Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific

Burgin does an excellent job balancing the smaller more intimate stories and fun they had when not in combat with his descriptive tales of what war actually is. He has a more simplistic writing style that makes it easy to dive right in and is perfect for those who want to know more about history but have trouble with historian's accounts. He makes the occasional reference to his fellow soldier E. B. Sledge's book With The Old Breed, but it is not necessary to read that first. There is surprisingly little crossover in the way the two recount the battles they fought together so reading both does provide a better view of the battles of Peleliu and Okinawa and with Burgin's book, he recounts a couple of other landings and fights Sledge was not a part of.