Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima FROM OUR EDITORS
James Bradley's classic work of American military history fully captures the story behind the most famous photograph taken during World War II: the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima. Bradley, the son of one of the flagraisers, exhaustively researched the lives of the six Easy Company soldiers who participated in the event and discovered that the adulation the heroes received on their return home was not always welcome.
ANNOTATION
In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of his Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial islandﾽan island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
In this unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history, James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak, and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.
In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island's highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.
Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.
To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men's paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific's most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the story is what happened after the victory. The men in the photo—three were killed during the battle—were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only James Bradley's father truly survived, displaying nocopy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: "The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn't come back."
Few books ever have captured the complexity and furor of war and its aftermath as well as Flags of Our Fathers. A penetrating, epic look at a generation at war, this is history told with keen insight, enormous honesty, and the passion of a son paying homage to his father. It is the story of the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war.
FROM THE CRITICS
Publishers Weekly
PW called this volume, adapted from a bestseller for adults, a "memorable work," as it focuses on one of the most famous of war photographs: the image of six Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. The author, son of one of those Marines, investigates the lives (and deaths) of the six. Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly
Newly adapted from a bestseller for adults, Flags of Our Fathers: Heroes of Iwo Jima by James Bradley with Ron Powers, adapted by Michael French, focuses on one of the most famous of war photographs: the image of six marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima. Bradley, son of one of those marines, investigates the lives (and deaths) of the six, closely examining their experiences to detail the brutal battle on the island, the contrast between the sense of victory projected by the photograph and the more ambiguous circumstances behind it, and the bond-raising value of the photo (and of its surviving subjects) to the Treasury Department. A photo insert adds to the immediacy of this memorable work. ( May) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Children's Literature
An abridged version of the adult best-seller, this is a recap of the famous World War II Pacific battle. It is also a kind of memoir, as Bradley explores the life not only of his own father, but also the lives of the other five young men memorialized by the famous Iwo Jima flag-planting image. Three of them were to die as the island battle continued. Two of the survivors were to have their lives destroyed through inability to cope with the subsequent publicity; only Bradley's father endured to live a normal life as a funeral director. The story is a compelling one in theory. In practice, it falls apart through a certain narrative tedium and overabundance of facts. Yes, these young men were heroes, but not for raising the flag. The photo image itself was a kind of after-the-fact reconstruction. The perils of creating such a symbol are suggested but never precisely addressed. Young readers will have a difficult time slogging through the background to get to the meat of the event and the issue. 2001, Delacorte, $15.95. Ages 10 to 14. Reviewer: Kathleen Karr
VOYA
French has taken a large book and cut it down for young adults to slightly more than two hundred pages of text, just enough to meet most book report requirements. Teen readers, however, will not notice the deletions. Instead, they will find a fast-paced tale of the people behind the famous flag-raising photograph that came out of one of America's bloodiest and most decorated battles. There were six American soldiers who hoisted the United States flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 during World War II. The last survivor was John "Doc" Bradley, father of James Bradley, the author of this tale. John rarely spoke of the flag raising during his lifetime. When John died in 1994, his son decided to search for the details about what really happened to his father and the other men depicted in the familiar photograph and the Iwo Jima War Memorial near the nation's capital. His search produced a book that traces the six flag raisers with disparate backgrounds from birth to death, racing through their early years, lingering on their military training, and following them onto the beaches of Iwo Jima and up the mountain.. The book also analyzes the photograph, which by virtue of numerous accidents captivated a nation and made an ordinary task an act of heroism. Longer than the audio tape and shorter than the original adult-marketed book, which was published in 2000, French's abridgement loses none of the horror of battle or the impact of the famous photograph. This chronicle is recommended for libraries where interest in World War II history or fiction is significant. Index. Illus. Photos. Biblio. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; MiddleSchool, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Delacorte, 211p, $15.95. Ages 11 to 18. Reviewer: Beth Karpas
KLIATT
Everyone who has any passing interest in WW II has been affected by the famous Iwo Jima photograph. The image of five U.S. Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag atop Mt. Surabachi is one of the most potent images of the Pacific Campaign. The aftermath was tragic, for the most part. Three of the men were killed soon afterwards and another, Ira Hayes, became an alcoholic and died young. Now the gallant Navy corpsman's son, James Bradley, has emerged to tell his father's story and to recall the bloody battle from the infantryman's perspective. Bradley does a fine job, both for his father and for the rest of us. A book like this, which shows a military campaign through the eyes of a single platoon, makes a useful supplement to the more conventional military histories. The author does well in explaining the strategic importance of Iwo Jima and just why it was so necessary for the U.S. to occupy that desolate and overheated pile of volcanic ash, and why it was equally vital for Japan to defend it. Only two maps are presented; the bare minimum for a book of this nature; but both are detailed enough to orient the reader and make the action more understandable. One of the nicer features of this title is that an editorial assistant has adapted the text for younger readers. Michael French has succeeded in making the narrative comprehensible to about the 8th grade level; yet this has been done so skillfully that the average adult reader will scarcely notice. KLIATT Codes: JS; Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2001, Random House, 211p. illus. bibliog. index., Puffer
Read all 11 "From The Critics" >
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
The best battle book I've ever read. — Stephen E. Ambrose
These stories from the time the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima enlisted, their training, and the landing and the subsequent struggle, filled me with aweﾽ The best battle book I've ever read.
— Stephen E. Ambrose
AUTHOR DESCRIPTION
James Bradley is the son of John "Doc" Bradley, one of the six flag-raisers. A speaker and a writer, he lives in Rye, New York.
Ron Powers is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. He is the author of White Town Drowsing and Dangerous Water: A Biography of the Boy Who Became Mark Twain. He lives in Vermont.
Home
