o the End of the Earth is military historian John McManus’ third and final volume of his history of the U.S. Army’s part in the Pacific War in World War II. From the battles on Luzon in the Philippines, including the brutal struggle in Manila, to the savage fighting on Okinawa, and the action in the China-Burma-India theater, McManus provides an infantryman’s view of warfare at its dirtiest and bleakest.
When Americans think about the war in the Pacific they tend to think about the Marines and their courageous and successful fighting on central Pacific islands. McManus notes, however, that it was U.S. Army soldiers that did “the lion’s share of the fighting and dying in the Pacific.” He is quick to point out the extraordinary valor of the Marines and their “distinguished combat record” in the Pacific campaign, but sheer numbers tell the tale.
