The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians

Description

The Thousand-Mile War is a powerful story of the battles of the United States and Japan on the bitter rim of the North Pacific, that has been acclaimed as one of the great accounts of World War II. Author Brian Garfield, a novelist and screenwriter whose works have sold some 20 million copies, was searching for a new story when he came upon this “forgotten war” in Alaska. He found the history of the brave men who had served in the Aleutians so compelling that he wrote the first full-length history of the Aleutian campaign. The book remains a favorite among Alaskans and WWII history buffs.
The war in the Aleutians was fought in some of the worst climatic conditions on earth for men, ships, and airplanes. The sea was rough, the islands craggy and unwelcoming, but the most fearful enemy was the weather–the savage wind, fog, and rain of the Aleutian chain. The fog seemed to reach even into the minds of the military commanders on both sides, as they directed their men into situations with often had tragic results. Frustrating, befuddling, and still the subject of debate, the Aleutian campaign nevertheless marked an important turn of the war in favor of the United States.
More than half a century after the war ended, more of the fog has been lifted. In this updated University of Alaska Press edition, Garfield supplements his original account drawn from statistics, personal interviews, letters, and diaries, with more recently declassified photographs and significant additional illustrations.
Binding Type: Paperback
Author: Brian Garfield
Published: 02/01/1995
Publisher: University of Alaska Press
ISBN: 9780912006833
Pages: 456
Weight: 1.45lbs
Size: 1.20″ H x 8.90″ L x 6.00″ W

About the Author

Brian Garfield was an Edgar Award-winning American novelist, historian and screenwriter. A Pulitzer Prize finalist, he wrote his first published book at the age of eighteen. Garfield went on to author more than seventy books across a variety of genres, selling more than twenty million copies worldwide. Nineteen were made into films or TV shows. He is best known for Death Wish (1972), which launched a lucrative franchise when it was adapted into the 1974 film of the same title. He was an Army veteran and President of the Western Writers of America and of the Mystery Writers of America (the only writer to have served in both of those offices).