Title: A disappointing book.
Review: I certainly agree with the two previous reviews. I think the main problem is that Fussell went into World War II as a young man with his head full of youthful misconceptions (nothing unusual there), and then, when those misconceptions were rudely contradicted, decided that the fault lay not with himself for his lack of realism, but rather with the world (or the U.S. government) instead. "Confused" truly is the accurate summary for this book, which, when you consider that Fussel also wrote the first rate "The Great War and Modern Memory", is very disappointing. For a wartime memoir of a young man who went into battle with a minimum of fantasies, I would recommend George MacDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safely Out Here". Or if one wants to read about the soldier as victim (but without the self-pity), Guy Sajer's "The Forgotten Soldier" or Vaino Linna's "The Unknown Soldier".
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