"Historian DePastino (Citizen Hobo) eloquently memorializes cartoonist Bill Mauldin, who won fame as 'the leading spokesman for the American combat soldier' during World War II, in this authoritative biography. Mauldin (1921 — 2003) grew up in Depression-era New Mexico in a dysfunctional family. After studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for one year, he joined the newly mobilized 45th Infantry Division of the Arizona National Guard. Mauldin then became the 45th Division News's cartoonist. Deployed to North Africa in 1943, Mauldin participated in the invasions of Sicily and Italy. In 1944, while on staff at the GI newspaper Stars and Stripes, Mauldin created his signature characters, the weary and disheveled infantrymen Willie and Joe. Willie and Joe became soldiers' heroes and anathema to brass such as Gen. George Patton, who threatened to throw Mauldin in jail for his characters' indolence. After the war, Mauldin published bestselling cartoon collections, worked briefly as an actor, ran unsuccessfully for Congress and ended his career with two Pulitzer Prizes for editorial cartooning. Thoroughly researched and sprightly written, DePastino's balanced biography is a solid introduction to an American original. Classic Mauldin cartoons are an entertaining bonus." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Bill Mauldin, an Army sergeant in World War II, fired his weapon once during the war. But during the course of the war, his bold ink brush cartoons of life on the front became the only concept of what war was really like for many Americans. College teacher and author DePastino offers what is, surprisingly, the first biography of its kind of a complex man both idealistic and disillusioned, who wrote the popular cartoon Up Front for Stars and Stripes and who earned from Gen. George Patton a pledge to "...throw his ass in jail." The book includes photographs and several examples of Mauldin's cartoons. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

This taut, lushly illustrated biography of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Bill Mauldin is illustrated with more than 90 of his classic cartoons and rare photographs. DePastino traces the improbable career and tumultuous life of the man who delivered the wildly popular cartoon "Up Front."

Todd DePastino is the author of Citizen Hobo: How a Century of Homelessness Shaped America and the general editor of the cartoon collection WillieandJoe: The WWII Years (Fantagraphics). He teaches at Waynesburg College and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.