1942 The Year That Tried Men's Souls Hardcover - 2005

From the publisher

On December 7, 1941, an unexpected attack on American territory pulled an unprepared country into a terrifying new brand of warfare with a ruthless enemy. Now novelist and popular historian Winston Groom vividly re-creates the story of America's first year in World War II. In the beginning of 1942 the Allies experienced a relentless cataract of devastating defeats. The Axis overran most of Europe. North Africa, and the Far East--and the future of the world hung in the balance. But midyear the tide began to turn. Bringing the drama to life as only this celebrated storyteller can. Winston Groom tells how America finally went on the offensive in the Pacific, winning such critical battles as Midway and successfully invading enemy strongholds at Guadalcanal and New Guinea. In the West, the British defeated Rommel's panzer divisions at El Alamein and the United States Army landed in Algeria and Morocco to begin to push the Germans out of North Africa. By year's end, the smell of victory was in the air, and though it would take another three years to run the Axis beast to the ground, Groom portrays 1942 as the defining act in the great drama of the war. "1942 is a riveting account of perseverance, innovation, tactics, tragedy, and triumph.