Description:
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Evans Carlson's legacy is both legendary and mythical. Dr. Stephen Platt, an expert in modern Chinese history, cuts through the fabulism to provide an accurate and insightful portrait of Carlson, both as a Marine and as a man. Carefully researched and thoughtfully written, The Raider is highly recommended." —Frank Kalesnik, former Command Historian, United States Marine Forces, Special Operations Command and Chief Historian, Marine Corps History Division
“Through the life of one man caught, in a way, between the U.S. and China, Stephen R. Platt tells a larger tale about the two countries whose relationship helped shape the last century and which may define this one. A fascinating, moving, and unexpected story.” —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis
“This is a gripping and beautifully written history of the controversial life of General Evans Carlson and his tumultuous times. The book vividly shows Chinese Communist armies fighting against the Imperial Japanese invaders, U.S. Marines launching a daring raid from submarines against a remote Japanese island stronghold in the Pacific Ocean, as well as the delusions of Americans who swooned for Chinese revolutionaries. Stephen Platt gives deep insights into the Pacific theater in World War II, the Chinese Civil War, the forging of the modern U.S. military, and the tangled American encounter with China. Drawing deeply from primary sources, he has produced a rip-roaring tale of battlefield courage and postwar scandal that happens to be all true.” —Gary Bass, author of Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
"When he was stationed in China in the 1930s as its modern state was emerging, Marine Corps icon Evans Carlson saw the genuine possibility of US-China allyship—for which he bravely advocated while critiquing the military-industrial complex, fascist dictators, and drawing the ire of J. Edgar Hoover. This riveting and nuanced biography resurrects a once-beloved American hero whose stalwart moral compass stands out as an example—and exception—to today’s ruling polity." —Helen Zia, author of Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
"[A] masterful storyteller . . . the depth and complexity of Platt’s book mirror the depth and complexity of the historical actors portrayed in its pages." —Kelly Hammond, Los Angeles Review of Books
“A remarkable hybrid of traditional soldier’s biography, rousing Special Forces history, and thoughtful, Tuchmanesque exploration of the tangled ‘American experience in China' . . . [Platt's] narratives of the Raiders’ melees in the Pacific—namely, Makin Island and Guadalcanal—are excellent, clear, vivid and informative . . . A top-grade [book].” —Alexander Rose, Wall Street Journal
“The Raider by Stephen R. Platt is more than a military biography; it’s a resurrection. . . . Platt doesn’t romanticize Carlson, but gives him his due. This is military biography as political and cultural history, rich with insight into a man who tried to remake the armed forces from within. In an age of renewed U.S.-China tension, The Raider reminds us that history is shaped not just by wars, but by the people who imagine different ways to fight them” —Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat Gazette
“Carlson’s career is not a historical footnote—it is an instructive case study for the Marine Corps and the joint force . . . More than a combat biography, Platt’s book serves as a case study on partner force development and the challenges of overcoming institutional inertia in order to innovate. As the Marine Corps again prepares for distributed operations across the Pacific, Carlson’s example offers lessons on innovating, partnering, and fighting in the Pacific . . . Platt’s background as a Chinese historian is ideal for telling Carlson’s story.” —Benjamin Van Horrick, RealClear Defense
“An engaging story.” —Steve Pfarrer, Daily Hampshire Gazette
“Offers an outstanding history not only of the birth of modern American special forces but also of the conflict between communists and nationalists in pre- and post-war China . . . A masterful account of mid-twentieth-century Chinese geopolitics and its profound influence on the emergence of modern American unconventional warfare tactics.” —Tom Hines, QuarterDeck Reviews
“A riveting read. . . . Vivid and deeply researched. . . . The Raider holds many timely lessons for today’s general readers and scholars alike about the origins of current U.S. military tactics and force culture, military and civilian leadership, ideological ambiguity, and navigating alliances in a shifting global landscape. . . . Platt’s account of how Carlson negotiated these changes humanizes the sweeping military and political changes of the era.” —Sara Bush Castro, The Journal of America’s Military Past
“Thoroughly researched and rich in detail of a fascinating life.” —Seapower Magazine
"Platt traces [Carlson's] character arc brilliantly, presenting him as a courageous and innovative military leader." —Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs
“Rousing . . . Platt’s narrative delivers plenty of blood and guts action while serving as a revealing exploration of the ardent attraction many Westerners felt toward Chinese communism. The result is a gripping, complex study of a military romantic who mixed ruthlessness with idealism.” —Publishers Weekly
“Details the incredible story of Carlson’s life [and] highlights an important period in U.S. relations with China.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“The Raider is more than a biography; it’s a tale of adventure, cultural exchanges gone awry, and one man’s realization of the vast opportunities the world has to offer. This groundbreaking book fills a significant gap in historical literature and is an essential read for casual history enthusiasts and professional historians alike.” —Booklist
About the Author
Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent biography of a US Marine with unusual ideas
