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Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone
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| By James Brady |
Average Rating:  (5 Reviews)
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| Publisher: |
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Wiley |
| Date: |
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January 7, 2010 |
| Binding: |
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Hardcover |
| Pages: |
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272 |
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| Product Description: |
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| From New York Times bestselling author James Brady?the story of Marine legend John Basilone, one of three main characters in HBO's The Pacific Hero of the Pacific tells the dramatic, compelling, and all-but-forgotten life story of a small-town boy who became one of World War II?s greatest and best-known heroes. His bravery on Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima earned him the Medal of Honor and Navy Cross, respectively. Once you read this powerful tale, you?ll never forget John Basilone. - Profiles one of three main characters in HBO's The Pacific, the sequel scheduled for March 2010 to the incredibly popular 2001 mini-series Band of Brothers
- Sorts through the differing accounts of Basilone's life and exploits, including what he did on Iwo Jima and how he died
- The final book by James Brady, the Korean War veteran and well-known columnist and author of books that include Why Marines Fight and his memoir, The Coldest War, a Pulitzer Prize finalist
An incredible story masterfully told, Hero of the Pacific will appeal to anyone with an interest in World War II and military history as well as fans of HBO's The Pacific. |
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| Customers' Reviews: |
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 John Basilone, spelled "H.E.R.O.", March 7, 2010 |
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I generally liked the book. My one criticism is why the author found it necessary to rebuke the stories of other authors (Basilone's family members). I think when he himself was drawing on second hand or hearsay information he should have avoided criticizing their stories. What happened to literary license?
I think the fact that Brady was a former marine he could not resist, by his criticism, the fact that he knew firsthand what the average reader or authors didn't know about the subject of military tactics. (Ex. Basilone was a machine gunner; he would not have carried or used hand grenades on Iwo).
I did not have to read the book or any other book about GY Sgt John Basilone, to see him as a hero. I kept on asking myself "why would a marine who had proven himself and awarded the nation's highest medal want to go back into battle when didn't have to?" What did he have to prove? I say it was that he truly loved his country and his fellow marines.
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| 0 of 0 people found the following review helpful |
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| Excellent substance; mediocre editing, March 1, 2010 |
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I purchased the Kindle version of this book after I saw the hard copy in a local bookstore. The author, a Marine veteran of Korea (I have been told emphatically that there is no such thing as a "former" Marine), knew his subject matter, and provided helpful insights into Basilone, the Marines, and America during the World War II years. I also found that fairly extensive passages of the author's work were well-written, enjoyable, and absorbimg.
Now the tough part: The book needed a good editor to pull all of the author's fine work together. There is a lot of repetition, and the author jumped around too much (he was trying to put the good stuff up front, when he could have told the story better if he had presented it as it played out). An editor would have pointed all of this out, and if so, this would have been a truly outstanding book. As it is, the book has great moments, and then goes sliding off into a confusing jumble of images and interpretations that leaves the reader--even someone who knows a fair amount about military history--somewhat confused.
I understand the author passed away a year before this book was published, and that he was a professional writer. Either (1) he didn't want his work edited (many writers don't), or (2) he wasn't around to make sure the book was edited properly. Either way, that's the main problem with this book.
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| 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful |
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| Hero still remains a myth, February 21, 2010 |
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James Brady's Hero of the Pacific reflects on the life and time of Gunnery Sgt John Basilone who won the Medal of Honor during the Guadalcanal Campaign in October of 1942. He was killed in action on the first day of the Iwo Jima Campaign in February 1945. At least the book got that much straight. Brady's book proves to be quite readable but sources from where he got his information appears to be less reliable. After reading this book, I still don't have a good understanding of who John Basilone really was, only what he did. From reading this book, it was truly sad that a Medal of Honor winner such as John Basilone was so poorly served by historians, may they be professionals or ranked amateurs. Even his family and friends can't get their stories straight. Toward the end of the book, on page 235, author wrote that he is "neither a scholar nor a historian". I am sure that late John Basilone and we readers who brought this book wishes he was. Maybe a real scholar and historian might have crack some light on Basilone's life, deeds, motivations and perhaps show how exactly this hero died on Iwo Jima.
On a minor downside, some of the background World War II history proves to be bit flawed or outdated. A good example is on page 20 how the author regards US Navy winning at Midway "against all odds". Anyone nowadays finally understand that Midway was a bushwhacked on the Japanese and Americans held many advantages that led to our victory. Also, I am not sure why the author insert his experiences as a Marine officer during the Korean War into this picture. Outside of being fellow Marines, the author and Basilone have no real common frame of reference. I may be in the minority on this but I found it to be distracting from the real story.
Only upside to this book is that it does give readers a chance to know John Basilone more despite of the many contradictions and mythological stories that surrounds this man. It pretty clear that James Brady did not dig too deep here. Hopefully, maybe this book and that HBO mini series might encourage someone else to look into Basilone's life and career.
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| 3 of 6 people found the following review helpful |
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 A Disgrace!!!!, February 19, 2010 |
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A hero like Basilone deserved a lot better than this hackneyed attempt at a monograph (it's barely a biography and I won't insult historians by calling this a history). It reads more like an author's notes than an actual finished product. What's worse is it is an author who clearly has an ax to grind.
For whatever reason,(perhaps the foresight not to entrust such a story to an old magazine hack), the Basilone family made themselves mostly unavailable to the author and therefore suffers his unrelentless attacks.
The book is researched....um, well, I guess it is - I mean we have the author's notes, complete with questions and nitpicking details (wrong boots on the bronze statue - seriously?)...it's hard to say how well researched because we get everything the author read just dumped on the page without a filter or educated evaluation. 90 year old eyewitnesses are taken to task because their memories and recollections don't always jive with each other's - its this type of amateurish ridiculousness that would have led me to throwing this crap across the room, except I was reading it on my Nook (found a problem with the e-reader revolution - no frustrated throwing of books...)
At his "best", the author sounds like an old ex-Vet sitting at a Legion bar and nitpicking Hollywood's newest war movie (I'm related to one - I am well versed in how much fun that is)...at worst he sounds like a vindictive old man who should have left one less book behind.
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| 6 of 10 people found the following review helpful |
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 A Good Book for a History Buff, February 16, 2010 |
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Hero of the Pacific: The Life of Marine Legend John Basilone by James Brady
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Book Overview:
"From the summer of 1943 to early 1945, John Basilone was one of the most famous and admired people in America. As the first enlisted man to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, for extraordinary bravery under fire at Guadalcanal, he toured the nation with movie stars, shared podiums with mayors and governors, shook the hands of thousands of citizens, and was even rumored to have made a romantic connection with a beautiful young actress.
Why would a man who had proven his courage beyond any doubt, who had gone above and beyond the call of duty, and was reaping the rewards of his sacrifice beg his commanding officer to break with tradition and send a Medal of Honor winner back into combat? Legendary columnist James Brady explores this and many other puzzling questions in this thrilling and surprising biography."
For those who like to know more about war stories and battle history they would enjoy this biography of John Basilone. It is a well read story on the audio book and I enjoyed Gardner's narration. While this book is a fascinating account, I did not like some of the language in it. I have an appreciation for biographies, but this one didn't grab me. However, if you are a history buff and want to more about war heroes, this could be a good book for you.
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This review copy was provided courtesy of Oasis Audio.
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| 1 of 6 people found the following review helpful |
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