Readers of Sean O'Casey's Juno and the Paycock may find the second italicized sentence on page 391 familiar. It is a paraphrase of two sentences appearing in different acts of that splendid play.
In this, as in previous books, the author is profoundly grateful to the staff of Wesleyan University's Olin Library, and in particular to J. Robert Adams, University Librarian, and William Dillon, Suzanne H. Fall, Peg Halstead, Alice Henry, Joan Jurale, Erhard Konerding, Steven Lebergott, Edmund Rubacha, and Elizabeth Swaim, for their generous help, thoughtfulness, and understanding. Once more my invaluable assistant, Margaret Kennedy Rider, has proved to be loyal, tireless, and understanding. And I am again indebted to Don Congdon, my literary agent; Roger Donald, my editor; and Melissa Clemence, my copy editor — three peerless professionals whose patience and counsel never failed, never flagged, and who saw to it that everything attainable was attained.
W.M.
Wesleyan University
May 1980
Look for these other books by
William Manchester
A World Lit Only by Fire
The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance
“Lively and engaging, full of exquisite details and anecdotes that transform this period — usually murky — into comprehensive tableau.” — Dallas Morning News
“Manchester persuasively argues that the Middle Ages ended September 7, 1552, the day that a few surviving members of Ferdinand Magellan's crew returned to Spain, having circumnavigated the earth. By taking readers along on Magellan's voyage, Manchester provides them with easy access to a fascinating age when our modern mentality was just being born.” — Chicago Tribune
Available in paperback wherever books are sold
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill; Visions of Glory: 1874–1932
The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill; Alone: 1932–1940
“Manchester is not only a master of detail, but also of ‘the big picture.’ … I daresay most Americans reading The Last Lion will relish it immensely.”
— National Review
“Churchill and Manchester were clearly made for each other.” — Chicago Tribune
“Told with skill and vivid anecdotes. … Manchester introduces us, by way of new and dramatic emphases, to many startling things we thought we knew.” — Time
Available wherever books are sold
“Gripping. … It is impossible for an American to read this book without pride in what his country accomplished in those days of enormous challenge.”
—J. G. HARRISON, CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
In this intensely powerful memoir, America's preeminent biographer-historian, who has written so brilliantly about World War II in his acclaimed lives of General Douglas MacArthur (American Caesar) and Winston Churchill (The Last Lion), looks back at his own early life and offers an unrivaled firsthand account of World War II in the Pacific, of what it looked like, sounded like, smelled like, and, most of all, what it felt like to one who underwent all but the ultimate of its experiences.
“Compelling. … No other living author could have gotten it all down so well.”
—NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
“When Manchester speaks of the awesome heroism and hideous suffering of the Marines he lived with and fought with, he is reverent before the mystery of individual courage and gallantry.”
—BALTIMORE SUN
“A strong and honest account. … Mr. Manchester's combat writing is one of his book's strengths and stands comparison with the best.”
—TED MORGAN, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
William Manchester is one of America's most celebrated biographer-historians. His bestselling books include The Last Lion, a multivolume biography of Winston Churchill; American Caesar, a biography of Douglas MacArthur; The Death of a President; The Arms of Krupp; and A World Lit Only by Fire. He is Professor of History Emeritus at Wesleyan University.
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