Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Flags of Our Fathers” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Flags of Our Fathers

James D. Bradley,

Ron Powers (Goodreads Author)

4.20 · Rating details · 51,945 ratings · 1,654 reviews

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, Americ 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 no copy 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 Hardcover edition. ...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 382 pages

Published August 29th 2006 by Bantam (first published May 2nd 2000)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Flags of Our Fathers, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best Non-fiction War Books

1,816 books — 2,096 voters

We Were Soldiers Once... and Young by Harold G. Moore

Best Modern Day Military Accounts

374 books — 582 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.20 ·

Rating details

· 51,945 ratings · 1,654 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of Flags of Our Fathers

Mar 09, 2008 sean rated it it was ok

Shelves: world-war-ii-non-fiction

I read the book before the movie. The movie, directed by Clint Eastwood is almost entirely dedicated to the book's last chapters where the author describes the after-war lives of the heroes - and yes, despite what Bradley and Eastwood believe, these men ARE heroes regardless of the father Bradley's protests.

After describing the battle and events of the flag raising on Mount Suribachi, the author describes how the men's lives turned sour as the US War Machine exploited them for the 7th War Bond D ...more

flag 24 likes · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2011 Jason Koivu rated it really liked it

On Veteran's Day and other such days when the mind wanders over the ultimate sacrifice made by brave men and women during our world's troubled times, for Americans there are few images more iconic than the picture of the flag raising on Iwo Jima during WWII.

Flags of Our Fathers was penned by James Bradley, the son of one of the men in that picture. This story is about that experience, what led up to it and what came after. It is more engaging and less depressing than expected. Certainly it is n ...more

flag 19 likes · Like · see review

Apr 25, 2020 W marked it as to-read

Shelves: war, seen-as-movies

Movie review

This was the first part of Clint Eastwood's bold experiment of making two films about the battle of Iwo Jima,from opposing perspectives.This is a fine film,though the other film,Letters from Iwo Jima,is even better.

Commercially,the film didn't succeed.The photograph of the US marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima is iconic.This is the story of those soldiers and what happened to them afterwards.

The battle scenes are good,as expected.However,the soldiers would not have an easy time of ...more

flag 16 likes · Like · see review

Jan 10, 2008 Adrienne rated it really liked it

Flags of Our Fathers tells the amazing true story of Iwo Jima and The Photograph, by creating a fairly complete picture of the six boys/men in the photo. It recounts basic ideas of their childhoods and their training as Marines, the battle itself, and the lives of those who survived (including Bradley's father) after the war.

These men, who wanted nothing else but to be left alone, were thrust into the spotlight because of a lucky picture at a not-so-heroic moment in time. The picture became a s Flags of Our Fathers tells the amazing true story of Iwo Jima and The Photograph, by creating a fairly complete picture of the six boys/men in the photo. It recounts basic ideas of their childhoods and their training as Marines, the battle itself, and the lives of those who survived (including Bradley's father) after the war.

These men, who wanted nothing else but to be left alone, were thrust into the spotlight because of a lucky picture at a not-so-heroic moment in time. The picture became a sensation, the most reproduced photo, and the boys became heroes. They were very much heroes, not because of the flagraising, but for having done the same thing every other soldier had done on Sulfur Island--risking their lives for their country and their friends.

My basic assessment of the book is "Content: excellent. Execution: mediocre."

The middle of the book, which gives the details of the actual battle, was very compelling; I didn't want to put it down. However, the beginning and the end seemed redundant.

The problems with the book do not come from the unbelievable story or its scope, but they come in the structure. In the beginning, I was very frustrated by the sentence fluency, but after talking to a friend about the book (and reading further) I realized it was the organization that was lacking.

Bradley repeats the same ideas over and over. Really, the book could have been a lot shorter--a couple hundred pages shorter (my version was the short, fat one). I do wonder if the YA version would be less redundant without losing the great details. Also, he obviously has a bit of a bias, but it's to be expected, and I don't think it gets too in the way of the important details.

