The Doughboys were the American soldiers who entered the Great War in the last year of the conflict; and of their number the Marine Corps were the absolute elite. The author of this episodic but vivid series of sketches, John W. Thomason, was a Captain in the Corps, descended from a distinguished Southern military family. A natural writer, his colloquial account follows the Marines through France, giving an account of their most famous- and bloodiest - actions, including the Argonne Forest, Belleau Wood, Chateau Thierry, Mont Blanc and St Mihiel. As well as the fighting itself, Thomason is...