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Binding: HardcoverDewey Decimal Number: 940.542528 EAN: 9780393062342 ISBN: 0393062341 Label: W. W. Norton Manufacturer: W. W. Norton Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: May 19, 2008 Publisher: W. W. Norton Studio: W. W. Norton Editorial Review: Product Description: The men who fought and survived the deadliest battle of the Pacific come to life in this powerful oral history. On February 19, 1945, nearly 70,000 American soldiers invaded a tiny volcanic island in the Pacific. Over the next thirty-five days, approximately 28,000 soldiers died, including nearly 22,000 Japanese and 6,821 Americans, making Iwo Jima one of the costliest battles of World War II. Best-selling oral historian Larry Smith dug deep for exclusive stories from Iwo Jima veterans, including the last surviving flag raiser on Mount Suribachi, a Navajo "Code Talker," a retired general, two Medal of Honor recipients, B-29 flyers, and other die-hard Marines who secured the island. Along the way, Smith investigates the controversy surrounding the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal and presents the groundbreaking story of Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, rumored to have committed suicide rather than submit to capture. With dozens of photographs and maps, Iwo Jima is an unprecedented look at this pivotal battle and an inspiring study in courage, perseverance, and humanity. 50 photographs, 2 maps. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Good bookGreat action and history. For another good book, first-person account, read WALKING THROUGH FIRE: AN IWO JIMA SURVIVOR'S REMEMBRANCE, by Arvy Geurin. Rating:  - "Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot but he'll ...remember, with advantage, what feats he did that day." Shakespeare was prescient with respect to 22 men who participated in this great battle, at least if they have an superb reporter like Larry Smith to listen to their stories and record their memories. Smith interviewed 22 men who were teenagers during that battle, "all in their eighties now." Somehow these 22 men -- and Smith -- make their memories fresh and true. The book is divided into seven sections, each section ... Read More Rating: - Superb collection of personal historiesAuthor Larry Smith says it himself in his introduction: "This book does not presume to offer a definitive account of what has been called the thirty-six days in hell of Iwo Jima . . . Rather, it is a series of snapshots offering a glimpse into the lives of twenty-two men who took part in various aspects rof the conflict and how they have faired since." It is a remarkable and remarkably well done effort. Smith groups the twenty-two stories into seven topical sections, ... Read More |
