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The Devil's Anvil The Assault on Peleliu
James H. Hallas
ISBN: 0-313-36102-9
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-36102-9
314 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 10/30/2008
List Price: $25.00 (UK Sterling Price: £17.95)
Availability: Print on demand
Media Type: Paperback
Also Available: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects: Awards:
  • Military Book Club Selection
Reviews:
  • James H. Hallas has performed a service by adding to the limited amount of good material available on Peleliu.
    —Leatherneck     00/00/00
  • The author has skillfully woven together both operational facts and personal recollections to create a highly readable story of the battle.
    —Marine Corps Gazette     00/00/00
  • I highly recommend The Devil's Anvil for anyone interested in World War II military history. By relying on the oral accounts of survivors, Hallas paints a particularly vivid portrait of a very violent struggle accentuated by many individual acts of heroism.
    —Military Intelligence     00/00/00
  • The Devil's Anvil brings to the forefront the human struggle that is indicative of not only war, but of a battle that was forgotten even before it was printed in the annals of history. From the eyes of famous men like Colonel Lewis Puller down to the lowest private, Hallas has offered military buffs and serious academicians alike an opportunity to experience what it was like to be a U.S. Marine in the South Pacific. This book is an essential part to any WWII library.
    —Military     00/00/00
Description: The Devil's Anvil tells the history of the battle for the island of Peleliu in the Western Caroline Islands—a battle that was supposed to take two days and instead took two months. The taking of Peleliu was a fight as tough as any in the Pacific, including Tarawa and Iwo Jima. The depth of Hallas's research allows him to bring to his study the kind of detail usually found only in books on the Civil War.

On September 15, 1944, General William Rupertus and the 16,000 Marines of the U.S. 1st Marine Division moved confidently toward Peleliu, an obscure speck of coral island 500 miles east of the Philippines. Though he knew a tough fight awaited him, Rupertus anticipated a quick two-day crush to victory, strengthening Gen. Douglas MacArthur's flank in his drive on the Philippines.

Instead, as The Devil's Anvil reveals, American forces struggled desperately for more than two months against 10,000 deeply entrenched Japanese soldiers who had spent six months preparing for the battle. By the time the weary Americans could claim a victory, the fight had become one of the war's most costly successes. Even more tragic, Peleliu was later deemed a more or less unnecessary seizure.

For those who survived, Peleliu remains a bitter, emotionally exhausting chapter of their lives. In The Devil's Anvil, Hallas reports on the personal combat experience of scores of officers and enlisted men who were at Peleliu. These men describe the heartbreaking loss of friends, the pain of wounds, and the heat, dirt, and exhaustion of a fight that never seemed to end.
About the Author: James H. Hallas is the publisher of the Glastonbury Citizen, a newspaper in Glastonbury, Connecticut. He has published articles in American History Illustrated and Yankee Magazine.
LCC Class: 940.54
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