Gosh, this is a splendid book. I especially enjoyed its first half, with Carlson posted to China in the 1930s as an assistant to James McHugh, the US Navy attache who did so much to help Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers. While Chennault was devoted to the semi-fascist Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mei-ling, Carlson's heart went out to Zhu De, chief of Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army. Carlson traveled thousands of miles with the PLA without ever seeing a major battle, largely because the Nationalists and the Communists preferred to fight each other than face the Japanese. Carlson also had a perhaps-platonic affair with one of communism's useful idiots, Agnes Smedley, whom our author memorably describes as a "short, tough, quasi-bisexual, radical left-leaning journalist with a sharp flop of graying hair...." Smedley and other American writers like Edgar Snow (and like Evans Carlson!) all bought into the myth that Mao's "so-called communists" wanted to build a democratic, capitalist country as a necessary first step toward socialism -- Sweden on the Yangste!By the end of the 1930s, Captain Carlson was famous, celebrated in the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Time, and of course the Daily Worker for his exploits in China. He became a civilian long enough to write a book and to meet President Roosevelt, and when war came in December 1941, he returned to active duty with a major's gold star and permission to recruit a Raider battalion (500-600 men) with the president's son, Capt James Roosevelt, as his executive officer. He trained them to fight like Lzu De's PLA and the Sandinista guerrillas he had encountered in Nicaragua. Their first mission was to crowd into two submarines and assault Makin Atoll in August 1942 as the first American attempt to roll back the Japanese in the South Pacific.As philosophers from Clausewitz to Mike Tyson have warned us, battle seldom goes according to plan, and Makin Atoll was no exception. The outboard motors flooded, one detachment landed in the wrong place, the walkie-talkies seldom worked, and Japanese snipers were perched in the trees, waiting for the Marines. The Raiders (with the help of deck cannon on the submarines) did sink two Japanese seaplanes and capture a rising-sun flag, but they came back with no documents or prisoners and tragically left nine Marines behind to be captured and beheaded by the Japanese. (Fortunately the president's son was no among the captives.) But like the early dogfights of the Flying Tigers, the Raiders' exploit was wildly celebrated by the US military and in the US press.And really, that was it. The brass always win out, and the Raiders were promptly enlarged, reorganized, and commanded by a more conventional officer. Carlson's only lasting innovation was replacing the traditional Marine rifle squad with a unit of three "fire teams" each armed with a Thompson submachine gun, a light Browning machinegun, and one of the new and magnificent Garand M-1 semi-automatic rifles that would soon replace the bolt-action Springfield of the First World War. Apparently that formation is still the standard in the US Marines, with even more-lethal weaponry. General Carlson died young, was widely mourned, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, though family and friends had to raise the money to transport his coffin across the country. -- Daniel Ford, Warbird Books
5.0 out of 5 stars An Iconoclast
When asked to describe Evans Carlson, a staff sergeant who served under him said “I find that words are no use to me. You feel things inside of you that you were not aware of that become part of your life while you are with him.”This anecdote from Stephen R. Platt’s The Raider rings true. I heard similar sentiments from many raiders who served with Carlson in World War Two. I recall one in his eighties with tears in his eyes “his men loved him; they would have followed him anywhere.”Carlson was complex. He was unconventional in war and in peace. He fought battles on and off the field. Some of the Marine Corps brass distrusted him and opposed the formation of the Raiders. Yet no marine-officer or enlisted man-ever doubted his courage under fire. In politics, Carlson had a mind of his own. He cared about social Justice. Carlson’s father was a scholarly New England parson, and as Platt suggests, the Emersonian ideals that Evans Carlson embodied were likely nurtured in his childhood.Most of the original Raiders are gone. Those of us who loved them and were fortunate enough to know them in their final years heard harrowing accounts of their battles. Edson, Roosevelt, and Carlson were not remote historical figures, but men of flesh and blood who came to life in their accounts of war.Carlson did not live to share these memories with his men. After battles, wounds, and malaria, he died shortly after the war ended. His death was a loss to his men and the causes he believed in, but perhaps a predictable end to such a tumultuous life. He exited the stage early, as heroes often do.Stephen R. Platt has written a magnificent account of Carlson’s life. It is thorough and exhaustively researched. For scholars there is a wealth of source material cited, but the narrative is fine for the popular reader as well. It is a pleasure to read.My father was a Raider. We sons and daughters of raiders continue to revere their legacy. The Marine Raiders of today still serve and protect.Carlson’s granddaughter, Karen Carlson Loving and the Carlson family gave Platt access to Carlson’s correspondence. This adds fresh perspective and scholarly insight into the complexities of Carlson’s mind (and Platt gives Karen full credit for her assistance). It was in fact at Karen’s suggestion that I read the book.Readers interested in the Raiders, the Pacific War, or geopolitics in the 20th Century (especially in China and the Pacific) would enjoy and learn from this new account of Carlson’s life.Thank you, Stephen A. Platt. Well done!
