Angels Against the Sun: A WWII Saga of Grunts, Grit, and Brotherhood

By James M. Fenelon

Book Overview

In the tradition of Band of Brothers, historian and former paratrooper James M. Fenelon offers a grunt's-eye view of the 11th Airborne's heroic campaign to liberate the Philippines in World War II. A soldier's history at its best.

A Grunt's-Eye View of Pacific Warfare

The Pacific theater of World War II pitted American fighting men against two merciless enemies: the relentless Japanese army and the combined forces of monsoons, swamps, mud, privation, and disease.

General Joseph Swing's rowdy paratroopers of the 11th Airborne Division-- nicknamed the "Angels"--fought in some of the war's most dramatic campaigns, from bloody skirmishes in Leyte's unforgiving rainforests to the ferocious battles on Luzon, including the hellish urban combat of Manila.

The Angels were trained as elite shock troops, but high American casualties often forced them into action as ground-pounding infantrymen. Surviving on airdropped supplies and reinforcements, the Angels fought their way across nearly impassable terrain, emerging as one of the most lethal units in the Pacific War. Their final task was the occupation of Japan, where they were the first American boots on the ground.

Angels Against the Sun is an unforgettable account of the liberation of the Philippines. In the tradition of Band of Brothers, historian and former paratrooper James M. Fenelon offers a grunt's-eye view of the war. This is a soldier's history at its best.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 168451200X
• ISBN13: 9781684512003
• Release Date: April 2023
• Publisher: Regnery History
• Length: 528 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.6" x 6.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Understanding the Price of freedom

James Fenalon, himself a former paratrooper, has extensively mined the biographical annuls of actual veterans of the Pacific Theature of World War II, brilliantly bringing the action to life for us. Peering into the thoughts and strategic planning of leadership and exploring the strengths and weaknesses of officers of rank, gives us a crystal clear and comprehensive portrait of the strains and challenges of foxhole combat encountered by the American Paratrooper deployed in the Philippines. This a book of non-fiction, an historical narrative essential to the serious student of American freedom and liberation achieved by the sacrificial service of men and women in combat.