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Preparing For Victory (Leatherneck Original): Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Modern Marine Corps, 1936-1943
Author(s): David J. Ulbrich (Author)
- Publisher: Naval Institute Press
- Publication Date: 1 April 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 336 pages
- ISBN-10: 1591149037
- ISBN-13: 9781591149033
Book Description
Preparing for Victory explains how and why Commandant Thomas Holcomb successfully supervised the expansion of the Marine Corps from 18,000 officers and men in 1936 to 385,000 in 1943. Not only did Holcomb leave the Corps much larger, but he also helped establish it as the United States’ premier amphibious assault force.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Preparing for Victory is a well-researched and detailed Naval Institute Press book in the Leatherneck Original series. . . .A masterfully written book, provides quality insight into this little-known Marine leader and his decisions in a crucial time of Marine history. The author has successfully portrayed Gen. Holcomb as a visionary leader, shrewd publicist, progressive thinker, meticulous planner, and a courageous combat leader. Due to his facility for staying out of the limelight he often is overlooked as a transformative figure in the Marine Corps. This classically crafted biography will go far toward gaining Gen. Holcomb his rightful place in the history of our Corps. –Leatherneck, July 2011
Excellent narrative. . . .This book is strongly recommended to anyone interested in a fuller picture of the Marine Corps and its leaders than is normally understood during the first half of the 20th century. Thomas Holcomb is properly described in a manner that illustrates his seminal importance in the storied history of the Marine Corps. –Naval History Book Reviews, July 2011
This book is the first biography of the former commandant, who, from December 1936 to December 1943, turned the Corps from a small brush-fire war force into four well-trained infantry divisions capable of large-scale amphibious assaults against Japanese-held island fortresses without suffering a defeat. –Seapower, September 2011
About the Author
David J. Ulbrich is a historian at the U.S. Army Engineer School at Ft. Leonard, MO. and senior instructor in Norwich University’s master’s in military history program. He received the 2003-2004 General Lemuel Shepherd Dissertation Fellowship from the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation. Ulbrich earned his doctorate in history at Temple University.