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The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II
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Visit the Knopf Store
The Raider: The Untold Story of a Renegade Marine and the Birth of U.S. Special Forces in World War II
AED16666
Quantity:
Order today to get by 7-14 business days
Delivery fee of AED 20. Free for orders above AED 200.
Imported From: United States
At BOLO, we work hard to ensure the products you receive are new, genuine, and sourced from reputable suppliers.
BOLO is not an authorized or official retailer for most brands, nor are we affiliated with manufacturers unless specifically stated on a product page. Instead, we source verified sellers, authorized distributors or directly from the manufacturer.
Each product undergoes thorough inspection and verification at our consolidation and fulfilment centers to ensure it meets our strict authenticity and quality standards before being shipped and delivered to you.
If you ever have concerns regarding the authenticity of a product purchased from us, please contact Bolo Support. We will review your inquiry promptly and, if necessary, provide documentation verifying authenticity or offer a suitable resolution.
Your trust is our top priority, and we are committed to maintaining transparency and integrity in every transaction.
All product information, images, descriptions, and reviews originate from the manufacturer or from trusted sellers overseas. BOLO is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an authorized retailer for most brands listed on our website unless stated otherwise.
While we strive to display accurate information, variations in packaging, labeling, instructions, or formulation may occasionally occur due to regional differences or supplier updates. For detailed or manufacturer-specific information, please contact the brand directly or reach out to BOLO Support for assistance.
Unless otherwise stated, all prices displayed on the product page include applicable taxes and import duties.
BOLO operates in accordance with the laws and regulations of United Arab Emirates. Any items found to be restricted or prohibited for sale within the UAE will be cancelled prior to shipment. We take proactive measures to ensure that only products permitted for sale in United Arab Emirates are listed on our website.
All items are shipped by air, and any products classified as “Dangerous Goods (DG)” under IATA regulations will be removed from the order and cancelled.
All orders are processed manually, and we make every effort to process them promptly once confirmed. Products cancelled due to the above reasons will be permanently removed from listings across the website.
