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On the 80th anniversary of the war's end, 5 classic memoirs capture firsthand the shock, terror, and courage of the American fight against the Axis powers in Europe'The emotional environment of warfare has always been compelling,'writes J. Glenn Gray in his incomparable World War II memoir and mediation, The Warriors.'Reflection and calm reasoning are alien to it.'The struggle to make sense of the experience of war, to find some meaning in the savagry and senseless destruction, animates the five brilliant and unforgettable memoirs gathered here. Company Commander (1947), by Charles B. MacDonald, describes with startling immediacy and candor the “cold, dirty, rough, frightened, miserable” life of the infantryman and company commander from the aftermath of D-Day in September 1944 through the war's terrifying final days.The Warriors (1959), by J. Glenn Gray, a counterintelligence officer who served in Italy, France, and Germany and a scholar with a PhD. in philosophy, is a sensitive and revelatory meditation on the nature of war and its effects on both soldiers and civilians, interspliced with his letters, journals, and wartime memories. All the Brave Promises (1966) is novelist Mary Lee Settle's memoir of her year as an airfield radio operator in the Royal Air Force. Settle brilliantly evokes both the working-class culture of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force's “other ranks” and the petty and demeaning regimentation inherent in military life.The Fall of Fortresses (1980), by former B-17 navigator Elmer Bendiner, vividly recalls the fear and excitement he experienced flying bomber missions deep into Germany in 1943 without fighter escort.The Buffalo Saga (2009) is James Harden Daugherty's heartfelt account of his frontline service as a Black soldier in the 92nd Infantry Division, as he fights the Germans, endures the harsh Italian winter, and confronts the racism of his own army.This deluxe Library of America volume includes full-color endpaper maps of the European Theater, an eight-page photo insert, an introduction by West Point professor Elizabeth D. Samet, and detailed notes.

One woman's quest for knowledge of her father lost at sea Mary Lee Coe Fowler was a posthumous child, born after her father, a submarine skipper in the Pacific, was lost at sea in 1943. Her mother quickly remarried into a difficult and troubled relationship, and Mary Lee's biological father was never mentioned. It was not until her mother died and Mary Lee was a middle-aged adult that she set out to learn not only who her father was, but what happened to him and his crew, and why—and also to confront why she had shied away from asking these questions until it was nearly too late. Fowler searched through old ships'logs, letters, and naval communiqués; visited submarine museums, the Naval Academy, and other pertinent sites; interviewed old friends and crew members who knew her dad and mom or served concurrently; and slowly reconstructed the world in which they lived. Beautifully written, Fowler's memoir reveals what she eventually learned: of the perils and harships of submarine service in wartime, of the tragic irony of how her father's sub was probably lost, and of the long-term damage experienced by the families of those who do not come home from war.

When Mary Lee first met Jack Milroy it wasn't exactly love at firs sight. She was an established star and had sung with Britain's biggest big bands and he was just starting to make his name on his return from the Second World War. But, after a rocky beginning, Mary and Jack became firm friends and romance was soon to follow... Mary Lee and Jack Milroy were both brought up in ordinary working-class families in the Glasgow tenements and went on to achieve fame and fortune on the stage and screen. But, while Mary decided to put family life ahead of showbiz for a time, Jack established himself as one of Scotland's biggest stars, most memorably as Francie to Rikki Fulton's Josie. And they were so popular that if you wanted the kids to come in for their tea, all you had to do was shout,'Francie and Josie are on the television!'Forever Francie tells the story of Mary Lee and Jack Milroy's life and career together and is an intimate and nostalgic account of one of Scotland's most prominent showbiz couples. It is also the story of how their marriage endured through good times and bad and of the genius that was Jack Milroy, a natural born performer who will be, for Mary Lee, Forever Francie.