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Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific
Iwo Jima is perhaps the hardest won and most famous battle in the Pacific theater during World War II. The award-winning, iconic photo of Marines raising the American flag during the battle is remembered by millions as the symbol of how hard fought the victory was in the war.
Iwo Portrait of a United States Marines in the Pacific takes this iconic flag-raising image one step further. In incredible duotone reproduction, over 500 photos taken by Marine Corps combat photographers during the battle are featured, including over 300 never-before-published that were discovered in Marine Corps archives by author and military historian Eric Hammel. The photos vividly recreate the battle, as it the pummeling of inland targets, the strafing, and the rocket fire that accompanied the landing; the eerie silence that greeted the Marines as they set foot on the island; and then, as the newly-landed Marines regrouped on the shoreline, the horrors of all hell breaking loose. The book also includes detailed maps as well as profiles of each Medal of Honor winner from the battle - including the citation from the President to each honoree reproduced in its entirety that includes detailed descriptions of courage and valor under fire.The fighting on Iwo Jima—thirty-four of the bloodiest days of the Pacific War—comes to harrowing life in this volume, and this book is an instant classic in the genre and a necessary addition to any serious collection of World War II literature.
Iwo Portrait of a United States Marines in the Pacific takes this iconic flag-raising image one step further. In incredible duotone reproduction, over 500 photos taken by Marine Corps combat photographers during the battle are featured, including over 300 never-before-published that were discovered in Marine Corps archives by author and military historian Eric Hammel. The photos vividly recreate the battle, as it the pummeling of inland targets, the strafing, and the rocket fire that accompanied the landing; the eerie silence that greeted the Marines as they set foot on the island; and then, as the newly-landed Marines regrouped on the shoreline, the horrors of all hell breaking loose. The book also includes detailed maps as well as profiles of each Medal of Honor winner from the battle - including the citation from the President to each honoree reproduced in its entirety that includes detailed descriptions of courage and valor under fire.The fighting on Iwo Jima—thirty-four of the bloodiest days of the Pacific War—comes to harrowing life in this volume, and this book is an instant classic in the genre and a necessary addition to any serious collection of World War II literature.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 15, 2006
102 people want to read
About the author
Eric Hammel
99 books50 followersEric Hammel was born in 1946, in Salem, Massachusetts, and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central High School of Philadelphia in January 1964 and earned a degree in Journalism from Temple University in 1972. His road to writing military history began at age twelve, when he was stuck in bed for a week with a childhood illness. Eric's father bought him the first paperback book he ever owned, Walter Lord's Day of Infamy. As he devoured the book, Eric realized that he wanted to write books exactly like it, what we now call popular narrative history. Lord had pieced together the book from official records illuminated with the recollections of people who were there. Eric began to write his first military history book when he was fifteen. The book eventually turned out to be Guadalcanal: Starvation Island. Eric completed the first draft before he graduated from high school. During his first year of college, Eric wrote the first draft of Munda Trail, and got started on 76 Hours when he was a college junior. Then Eric got married and went to work, which left him no time to pursue his writing except as a journalism student.
Eric quit school at the end of his junior year and went to work in advertising in 1970. Eric completed his journalism degree in 1972, moved to California in 1975, and finally got back to writing while he operated his own one-man ad agency and started on a family. 76 Hours was published in 1980, and Chosin followed in 1982. At the end of 1983 Eric was offered enough of an advance to write The Root: The Marines in Beirut to take up writing books full time. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eric eventually published under his own imprint, Pacifica Press, which morphed into Pacifica Military History and IPS Books. At some point in the late 1990s, Eric realized he had not written in five years, so he pretty much closed down the publishing operation and pieced together a string of pictorial combat histories for Zenith Press. Eric nominally retired in 2008 and took up writing as a full-time hobby writing two novels, 'Til The Last Bugle Call and Love and Grace. Fast forward to 2018 and Eric was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and on August 25th 2020, Eric passed from this life to the next at the age of 74.
Eric quit school at the end of his junior year and went to work in advertising in 1970. Eric completed his journalism degree in 1972, moved to California in 1975, and finally got back to writing while he operated his own one-man ad agency and started on a family. 76 Hours was published in 1980, and Chosin followed in 1982. At the end of 1983 Eric was offered enough of an advance to write The Root: The Marines in Beirut to take up writing books full time. The rest, as they say, is history.
Eric eventually published under his own imprint, Pacifica Press, which morphed into Pacifica Military History and IPS Books. At some point in the late 1990s, Eric realized he had not written in five years, so he pretty much closed down the publishing operation and pieced together a string of pictorial combat histories for Zenith Press. Eric nominally retired in 2008 and took up writing as a full-time hobby writing two novels, 'Til The Last Bugle Call and Love and Grace. Fast forward to 2018 and Eric was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and on August 25th 2020, Eric passed from this life to the next at the age of 74.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 24, 2015
A photo-essay story of the battle for Iwo Jima during World War II. Includes copies of the citations for the medals of Honor awarded as a result of the fierce campaign. There is nothing covering the famed flag raising or on the five Marines and One Navy corpsman featured in the Rosenthal photo.
April 7, 2026
What can I say? Great and horrific photographs from the Battle of Iwo Jima.
July 25, 2021
A good photographic essay of the battle for Iwo Jima. My only disappointment is the gross inaccuracy of the sacrifice made by the 12 LCI (G) gunboats that went into action on February 17, 1945. Page 54 says "the cumulative loss to the LCIs was 7 killed and 153 wounded" and that "all the LCIs survived the melee". Not at all accurate. No less than 54 LCI crewmen were killed in action, 21 alone on LCI (G) 449 and LCI (G) 474 was sunk as a result of the action. The names of those dead are readily available and covered in several other books. My dad was a radioman onboard LCI (G) 457 which attacked the East Boat Basin on Blue Beach.
February 19, 2016
When it comes to World War II in the Pacific, and specifically the role of the U.S. Marines, you would be hard-pressed to find a better authority than Eric Hammel. Having read all his other photographic collections of the Marines in World War II, this is by far the best. The pictures are fantastic and complement the narrative perfectly. Of course, it certainly helped that by this stage of World War II the Marines were dedicating much more effort into capturing their island campaigns on film.
From the planning stages through the final capture of the island, this book covers it all. War is never pretty and several of the images are very graphic in nature. There are some great photos of actual combat, and the iconic flag-raising is covered with several extra images you probably haven't seen published before, or at least very often. There are also several color photographs at the end of the book showing what Iwo Jima looks like 60 years after the battle. There were 27 Medals of Honor awarded to participants in the battle, and each medal citation and a photo of the recipient are included in the book.
If you like the Marines, the Pacific Theatre of World War II, or you're just looking for an excellent book on the battle, this one is a must-have.
From the planning stages through the final capture of the island, this book covers it all. War is never pretty and several of the images are very graphic in nature. There are some great photos of actual combat, and the iconic flag-raising is covered with several extra images you probably haven't seen published before, or at least very often. There are also several color photographs at the end of the book showing what Iwo Jima looks like 60 years after the battle. There were 27 Medals of Honor awarded to participants in the battle, and each medal citation and a photo of the recipient are included in the book.
If you like the Marines, the Pacific Theatre of World War II, or you're just looking for an excellent book on the battle, this one is a must-have.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews