The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood And The Bomb

by George Feifer

Overview

More people perished during the battle of Okinawa than in the ensuing bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The Battle of Okinawa offers a stunning account of the last major campaign of World War II and the largest land-sea-air engagement in history. Superbly researched and extraordinarily detailed, this masterpiece of military history is told at the level of the participants themselves, soldiers and civilians alike. In examining the disastrous collision of three disparate cultures—American, Japanese, and Okinawan—this book provides an unforgettable picture of men at war and also the context for understanding one of the most ominous events of this century: the decision to drop the atomic bomb.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493048755
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/01/2020
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	175,610
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.60(d)

About the Author

George Feifer is the author of many successful books, including The Battle of Okinawa, originally published as Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb, and a New York Times Notable Book; Moscow Farewell, a Book of the Month Club Main Selection; and The Girl from Petrovka, the basis of a Hollywood film. He has worked as a journalist, novelist, and translator in the United States, England, and the former Soviet Union. He has written for a wide variety of publications, including the New Republic, the New York Times Magazine, Harper's, and the Saturday Evening Post. He lives in Roxbury, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Book I

1 Operation Heaven Number One 3

2 American Participants 26

3 Japanese Participants 33

4 Okinawa 43

5 From Manchuria to Okinawa 58

6 Early Damage 66

7 Japanese Leadership 72

8 The Boys in the Pacific 78

9 Final Japanese Preparations 90

Book II

10 The Landing 99

11 The North 114

12 Civilians Flee 124

13 Ruriko Morishita, Nurse's Aide 139

14 Kojo Returns 144

15 Kamikazes 149

16 The Shuri Line 175

17 Sugar Loaf Hill 190

18 Close Combat 211

Book III

19 Kojo at the Shuri Line 265

20 Ushijima Abandons the Shuri Line 288

21 South from the Shuri Line 298

22 Civilian Suffering 331

23 Young Okinawans Hold to Their Duty 346

24 Mopping Up 355

25 American Atrocities 361

26 The Military Toll 376

Book IV

27 Expiration of the 32nd Army 391

28 The Civilian Toll 403

29 The Atomic Bombs 410

30 Aftermath 431

Afterword 463

Bibliography 472

Chronology 482

Index 488

Editorial Reviews

"A skillful narrative of combat history. .. exceedingly vivid." —New York Times Book Review
 
"Deeply moving. .. Unless we know of Okinawa and its beleaguered people, we know precious little of World War II." —Studs Terkel
 
"A classic. .. a meticulously researched account." —Robert Massie
 
"[A] great book. Feifer's account of the three sides and their experiences far surpasses most books about war. His work is a credit to journalism, history and the United States." —Stephen E. Ambrose
 
"More than a military history, [this book] is also a supremely important, heartrending chronicle of the human condition." —San Francisco Chronicle
 
"Short of having been there, Feifer's book is as close as we are likely to come to experiencing those terrible three months in the spring of 1945." —Newsday

 
"Brilliantly told. .. an uncompromising look at the inhumanity on both sides of the Pacific war." —Houston Chronicle
 
 

From the Publisher

In the Battle of Okinawa, the largest land-sea-air battle in history, more than 150,000 non-combatants were killed. This perfect-bound volume contains descriptions of the battle from the perspectives of American and Japanese soldiers and the Okinawan civilians caught between them. Drawing upon interviews with survivors, journalist Feifer presents a history of the battle and discusses how it led up to the decision to use the Atomic bomb. This book was originally published in 1992 as Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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