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WWII: A Chronicle of Soldiering
This “unique and fascinating” WWII memoir by the acclaimed author of From Here to Eternity and The Thin Red Line “stands out as one of the most vivid” (The Wall Street Journal). In 1975, James Jones was chosen to write the text for an oversized coffee table book featuring visual art from World War II. The book was a best seller, praised for both its images and for Jones’s text. In subsequent decades, when it became impossible to reproduce the book with its original artwork, it fell out of print and was forgotten. But now, this edition of WWII makes Jones’s stunning text—his only extended nonfiction writing on the war—available once again. Moving chronologically and thematically through the complex history of World War II, Jones interweaves his own vivid memories of soldiering in the Pacific—from the look on a Japanese fighter pilot’s face as he bombed Pearl Harbor, so close that Jones could see him smile and wave, to hitting the beach under fire in Guadalcanal—while always returning to resounding larger themes. While much of WWII is a tribute to the commitment of American soldiers, Jones also pulls no punches when recounting questionable strategic choices, wartime suffering, disorganization, the needless loss of life, and the brutal realization that a soldier is merely a cog in a heartless machine
218 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1975
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202 people want to read
About the author
James Jones
48 books251 followersJames Jones was an American novelist best known for his explorations of World War II and its aftermath. His debut novel, From Here to Eternity (1951), won the National Book Award and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. The novel, along with The Thin Red Line (1962) and Whistle (published posthumously in 1978), formed his acclaimed war trilogy, drawing from his personal experiences in the military.
Born and raised in Robinson, Illinois, Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1939 and served in the 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was wounded. His military service deeply influenced his writing, shaping his unflinching portrayals of soldiers and war.
Following his discharge, Jones pursued writing and became involved with the Handy Writers' Colony in Illinois, a project led by his former mentor and lover, Lowney Handy. His second novel, Some Came Running (1957), was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Over the years, he experimented with different literary styles but remained committed to exploring themes of war, masculinity, and the American experience.
Jones later moved to France with his wife, actress Gloria Mosolino, before settling in the United States. He also worked as a journalist covering the Vietnam War and wrote several non-fiction works, including Viet Journal (1974). His final novel, Whistle, was completed based on his notes after his death. In later years, his daughter Kaylie Jones helped revive interest in his work, including publishing an uncensored edition of From Here to Eternity.
Jones passed away from congestive heart failure in 1977, leaving behind a body of work that remains influential in American war literature.
Born and raised in Robinson, Illinois, Jones enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1939 and served in the 25th Infantry Division. He was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor, and later fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, where he was wounded. His military service deeply influenced his writing, shaping his unflinching portrayals of soldiers and war.
Following his discharge, Jones pursued writing and became involved with the Handy Writers' Colony in Illinois, a project led by his former mentor and lover, Lowney Handy. His second novel, Some Came Running (1957), was adapted into a film starring Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Over the years, he experimented with different literary styles but remained committed to exploring themes of war, masculinity, and the American experience.
Jones later moved to France with his wife, actress Gloria Mosolino, before settling in the United States. He also worked as a journalist covering the Vietnam War and wrote several non-fiction works, including Viet Journal (1974). His final novel, Whistle, was completed based on his notes after his death. In later years, his daughter Kaylie Jones helped revive interest in his work, including publishing an uncensored edition of From Here to Eternity.
Jones passed away from congestive heart failure in 1977, leaving behind a body of work that remains influential in American war literature.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 22, 2020
The title of this book is a misnomer in that there is little about actually being a soldier but rather presents a disjointed history of WWII along with a lot of complaining about Sergeants and Officers being too privileged. The author’s post-war research is interesting but oddly out of sync with more traditional WWII treatises. Serving as a junior enlisted man normally doesn't adequately prepare one for critiquing the most senior military Generals or overall war effort at the highest civilian levels, but Mr. Jones apparently thought otherwise.
As an Army veteran, I find his teenage take on the Army quite myopic and juvenile. He volunteered at 17 years of age . . . uneducated and inexperienced at life. He clearly did not excel in the Army, remaining a junior enlisted man throughout his time in the service. His attitude remained very anti-war, which is consistent with many combat veterans, and quite anti-military which is not.
