. It is not all combat tales. There is humor, along with the war scenes as told through the eyes of a kid. It is easy to forget that the men who won that war for us were mainly youngsters, teen agers and men in their early 20's. I have reread this work many times and have cried like baby every time. It is impossible to read about the battle of Okinawa and not feel it. In fact, I am starting to choke up now writing these comments. I can't recommend Goodbye Darkness highly enough. If you have a heart it will be touched.