Description:
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Evans Carlson's legacy is both legendary and mythical. Dr. Stephen Platt, an expert in modern Chinese history, cuts through the fabulism to provide an accurate and insightful portrait of Carlson, both as a Marine and as a man. Carefully researched and thoughtfully written, The Raider is highly recommended." —Frank Kalesnik, former Command Historian, United States Marine Forces, Special Operations Command and Chief Historian, Marine Corps History Division
“Through the life of one man caught, in a way, between the U.S. and China, Stephen R. Platt tells a larger tale about the two countries whose relationship helped shape the last century and which may define this one. A fascinating, moving, and unexpected story.” —Adam Hochschild, author of American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis
“This is a gripping and beautifully written history of the controversial life of General Evans Carlson and his tumultuous times. The book vividly shows Chinese Communist armies fighting against the Imperial Japanese invaders, U.S. Marines launching a daring raid from submarines against a remote Japanese island stronghold in the Pacific Ocean, as well as the delusions of Americans who swooned for Chinese revolutionaries. Stephen Platt gives deep insights into the Pacific theater in World War II, the Chinese Civil War, the forging of the modern U.S. military, and the tangled American encounter with China. Drawing deeply from primary sources, he has produced a rip-roaring tale of battlefield courage and postwar scandal that happens to be all true.” —Gary Bass, author of Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia
"When he was stationed in China in the 1930s as its modern state was emerging, Marine Corps icon Evans Carlson saw the genuine possibility of US-China allyship—for which he bravely advocated while critiquing the military-industrial complex, fascist dictators, and drawing the ire of J. Edgar Hoover. This riveting and nuanced biography resurrects a once-beloved American hero whose stalwart moral compass stands out as an example—and exception—to today’s ruling polity." —Helen Zia, author of Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution
"[A] masterful storyteller . . . the depth and complexity of Platt’s book mirror the depth and complexity of the historical actors portrayed in its pages." —Kelly Hammond, Los Angeles Review of Books
“A remarkable hybrid of traditional soldier’s biography, rousing Special Forces history, and thoughtful, Tuchmanesque exploration of the tangled ‘American experience in China' . . . [Platt's] narratives of the Raiders’ melees in the Pacific—namely, Makin Island and Guadalcanal—are excellent, clear, vivid and informative . . . A top-grade [book].” —Alexander Rose, Wall Street Journal
“The Raider by Stephen R. Platt is more than a military biography; it’s a resurrection. . . . Platt doesn’t romanticize Carlson, but gives him his due. This is military biography as political and cultural history, rich with insight into a man who tried to remake the armed forces from within. In an age of renewed U.S.-China tension, The Raider reminds us that history is shaped not just by wars, but by the people who imagine different ways to fight them” —Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat Gazette
“Carlson’s career is not a historical footnote—it is an instructive case study for the Marine Corps and the joint force . . . More than a combat biography, Platt’s book serves as a case study on partner force development and the challenges of overcoming institutional inertia in order to innovate. As the Marine Corps again prepares for distributed operations across the Pacific, Carlson’s example offers lessons on innovating, partnering, and fighting in the Pacific . . . Platt’s background as a Chinese historian is ideal for telling Carlson’s story.” —Benjamin Van Horrick, RealClear Defense
“An engaging story.” —Steve Pfarrer, Daily Hampshire Gazette
“Offers an outstanding history not only of the birth of modern American special forces but also of the conflict between communists and nationalists in pre- and post-war China . . . A masterful account of mid-twentieth-century Chinese geopolitics and its profound influence on the emergence of modern American unconventional warfare tactics.” —Tom Hines, QuarterDeck Reviews
“A riveting read. . . . Vivid and deeply researched. . . . The Raider holds many timely lessons for today’s general readers and scholars alike about the origins of current U.S. military tactics and force culture, military and civilian leadership, ideological ambiguity, and navigating alliances in a shifting global landscape. . . . Platt’s account of how Carlson negotiated these changes humanizes the sweeping military and political changes of the era.” —Sara Bush Castro, The Journal of America’s Military Past
“Thoroughly researched and rich in detail of a fascinating life.” —Seapower Magazine
"Platt traces [Carlson's] character arc brilliantly, presenting him as a courageous and innovative military leader." —Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs
“Rousing . . . Platt’s narrative delivers plenty of blood and guts action while serving as a revealing exploration of the ardent attraction many Westerners felt toward Chinese communism. The result is a gripping, complex study of a military romantic who mixed ruthlessness with idealism.” —Publishers Weekly
“Details the incredible story of Carlson’s life [and] highlights an important period in U.S. relations with China.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“The Raider is more than a biography; it’s a tale of adventure, cultural exchanges gone awry, and one man’s realization of the vast opportunities the world has to offer. This groundbreaking book fills a significant gap in historical literature and is an essential read for casual history enthusiasts and professional historians alike.” —Booklist
About the Author
Reviews:
5.0 out of 5 stars A magnificent biography of a US Marine with unusual ideas