Most volunteers in the 1930’s era military were escaping depression era poverty or some brush with the law, or not fitting into society and looking for some excitement without understanding what the military was all about. From reading his various biographies, it strikes me that Mr Jones was a young tough with a chip on his shoulder, and carried that attitude throughout his military and post-war civilian life.
His wartime experience certainly provided him fodder to write about and the somewhat unique perspective of functioning at a low-grunt level throughout his military years. The crudeness, bitterness and feeling that the Army was somehow “unfair” to junior enlisted personnel never left him, and he put the powerful feelings to good use in a number of books. Or perhaps, he recognized he had the opportunity to write from this unique perspective, and took advantage of it.
If you are looking for a book about the realities of soldiering during WWII, this may not be the book for you. I would suggest “Living on Borrowed Time” by William Horton. If the Viet Nam era is more your interest, I suggest “Filtered by Time” by Robert Faulkender. Both are excellent books written by combat veterans with better grasps on the reality of their times.
As an Army veteran, I find his teenage take on the Army quite myopic and juvenile. He volunteered at 17 years of age . . . uneducated and inexperienced at life. He clearly did not excel in the Army, remaining a junior enlisted man throughout his time in the service. His attitude remained very anti-war, which is consistent with many combat veterans, and quite anti-military which is not.
Most volunteers in the 1930’s era military were escaping depression era poverty or some brush with the law, or not fitting into society and looking for some excitement without understanding what the military was all about. From reading his various biographies, it strikes me that Mr Jones was a young tough with a chip on his shoulder, and carried that attitude throughout his military and post-war civilian life.
His wartime experience certainly provided him fodder to write about and the somewhat unique perspective of functioning at a low-grunt level throughout his military years. The crudeness, bitterness and feeling that the Army was somehow “unfair” to junior enlisted personnel never left him, and he put the powerful feelings to good use in a number of books. Or perhaps, he recognized he had the opportunity to write from this unique perspective, and took advantage of it.
If you are looking for a book about the realities of soldiering during WWII, this may not be the book for you. I would suggest “Living on Borrowed Time” by William Horton. If the Viet Nam era is more your interest, I suggest “Filtered by Time” by Robert Faulkender. Both are excellent books written by combat veterans with better grasps on the reality of their times.
October 30, 2012
Unapologetic-ally American to its benefit and detriment. Great insight to the soldier's perspective however and good for those that study WWII outside of the US and want a different point-of-view to the events. Emphasis on the art part of the book starts to wane in the later chapters and begins to focus more on the history which I thought was too bad.
February 12, 2024
Read for class. I enjoyed this as much as one can, given the vulgar and uninhibited nature of the writing. WWII is an often viewed through the lens of those who were at the top; strategical, big picture, and sometimes classist.
Jones brings a gritty depiction of being a soldier in this book, but it’s still hard to ignore the fact that Jones was a prolific writer of this generation and time. He’s institutionally one of the grunts but culturally one of the greats, a weird paradox.
The book is only three chapters, lengthy at that, but never dull. I think this a strong book for anyone who is interested in learning more about what it was like being an American soldier during WWII. Especially if you’re interested in the Pacific theater.
Jones brings a gritty depiction of being a soldier in this book, but it’s still hard to ignore the fact that Jones was a prolific writer of this generation and time. He’s institutionally one of the grunts but culturally one of the greats, a weird paradox.
The book is only three chapters, lengthy at that, but never dull. I think this a strong book for anyone who is interested in learning more about what it was like being an American soldier during WWII. Especially if you’re interested in the Pacific theater.
December 20, 2023
This is a short and quite excellent account of what it was like to be a soldier in World War II, with some insights about D-Day and some cogent insights into the atomic bomb. It should not be a surprise to anyone who has read the excellent volumes FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and THE THIN RED LINE to see that Jones truly understands the psychology of what it is to be a solider -- what he styles The Evolution of the Soldier (with the De-Evolution just as long and twice as nasty). There are thoughts on pin-ups and bloodlust. And it's all written with Jones's great ear for blunt and direct language that cloaks a great compassion for the men who fought this war.
April 27, 2020
I've been a James Jones fan since From Here to Eternity came out when I was fourteen. I've read it eight times. But I'd never heard of this book until I learned of it from BookBuds and ordered that sucker on the spot.
It's kind of a pocket history of WWII and a concurrent essay on what it was like to be a soldier in that war.
