Clumsy Outdoors
BOOK UP FRONT (BOX49)
BOOK UP FRONT (BOX49)
COURTESY OF GIBSONS TACTICAL TAVERN MILITARY SURPLUS LISTING INDIVIDUALLY PICTURED
UP FRONT
TEXT AND PICTURES BY BILL MAULDIN
INTRODUCTION BY STEPHEN E. AMBROSE
PUBLISHER: W.W. NORTON AND COMPANY NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT: 2000 BY STEPHEN E. AMBROSE COPYRIGHT: 1945 BY HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY, INC.
ISBN: 0-393-05031-9
UP FRONT IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS BOOKS TO EMERGE FROM THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND REMAINS AN ICON OF THE "GREATEST GENERATION." IN HIS DRAWINGS OF THE INFANTRY DOGFACES WILLIE AND JOE, DONE WHILE HE HIMSELF FOUGHT IN CAMPAIGNS IN SICILY AND ITALY. BILL MAULDIN CREATED AN IMMORTAL ARCHETYPES OF THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MAN. HE KNEW, AS ONE WHO HAD BEEN THERE HIMSELF ON THE FRONT LINES AND IN THE TRENCHES DRENCHED WITH MUD AND RAIN THAT WILLIE AND JOE--WITH THEIR UNSHAVEN FACES, THEIR GALLOW HUMOR. THEIR FORTITUDE, AND THEIR DISLIKE OF PRIVILEGE AND CANT--EXEMPLIFY SOMETHING ENDURING AND SURELY NOBLE ABOUT AMERICANS AT WAR. HE KNEW THEIR GRIPES, THEIR FEARS, THEIR JOKES, AND THEIR OPINIONS, AND RECORDED THEIR TALK WITH THE MOST PUNGENT ACCURACY. AS FOR THE TIMELESSNESS OF THIS BOOK, DAVID HALBERSTAM PUTS IT BEST "ONE SENSES THAT IF A WAR REPORTER WHO HAD BEEN WITH HANNIBAL OR NAPOLEON SAW MAULDIN'S WORK, HE WOULD KNOW IMMEDIATELY THAT THE WORK WAS RIGHT." UP FRONT IS A VIVID PIECE OF LIVING HISTORY AND A POTENT REMINDER OF THE SACRIFICES OF THE MEN WHO FOUGHT AND WON OUR GREATEST WAR.