MILITARY BOOKS - Joseph H. Alexander

Colonel Joseph H. Alexander, USMC (ret.) served in the Marine Corps for twenty-eight years and fought in Vietnam. He is the author of the award winning Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa and six other books. He has helped produce twenty-five military documentaries for cable television and was chief historian on the exhibit design team for the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Joseph Alexander is the author of Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa; Edson's Raiders: The 1st Marine Raider Battalion in World War II; Storm Landings: Epic Amphibious Battles in the Central Pacific; Closing in: Marines in the Seizure of Iwo Jima; Battle of the Barricades: U.S. Marines in the Recapture of Seoul; The Final Campaign: Marines in the Victory on Okinawa; and, Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa. Colonel Alexander is also the co-author of Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I; The Battle History of the U.S. Marines: A Fellowship of Valor; and, Sea Soliders in the Cold War: Amphibious Warfare, 1945-1991.

Of Utmost Savagery: The Three Days of Tarawa, Publisher’s Weekly said, “Alexander, a retired Marine officer and established scholar, uses a broad spectrum of fresh Japanese and American sources to present a gripping narrative of one of the bloodiest battles of WWII in the Pacific theater. At Tarawa in the Kiribati (formerly Gilbert) islands, "uncommon valor was a common virtue" on both sides. But this account is more than battle history. Alexander interprets Tarawa as a military test bed, a validation of the concept of amphibious assault against defended positions. The Marines and the Navy made mistakes but learned from them. Without the experience gained at Tarawa, America's path across the central Pacific would have been longer and bloodier, according to the author. Tarawa was a psychological landmark as well. The savage, close-quarters fighting and high casualties helped solidify the grim determination in the U.S. to prevail over the Japanese.”

According to the book description of Through the Wheat: The U.S. Marines in World War I, “U.S. Marine participation in World War I is known as a defining moment in the Marine Corps' great history. It is a story of exceptional heroism and significant operational achievements, along with lessons learned the hard way. The Marines entered World War I as a small force of seagoing light infantry that had rarely faced a well-armed enemy. On a single June day, in their initial assault 'through the wheat' on Belleau Wood against German machine-guns and poison gas shells, the Marines suffered more casualties than they had experienced in all their previous 142 years. Yet at Belleau Wood, Soissons, Blanc Mont, St. Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne the Marines proved themselves to be hard-nosed diehards with an affinity for close combat. Nearly a century later Belleau Wood still resonates as a touchstone battle of the Corps.

Two retired Marines, well known for their achievements both in uniform and with the pen, have recorded this rich history in a way that only insiders can. Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons and Col. Joseph H. Alexander recount events and colorful personalities in telling detail, capturing the spirit that earned the 4th Marine Brigade three awards of the French Croix de Guerre and launched the first pioneering detachments of 'Flying Leathernecks.' Here, hand-to-hand combat seen through the lenses of a gas mask is accompanied by thought-provoking assessments of the war's impact on the Marine Corps.”