The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians (Classic Reprint Series)

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.