▶▶▶ Check Out Flags of Our Fathers: A Young People's Edition for $3.01

Flags of Our Fathers: A Young People's Edition Review

Anybody who has read about or has had relatives in the war knows about Iwo Jima. Many sadly get their "knowledge" from TV and or movies. However, the movie made from this book is not bad. Even though Hollywood took a little and made other marines experiences and stories part of the subjects of this book.

James Bradley did a great job with this book and succeeded in putting a human face on the men of the famous picture. Mr. Bradley has the "misfortune" of learning their father or grandfather did much more in the war then they let on. As in the authors case, finding his fathers Navy Cross after he died.

Another good aspect of the book is the picture of battle and the rather horrible deaths that many marines faced on Iwo. I would go as far to suggest it is one of the better battle stories I have read so far.

Iwo was a very nasty affair much more then the fabled "Sands of Iwo Jima" that many of us has seen at one time or another. At least Clint Eastwood's movie does a much better job about presenting what these men went through.

Mr. Bradley also does a good job trying to explain the mindset of the average Japanese soldier of the day. Iwo was the first Japanese soil invaded by the US. It was to be defended no matter what and General Kuribayashi created a brilliant defensive system. He also seemed to understand the American psychy as he decreed that each of his men was to attempt to kill 10 men before he dies. Kill enough American soldiers and the people will loose heart.

However, the Esprit De Cours of the Marines carried them through battle even with the slaughter that went on. Even a nurse once commented that the men she took treated were not beaten no matter how bad their wounds.

One thing that many people (until the movie) did not know was the fact fighting went on after the flag planting. The Marines would loose about 7000 dead with over 14000 wounded. Much higher figures then the blood bath that was Tarawa and the 5 months of Guadalcanal. Even of the flag planters, three would die.

One aspect I did not know about was the lives of the men after the war to where they were basically controlled the photograph for many years. Living with being called Heros when they didn't want to be called that.

This is a great book for any library!

Flags of Our Fathers: A Young People's Edition Feature

ISBN13: 9780440229209
Condition: New
Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Flags of Our Fathers: A Young People's Edition Overview

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.

Flags of Our Fathers: A Young People's Edition Specifications

In the winter of 1945, on the tiny island of Iwo Jima, a ferocious, epic battle was fought, resulting in the loss of more than 48,000 lives and producing what was to become one of the most recognizable symbols of World War II: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the peak of Mount Suribachi. One of the six, Navy corpsman John Bradley, came away from this historical moment with a deep and mysterious silence about his role in the flag raising. Even his wife heard him speak of it only once in their 47-year marriage. After Bradley's death, his son James began to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, as well as that of the other five men, all of whom became reluctant heroes because of their presence during that fateful instant when the shutter clicked and created a wartime icon.

Based on James Bradley's Flags of Our Fathers for adults, this abridged version for younger readers retains the somewhat terse drama, intense heartbreak, and bittersweet triumph of the original narrative. Through his research on the event and the soldiers (three of the men were killed in combat within days of the flag raising), Bradley explores the dubious nature of heroism and the devastating effects of war. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Available at Amazon Check Price Now!

Customer Reviews

Good book - J. L. Brundage - Arizona
I have been looking for this book for some time. I am a history nut and this is one I have been discussing with others with the same interests.

Iwo Jima - Rhonda V. -
This was a very good book, but there could have been many more facts shared. This was a historical book and I found it to be very interesting.

great youth book - History Teacher - Kansas
I bought this book for my 14-year-old son, but needed something to take along with me to the doctor's office and got hooked. I have not read the "extended version", but this youth version is very good. In my opinion this book is about any 6 men who served in the Pacific Theater...I think the selection of any other random men could have brought to light similar stories. This is not to lessen or trivialize the struggles or heroism of the men whose stories are told in this book, but to reiterate what the author says, that "uncommon valor was a common virtue".

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 08, 2010 03:41:08

Children's Books

Sunday, August 8, 2010