William Raymond Manchester is one of my favorite authors. Born in 1922 in Massachusetts, he followed in his father’s footsteps—who had served in the Marine Corps during World War I—by enlisting in the Marines shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After completing boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina, he was assigned to the 29th Marines, part of the newly formed 6th Marine Division. Following stateside training, his unit deployed to Guadalcanal for staging and preparation ahead of the invasion of Okinawa. During the Okinawa campaign, Manchester was severely wounded while fighting on the Oroku Peninsula.
“Books, in all their variety, offer the human intellect the means whereby civilisation may be carried triumphantly forward.”---Winston Spencer Churchill
Manchester’s combat experience profoundly shaped both his worldview and his writing. Over the course of his life, he authored 18 books, which were translated into 20 languages. He drew directly from his time in the Pacific to write Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War and also channeled his deep understanding of military leadership into American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880–1964. As a huge fan of Winston Churchill, I value anything Churchill wrote—as well as anything written about him. The Last Lion, Manchester’s monumental three-volume biography of Churchill, stands as one of the finest works ever written on the subject. The final volume, completed after Manchester’s death by Paul Reid, draws from Manchester’s extensive notes and outlines to conclude Churchill’s story.
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War
By William Manchester, Back Bay Books (April 12, 2002 - First Published 1980), paperback, 416 pages
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War is William Manchester’s personal account of his experiences as a U.S. Marine in World War II, particularly during the brutal Battle of Okinawa. Blending historical analysis with introspective reflection, he revisits key Pacific battlefields decades later to confront the memories that still haunted him.
