Although war memoirs constitute a rich, varied literary form, they are often dismissed by historians as unreliable. This collection of essays is one of the first to explore the modern war memoir, revealing the genre’s surprising capacity for breadth and sophistication while remaining sensitive to the challenges it poses for scholars. Covering conflicts from the Napoleonic era to today, the studies gathered here consider how memoirs have been used to transmit particular views of war even as they have emerged within specific social and political contexts.

Helmet for My Pillow is a gripping memoir that transports readers to the frontlines of World War II through the eyes of Robert Leckie, a young Marine who fought in some of the most brutal battles of the Pacific Theater. With raw honesty and vivid prose, Leckie recounts his experiences from boot camp to the bloody battles of Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu, offering a deeply personal perspective on the sacrifices, camaraderie, and horrors of war. This powerful narrative serves as a testament to the courage and resilience of the men who fought and died in the Pacific, making it an essential read for anyone seeking to understand the realities of combat and the human cost of war.

The two greatest firsthand accounts of the Civil War together in a boxed collector's edition. The extraordinary memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman evoke the Civil War with a vividness unparalleled in American writing. Annotated by distinguished historians and filled with detailed maps, battle plans, and facsimiles reproduced from the original editions, these lavish volumes offer a unique vantage on the most terrible, moving, and inexhaustibly fascinating event in American history.

“Tells the tales left untold by Stephen Ambrose, whose Band of Brothers was the inspiration for the HBO miniseries...laced with Winters’s soldierly exaltations of pride in his comrades’ bravery.”—Publishers Weekly Look for the Band of Brothers miniseries, now available to stream on Netflix! They were called Easy Company—but their mission was never easy. Immortalized as the Band of Brothers, they suffered 150% casualties while liberating Europe—an unparalleled record of bravery under fire. Winner of the Distinguished Service Cross, Dick Winters was their legendary commander. This is his story—told in his own words for the first time. On D-Day, Winters assumed leadership of the Band of Brothers when its commander was killed and led them through the Battle of the Bulge and into Germany—by which time each member had been wounded. Based on Winters’s wartime diary, Beyond Band of Brothers also includes his comrades’ untold stories. Virtually none of this material appeared in Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers. Neither a protest against nor a glamorization of war, this is a moving memoir by the man who earned the love and respect of the men of Easy Company—and who is a hero to new generations worldwide. Includes photos

Robert Hubard was an enlisted man and officer of the 3rd Virginia Cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia (CSA) from 1861 through 1865. He wrote his memoir during an extended convalescence spent at his father's Virginia plantation after being wounded at the battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865. Hubard served under such Confederate luminaries as Jeb Stuart, Fitz Lee, Wade Hampton, and Thomas L. Rosser. He and his unit fought at the battles of Antietam, on the Chambersburg Raid, in the Shenandoah Valley, at Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, and down into Virginia from the Wilderness to nearly the end of the war at Five Forks.