Battle Cry Mass Market Paperback – June 28, 2005

This is a story about a platoon of Marine radiomen in WWII, told from the viewpoint of a grizzled sergeant, a career NCO named Mac, who is in charge of training a group of young men in boot camp near San Diego at the outset of the war and later leads them into combat in the South Pacific. Interestingly, though it is a war novel, actual combat scenes make up a small proportion of the novel. The book is about the young men themselves, their lives before enlisting, their training, their lives and loves as they go through boot camp and later stage and train in New Zealand, and their interactions with one another. This approach to the novel is excellent, because the reader not only experiences the young men binding with one another, but also binds with them himself and glimpses the sadness the men feel when not so good things happen to their buddies in combat. Leon Uris builds on his own experiences in the Marines in WWII in the Pacific. Perhaps the greatest strength of this novel is the dialogue, which is beautifully done and music to the ears of anyone who appreciates a well-turned phrase. There are many incidental vignettes scattered throughout the book, which I also liked. In terms of war books, I would rank it with "With the Old Breed" by E.B. Sledge and "Matterhorn" by Karl Mariantes. These are three very different books all written by Marine combat veterans; Sledge's book is non-fiction, whereas the other two are fiction. All of them converge in the impressions the reader receives about the Marines. "Battle Cry" gives perhaps the best insight into the training that goes into making a Marine. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; while it is slow-paced, I found it interesting at all times.

As always, a magnificent story teller! It’s hard for me to believe that Battle Cry was his first book. It’s that good. The characters are alive as only Mr. Uris could make them. The breadth of emotion, the bonds between fighting men and the sadness of their sacrifices breaks the heart while lifting that spirit for a cause well fought.

After World War II , numerous young Americans wrote novels that paralleled their personal experiences in that war. I have read perhaps a dozen such novels including Battle Cry. This is my personal favorite of those eight. It was the first novel published by Leon Uris. In my estimation it reflects the effort of a young, somewhat inexperienced author. It may not be a great novel from the standpoint of great literature. But it is an very readable, enjoyable, straight forward work. It has no obscene language or pornographic portrayals and as far as I am concerned, a parent can comfortably allow a high school aged child to read this novel. I intend to read all of Leon Uris' works, in order, after reading this novel. The most famous novel he wrote as far as I know is Exodus. I have become a Leon Uris fan.If one is interests in studying these post World War II semi autobiographical American Novels, one might consider reading the Naked and The Dead by Norman Mailer before or after reading Battle Cry. Both novels are set in the Pacific Theater authored by former enlisted men. But Norman Mailer's work seemed much darker and cynical to me. When Norman Mailer entered the service as an enlisted man, he was a college graduate of an Ivy League school. Leon Uris was a high school drop out, and a teenager. I cannot help but wonder if those two different backgrounds affected their perceptions of the services.

This is the first novel and the beginning of a great writer's career. For younger readers who don't remember WWII or the movies (black and white) made during and shortly after WWII, this is the way it was. Check out the movie made from this novel and then you will see how the country lived through WWII. It is not the glitz, computer-generated action and steamy sex scenes of today's novels and movies. This is just a well-written story about a group of war-weary soldiers and how they bonded during one of the worst times our country had endured up to that time. Yes, the beginning may seem slow to those who want action all the time but once you get to know the characters, you really get to know who they are. They are your family, your friends and your neighbors who are the most important people in your life. Their experiences shaped that generation and we are all the better for them. Read it, live in that historical time with these men and know because of them we are a free country. This is a book you can read, set aside for a year or two and then read again. These are real people and you want to a part of their lives again and again.