Gosh, this is a splendid book. I especially enjoyed its first half, with Carlson posted to China in the 1930s as an assistant to James McHugh, the US Navy attache who did so much to help Claire Chennault of the Flying Tigers. While Chennault was devoted to the semi-fascist Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mei-ling, Carlson's heart went out to Zhu De, chief of Mao Zedong's People's Liberation Army. Carlson traveled thousands of miles with the PLA without ever seeing a major battle, largely because the Nationalists and the Communists preferred to fight each other than face the Japanese. Carlson also had a perhaps-platonic affair with one of communism's useful idiots, Agnes Smedley, whom our author memorably describes as a "short, tough, quasi-bisexual, radical left-leaning journalist with a sharp flop of graying hair...." Smedley and other American writers like Edgar Snow (and like Evans Carlson!) all bought into the myth that Mao's "so-called communists" wanted to build a democratic, capitalist country as a necessary first step toward socialism -- Sweden on the Yangste!By the end of the 1930s, Captain Carlson was famous, celebrated in the New York Times, Saturday Evening Post, Time, and of course the Daily Worker for his exploits in China. He became a civilian long enough to write a book and to meet President Roosevelt, and when war came in December 1941, he returned to active duty with a major's gold star and permission to recruit a Raider battalion (500-600 men) with the president's son, Capt James Roosevelt, as his executive officer. He trained them to fight like Lzu De's PLA and the Sandinista guerrillas he had encountered in Nicaragua. Their first mission was to crowd into two submarines and assault Makin Atoll in August 1942 as the first American attempt to roll back the Japanese in the South Pacific.As philosophers from Clausewitz to Mike Tyson have warned us, battle seldom goes according to plan, and Makin Atoll was no exception. The outboard motors flooded, one detachment landed in the wrong place, the walkie-talkies seldom worked, and Japanese snipers were perched in the trees, waiting for the Marines. The Raiders (with the help of deck cannon on the submarines) did sink two Japanese seaplanes and capture a rising-sun flag, but they came back with no documents or prisoners and tragically left nine Marines behind to be captured and beheaded by the Japanese. (Fortunately the president's son was no among the captives.) But like the early dogfights of the Flying Tigers, the Raiders' exploit was wildly celebrated by the US military and in the US press.And really, that was it. The brass always win out, and the Raiders were promptly enlarged, reorganized, and commanded by a more conventional officer. Carlson's only lasting innovation was replacing the traditional Marine rifle squad with a unit of three "fire teams" each armed with a Thompson submachine gun, a light Browning machinegun, and one of the new and magnificent Garand M-1 semi-automatic rifles that would soon replace the bolt-action Springfield of the First World War. Apparently that formation is still the standard in the US Marines, with even more-lethal weaponry. General Carlson died young, was widely mourned, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, though family and friends had to raise the money to transport his coffin across the country. -- Daniel Ford, Warbird Books
5.0 out of 5 stars An Iconoclast
When asked to describe Evans Carlson, a staff sergeant who served under him said “I find that words are no use to me. You feel things inside of you that you were not aware of that become part of your life while you are with him.”This anecdote from Stephen R. Platt’s The Raider rings true. I heard similar sentiments from many raiders who served with Carlson in World War Two. I recall one in his eighties with tears in his eyes “his men loved him; they would have followed him anywhere.”Carlson was complex. He was unconventional in war and in peace. He fought battles on and off the field. Some of the Marine Corps brass distrusted him and opposed the formation of the Raiders. Yet no marine-officer or enlisted man-ever doubted his courage under fire. In politics, Carlson had a mind of his own. He cared about social Justice. Carlson’s father was a scholarly New England parson, and as Platt suggests, the Emersonian ideals that Evans Carlson embodied were likely nurtured in his childhood.Most of the original Raiders are gone. Those of us who loved them and were fortunate enough to know them in their final years heard harrowing accounts of their battles. Edson, Roosevelt, and Carlson were not remote historical figures, but men of flesh and blood who came to life in their accounts of war.Carlson did not live to share these memories with his men. After battles, wounds, and malaria, he died shortly after the war ended. His death was a loss to his men and the causes he believed in, but perhaps a predictable end to such a tumultuous life. He exited the stage early, as heroes often do.Stephen R. Platt has written a magnificent account of Carlson’s life. It is thorough and exhaustively researched. For scholars there is a wealth of source material cited, but the narrative is fine for the popular reader as well. It is a pleasure to read.My father was a Raider. We sons and daughters of raiders continue to revere their legacy. The Marine Raiders of today still serve and protect.Carlson’s granddaughter, Karen Carlson Loving and the Carlson family gave Platt access to Carlson’s correspondence. This adds fresh perspective and scholarly insight into the complexities of Carlson’s mind (and Platt gives Karen full credit for her assistance). It was in fact at Karen’s suggestion that I read the book.Readers interested in the Raiders, the Pacific War, or geopolitics in the 20th Century (especially in China and the Pacific) would enjoy and learn from this new account of Carlson’s life.Thank you, Stephen A. Platt. Well done!
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Similar items from “World War II”
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