Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82nd Airborne in World War II
Worth buying if: You want lean, moment-to-moment battlefield storytelling from a single soldier’s eyes.
Skip it if: You prefer sweeping operational histories or heavily sourced academic analysis.
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9781574882582. The Amazon link uses this ISBN, so the product page should open to the edition shown here.
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Summary
T. Moffatt Burriss recounts his jump into Sicily, fierce fighting in Italy and Normandy, and the brutal close-quarters combat that forged brothers in arms. Plainspoken, vivid episodes put you in the mud, the hedgerows, and the tense moments between orders and survival.
Why this book now
This personal account keeps the human stakes of mid-century warfare tangible for readers seeking firsthand perspectives beyond grand strategy.
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Best for readers who...
Good fit if you want...
- You want lean, moment-to-moment battlefield storytelling from a single soldier’s eyes.
- You appreciate memoirs that focus on small-unit life, leadership under fire, and dry humor amid hardship.
- You prefer sweeping operational histories or heavily sourced academic analysis.
- You expect polished literary flourish or long reflections on politics rather than immediate combat detail.
- You only want something with very current references and examples.
Decided it fits?
Exact edition: Edition shown · ISBN-13 9781574882582
Worth buying if: You want lean, moment-to-moment battlefield storytelling from a single soldier’s eyes.
Skip it if: You prefer sweeping operational histories or heavily sourced academic analysis.
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.
Reader guide
Cues to help you decide faster.
Reading commitment
Balanced Moderate time
At 256 pages, this brisk memoir reads like a series of sharp vignettes—easy to finish in a weekend but dense with scenes that reward slow attention.
What stands out here
This Potomac Books edition preserves Burriss’s straightforward voice and includes any maps or notes that ground his movements, emphasizing soldier-level detail over scholarly apparatus.
Best way to approach it
Read it aloud or in short sittings to savor the dialogue and tense action sequences; pause between chapters to let individual engagements and decisions sink in.
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Exact edition: ISBN-13 9781574882582
Check Amazon for the current price and availability of this exact edition.