But through all of this, I am very glad that I read it. The information surprised/shocked me a little, but I don't know much about the Japan side of WWII. It's always good to be reminded of the horrors of war and to empathize with those who have been, who are going, and who have sent their loved ones. The story made me surprisingly more emotional than I would have thought. ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Feb 17, 2020 Boudewijn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, on-ipod, world-war-2, audible, audio, english, downloaded

In 1945, the Second World War was still raging in the Pacific Ocean. On the island of Iwo Jima one of the bloodiest battles from the war took place. When five Marines and an army doctor plant the American flag on a volcano, they instantly become famous in their home country. Only three managed to survive the slaughter and were haunted untill the end of their days.

James D. Bradley traces the lives of these 6 men, from the moment they joined the Marines untill they died. For John Bradley, Rene Gag ...more

flag 12 likes · Like · see review

Aug 03, 2014 Keatley rated it did not like it

Shelves: nonfiction, couldn-t-get-through, history

Full disclosure - I wasn't able to finish this book, so if you're one of those people who says you can't judge it til you finish, you don't need to read this. I, however, don't need to get to the end to know I just hated this book, and am writing a review to warn others and remind myself why I didn't finish it. I read a good amount of history stuff in this vein. Not a huge amount, but a lot more than the average American I think, and this is the only one I have come across so far that felt explo Full disclosure - I wasn't able to finish this book, so if you're one of those people who says you can't judge it til you finish, you don't need to read this. I, however, don't need to get to the end to know I just hated this book, and am writing a review to warn others and remind myself why I didn't finish it. I read a good amount of history stuff in this vein. Not a huge amount, but a lot more than the average American I think, and this is the only one I have come across so far that felt exploitative. After the first few chapters I started to feel like Bradley was trying to make a living off of his father's life. I tried to push through, give him the benefit of the doubt, but I got about half way through and the impression just deepened. That's when I checked the reviews on Goodreads and realized a lot of other people had the same impression. There was just too much of Bradley in it. It's not really their story, it's his, about his "epic" journey to publicize their lives. I can't really point to anything specific in the text, its just the overall impression I get.

The other thing that bothers me is that some of the details he shares from these men's lives are very personal. There's even a few where he talks about how it was a secret that they kept, they never wanted anyone to know, and yet here he is, publishing it for the world to see, making money off it. And a lot of them weren't relevant to the story either, it was just dramatic fodder. And yet, despite the fact that Bradley seems to have made a career out of this picture, he constantly downplays the importance of the moment, saying that they were just in the right (or wrong) place at the right (or wrong) time. That's alright for his father to say, because its his experiences, his life. But you can't go around saying someone else's bravery was just luck. Sure, it was a lot of chance that put them in the actual picture, but the story isn't just the picture. And even if it was, they stand for all the soldiers, all the courage shown and sacrifices made. Bradley makes it sound like he doesn't think they should really be celebrated, because they just happened to be there. He misses the entire point.

As if all that wasn't bad enough, it's badly written, as in literally, the prose is bad. It rambles, its repetitive, it basically reads like a diary entry or a spoken story that hasn't been edited at all. A lot of it sounds kind of like Eat, Pray, Love, where the author is deeply meditating on something internal. Self-serving crap if you ask me, but I tend to be very literal, so if you find meaning in stuff like that, you may enjoy his writing style.

Basically, it was a badly written attempt to make money off someone else's pain. ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 09, 2017 Paul Haspel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fathers-day, world-war-ii

The flagraisers at Iwo Jima made history, though they couldn’t have known it at the time. When six American fighting men raised a United States flag atop Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, an Associated Press photographer quickly snapped a photograph that became The Photograph – the most reproduced, most iconic photo ever taken. And it changed forever the lives of all involved in it.

