by Gregory Fontenot
University of Missouri Press, 2023
Cloth: 978-0-8262-2284-8 | eISBN: 978-0-8262-7489-2
Library of Congress Classification D769.3 1st.F66 2023
Dewey Decimal Classification 940.541273

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The U.S. 1st Infantry Division (1st ID), familiarly known as the Big Red One, adapted to dynamic battlefield conditions through­out the course of its deployment during World War II by inno­vating and altering behavior, including tactics, techniques, and procedures. Both the Division’s leaders and soldiers accom­plished this by thinking critically about their experiences in combat and wasting little time in putting lessons learned to good use. Simply put, they learned on the job—in battle and after bat­tle—and did so quickly.

In telling the Division’s WWII story, which includes an extensive photographic essay featuring many previously unpublished im­ages, Gregory Fontenot includes the stories of individual mem­bers of the Big Red One, from high-ranking officers to enlisted men fresh off the streets of Brooklyn, both during and after the conflict. Colonel Fontenot’s rare ability to combine expert anal­ysis with compelling narrative history makes No Sacrifice Too Great an absorbing read for anyone interested in the military his­tory of the United States.