Why read The Deadly Brotherhood?

Book cover of The Deadly Brotherhood: The American Combat Soldier in World War II

Book description

In his book Men Against Fire, [historian S. L. A.] Marshall asserted that only 15 to 25 percent of American soldiers ever fired their weapons in combat in World War II. . . .
Shooting at the enemy made a man part of the “team,” or “brotherhood.” There were, of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Deadly Brotherhood as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Richard Overy

Author

The big question for World War II is what kept men fighting in appalling conditions, with high losses against an implacable enemy. McManus focuses on the American army to answer this question, but his answers could apply to many of the fighting men in other armies as well. The book explores the nature of combat and the psychological mechanisms used to cope with the conditions of modern war. This is a dimension of the history that too often gets overlooked as divisions and units are moved around on the historians’ map of the war, yet it is a central issue…

From Richard's list on key moments in World War II and the soldiers who fought in them.