Flags of Our Fathers, a 2000 bestseller later adapted into a 2006 Clint Eastwood film, was written by James Br ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Dec 30, 2009 A.L. Sowards rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history-wwii, nonfiction, history-1900s

This wasn't a happy book, but I'm glad I read it. The author follows the lives of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who raise the second American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. I've always loved the Rosenthal photo, and the Marine Memorial based on the photo is my favorite in the DC area. Here are a few of my thoughts on the book:

I thought the first part of the book, covering the characters' childhoods, training, and the fight to take hell--I mean Iwo Jima--was better than the second This wasn't a happy book, but I'm glad I read it. The author follows the lives of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman who raise the second American flag on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. I've always loved the Rosenthal photo, and the Marine Memorial based on the photo is my favorite in the DC area. Here are a few of my thoughts on the book:

I thought the first part of the book, covering the characters' childhoods, training, and the fight to take hell--I mean Iwo Jima--was better than the second part of the book, covering the the post-war period for the survivors. I like books to finish strong, so that was a bit disappointing.

I was vaguely aware that the famous photograph was really of the second "replacement" flag, but it was interesting to read about the details. The first flag raising was a big deal to all the Marines on the island. The main motivation behind putting up a new flag was because a Marine colonel overheard the Sec. of Navy say he wanted the original flag as a souvenir, so the colonel had the flag switched so his battalion could keep the original. Sending up a flag bigger than the first was an afterthought. No one on the island thought the second flag-raising was that big of a deal. And the famous photograph--the photographer didn't even look through the camera to grab it. It was just luck. I also didn't know that the battle for Iwo Jima continued on after the photo for a month.

I thought the author had a serious case of hero-worship for his father, one of the three flag-raisers that lived through the battle. Yes, his father was a wonderful, brave, caring man. I think the author was a little too hard on the other survivors because their post-war lives weren't as great. I also didn't like the author's conclusion that the flag-raisers weren't heroes. I disagree. Raising the flag wasn't really that special, but their other actions on Iwo Jima and during WWII (three of the flag-raisers also fought through Bougainville) did make them heroes several times over. Overall, the author drew too many conclusions--he should have just told the story and let the reader draw his or her own conclusions.

Like Band of Brothers, I found the most tragic casualties of war weren't the wounded or even the dead. It was the soldiers who made it back from the war--but never really lived normal lives because of what they experienced. I'm glad we've come a long way with post-traumatic stress disorder since then. I hope that very soon we won't have cause to go to war anymore. ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Nov 22, 2008 David rated it it was amazing

Like most people, I had no idea what the real context was for the famous photograph of soldiers raising the US flag at Iwo Jima. Nor did I understand the military significance of that campaign, or the cost in lives it required (over 8000 US soldiers killed and almost 20,000 wounded; and over 20,000 Japanese killed). This book is presented as the story of the 6 men who appear in the photo. The first section gives their backgrounds and life stories, and dragged a bit, but made the rest much more p ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 02, 2007 Leah rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: everyone

I don't often read historical nonfiction, but this book was superb; I was very moved by the countless acts of sacrifice made by the men who fought at Iwo Jima.

This is a riveting narrative about the six young American flag raisers in the famed picture. Author James Bradley is the son of corpsman John Bradley (one of the men in the photo) and it was only after his father's death when he began to piece together culminating events, as his father never talked about the war but for: "The heroes of Iwo ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jul 26, 2008 Trisha rated it liked it

This was a good book, the intent of the author was good, but I didn't like so many personal comments from him. I don't care that he stared at the picture that this book is based around for hours at a time in a daze, or any other comments he made like that. I think that the fact that he added those into the book took away from honoring those he was writing about. It seemed selfish and cocky of him. His personal comments seemed more like a tribute to himself and his intellect than to those who fou ...more

flag 5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2009 Andrew Backs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: alex-awards, non-fiction, biography

