Hell in the Pacific: The Battle for Iwo Jima

by Derrick Wright, Gordon L. Rottman

The battle of Iwo Jima was extraordinary for its ferocity. US Marine Corps casualties exceeded by thousands the number of Japanese defenders, who fought almost to the last man over those five desperate weeks. The strategic justification for the mission has been challenged and the iconic photograph of the flag-raising was staged, but there is no questioning the courage displayed (winning the USMC 24 Medals of Honor) and the horrors endured by both sides. The Japanese were dug into a vast and complex defensive network of trenches, bunkers, caves and tunnels commanding every square foot of the island's volcanic rock and black sand. The Marines' task was to fight almost every step of the way from their landing beaches to the northern tip where victory was finally secured, developing new tactics to deal with this well-entrenched, determined and heavily-armed resistance as they progressed from objective to objective.

This book details the composition, weaponry and leadership of the opposing forces and reviews their plans. It also closely examines the individual fighting men on each side, the USMC infantryman and the Imperial Japanese soldier, contrasting their training, equipment, culture and battlefield experiences. Having laid out the background, the authors then follow the battle through its several phases from the landings to General Kuribayashi's last banzai. Their clear narrative, supported by numerous maps, tactical diagrams and photographs, answers in detail the question which other accounts of this great battle only address at a more general level: how did the Marines do it?

Genres: History, World War II, War

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[zed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Frustratingly poor. There is nothing wrong with oral history being used to give a history on a specific battle etc. This is a book on a "specific" battle and with that an author has to make sure that he has backed his narrative and quotes with a source. Why not at least tell the reader via footnotes as to the source of the comment. A two page Acknowledgments and one page bibliography is just not good enough considering the many comments that where used to justify the narrative.

I reached rock bottom when on page 114 as the author writes that in total 23 doctors and 827 corpsman lost their lives on Iwo Jima. In appendix 8 "Casualties", the total deaths quoted are USMC 5885 and US Navy 881. He then writes the following "These figures include 195 medical corpsman, 49 Seabees, and 2 doctors and/or dentists killed; 2,648 marines suffered combat fatigue"
I am either missing something in translation or this an utter cock up in contradicting ones own quoted figures.

At this point I stopped looking at the acknowledgments, bibliography and the appendix. They hardly mattered. I have read the book out and am happy to have read the story of this appallingly brutal battle that was the taking of Iwo Jima in WW2 on behalf of the allies. Yes, it was an interesting book. It was presented in a chronological order and the appendix was very worth while (considering the contradiction I have highlighted above).

I would also not tell anyone with an interest in the battle of Iwo Jima not to read this book. I am a hard task master on sources etc. but with that in mind I urge caution. Enjoy the book for what it is but it may not stand up to scrutiny.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info. More medal of honor's given out for Iwo Jima than any other battle-27!

[Bill V · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a decent read. There are a number of factual errors and misspellings that detracts from the reading. For example early on in the book he lists a few of the older American battleships and mentions they had 16 in guns. None of the ships mentioned carried guns of that size. They were all 14 in and smaller. He misspelled the key Japanese base of Truk as Truck. I do know quite a bit about the specific battle although this is my first specific book on it.
The author writes in a readable fashion but it doesn't seem he is a writer or historian by trade. The book lacks that critical analysis and/or insight seasoned writers provide. It's not a bad book; in fact it's adequate for a competent read on the battle, but nothing more.

[Timothy Coplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy to read chronological account of the battle for Iwo Jima.

Incorporates items of interest associated with the battle: first hand accounts, Japanese perspective, major topics of secondary interest, ie. aircraft, Japanese leadership, etc.

Includes several very informative appendices, and is quite exhaustively indexed.

Editing got a bit lazy toward the end with a couple glaring errors that I corrected in pencil for future readings.

[Richard Hakes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compitent without being inspirational, war is rubbish particularly if you are there. There are a few random excursions into the wider world but never enough to feel it explained what was happening and why.

[Ignacio Andres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about of this great battle in the Pacific front.