At the end of a long journey across the Pacific, a ship catches sight of Califor
nia. On board are hundreds of injured soldiers, survivors of the American infant
ry s battle to wrest the South Seas from the Japanese Empire. As the men on deck
cheer their imminent return to their families, wives, and favorite girls, four
stay below, unable to join in the celebration. These men are broken by war and h
aunted by what they learned there of the savagery of mankind. As they convalesce
in a hospital in Memphis, the pain of that knowledge will torment them far wors
e than any wound.The third of James Jones s epics based on his life in the army,
this posthumously published novel draws on his own experiences to depict the ho
rrors of war and their persistence even after the jungle is left behind.