5Q 2P A/YA

James Bradley's book is a masterpiece of historical writing that will not wear down readers with heavy language or intimidate with hundreds of pages. This is a biography written about the five men who raised the United States flag on Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during the second World War. Bradley's father along with two other men Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon survived the attack on the island and were sent home on orders from the United States government after a pho 5Q 2P A/YA

James Bradley's book is a masterpiece of historical writing that will not wear down readers with heavy language or intimidate with hundreds of pages. This is a biography written about the five men who raised the United States flag on Mount Suribachi on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during the second World War. Bradley's father along with two other men Ira Hayes and Rene Gagnon survived the attack on the island and were sent home on orders from the United States government after a photograph of the scene had been sent home. The unforgettable picture became a national phenomena and would forever change the lives of the three surviving soldiers.

This book is a fascinating read as the author recreates the oral stories of these men from either direct conversation or other sources related to them. It will please any young reader who has interest in World War II or an American history enthusiast. The battle scenes described in this book allows the reader to become emotionally invested in the lives of these heroic men. The author holds nothing back when it comes to describing the horrors of pain and death in the battlefields.

Perhaps more impressive and unique is the author's ability to describe the home lives of the three men as they come back from fighting. Each man carries the burden of his trials in their own way. Again the author does not sugarcoat any of the domestic struggles these men went through. These honest accounts makes the reader reflect upon the misconceptions of glamourizing war, decorated home lives, and the invincible image of heroes. While not taking away from their courage and heroics on the battlefield, the author keeps these men humbled and human by not hiding anything. For example, one man Ira Hayes must deal with the fact that he is a Native American living in a white man's world. Without his uniform, he is nothing but another Indian drunk in the eyes of the public.

This book would not appeal to most young adult readers because of the content inside. Those looking for a John Wayne war story will want to look elsewhere. The imagery is very intense and graphic. The description of the domestic struggles of the three men is also not a pretty picture either, which might turn off some readers looking for a feel good story. Readers interested in the subject will definitely get into this title with no problem, but other than that it would likely take a lot of convincing to find other young adults to pick this one up. ...more

flag 4 likes · Like · see review

Jul 22, 2011 Courtney Burns rated it did not like it

Shelves: unfinished

Unreadable:

Book begins with the author detailing a trip Iwo Jima with family member where he took great delight in being photographed peeing off the side of the mountain monument dedicated to the battle that took place there. That is right this man by special permission was invited to the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and onto the Japanese military base and stood on a monument dedicated to the thousands of men who fought and died there and decided it would be awesome if he peed on all of it. I don Unreadable:

Book begins with the author detailing a trip Iwo Jima with family member where he took great delight in being photographed peeing off the side of the mountain monument dedicated to the battle that took place there. That is right this man by special permission was invited to the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and onto the Japanese military base and stood on a monument dedicated to the thousands of men who fought and died there and decided it would be awesome if he peed on all of it. I don't care if the men who fought there did that in some kind bolstering attempt to deal with what they had and would yet experience, that land is now sacred (as the author alludes to in the title of the chapter "Sacred Ground") and you just don't do that. Imagine if we reversed the situation and the son of one of the pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor was invited to the memorial site and decided to be photographed peeing of one of the monuments or into the water above the Arizona. And this is what the author wants you to know of himself. Classless, disgusting, and entirely without honor.

Sadly the book doesn't get better from there. It is full of repetitions, contradictions, cliches, and outright falsehoods (which are then, of course, repeated). The author continually switches from third person to first person (even inside the same paragraphs) and past tense to present tense. To give us a sense of the boys he is writing about he spoke with and quotes wives, mothers, brothers, and former fiancés (everyone of them named) of all the boys but one (needless to say every single one of these boys were saints and angels and rang entirely false). The one boy left out, Rene, was for some reason hated by the author who could barely bring himself to write anything at all about the boy and when he did detailed the varied flaws backed up by general quotes from unnamed "friends."

