A gripping portrait of courage, trauma, and the making of the most decorated American soldier of WWII, Audie Murphy, providing an intimate perspective on both his fights on the battlefield and the demons that followed him home. 

On the battlefields of Europe, Audie Murphy faced machine guns, tanks, and impossible odds on his path to becoming a famed Medal of Honor recipient. But stories of his bravery fail to reveal the much more complex story of the man behind the military decorations.  

In this powerful and deeply human narrative, MAKE A HERO traces Murphy’s journey from a childhood marked by poverty and hardship in rural Texas to the battlefields in Italy, France, and Germany. Along the way, he emerges not simply as a symbol of courage, but as a complicated young man shaped by not only the violence and loss of war, but the crushing weight of being turned into a national icon upon his return home and being retraumatized by his career as an actor. 

More than a chronicle of battlefield heroics, MAKE A HERO examines how heroes are made — and what that process costs them. It reveals the gulf between the brutal reality of combat and the polished public image created by the military, the media, and Hollywood. Through Murphy’s story, the book offers a gripping portrait of war, trauma, survival, and the burden of living up to a myth.

Edward G. Lengel is an award-winning historian and educator. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, where he directed the Washington Papers Project for many years, and subsequently worked in senior positions in the public history field.

Also a professional author, speaker, and battlefield tour guide, Lengel has written fifteen books on American history and other subjects. These include the official history of Colonial Williamsburg; General George Washington: A Military Life; To Conquer Hell: The Meuse-Argonne, 1918; and Never in Finer Company: The Men of the Great War’s Lost Battalion.

Lengel is a co-recipient of the National Humanities Medal and has won two writing awards from the Army Historical Foundation. He makes frequent television and radio appearances.