"The men of the AEF’s 79th Division were warriors for the working day: civilians in uniform. Their training was minimal, their cohesion limited, their tactics defying four years of Western Front experience. Yet the 79th’s first assignment was to take one of the best-defended position in the Argonne Forest. It became a compound disaster. But the division’s subsequent recovery is a case study in American soldiers’ often-demonstrated high learning curve and the AEF’s contribution to victory in 1918. Gene Fax’s new history of the 79th Division is a masterful study of the long and difficult road to victory."

- Professor Dennis Showalter, author of German Military History, 1648-1982: A Critical Biography.

"Ordered to capture the heavily fortified high-ground of Montfaucon on the first day of Meuse-Argonne, the doughboys of 79th Division-fresh from Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia-proved themselves as brave and tenacious soldiers. With Their Bare Hands is a fine testament to their courage under fire and a compelling work of history by Gene Fax."

- Mitchell Yockelson, author of Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing's Warrior's Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I.

"Based on meticulous research Gene Fax’s fascinating account of the poorly trained 79th Division in the Meuse-Argonne offensive tells us much about how inexperience, poor communications and inadequate support compelled that division’s courageous soldiers to fight 'with their bare hands.' Fax tells the amazing story of how the American Expeditionary Force and the 79th Division overcame many errors and false ideas and paid a high price learning how to fight effectively."

- Brigadier General (ret.) Robert A. Doughty, author of Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War and The Seeds of Disaster: The Development of French Army Doctrine, 1919-1939.

"A careful study of a little-remembered division, in a little-remembered battle, in a little-remembered war. All of which is a pity, because as Gene Fax points out, the accomplishments of the 79th Division were remarkable and reflected better on the record of the American Expeditionary Force than historians often assume. A meticulous story, compellingly told."

- Eliot A. Cohen, author of The Big Stick: The Limits of Soft Power and the Necessity of Military Force.

"An excellent and highly recommended work."

- Charles Messenger, Western Front Association; retired British Army officer and author of over 40 books on historical and defense matters.

"With Their Bare Hands is an unvarnished examination of all corners of the battlefield, filled with failures and setbacks, courage and fear, noble sacrifices and, in many places unnecessary casualties. Mr. Fax considers the battle on its own terms and n its own time, allowing the reader an unfiltered view of combat and confusion and command decisions--both wise and unwise."

- Matthew J. Davenport, The Wall Street Journal.