Crucible of hell : the heroism and tragedy of Okinawa, 1945 / Saul David.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

David, Saul, 1966- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Japan--Okinawa Island.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Pacific Area.

World War, 1939-1945--Japan.

Okinawa Island (Japan)--History.

Okinawa Island (Japan).

Military campaigns.

Japan.

Japan--Okinawa Island.

Pacific Area.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xi, 423 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Edition:

First US edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Hachette Books, 2020.

Summary:

From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater -- and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them.

Contents:

1 "Where's Douglas?" p. 13

2 Operation Iceberg p. 18

3 "Everybody go home!" p. 28

4 The Divine Wind p. 37

5 "More concerned with furlough than fighting" p. 45

6 "I'm going simply because I've got to-and I hate it" p. 52

7 "I was crying as I did it and she was crying too" p. 61

8 "Tomorrow is our big day" p. 69

9 "It was quite a show" p. 78

10 "There's always some poor bastard who doesn't get word" p. 84

11 "The smell of burnt flesh hung about for days" p. 91

12 "War is indeed hell" p. 98

13 "I could see him floating by, face upward" p. 104

14 "Gone? She's gone?" p. 111

15 "They just knocked the heck out of us" p. 119

16 "I want to marry Shigeko" p. 130

17 "Harry, the president is dead" p. 139

18 "His eyes were rolling in panic" p. 145

19 "Three bullets had ripped into his temple" p. 154

20 "Progress not quite satisfactory" p. 162

21 "All Kaitens prepare for launch!" p. 169

22 "The most terrible weapon" p. 176

23 "Corpsman!" p. 181

24 Hacksaw Ridge p. 191

25 "We will fight to the last man" p. 199

26 "Doc, this one is worth saving" p. 208

27 "The happy dream is over" p. 217

28 Sugar Loaf Hill p. 224

29 "Hell's own cesspool" p. 237

30 "I still hear those cries today" p. 249

31 "The entire enemy line appears to be crumbling" p. 258

32 "It is terrifying to think about" p. 266

33 "There is NO tactical thinking or push" p. 270

34 "I lost damn near all of them" p. 276

35 "You're just going to have to hang on" p. 284

36 "We were so gullible, so innocent" p. 291

37 "We are down to the final kill" p. 298

38 "I haven't come up to the front to hide" p. 306

39 "Every man will...fight to the end" p. 312

40 "Suppose it doesn't go off?" p. 318

41 "What a splendid last moment!" p. 324

42 "All he talked about was you" p. 334

43 "The most terrible thing ever discovered" p. 342

44 "My God, what have we done?" p. 349

45 "We were going to live!" p. 358.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 375-402) and index.

ISBN:

0316534676

9780316534673

OCLC:

1111953285