Richard Tregaskis

Ray E. Boomhower is a senior editor at the Indiana Historical Society Press. He is also the author of more than a dozen books, including The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World (UNM Press .

“In author Ray Boomhower’s talented hands, the gripping story of one of World War II’s finest journalists leaps off the page in an action-packed tale of a life on the front lines of history.” — James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor “A fascinating biography of the groundbreaking World War II correspondent Richard Tregaskis. . . . Boomhower fills in all the missing psychological and historical details with immediacy, authenticity, and humanity. . . . An engrossing picture of one of the twentieth century’s most important combat reporters, [this book] serves as a necessary companion to Tregaskis’s own front-line dispatches.” — Joe Jackson, author of Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary “A unique analysis of the life, writings, and experience of war correspondent Richard Tregaskis. . . . Through the words and experiences of Tregaskis in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam, the author provides the reader with a new perspective on why combat journalists risk their lives to cover wars and tell the stories of the people who fight in them.” — James R. Hedtke, author of The Freckleton, England, Air Disaster: The B-24 Crash that Killed 38 Preschoolers and 23 Adults, August 23, 1944 “Ray Boomhower digs deep into his wealth of sources and resources to gather details for an intimate portrait of what war is like for the troops who fight it. He then deftly weaves all that research into a fine, engaging read with a writing style that is sure to put the reader in the center of the battles. As much as you think you know what war is like, you will still find a deeper understanding of it by reading this book.” — Jim Willis, author of 100 Media Moments That Changed America “Alongside Ernie Pyle, Richard Tregaskis was perhaps the most outstanding American war correspondent of World War II. Tregaskis remains best known today for his landmark Guadalcanal Diary, but that book covered only one small chapter of his reporting from the front lines. Ray Boomhower’s excellent new biography finally does justice to Tregaskis in this deeply researched, thoughtful portrait of the man and his times.” — Richard B. Frank, author of Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle

• PrologueIntroduction. ‘A Living Nightmare’Chapter 1. A Crusade for Ideals and SurvivalChapter 2. Wartime in ParadiseChapter 3. Reporting from Shangri-LaChapter 4. The Correspondent and the ‘Fighting Lady’Chapter 5. ‘The Danger of Sudden Death’Chapter 6. ‘The Most Intense Excitement in the World’Chapter 7. Operation ShoestringChapter 8. The CanalChapter 9. The Reporter and the RaidersChapter 10. Guadalcanal DiaryChapter 11. Operation CleanslateChapter 12. Sicily: Gateway to a ContinentChapter 13. ‘A Grotesque Apparition’Chapter 14. Charlemagne’s CityChapter 15. Superfortress Number 688Chapter 16. ‘the glories of peace’Chapter 17. ‘Something Dangerous and New, and Strange’EpilogueAcknowledgmentsNotesSelected BibliographyIndex