Life and works of William Raymond ManchesterWilliam Raymond Manchester (born 4/1/22 – died 6/1/04) was an American historian and biographer, known as author of 18 books translated into 20 languages. Manchester was the son of a World War I Marine and grew up in Attleboro, Massachusetts. After his father's death and the attack on Pearl Harbor, he also enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, although he was ordered to return to college until called up. Although he expected to serve in Europe, Manchester eventually found himself in the Pacific. He served on Guadalcanal after the Japanese defeat and saw combat in the last major battle of the Pacific War, on Okinawa. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his highly personal account of the Pacific Theater, Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War. (He later wrote about World War II in several of his other books, including the second of a planned three-part biography of Winston Churchill, and a biography of General Douglas MacArthur.) He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Massachusetts in 1946 and a master's degree from the University of Missouri in 1947. He worked as a reporter for the Daily Oklahoman and the Baltimore Sun. He published his first book, a biography of H. L. Mencken, in 1951, followed by a novel two years later. In 1955 Manchester became an editor for Wesleyan University and spent the remainder of his career there, later becoming an adjunct professor of history and writer-in-residence there. He observed that the generation that came of age in the 1950s was "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent", helping to cement the generational nickname Silent Generation. After his wife's death in 1998, Manchester suffered two strokes and announced, to the disappointment of many of his readers, that he would be unable to complete the previously planned third volume of his three-part biography of Churchill. According to this article vol. III will likely be published posthumously, having been finished by former Palm Beach Post feature writer Paul Reid. A World Lit Only by Fire, by William Manchester, is a general synopsis of the Middle Ages in Europe, from the years 410-1536. The majority of the book is made up of anecdotes detailing episodes of betrayal (usually debauchery) and total chaos. Much of this is directly aimed at the scandalous history of the Roman Catholic Church at the time.