Moreover, the continual claims that the US contributed nothing to winning the war in Europe (entirely done by Russia it seems--something that would no doubt surprise my grandfather who landed on Utah Beach at Normandy) and no other country contributed to the US winning the "American War" in the Pacific added to the author's never-ending claims that the Marines single handedly won this "American War" while everyone else just were just bumbling idiots who cost the Marines their lives was beyond annoying and moved back into the realm of disgusting.

And my goodness, do a little research, man. The author briefly wonders why Ira (the Native American of the group) started drinking before the war. Let's see, I wonder if just maybe there is a little research out there about Native Americans and alcohol. It is too bad that the author couldn't muster up his oft-written abilities of staring into the famous picture to learn everything he needed to know about the men that raised that flag or hear their voices guiding him on his path of research. Maybe he could/should have asked Ira himself why he started drinking. (And while we are on the topic of Ira, there is not a trace of racism mentioned in the entire first half of the book. I don't buy that for a minute.) He did, however, seem to have been able to use this little "research" tool in discovering what the boys were thinking about things they "never discussed with a single living soul."

Can you tell yet that I was thoroughly disgusted by this book? It was poorly researched and poorly written--I imagine this has something to do with the difficulty Bradley faced in getting it published and why no historians (military or otherwise) were jumping up and down to offer reviews or forwards for the work.

**I only read the first half ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 03, 2012 Michael Gerald rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Courage

A noble virtue that has sometimes been bastardized.

By people who engage in reckless abandon.

By jerks who just long for publicity.

By showbiz scum who wash their dirty linen in public.(The latest local one with the initials "K.A.")

But there was a time when REAL courage meant facing bullets, bombs, and staring death in the face, not for personal glory or just for the kick of it, but for freedom, liberty, and justice. And saving other people's lives.

The Allied men and women (Filipinos incl ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 06, 2014 Donna rated it really liked it

Shelves: biography, non-fiction, hfu-p-2014

I enjoyed this book. It was a non-fiction book of the flag raising on Iwo Jima. It wasn't a regurgitation of his research, but a thoughtful expression of the facts as they were compiled. The author's father was one of the men who were there that day and helped raise the flag. His father survived what was described as a month long massacre.

I found this book thought provoking. On one hand, this iconic picture was a beacon of hope to the American people, who sent there sons, brothers and fathers of ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jan 16, 2013 Newport Librarians rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: ms-becky, librarian-s-favorites, ya-fiction

WOW! And I don't even like non-fiction!

This story chronicles first the lives of the six men raising their flag on Iwo Jima, the American climate during war time and why they enlisted. Readers are then taken inch by pain staking inch up the beach of "fire island" through gun fire, death, fear, hunger, sleep deprivation and more. Slowly trodding up the hill where we experience a seemingly unremarkable flag replacement that became a photograph which to this day "iconicizes" the valor, determination ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Nov 13, 2020 Michael Burnam-Fink rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, war

Flags of Our Fathers hits firmly in the historiographic tradition of 'Boomers writing about their Greatest Generation parents', as James Bradley literally writes about his father John Bradley, Navy Corpsman and one of the six people in the famous flag raising photo on Iwo Jima. This book began in silence, the elder Bradley said almost nothing about his service or his role in the photo to his family, and exceeds the mold in a serious evaluation of the wounds of war.

Bradley follows the six people Flags of Our Fathers hits firmly in the historiographic tradition of 'Boomers writing about their Greatest Generation parents', as James Bradley literally writes about his father John Bradley, Navy Corpsman and one of the six people in the famous flag raising photo on Iwo Jima. This book began in silence, the elder Bradley said almost nothing about his service or his role in the photo to his family, and exceeds the mold in a serious evaluation of the wounds of war.

