To Hell and Back

Originally published in 1949, To Hell and Back was an enormous bestseller and later became a major motion picture starring Audie Murphy as himself. More than fifty years later, this classic wartime memoir is as gripping as ever.

Rejected from both the marines and the paratroopers because he was too small, Murphy was desperate to see action and determined to serve his country. Eventually, he found a home with the infantry and fought through campaigns in Sicily, Italy, France, and Germany. Although still under twenty-one years old on V-E Day, he was credited with having killed, captured, or wounded 240 Germans. He emerged from the war as America's most decorated soldier, having received twenty-one medals, including our highest military decoration, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

Praise

"In all the research I've done on World War II combat veterans I cannot recall another story that involves so much up close and personal fighting."—from the foreword by Tom Brokaw

"[A] vivid, gripping, mature picture of combat."—The New York Times Book Review

"To Hell and Back . . . stands at the very highest level of war books."—The Saturday Review of Literature

"Stark, grim, straight from the shoulder, To Hell and Back is a terrible, powerful book."—Harry B. Ellis, The Christian Science Monitor

"In its own right, it is a masterpiece."—Jerry O'Leary, Jr., The Sunday Star (Washington, D.C.)

"The book is reminiscent of Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front in style, content, and impact."—Robert C. Ruark

About the Author(s)

Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy was the most decorated American soldier of World War II. He went on to a long film career, starring in The Red Badge of Courage, The Quiet American, and his own To Hell and Back. He was killed in a plane crash in 1971 at the age of forty-six.

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