"Intense [and] grippingly specific...honors the fallen by making their experiences fiercely, viscerally understandable. Though it hardly qualifies as escapist reading, its fascination with historical detail and celebration of raw courage make it hard to resist."
--Janet Maslin, "The New York Times
""Plainly ranks among the most important works of military history I've encountered over the last quarter century--a comprehensive, readable, humane, moving, and enlightening achievement of analysis and scholarship. This brilliant book will endure."
--Tim O'Brien, author of "The Things They Carried" and "Going After Cacciato
""A great achievement of research, perception, and fine writing. Few other books have managed to convey the true experience of war with such power and clarity."
--Antony Beevor, author of "D-Day" and "Stalingrad
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"Stephenson brings 'the face of battle' even closer to us than John Keegan did over thirty years ago."
--Hew Strachan, author of "The First World War" and Chichele Professor of the History of War, Oxford University
"Death in battle is war's defining experience. Stephenson brilliantly presents it from a challenging perspective: not what is it like to kill, but what is it like to die...Comprehensive, perceptive, and evocative, this is a must-read for any student of conflict."
--Dennis Showalter, author of "Tannenberg "and former president of the Society for Military History