Bradley follows the six people in the photo, his father James Bradley, Sergeant Michael Strank, Harlon Block, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Harold Schultz, and Rene Gagnon, from their Great Depression childhoods, through enlistment and training, and then into the Battle of Iwo Jima. Iwo Jima was a nightmare. The entire island was riddled with fighting positions connected by a network of tunnels. Bombardment from sea and air did nothing to the bug in defenders. They would have to be pried out by Marines with rifles, grenades, and flamethrowers, at horrendous casualties. The five week was responsible for 26000 American causalities and a third of the Medals of Honors earned by the Marines Corps in the war. It was a frightful slaughter.

The Photograph is famous, but in a grim irony, entirely unmemorable at the time. The flag was raised on Mount Suribachi four days after the initial landings. Marines who had spent three days in grueling combat climbed the mountain without contact, and set up a smaller flag without photographers present. Bradley and a platoon of Easy Company was sent up with a larger flag later in the day. While simply being on Iwo Jima was heroic, the moment that the flag was raised was one of quietude. The Photograph was taken by Joe Rosenthal as a lucky snap, and became an instant icon.

Three of the six men in the photograph were already dead, killed in action, but the others were whisked off the island and became publicity figures for the 7th War Bond Drive. The survivors handled the publicity in different ways. Rene Gagnon never managed to capitalize on it in the way he thought he should, and died at 54 of a heart attack. Ira Hayes, a Pima Indian, had a tragic descent into alcoholism which Bradley reads as driven by untreated PTSD. John Bradley tried very hard to forget the war, building a life as a funeral director and pillar of the community in northern Wisconsin. When reporters called, his children were instructed to say he was fishing in Canada.

Flags of our Fathers is a solid social and personal history of a key moment in the war, with some moving antiwar rhetoric. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Nov 25, 2020 David Clouse rated it liked it

This book is a high 3 for me for a few reasons.

I love books on war and think they should be read more often because of the insight to the reality of war, evil, and the need for protection and preparation. The author did a good job of objectively explaining some of the horrors the Japanese military have committed over the years, and for the most part he didn’t seem too biased towards the American military, but just recorded people’s thoughts.

A reason I did not like this book begins with the auth ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 14, 2019 Kristin Peters rated it it was amazing

This book was impactful. It illustrates the price paid by my grandfather's generation for this country we live in. But there's even more to it than that. I don't really know how to put it into words but I'm glad I read it and feel that others should too. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 01, 2019 Holly Lawrenson rated it it was amazing

Wow! I can't imagine going through what our soldiers did during World War II especially those on Iwo Jima. They really were the greatest generation...made me think of my father-in-law and what he must have gone through during the war and when he was wounded over in Italy.
I loved the way this book was written and how the author made the characters come to life for me. Be prepared to shed some tears. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 27, 2017 Shannon Sullivan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A must read for any WWII/history buff.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 09, 2018 Shani rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018

"Among the Americans serving on Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue." -Chester Nimitz

A gritty, raw, important read. You will never look at the courage and bravery of our military again. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Gary Hoggatt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, all-non-fiction, audiobooks, world-war-ii, history-bio-20th-century

Flags of Our Fathers chronicles the stories of the six men, five U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman, who raised the flag at Iwo Jima in the iconic photograph from World War II. This has gotten a lot of public attention in recent years, thanks to Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of this book (I'll admit I saw the movie first and liked it, so much so I went and borrowed the audio book from the library).

Author James Bradley, the son of John Bradley, the Navy Corpsman in the photo, knew little about Flags of Our Fathers chronicles the stories of the six men, five U.S. Marines and one Navy Corpsman, who raised the flag at Iwo Jima in the iconic photograph from World War II. This has gotten a lot of public attention in recent years, thanks to Clint Eastwood's film adaptation of this book (I'll admit I saw the movie first and liked it, so much so I went and borrowed the audio book from the library).

Author James Bradley, the son of John Bradley, the Navy Corpsman in the photo, knew little about his father's experiences in World War II when his father died in 1994. His quest to learn about that experience, which started like that of so many soldiers, sailors, and marines, and turned into unwanted fame and publicity after being in the photograph, resulted in this book, which is part history, part biography of the six men, and - thanks to extensive interviews with veterans involved in the Pacific war - part second-hand memoir.

The book starts perhaps a bit overly sentimental, as the description of the youth of the six men is a bit too "Golly gee shucks, small town life is great!", especially given that these men all grew up in the Great Depression. Once they join the service, though, things pick up, and the grim, brutal attack on Iwo takes center stage. The battle would claim the lives of three of the flag raisers before it ended, and two of the survivors lives were ruined by the unwanted publicity in one case and unfulfilled promises of advancement in the other. Only Bradley went on to live a successful, full life, and even he was haunted by his experiences on Iwo Jima, suffering from what would now be diagnosed as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Flags is a powerful book. The story it tells is at once unique - the surviving flag raisers' fame - and common - the horrible combat experienced by so many servicemen in the Pacific. It deserves to be read.

I listened to the audio version read by Stephen Hoye. Hoye's delivery is solid. At times, he sounds a bit more sentimental than most audio book narrators, but when one remembers the words themselves were written by Bradley about his father's life, it becomes understandable.

As a final note, I have been inspired by Flags to try to learn more about my late grandfather's Navy service in World War II. Like Bradley's father, my grandfather didn't talk about the war with his children, but I'm hoping to at least get some information from the Navy's service records and go from there. For his alone, I'd have been glad to have read Flags of Our Fathers. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 11, 2013 Abby Chase rated it it was amazing

Flags Of Our Fathers is a great read for anyone who is interested in U.S. history. The author, James Bradley, takes the reader through the lives of the 6 soldiers who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. He lets the reader in on the lives of Harlon Block, Mike Strank, Franklin Sousley, Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon, and his father Jack “Doc” Bradley. The fantastic thing about this book is that the author shares the stories of these men, from when they were boys to their fates in the end, and he does i ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 08, 2009 Lesley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history

I feel slightly embarassed that nearly every piece of information presented in this book was completely new to me. I was surprised by the horror of the Pacific war and horrified by the clear truth that I (along with most Americans I suspect)know next to nothing about the history of our own country. This compounded by the fact that our media has a tendancy to report the "good story" instead of the "truth."

That's really what this book is about - it isn't a war story about relaying all the gritty d ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2008 Matt rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: world-war-ii, audiobooks

Easily one of the most moving and memorable books I have ever read. I know that I've said that I don't get emotional over the books that I read, but Flags of Our Fathers is a definite exception. The author has a personal connection to the subject, and his own emotion over the true story of his father comes through wonderfully. It's as much about history as it is about family.

On a sour note, do not ever watch the movie. EVER! It's as awful as the book is wonderful. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 17, 2015 Ann Valdez rated it it was amazing

This is such a great book. It gives the background of not only the people from one of the most famous American photographs, but also of situations surrounding it.
I loved this book and am so thankful that I read it. I recommend it to all.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 29, 2016 Christopher Hicks rated it it was amazing

I really enjoyed this book. I found it both compelling and tragic. I liked learning about a part of history i'd never before read about, the war in the Pacific, Iwo Jima and World War II. I also loved reading about the personal stories of the men and their families. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2014 Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: military

Inspiring story of the six Iwo Jima fundraisers and the battle. The author is the son of one of the fundraisers.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 20, 2019 Carrie Daws rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: history, military

Not a book for the faint of heart or the squeamish. Also, not a book for those who merely want to engage in idol worship of those who go to war to protect us from those intent on harming us. This was a tough book to read on many levels for me. The atrocities of the Japanese during the years of World War II are incomprehensible to me--not just to the Americans, but on the Chinese, the Manchurians, and those they came into contact with in the Asia-Pacific region. At times, I could only read a few Not a book for the faint of heart or the squeamish. Also, not a book for those who merely want to engage in idol worship of those who go to war to protect us from those intent on harming us. This was a tough book to read on many levels for me. The atrocities of the Japanese during the years of World War II are incomprehensible to me--not just to the Americans, but on the Chinese, the Manchurians, and those they came into contact with in the Asia-Pacific region. At times, I could only read a few pages at a time before my heart and mind needed a break from the absolute cruelty trained into that generation.

As the daughter of an airman, the sister of an airman, the wife of an airman, the friend to many airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines, the heart of the men who raised the second flag at Iwo Jima is common. They were doing what they told, following orders, surviving a relentless enemy and an unforgiving place in an unbelievably difficult time. Raising that flag meant nothing more than any other routine job they accomplished during their time in the military. If a flag hadn't been on that pole, if the photographer hadn't come up the hill, if the wind hadn't blown just right to lift the stars and stripes into the air, then none of us would know any of their names. In fact, the faces of those in the photograph of the original flag raising might spring to mind instead. The picture we know--to the ones who survived to know the big deal that picture became, they were just doing their job.

But, having never served myself, I also understand the inspiration behind the hero-worship. Those men negated their impact, partly out of necessity to survive but mostly because they recognized more fully than the rest of us the cost of taking control of that island. When I look at the memorial, I see the sacrifice of those who never came home and the sacrifice of those who came home forever changed. When the men of Iwo Jima see the memorial, I imagine they remember sights and sounds that I pray the rest of us will never know.

The book is an excellent read. Mr. Bradley combines history with storytelling so we get to know the men of the photograph before they were famous. His descriptions of the battle were intensely real to me, and the stories of the men post-war were sometimes heartbreaking. I just wanted to wrap my arms around these men, to cry and to comfort and to be comforted. I'm thankful for them and the men they represent to me--not because they raised the flag but because they were willing to go and do the job that needed to be done regardless of the cost, because I know and hope they knew that the cost of not doing it was tremendously greater. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Marine Corps L.E....: Explain the meaning and significance of the bronze statue's inscription, "Uncommon Valor was a Common Virtue."	1	3	Jan 22, 2015 02:12AM
Marine Corps L.E....: Discuss the post-war focus on the soldiers and how they handled the reality of war differently.	1	2	Jan 22, 2015 02:11AM
Marine Corps L.E....: Discuss the significance of the Easy Company and its responsibilities.	1	2	Jan 22, 2015 02:10AM
Marine Corps L.E....: Discuss the significance of the training of the Japanese and how their planning affected American military operations.	1	2	Jan 22, 2015 02:10AM

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Videos About This Book

1 comment

Genres

History

919 users

Nonfiction

533 users

War

210 users

War > Military Fiction

209 users

War > World War II

196 users

Biography

108 users

Military > Military History

107 users

North American Hi... > American History

85 users

Historical

76 users

Adult

15 users

See top shelves…

About James D. Bradley

James D. Bradley

259 followers

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

James Bradley is an American author of historical non-fiction. His subject is the Pacific theatre of World War II. ...more

Books by James D. Bradley

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia

What If? 2: Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If #2)

The Collected What If? Eminent Historians Imagine What Might Have Been (What If, #1-2)

More…

Goodreads Members Suggest: 32 ‘Vacation’ Reads

As this strange summer of staying put winds down, one thing remains truer than ever: Books offer us endless adventure and new horizons to...

Trivia About Flags of Our Fathers

14 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Flags of Our Fathers

“Today the word "hero" has been diminished. confused with "celebrity." But in my father's generation the word meant something.
celebrities seek fame. They take actions to get attention. Most often, the actions they take have no particular moral content. Heroes are heroes because they have risked something to help others. Their actions involve courage. Often, those heroes have been indifferent to the public's attention. But at least, the hero could understand the focus of the emotion.” — 20 likes

“When I asked him, fifty-three years after the event, "Mr. Lucas, why did you jump on those grenades?" he did not hesitate with his answer: "To save my buddies.” — 11 likes

More quotes…