This is a paperbak buy-in of a cloth edition originally published by The University of Alabama Press in May 2002 at $29.95. OUP published Sledge's previous book, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa (pbk, 1990), which sold over 85,000 copies and is considered a contemporary classic.

Hailed as "one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war" by acclaimed author Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed remains the most powerful and moving account of the U.S. Marines in World War II. Now, with his long-awaited sequel, China Marine, E. B. Sledge continues his story where With the Old Breed left off and recounts the compelling conclusion of his Marine career. After Japan's surrender in 1945, Sledge and his company were sent to China to maintain order and to calm the seething cauldron of political and ideological unrest created by opposing factions. His regiment was the first Marine unit to return to the ancient city of Peiping (now Beijing) where they witnessed the last of old China and the rise of the Communist state. Sledge also recounts the difficulty of returning to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, and resuming civilian life while haunted by shadows of close combat. Through the discipline of writing and the study of biology, Sledge shows how he came to terms with the terrifying memories that had plagued him for years.
Poignant and compelling, China Marine provides a frank depiction of the real costs of war, emotional and psychological as well as physical, and reveals the enduring bond that develops between men who face the horrors of war.

"Vivid, lively, personally touching.... The book will last. Like With the Old Breed, it will be read, appreciated, and taught, now and for decades to come."--Stephen E. Ambrose, from the Foreword