Originally it was the text to a big coffee table book of WWII art, which art is not in this edition, although there are a couple of line drawings and some commentary on war art.
This is about 180 pages and I read it in one sitting. Nuff said.
It's kind of a pocket history of WWII and a concurrent essay on what it was like to be a soldier in that war.
Originally it was the text to a big coffee table book of WWII art, which art is not in this edition, although there are a couple of line drawings and some commentary on war art.
This is about 180 pages and I read it in one sitting. Nuff said.
March 31, 2018
The author appears to be a bigot and anti-Semite. He puts forth a very distorted view of WW II and canonizes leaders that were actually responsible for the unnecessary death of thousand of of soldiers. If you want to read history of WW II this is not the book to read.
February 5, 2022
Wildly inconsistent and scattered. Very interesting at times but it also felt like Jones couldn’t decide if he wanted to write a memoir, an art history book or a general history of the war. Id have preferred a straight memoir of his experiences as a soldier.
October 10, 2021
Excellent in it’s honest voice.
July 24, 2023
great book
Very good personal perspective on World War Two by the author. His combat experience gives the reader of his novels a good background. Very enjoyable read.
Very good personal perspective on World War Two by the author. His combat experience gives the reader of his novels a good background. Very enjoyable read.
February 4, 2023
Insightful
Excellent and quick informative read. Author is great but will digress from time to time.
His anecdotal stories are fascinating.
Excellent and quick informative read. Author is great but will digress from time to time.
His anecdotal stories are fascinating.
January 17, 2025
Good for what it is. Jones gives us the standard WWII narrative with comments about soldiering in WW II and the nature of Infantry combat. We also get some good maps, photos, and paintings/sketches.
This is written in 1973, and is free of the fake "Greatest Generation" nonsense we started to get in the 1980s. Jones is more cynical, and closer to the event. Most of the GIs in WWII were draftees, they had a dirty job to do and they did their duty, but most wanted to be elsewhere. Jones' comments about WW II being mass industrialized warfare are on the mark. In fact almost all battles after 1942 can be expressed in formula: (X number of men - P causualties) + Y artillery + Z tanks = victory.
His comments on Soldiers readjusting after WW II combat, foreshadow what was later labeled PTSD.
Jones also discusses Hollywood WW II movies. During the war, most soldiers found the movies fake as hell, and disliked them. Per Jones, Hollywood Producers knew the movies were urealistic and didn't care, the main thing was make money by giving the public a fairy tales of brave Yankee Doodle Dandies fighting the sneaky Japanese and evil Nazis. And since the public doesn't want to see their heroes blown away by random Mortar/Artillery fire or stepping on land mines, most of the Hollywood combat is one-on-one.
Its too bad Jones didn't live to see Fuller's fake silly "Big Red One" and comment on it.
This is written in 1973, and is free of the fake "Greatest Generation" nonsense we started to get in the 1980s. Jones is more cynical, and closer to the event. Most of the GIs in WWII were draftees, they had a dirty job to do and they did their duty, but most wanted to be elsewhere. Jones' comments about WW II being mass industrialized warfare are on the mark. In fact almost all battles after 1942 can be expressed in formula: (X number of men - P causualties) + Y artillery + Z tanks = victory.
His comments on Soldiers readjusting after WW II combat, foreshadow what was later labeled PTSD.
Jones also discusses Hollywood WW II movies. During the war, most soldiers found the movies fake as hell, and disliked them. Per Jones, Hollywood Producers knew the movies were urealistic and didn't care, the main thing was make money by giving the public a fairy tales of brave Yankee Doodle Dandies fighting the sneaky Japanese and evil Nazis. And since the public doesn't want to see their heroes blown away by random Mortar/Artillery fire or stepping on land mines, most of the Hollywood combat is one-on-one.
Its too bad Jones didn't live to see Fuller's fake silly "Big Red One" and comment on it.
January 9, 2018
I'm not sure what surprised me most about the reproduction of The New York Times December 8, 1941 front page in this book - that the Battleship Oklahoma had only been "set afire" by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor or that the edition of this paper only cost three cents. This is a very good book discussing WWII graphic art with text written by James Jones, the outstanding author of From Here to Eternity, one of the best novels of the 20th century.
May 29, 2010
Excellent WWII ref. Great images and written by a famous author!
April 24, 2008
poignant analysis and reflection on the war
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews