The author refutes the idea that the German infantry of WWII was superior to the American infantry. He tells how the American infantry divisions were formed, how they trained and how they fought. He tells why they were more effective than the German infantry divisions they fought. He also tells about the battles they fought and the vast number of casualties they suffered.
The author refutes some commonly held ideas about the American soldier in WWII. He investigates a study that claimed few American soldiers fired their rifles in battle and discovers no evidence that the interviews which were the basis of the study ever took place. His interviews of old soldiers reveals that soldiers quickly learning to kill rather than risk being killed.
The author looks into claims that American divisions just blasted their way through with superior fire-power. He notes that the American army had a great superiority in artillery and artillery fire control. He shows that this was indeed an important weapon but that the American infantry quickly learned to beat the Germans even without artillery support.
The author also looks at the much maligned replacement system. He shows that for all its faults the replacement system was part of what kept the American infantry divisions effective. He shows how the individual divisions learned to avoid the pitfalls of the replacement system and help their replacements to fit in and survive.
This book is a good read if you are interested in WWII from an amateur historian's point of view.
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