{"product_id":"the-raider-the-untold-story-of-a-renegade-marine-and-the-birth-of-u-s-special-forces-in-world-war-ii-hardcover","title":"The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eStephen R. Platt\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe extraordinary life of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America's first special forces, secret confidant of FDR, and one of the most controversial officers in the history of the Marine Corps, who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the United States and China\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"He was a gutsy old man.\" \"A corker,\" said another. \"You couldn't find anyone better.\" They talked about him in hushed tones. \"This Major Carlson,\" wrote one of the officers in a letter home, \"is one of the finest men I have ever known.\"\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThese were the words of the young Marines training to be among the first U.S. troops to enter the Second World War--and the Major Carlson they spoke of was Evans Carlson, a man of mythical status even before the war that would make him a military legend. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy December of 1941, at the age of forty-five, Carlson had already faced off against Sandinistas in the jungles of Nicaragua and served multiple tours in China, where he embedded with Mao's Communist forces during the Sino-Japanese War. Inspired by their guerilla tactics and their collaborative spirit--which he'd call \"gung ho,\" introducing the term to the English language--and driven by his own Emersonian ideals of self-reliance, Carlson would go on to form his renowned Marine Raiders, the progenitors of today's special operations forces, who fought behind Japanese lines on Makin Island and Guadalcanal, showing Americans a new way to do battle. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Raider, \u003c\/i\u003eCundill Prize-winning historian Stephen R. Platt gives us the first authoritative account of Carlson's larger-than-life exploits: the real story, based on years of research including newly discovered diaries and correspondence in English and Chinese, with deep insight into the conflicted idealism about the Chinese Communists that would prove Carlson's undoing in the McCarthy era. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTracing the rise and fall of an unlikely American war hero, \u003ci\u003eThe Raider \u003c\/i\u003eis a story of exploration, of cultural (mis)understanding, and of one man's awakening to the sheer breadth of the world.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSTEPHEN R. PLATT is an award-winning historian of China and the West whose books include \u003ci\u003eImperial Twilight\u003c\/i\u003e (Knopf, 2018) and \u003ci\u003eAutumn in the Heavenly Kingdom\u003c\/i\u003e (Knopf, 2012), the latter of which won the Cundill History Prize. He is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and holds a Ph.D from Yale. He lives with his family in Northampton, Massachusetts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 544\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.9 x 9.3 x 6.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e May 13, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53065071526221,"sku":"9780525658016","price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0927\/3304\/7117\/files\/SbjWZ4EaRq9780525658016.webp?v=1766609726","url":"https:\/\/belfastbooks.us\/products\/the-raider-the-untold-story-of-a-renegade-marine-and-the-birth-of-u-s-special-forces-in-world-war-ii-hardcover","provider":"belfastbooks.us","version":"1.0","type":"link"}